Page 314 of Romeo

“I didn’t forget.”

Her hand lifted again.

Jasper ducked. “I was workin’ with a timeline!”

“You were working with stupidity.”

Aunt Marabella murmured something that sounded suspiciously like agreement while Gator found the ceiling suddenly fascinating.

I should have been laughing with everyone else, but the longer I looked at the people packed into the Bourbon Bar, the harder it became to breathe around the pressure building beneath my ribs.

They had come.

Granny had gotten on her jet and brought everyone.

Frank and Claudia stood together several feet behind her. Claudia had Charlie in her arms, while Frank carried the twins, and seeing them after telling Jasper the truth about Charlie brought tears too close to the surface again. Josie had her hand on Georgie’s arm, probably to prevent him from advancing on Jasper. Cameron had somehow worked his way all the way to the front and now stood beside King, looking around at the wedding setup with the satisfied expression of someone whose predictions had finally been proven correct.

Children whispered behind their parents. Sons I had known for years stood shoulder to shoulder with Bourbon Kings. Women I looked up to peered between me and Jasper with surprise, concern, amusement, and more than a few tears already shining in their eyes.

This was supposed to have been something Jasper and I did quickly.

Suddenly it was real in an entirely different way.

My fingers tightened around the flower stems.

I had said yes to Jasper. I was sure of Jasper. But standing there, surrounded by people who had known me before him, made the enormity of what I was about to do settle over me all at once.

Marriage.

Not the imaginary house we teased each other about. Not children we might have someday. Not me climbing onto his motorcycle because I wanted to be wherever he was.

Marriage.

Jasper’s hand found mine.

He didn’t ask what was wrong or make everyone watch while he checked on me. His fingers simply closed around mine, warm and certain, his thumb pressing lightly against the side of my hand as if he knew exactly how much I needed something solid.

I held on.

King finally stepped away from the door. He didn’t say a word, but he didn’t need to. He crossed his arms over his chest and fixed Jasper with a look so cold even the Bourbon Kings seemed to become more interested in what was about to happen.

Jasper met it without flinching.

I had seen him joke through threats that would make most people reconsider their life choices. I had watched him grin at men who wanted to fight and flirt with women who were trying to insult him. There was none of that now. He wasn’t challenging King, but he wasn’t backing down either.

Granny noticed too.

She stepped farther into the room, and everyone seemed to shift with her until the doorway finally cleared behind them.

“Well?”

Jasper released my hand and moved forward.

For the first time since I had met Jasper DuBois, he looked like a man who understood perfectly well that charm wasn’t going to save him.

“Martha.”

Granny’s eyebrows rose.