Page 36 of His to Defend

“No, silly. Your dress.”

Nina’s surprise must have shown on her face, because all the girls laughed. Bree jumped up and went into the bedroom, returning with a garment bag.

“I hope you don’t mind.” Harper took the bag from Bree and stood in front of Nina. “I did a thing.”

“A thing?”

Harper held the garment bag out. “You are my maid of honor, after all.”

“But you told me to bring a sundress,” Nina protested. “Nothing fancy.”

Harper shrugged and wiggled the bag. “I changed my mind. Go try it on.”

“Harper…you didn’t have to—”

“I didn’t have to do anything.” She laughed. “But it’s my day and I did. And you’re going to love it. Go! I want to see how gorgeous you look in it.”

There was no point arguing and with all the other women watching and waiting, Nina took the bag and went into the back bedroom.

As she stripped out of her jeans and sweater, Nina couldn’t help but notice that her body was sore in all the right places from a day of lovemaking. Each sore muscle reminded her of Ryker’s touches. His kisses. And his—

Focus.

She shook her head clear from thoughts of Ryker, which was much easier said than done, and unzipped the bag that contained her surprise. She lifted the dress carefully from the wrapping and gasped. It was stunning.

A rich plum color, the fabric was soft and flowy. It was a halter style, with a deep vee neck that would show off her ample cleavage beautifully. Even by only looking at the dress, Nina knew it was going to fit perfectly.

As soon as she stepped into the dress, reached around and zipped it up, her suspicions were confirmed. It was perfect.

“Well,” Harper called from the other side of the door. “How does it fit?”

“Show us,” Chloe yelled.

With one more spin in the mirror, Nina opened the door and was greeted by shrieks and squeals.

“Oh my God, Nina. It’s amazing,” Kira said. “You look stunning.”

Nina looked to Harper, who had tears in her eyes, and laughed. “Stop it. You’re the bride, for goodness’ sake. You’re not supposed to be crying over my dress.”

“I can’t help it.” She wiped her tears. “It’s absolutely perfect.”

“It really is,” Nina agreed. “Thank you so much.”

“Don’t thank me.” Harper jerked her head. “Bree did it all.”

Nina spun around. “You made this?”

Bree, who was usually pretty silent in the group, nodded and blushed at the attention.

“But how?” Nina shook her head. “I mean, it fits like it was custom made but you never took my measurements.”

She shrugged. “I kind of have an eye for that type of thing.”

“I’d say.”

“Spin around,” Natalia called. “Let’s see it twirl.”

Nina laughed and spun, letting her hair fly off her shoulders, the skirt lifting with the motion.