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Liberation had a price.
Easton Ambrose and her love for him was apparently hers. And it hurt like a bitch.
East was certain he was in hell. And hell was made of satin and roses and scented candles. He had to stand during the ceremony and face Natalie.
She was beautiful.
And she didn’t glance his way once.
The pricking pain in his gut intensified as the wedding turned into the reception and it became clear Natalie was taking extra effort to keep at least twenty feet between them at all times.
She’d avoided him like the plague, but he was due to give his speech soon, and he had to talk to her, to tell her how sorry he was. He hadn’t even been near Kelly, and he’d noticed that Harrison wasn’t on Natalie’s radar, either.
Damn it! There was way too much he had to say, and she’d have to give him a chance. She just had to…
He walked up behind where she was sitting alone at the bridal party table. Everyone else was off dancing or doing something else. Now was his chance.
“You look beautiful,” he said, as he put a hand on the table and leaned down to whisper in her ear. “Natalie, I’m sorry.”
She didn’t move. He could smell her sweet perfume, felt a lock of her silky hair brush his nose, and her shoulder was so close. Just an inch from his mouth. He could close the space and kiss the skin there…
It was maddening because he actually couldn’t. He’d lost that right. Maybe he’d never had it to start with.
“Natalie.” He said her name again because she hadn’t acknowledged him yet. “I’m really sorry, baby.”
That last word made that shoulder he wanted to kiss so badly tense. “Go away, East.”
“It’s not what you think. I don’t want Kelly. I just want you.”
She turned to throw him a hard stare. Her eyes sparked fire, and he felt something clutch in his chest like a fist.
“If you think this is all about another woman, then you really have no idea what I think.” She turned her back and shut him out. “Go. Away.”
The fist turned into a full on volcano, ripping apart his entire chest. How could he have messed up so badly?
“East, honey,” Lemon-Anne said, as she walked up to the other side of the table, “will you come with me? I want to introduce you to some people. They want to see my favorite non-biological son.”
Lemon-Anne’s smile was genuine, and it made him feel like part of the family for a moment, like he’d once been. But he had to come clean. Had to say out loud what he really wanted.
“Of course,” he started. “But first I have to tell you that I love you.”
Lemon-Anne blinked several times, and East went on.
“Thank you for being the mother I didn’t have, and thank you for how you treat me. I don’t deserve it. I don’t deserve a lot of things.” He touched Natalie’s arm. “But I’m going to earn it from here on out.”
Before Lemon-Anne or Natalie could say anything, Matt motioned for him to give the speech, and it was the last thing on the planet he felt like he could do.
“Hey, you’re up,” Matt said to East as he came over to stand next to his mother. Surrounded by the people who loved him, he realized that Natalie sitting there was his sun. Everything he was pulled him to her side.
“You really want my speech?” he asked Matt.
“Of course. You’re the best man.”
Time to earn it. He left Natalie, Matt, and Lemon-Anne, and made his way to the stage where the band was, grabbing a champagne flute on the way.
“Hello, everyone. I’m Easton Ambrose, and I’d like to say a few words.”
Everyone quieted down, and he glanced around the room. The silence. The joy. The happy couple. The expectant faces, all staring at him. East didn’t care about any of them. All he was concerned with was Natalie.
