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“About damn time,” he murmured for her ears alone.
Through her happy tears, she smiled, and Trees swore he’d do whatever he could to put that smile of pure joy on her face every day.
Their lips clung. He breathed her in as he soaked in the moment—his first as her husband. The rightness of that hit him in the heart, and in some ways, Trees felt as if he was just starting his life.
Then he took her hand and ushered her back down the aisle. He’d love to keep running straight to their tricked-out honeymoon suite he’d booked at a posh hotel in Baton Rouge before they left for a week at a cabin on the lake where he’d spent summers as a kid. She wanted to know more about his childhood while he taught her to fish. He was dying to show her all about cuffs, blindfolds, and clamps while he reminded her how to scream.
First, they had to make it through the reception.
After an amazing toast from Zy that made everyone both laugh and cry, Valeria followed with a moving speech about her sister’s tenacity in the face of adversity and the strength of Trees’s love for her against all odds. There was clapping, crying, and hugs all around.
Dancing followed, first Trees leading his gorgeous wife onto the floor for a slow love song. He held her and kissed her and thanked God again for bringing Laila into his life and making it so much better.
At the end, he took her lips again to the sound of their guests clapping. “Can we leave now?”
She sent him a chiding grin. “We have not even cut our cake.”
“I can live without cake. I don’t think I can live without you, wife.”
Her smile glowed with love. “I cannot live without you, either, husband. But you must be patient because I am not skipping our cake.”
They ceded the dance floor to their guests. Brea and Pierce Walker slipped in to congratulate them with hugs. The birth of their son, Ryker, three weeks ago, had been joyous but exhausting. Brea was still recovering—and having new-mom jitters about leaving their son for long, even with her dad and stepmom.
Trees shook hands with the sniper.
Pierce’s answering smile was genuine. “How’s it feel to be married?”
“Amazing.”
“It is.” He took his wife’s hand and kissed her fingers. “Congratulations, man. I’m happy for you.”
They hadn’t always seen eye-to-eye, but over the last couple of months…they were getting there. Trees would forever owe the man for saving Laila’s life. “You, too. Hope you’re enjoying fatherhood.”
“I am. It’s a lot, but…wow. It’s a love you can’t even comprehend. You’ll see someday.”
Sooner than someday, but Trees kept that to himself for now.
“Look.” Laila pointed across the room discreetly to the familiar guy not actually wearing his cowboy hat today.
Despite Matt’s insistence otherwise, he had approached Madison, who was dressed in a flattering pastel purple dress. The cowboy was flirting hardcore and showing off those dimples. She didn’t look immune.
“Good for them.” He grinned.
“Fingers crossed,” Laila whispered as the two made it onto the dance floor, where Matt spun Madison into his arms and held tight. “They are both good people who deserve to be happy.”
“I don’t think they need luck.” Even across the room, he could feel their chemistry.
Tessa sidled up to them then. “You’re seeing this, right?”
Trees smiled. “Yes, ma’am.”
“I tried to tell him.”
“Me, too. But I think he’s on board now.”
“I think you’re right,” she drawled, then laughed and kissed Zy like a newlywed should.
The deejay called him and Laila up to the front to cut their cake. The photographer took a billion pictures, and Trees nearly lost his mind with impatience, but his wife slid a bite of the sweet dessert onto his tongue, and he groaned as the flavor exploded in his mouth. He did the same to her, then they heeded the clinking of forks against glasses and kissed.
“Speech. Speech. Speech!” the crowd chanted.
Reluctantly, he pulled away from Laila’s lips and wrapped his arm around her as Zy brought him the mic. “Thank you, everyone, for coming today to celebrate my wedding to the most amazing woman, the one God put on this planet just for me. Probably because she’s the only one who can put up with me.”
Their guests laughed, and Laila shook her head, mouthing, I love you.
Trees pressed a peck to her lips again. If he took the kiss any deeper, he would only get lost in her sweetness, so he pulled back. “When people ask where we first met, I say an alley. When they ask where we first fell in love, I admit it’s an RV. Our courtship wasn’t glamorous, and nothing has been easy. But there’s no one I want to do life with other than you, Laila Scott. I love you, now and always.”
Guests aahed and wiped their tears while he sent Laila a questioning glance. Did she want to share their baby news with everyone else yet?
She gave him a little shake of her head. It was their special secret, just for them…just for a bit longer.
He nodded in agreement, then they sealed their love and their special day with a kiss that convinced him all over again that they belonged together forever.
