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Chapter 20 - Maddie: First Dance
Damn him. Damn this man. He had blindsided me with those vows. I hadn’t expected him to be so real, so open, and honest. It was unexpected, but it was welcome.
To everyone else, it probably seemed like he was professing his undying love and devotion to me, but for me, I knew it was his apology. Marcus and I were not in a real relationship, and he hadn’t needed to apologize but he had.
I was embarrassed to say that my heart fluttered a little at his words. They had been so sweet and had pulled something inside of me. And that kiss? Man, that kiss was something else. I felt everything he had been trying to say.
He was sorry.
He valued me.
He promised to uphold his ‘vows’.
I had yet to speak to him, seeing as when one person would come and congratulate me another would swoop me up and place me in the middle of conversations I didn’t care about.
It wasn’t until the MC—Lara—called for us to have our first dance did we finally get some alone time. The first dance was something I had left for Marcus to pick out, as it was his one condition. When the music hit my ears I looked at him in complete shock.
I couldn’t believe it. The speakers blared the song the joker and the queen but Ed Sheeran.
Marcus pulled me into his arms and held me tightly to his body. He moved us to the melody of our song. I laid my head on his chest and listened to the gentle beating of his heart.
It was just us two in the moment. We moved in perfect synch. There was no outside noise and there were no problems that awaited us. It was just him and I together.
You could fall for a thousand kings, that could give you a diamond ring.
I moved away from him a bit so I could look into his eyes. His hold on my waist tightened and his gaze intensified. All his walls were completely down. I could see every last part of him. He was letting me in.
I don’t know who leaned in first but when my lips connected with his, my eyes fluttered closed, and I was transported back into our happy bubble. As the music played and we swayed to the sweet melody, our kiss continued.
I tried to convince myself that the kiss was for everyone in attendance, but that was a lie. That kiss had been for me. I had wanted it to happen because I wanted to kiss. Something had shifted within me from the day we had slept together or even before then.
My heart called to Marcus like a siren. I longed for his touch, for his gaze, and his heat. I wanted to immerse myself in all of him.
I was falling in love with my husband. The realization sent shock waves throughout my body, and I broke our kiss abruptly. When I had pulled away, Marcus’ eyes were hooded and dark. He was just as affected by me as I was with him.
Falling in love with Marcus had never been part of the plan. It was supposed to be a simple and easy plan. But somewhere between wishing him dead and wanting to rip his clothes off, I fell, and I fell hard.
The music stopped and everyone around us broke out into applause, breaking our trance.
I was about to pull out of his hold, but his arms tightened. He leaned down bringing his mouth right by my ear.
“Come,” was all he said before he pulled me away from the dance floor that was now filling up with couples.
We walked over to the little garden area at the back of the church. It was far enough so we wouldn’t be disturbed. The sun was setting, and a pink hue had overtaken the sky.
I looked down at our connected hands, my heart thundering in my chest. The heat radiating from our laced hands was enough to have my cheeks red.
We came to a halt at one of the benches, and he turned to look at me. He simply stared at me without saying a single word. His eyes stared into mine, and I was lost. His eyes were this endless oceanic pool that had me mesmerized.
He dropped my hand and went to cup my cheek. I involuntarily leaned into his touch. He felt familiar, like home. These feelings were so new to me, yet they still felt natural. How had I gone from raging and silently fuming to realizing that I was in fact in love with this man?
Would I tell him? Fuck no. I was not dumb.
I had lost the fight to win Marcus’ heart because he was already in love with a ghost. How could I fight off someone that I could not see and who lived in the past? I couldn’t. I knew when to fight and when to not enter one.
Maybe these feelings were fleeting. It was probably the rush of emotions from today. Yeah, that was what it was. There was no way that I could actually be in love with Marcus.
“I liked your vows,” I finally said, breaking the thick silence between us.
