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“Liam.” She breathed his name in wonder as he nuzzled his face into her neck.
“I love you.” The words came so easily to him now. Gone were his defenses, stripped away by an endless, lonely night and his elation that she’d returned. He wasn’t going to let her question his devotion ever again. “No, I adore you. And will do whatever it takes for as long as it takes for you to believe you are the only woman for me.”
A smile of happiness transformed her. He gazed down into her overly bright eyes and couldn’t believe how close he’d come to losing her.
“I love you, too,” she replied, lifting on tiptoe to kiss him lightly on the lips.
“I rushed you because I was afraid your career would take you away, and I couldn’t bear to lose you.” Suddenly it was easy to share his fears with her, and from the way she regarded him, she understood what he’d been going through. “This time we’ll take it slow,” he promised. “I’m determined that you won’t feel rushed into making up your mind about spending the rest of your life with me.”
She gave a light laugh. “I don’t need any time. I love you and I want to marry you. Together we are going to be a family. No matter what happens with Kyle, Maggie will always be like a daughter to us and a big sister to our future children.”
“In that case.” He fished the ring out of his pocket and dropped to one knee. “Hadley Stratton, love of my life, would you do me the honor of becoming my wife?”
She shifted the thermos beneath her arm and held out her left hand. “Liam Wade, loving you is the most wonderful thing that has ever happened to me. I can’t wait for us to get married and live happily ever after.”
He slipped the ring onto her finger and got to his feet. Bending down, he kissed her reverently on the lips. One kiss turned into half a dozen and both of them were out of breath and smiling foolishly when they drew apart.
“Kissing you is always delightful,” she said, handing him the coffee. “And we really must do much more of that later, but right now my mouth has been watering over these caramel rolls for the last hour.”
“You’re choosing food over kissing me?”
“These are Candace’s caramel rolls,” she reminded him, popping the top on the container and letting the sugary, cinnamon smell fill the room.
“I get your point.” He nodded, his appetite returning in a flash. “Let’s eat.”
* * *
The morning of her wedding dawned clear and mild. The winds that had buffeted the Texas landscape for the last week had calmed, and the weather forecasters were promising nothing but pleasant temperatures for several days to come.
Today at eleven o’clock she was marrying Liam in an intimate ceremony at the Texas Cattleman’s Club. Naturally Kori was her matron of honor while Liam’s best man would be Mac McCallum. Because the wedding was happening so fast, Hadley had opted for a white tulle skirt and sleeveless white lace top that showed a glimpse of her midriff. Since she was marrying a man she’d reconnected with less than a month earlier, Hadley decided to kick conventional to the curb and wear something trendy rather than a traditional gown.
Kori had lent her the white silk flower and crystal headpiece she’d worn at her wedding. Her something borrowed. She wore a pair of pearl-and-diamond earrings once owned by Liam’s grandmother. Her something old. For her something blue and new, Hadley purchased a pair of bright blue cowboy boots.
The shock on her mother’s face validated Hadley’s choice, but it was the possessive gleam in Liam’s eyes as she walked down the aisle at the start of the ceremony that assured her she’d been absolutely right to break the mold and let her true self shine.
“You look gorgeous,” he told her as she took the hand he held out to her.
She stepped beside him and tucked her hand into the crook of his arm. “I’m glad you think so. I thought of you when I bought everything.”
He led her toward the white arch where the minister waited. A harp played in the corner, the tune something familiar to weddings, but Hadley was conscious only of the tall man at her side and the sense of peace that filled her as the minister began to speak.
Swearing to love, honor and be true to Liam until the day she died was the easiest promise she’d ever had to make. And from the sparkle in his eyes as he slid the wedding ring onto her finger, he appeared just as willing to pledge himself completely to her.
At last the minister introduced them as husband and wife, and they led their guests into the banquet room that had been set up for the reception. Draped with white lights and tulle, the room had a romantic atmosphere that stopped Hadley’s breath.
