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He felt the heatsweeping through his body at an alarming rate as he watched thewoman, he’d fallen head over heels in love with, come towardhim. Stepping forward, he extended both arms, giving her a warm andintimate smile.
"Hi."
"Hi." Shesqueezed his hands slightly. "You look very dashing."
"You lookbeautiful." Lifting her hand, he kissed the back of it. "Shallwe?"
"I can't wait."
Drawing her handthrough his arm, he led her to the dais and stood in front of theminister.
The ceremonyproceeded and within minutes it was time for their vows to be said.
"Face yourbride," The minister instructed him. When he did, the maninformed the gathering that the couple would be saying their ownvows.
"Odette,darling-" He had to stop to gather his composure and tried tostop his hands from shaking. "You’ve been my best friendfor years; you know me better than anyone else does and you’vealways been there for me. I never noticed it, never thought of you asanything other than my best friend."
His eyes brightened,his fingers tightening on hers. "When I needed you the most, youwere there, and it took me a while to recognize you’re my soulmate, the love of my life, the reason for everything I do. Over thepast months, you’ve become so much more than that - words can’tdescribe how I feel about you. I adore you, darling."
He tried to smile andfailed. "I promise to love and cherish you with my mind, souland body. I’ll be there for you in sickness and in health,until death steals the breath from my body. Nothing will come betweenus, that’s something I vow to you in front of God, our friendsand family members."
"Dion." Shewas fighting tears as she stared at him. "You’re my bestfriend and my confidante. I love you, darling, so much I can scarcelybreathe from thinking what you mean to me. I’ll be there foryou, fight for you and with you, be your biggest fan and cheer youon. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for you.
You’re my idealmate, my love, my baby daddy-" She stopped as the crowd laughedat that. "My all. I promise to honor and cherish you in sicknessand in health, for richer or poorer until death parts us. I promiseyou this in front of all these people."
"The ringsplease." The minister's voice rang out in what had become a veryhushed environment as if the guests were collectively holding theirbreath.
The rings wereexchanged and a blessing pronounced and within minutes they werepronounced husband and wife.
"You may kissyour bride," The man told Dion with a benign smile. He didn’tneed any further bidding, drawing her into his arms, he used bothhands to cradle her face gently as he drew her up for his kiss.
He deliberately keptthe kiss light, ignoring the need pouring through his body. He’dmade love to her last night for hours, barely giving them time torecuperate for this morning.
But now, the factthat she was now his wife, was stripping away his control and all hewanted to do was bury himself inside her and never come back out.With a supreme effort, he ended the kiss and turned her to face thecrowd.
"Ladies andgentlemen, I now present to you, Mr. & Mrs. Dion Horton! Pleasestand and receive the bride and groom."
Chapter 16
The grand opening ofthe super Horton store went off without a hitch and allowed Dion andthe board of directors to breathe sighs of relief. The event had beenso hyped up in the press that when the day finally arrived it was allpeople were talking about. It’d been put off for two monthsbecause it wasn’t quite up to Dion's expectations.
The grand buildingstood majestically in the heart of Manhattan in the busiest sectionof the city, surrounded by theaters, trendy restaurants and thousandsof foot traffic. People passing the store would stop and lookcuriously at the transformation. The advertising department hadspared no expenses.
Ads were plastered onthe sides of buses, as well as billboards heralding the grand openingof the superstore. Nothing had been left to chance and even theselection of the staff had been carefully and cautiously done. Themanager was a sleek and beautiful woman in her late fifties and hadbeen imported from Calais in France.
A very pregnant andexcited Odette stood with her husband in the foyer of the impressivebuilding, watching as the liveried doormen swept the doors open forthe patrons pouring in. She’d been given an entire section forher designs of vintage gowns, the jewel colors standing out anddrawing attention to them.
She’d gonefurther by including tasteful cosmetics, including jewelry, handbagsand shoes. She was due any time now and Dion was keeping a carefuleye on her.
They’d spenttwo weeks of honeymoon in Europe where they’d toured andcombined business with pleasure. They were also learning to ignorethe press that were so fascinated by the couple that every time theystepped out of their apartment, they were photographed.
It had somehow comeout that Odette had first been asked to be a surrogate and therelationship had progressed into romance.
"How are you?"Dion turned her to face him, ignoring the gazes of the people millingaround. A live band was playing on the floor above them and fingerfoods were being offered.
"I’mfine."
"You should finda seat." His eyes wandered over a face that had grown even morebeautiful as her pregnancy advanced. Living as man and wife had beena marvel for him and he was humbled by how much he loved her.
