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“To love and to cherish for the rest of our lives,” Bo said, repeating the vows the minister had fed him.
Addison’s dress would probably come off pretty easily. Or I could just shove the skirt up and yank her panties down. What if she wasn’t wearing panties? No, don’t think about that. I’d have to walk out of here in a minute or two. The last thing I needed was a hard-on.
Behind me, the seated wedding guests broke into applause. Some cheered. That pulled me out of a very vivid daydream of doing Addison up against the wall.
The bride and groom were kissing. Her back was arched, he pulled her so tight against him. And then they were facing the crowd. It was go time.
As they took off down the aisle, there was no longer anything separating Addison and me. We were standing facing each other, and our job was to come together.
Addison’s smile faltered slightly, and I realized I’d delayed half a second too long. Okay, maybe a full second. Maybe two. Whatever the case, I needed to get my ass in gear before one of the other groomsmen kicked it there.
Nobody had given us instructions. We’d skipped the rehearsal last night after the snowstorm messed everything up. But I’d been to some weddings in my life, and I had a feeling the way my buddies were pairing up these days, even more weddings were in my future.
I walked toward Addison, turned to face the audience, and bent my arm toward her. She slipped her hand into the crook of my elbow, and we began walking.
I tried not to think about the feel of her hand on my arm, but I couldn’t help it. I even gave my biceps a little extra flex.
Neither of us spoke as we followed Bo and Emerald toward the door that opened to the backyard. Erika, the wedding planner, was standing just inside the back door, a big pile of fur on a table next to her. She picked up a strip of that fur and handed it to Addison. It had to pass by me in the process.
“Is that real?” I asked.
Erika’s smile faltered slightly. Was that rude? Probably.
“It’s faux fur,” she said. “It’s to keep the women warm.”
I started to ask what about us, but I figured I’d worn out my rude comment allowance for the day. Erika stepped over andpushed the door open, and I immediately saw why it was chillier in this room than the rest of the house.
“Sheesh,” I said as we exited. “I’m going to freeze my balls off.”
Addison, who’d stepped outside ahead of me, stopped and gave me a look. She was pulling the faux fur shawl over her shoulders at that point, but there was no mistaking the disapproval in her eyes.
“Freeze my ass off?” I asked her in a lower tone than I’d used earlier. She shook her head and started toward the pool area. I rushed to catch up with her, calling out. “Butt?”
This woman obviously didn’t appreciate my sense of humor. Or maybe it was my crass way of speaking. I’d come from the military, and before that, a household full of boys. Not to mention the stepdad who beat the crap out of us when we got out of line. I was hardly the refined gentleman a city girl like her would normally date.
But we weren’t dating. We were trying to stay warm in the snow. Luckily, she’d beelined for a heater on a pole—a modern-day miracle umbrella as far as I was concerned.
“Oh, heat,” Addison said on a sigh.
The only other person here was Tucker from the logging crew. For some reason, he’d been standing in front of this heater alone. Bo and Emerald were over near the door, talking to the photographer, which is why we were out here in the first place—to take pictures.
“Hey, man,” I said, giving Tucker a nod.
He nodded back, then shifted his gaze off toward the house. He then began walking, not saying a word as he whizzed past us and went back inside.
“What was that all about?” Addison asked once he was gone.
I shrugged. “He kind of keeps to himself. I’m surprised he’s here, actually. He doesn’t really do social stuff like this.”
Addison didn’t have a response to that. She just pulled the shawl tighter around her and shivered a little. I longed to put my arm around her and pull her close to me for warmth. Would that be completely inappropriate? It was the gentlemanly thing to do, after all.
Within minutes, we were joined by the rest of the wedding party, all of us jockeying for position in front of the heater. My buddy Slade was snuggling up with a woman he’d met last night. I knew because I was standing there when they met.
Seeing Slade get handsy with his woman almost gave me the courage to try with Addison. But then Erika wanted us for photos, and that idea was shot.
“Duty calls,” I said to Addison.
She looked at me then, and as our gazes met, I felt something stirring. Not just sexual attraction, either. This was more.
