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I can’t do this.
I can’t get married while Ariel’s still out there.
She’s the one I want to share my life with. She’s the one that I should be marrying!
That’s it! I can’t marry that bitch Vanessa. I’ve got to call this whole thing off before it’s too late.
“Hey,” said my best man, Ryan, interrupting my thoughts and reminding me that we drew closer and closer to the finish line. “Are you sure you want to go through with this? She’s going to make your life miserable, man. You know she is. You can still call this off. There’s still time. All you have to do is say the word and I’ll throw you over my shoulder carry your ass out of here if I have to. You don’t have to do this if you don’t want to. I know your heart still belongs to that girl from Rome—”
“Earth to ARIEL GRAINGER!” A harsh voice severed the line of Ryan’s words. My heart stopped in mid-beat before my blood surged anew through my veins. My pulse thundered in my ears. My head jerked up. My breath caught and for a second, I thought I was dreaming.
No!
I’ve got to be dreaming.
This can’t be happening.
But it was.
“Hey man!” Ryan chucked me on the shoulder, but I barely registered it. “Are you listening to me?”
No, I wasn’t listening.
I had to be dreaming, but I wasn’t!
She’s here!
My beautiful, beautiful Ariel was here!
My body tingled as my pulse tapped out a heavy tattoo.
I’ve never been a believer in second chances, and after the past year, I’d lost faith in third, fourth, and fifth chances as well. After that exquisite week in Rome and foolishly losing my phone with her number in it, I thought that I’d never see Ariel again. Losing her nearly killed me. I had given up and was prepared for a future that I didn’t look forward to. And then I heard that loud, brash woman shout her name and life breathed back into my comatose heart.
I froze as my hope thundered like thousands of stampeding hooves. It was both the worst and the best moment of my life. The woman I dreamed of nightly. The one who owned my every thought, possessed my heart and soul, my other half, was here. She was here, standing across from me while I was set to marry someone else.
I blinked several times. I couldn’t believe my eyes. This couldn’t be happening, could it? I considered asking Ryan to pinch me to make sure. But this was real. My goddess was here. She was here and wearing that hideous, godawful bridesmaid’s gown. She could have worn a flour sack and would still be the most beautiful woman here.
Ariel.
The one that I’d lost. The one that I wanted more than life itself.
Mine.
The woman was mine. She belonged to me, with me. The one that I would never let slip away again.
“Luke?” Ryan called out again. “What’s gotten into you?”
“Just a minute.”
My feet were moving before I realized I was walking. I had to get to her. I needed to be close to her. To look into her eyes. To touch the softest skin known to man. To press my lips to hers. To hold that hungry, welcoming body against mine. I needed to be next to her. To tell her just how much I’d missed her before falling at her feet and professing my love for her.
Ariel...” I breathed out as I came face to face with the biggest, brightest green eyes that I’d ever seen. Eyes that glazed over as I pushed her over her limits and sent her crashing headlong into climax. “Ariel, is it really you?” I was filled with indescribable joy. “Ariel, what are you doing here? How…? How is it that you’re here?”
“Isn’t it obvious? I’m one of the bridesmaids.”
She was the one that couldn’t be here until just before the ceremony. The mystery bridesmaid who’d I’d never met. A woman that my bride-to-be and her bitchy, gossipy sister, Mary and equally bitchy cousin, Phyllis, had dragged through the mud. Vanessa had spent two solid days running the ‘other bridesmaid’ down. The one she’d accused of being selfish for putting work and other responsibilities before our wedding. I could hear Vanessa’s screeching now, still ranting on how rude it was for someone to value anything more than her big day. Instantly, my stomach flamed with anger. My fingers itched to find Vanessa and rip her ass a new one for disparaging my long-lost Ariel so. Not only that, I wanted to know why she’d kept Ariel’s identity from me. Why was there a need for secrecy? Did Vanessa know about my feelings for Ariel? Did she somehow figure out what Ariel meant to me? I didn’t know, but I sure as hell was going to find out.
As I stood fuming, the rest of me ached to pull the gorgeous creature before me into my arms and kiss her until she was breathless and panting. I sucked in a tight breath and held it. The impulse was irresistible. The urge too strong. I couldn’t hold back. I had to touch her. I needed to feel her. My hand lifted on its own accord, wanting nothing more than to bury itself in her long, wavy red hair. My lips ached to taste hers after being denied their honey-wine sweetness for what felt like centuries.
