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“We’ll be right out,” Abbie said.
I turned back to my friend. She was finishing brushing her hair, but she was otherwise ready.
“As soon as the ceremony’s over, I’ll grab my phone,” I said. “Trust me, though. The eyes are identical.”
“Maybe they’re twins,” Abbie said as she rushed to apply some lipstick.
“Not possible.” I shook my head and lowered my voice to a whisper again. “Slade Shepherd didn’t have any siblings. He was raised by a single mom. His music career pulled them out of near poverty. It was a really touching story that made all of us fall even more in love with him.”
“Love?” Abbie’s eyebrows shot up.
I chose to dodge that question. “Speaking of which, what’s the deal with you and the military recruiter?”
Abbie glanced at the door again. “We have to go.” She began quickly shoving everything back into her makeup bag. I was already holding mine. “But we’ll definitely catch up at the reception.”
4
SLADE
My face felt weird. In fact, I felt naked standing up here in front of everyone without my beard. It had served as a disguise for so long.
But this had been Bo’s one request. No beard for the wedding pictures. I put it off as long as I could, hoping he’d forget about it, but that morning, he showed up with a razor and called in my promise.
Those thoughts flew out of my head the second I saw Cheyenne. She wore the same wine-colored dress as the other bridesmaids, but the color gave her a certain glow. Maybe it was the way it interacted with her skin tone. I wasn’t sure.
All I knew was the first sight of her took my breath away. I was supposed to be focusing on the wedding, but throughout the ceremony, my gaze kept drifting to that beautiful woman.
Like the others, her dress was off-the-shoulder with a slightly plunging neckline. Cleavage was poking out the top of her bodice, and I was trying not to think about it. The last thing I needed was to get a boner up here in front of God and everyone.
“You may kiss the bride,” the minister said, breaking one of several long stares Cheyenne and I shared during the ceremony.
She felt it too. I suspected that last night, while we were playing games on the same team. I tried with all my might to figure out a way to get her into my bed, but I just reminded myself I had one more night. This time, I wouldn’t blow it.
We were each third in line from the bride and groom. I’d done that mental calculation early. That meant we’d be walking down the aisle together when the ceremony was over. Someone had said there’d been some shifting because my buddy Gage had taken up with one of the bridesmaids, Jilly, and he wanted to walk out with her. I’d definitely have to rib him about that one.
But Cheyenne and I would be walking down the aisle together. I didn’t mind that one bit.
As we walked toward each other to meet and head down the aisle together, I felt that undeniable pull toward her again. It was like some bigger force was drawing us together. The closer we got, the more every nerve in my body seemed to tingle. She hadn’t even touched me yet, but that was next.
I turned to my side and crooked my elbow as we’d been instructed. She smiled down at my arm and slipped her hand through.
Then we were walking side by side, between rows of chairs. Suddenly, people I knew from around town were looking at me differently. Did they recognize me? I didn’t see a hint of the sort of celebrity worship that was my life a decade ago. It was more of a, “he looks different, but I don’t know why” scrutiny.
I was no fool, though. As soon as this wedding was over, I’d start growing the beard back. Even if nobody here placed me as Slade Shepherd, someone might someday.
“I’m going to freeze my balls off,” someone in front of us said as we followed the rest of the wedding party through the back door and onto a patio.
I winced, wanting to protect Cheyenne from that sort of language. It was a ridiculous idea since the woman clearly couldtake care of herself. Still, she was a lady from head to toe, and she deserved respect.
“Come on,” I said, spotting a heater on a tall stand over by the pool.
I grabbed Cheyenne’s hand, not even realizing what I’d done until we were already well on our way. My goal was warmth. But with all the people now flooding out the back door of the house, the spots around that one heater would fill up quickly. She stepped up to stand beside me, and I still didn’t release my grip.
We were front and center in front of that heater. The gratitude on her face told me her focus was there right now. I couldn’t blame her.
She stared up at the heater like she was worshipping it. “This is amazing.”
She was still shaking, though, even with the faux fur shawl Erika handed each bridesmaid as they exited. I let go of her hand, then reached for my suit jacket. I then draped it over her shoulders on top of the shawl.
