Total pages in book: 65
Estimated words: 65429 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 327(@200wpm)___ 262(@250wpm)___ 218(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 65429 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 327(@200wpm)___ 262(@250wpm)___ 218(@300wpm)
“Ethan,” she warned in a tone I didn’t recognize.
I set my forehead on hers, gripping her face between my hands.
She shut her eyes.
She had to.
She knew I could see right through her.
“Ethan,” she panted, her breathing mimicking mine. “Please…”
“Please what, Livvy?” I rasped, hanging on by a thread. “Huh? Please what, baby?”
“You’re right…” She opened her eyes, staring straight into mine. “I can’t do it. I can’t marry Beau. Not when I’ve always been in love with you.” She frantically shook her head. “Oh my God, Ethan… what am I doing?”
“It’s okay,” I coaxed, instantly relieved. “It’s going to be okay.”
“I have to tell him,” she stressed. “I have to tell him right now.”
“Livvy, you need to—”
Before I could say anything more, she hauled ass out of the room, and what happened next…
I never expected in a million years.
Not for one second.
Livvy
What the hell was I doing? How did I not see I’m making a huge mistake until now? What is wrong with me?
Livvy!” Ethan shouted behind me as I ran through the castle wearing my wedding gown, heels, and veil.
I was decked out and ready to go. My makeup was done, and my hair was finished. I’d spent four hours in that glam chair just aimlessly gazing out the window, lost in my thoughts. My life played out in front of me as if it were nothing more than a movie reel I watched in the theater.
After last night, I realized how confused I truly was and how much I wanted to make everyone else happy. I spent my entire life doing what my parents wanted, and through the years, it felt like piece by piece of me was being chipped away little by little. I couldn’t believe I let it get this far.
I did love Beau, and I hated that I’d be hurting him, but I’d hurt him even more if I said, “I do.” This wasn’t fair to him. He deserved to be with a woman who was head over heels in love with him.
“Livvy!” Ethan hollered.
From an outsider looking in, I must have been quite the sight. The bride running as fast as she could in six-inch stilettos with her man of honor chasing her.
Once I tore through the door of his suite, Beau snapped around, cocking his head to the side with wide eyes. He was getting dressed.
“Isn’t it bad luck to see the bride before the wedding?”
“We need to talk.”
“Words every man wants to hear.”
“Livvy!” Ethan ran in after me, and Beau’s gaze shifted from me to him.
“What’s going on?”
For some reason, I couldn’t help but notice the expression of pure panic on Beau’s face. It was quick, but I saw it.
“Is everything alright?” he questioned.
“Ethan.” I turned to face him. “I need to speak to Beau alone.”
He eyed me skeptically for a few seconds before he nodded. “I’ll be right outside.”
“Why does he need to be right outside?” Beau asked as Ethan shut the door behind him. “What’s going on, Elizabeth?”
“Beau…” I whispered in a tone I didn’t recognize. “Why do you want to marry me?” I finally asked, needing to know.
His eyebrows pinched together. “What kind of question is that?”
“It’s a question I need you to answer.”
“It’s a stupid question.”
“Why can’t you answer it?”
“Because I love you.”
“I know that.”
“Then why are you asking?” She shook her head. “What is this? Some kind of test? Isn’t it a little late for this, sweetheart?”
“It’s a simple question, don’t you think?”
“I gave you my answer. I love you, that’s it. There’s no mystery you have to solve here. I want to marry you because I love you.”
“Alright… then why do you love me?”
“You’re starting to scare me.”
“Beau, please just answer. Why do you love me?”
He rubbed his forehead. “I’m trying really hard to stay calm, Elizabeth, but you’re making that very difficult.”
“What kind of life do you see us having?”
“A happy one,” he uttered in one breath.
“And if I don’t want to move? If I don’t want kids? That’s okay with you?”
“We’re back to this again?”
I’m going to ask this one last time, and please, please, just be honest with me. Why do you want to marry me, Beau?”
“I’ve waited so long for you. I mean, you know that. You’re mine now.”
“So I’m a trophy?” I murmured loud enough for him to hear.
“I didn’t say that.”
I shrugged, backing away.
“You didn’t have to.”
Chapter
Twenty-Nine
Livvy
“Elizabeth, why are you making problems?”
“Does it have anything to do with the fact that I’m a Collins? Would you be marrying me if I wasn’t?”
“Elizabeth…”
“Your silence is deafening, Beau.”
“I’m not silent. You want me to lie and tell you I don’t like the fact that you’re a Collins? Of course, I like it. I’m a Hunter; you’re a Collins. Sweetheart, we just make sense. I love you. We’re together now. I want to move on with our lives. I want to get married. I want to have kids. I want—”