Total pages in book: 235
Estimated words: 227851 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1139(@200wpm)___ 911(@250wpm)___ 760(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 227851 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1139(@200wpm)___ 911(@250wpm)___ 760(@300wpm)
But I think of something.
And smile.
I grab some handcuffs, check myself in the mirror once more, and leave the room, bumping into John directly outside.
“What’s up?” he asks immediately.
“Nothing.” I’m not wasting any more time or energy on Coral. Not today. Not ever. I look up and down his suited form. “Fancy.”
“Fuck off.” He shifts on the spot, highly uncomfortable. Not because of the suit—he’s always in suits—but because of his role today. “Are you ready or what?” He turns and stalks off, yanking in the sides of his suit jacket.
“Have you got the rings?” I ask, tailing him.
“Yes.”
“And the registrar is here?”
“Yes.”
“And the guests?”
“All in their seats.”
“The music?”
“Sorted.”
“The—”
John stops abruptly, and I crash into his back, making him jolt forward on a grunt. “Everything is fucking done,” he grates.
I raise my brows. Someone’s tense. “Nervous?”
“Oh fuck off,” he snaps, getting his big body moving again, taking the stairs. I follow behind him on a smile, straightening my tie. “And why the fuck have you got a pair of handcuffs?”
I quickly slip them into my pocket, not answering him. He doesn’t need an answer, he’s merely trying to distract me from the fact that the big scary fucker is shitting bricks.
When we reach the bottom of the stairs, I follow John into the bar. Drew and Sam both have a Scotch in their grasps, and I’m more than surprised when John holds his hand up for Mario to pour him one. Fuck, he’s really nervous. John absolutely never drinks. I watch all three men gasp their appreciation and slam their glasses down.
“My man,” Sam sings, slapping my shoulder and taking in my new three-piece. “Fancy.”
John lets out a rare, rumbling laugh and points to his glass for Mario to pour another. Drew gives me a curious look, and I shrug. This is new to me too. “Are you ready?” Sam asks.
“Yep.” I fiddle with my tie again.
“No nerves?” Drew asks.
“None at all.” Get me down that aisle right now. “Ask him,” I say, nodding to the back of John’s gleaming bald head.
“Don’t ask me,” he warns in reply, not taking his attention off his second Scotch.
“There you are!” Tessa seizes me from behind and hauls me out of the bar. “Come on, boys,” she yells back before looking me up and down. “How many have you had?” she asks, pushing me on. “The last thing we need is a drunk groom.”
“You have no idea.” I laugh, hearing John cough. “I’ve not touched a drop,” I assure her, looking up the stairs when I hear a door open. The door to my suite? “Is she ready?”
“She’s ready.”
“And she’s okay?”
“What’s up?” Tessa asks, flipping me a sideways smirk. “Worried you’ll get jilted at the altar?”
I snort. “Don’t be fucking ridiculous.” But I immediately break out in a sweat, looking back over my shoulder to the stairs. “Who’s she with?”
“Her father.” Tessa tugs me on, stopping at the summer room doors and facing me, brushing down the front of my suit. I eye her, stepping back, out of her reach. “You had a bit of lint.”
I hold up my hands. “I also have hands to remove it myself.”
She blushes and turns her attention to Kate, starting to faff with her dress instead, as if to make a point that she wasn’t singling me out to be felt up. The boys join us, and I watch as Sam moves in on Kate, smiling at her, taking her in.
“You look incredible,” he says, moving a stray lock of her red hair off her face. I frown when Kate shies away from his touch and then sways a little. Is she drunk?
“Now, then.” Tessa opens the doors to the summer room and ushers us inside, leaving Kate behind.
“Everything okay?” I ask Sam as we wander down the aisle, all eyes on me.
“Yeah.” He lowers onto a seat, and I look at Drew. He shakes his head mildly, his way of telling me he’s noticed something’s not right too. I haven’t got time to wonder whether I should be sharing the news of Kate’s history with Drew. Not today.
Joining John, I take a deep breath. “Ready?” I ask him, laughing on the inside. Anyone would think it’s him getting married.
“I’m ready.”
“You sure?”
He slowly turns his eyes onto me. No shades. “I’m fucking ready, you irritating motherfucker.”
I smile at him, nodding mildly. “You’re a good man, John Johnson.”
His smile is barely hidden. “Fuck off.”
I laugh but flinch when I hear Elizabeth approaching behind me, throwing out her hellos to all of the guests, lapping up the attention. I stare forward, gritting my teeth. She’s going to fucking kill me when I handcuff myself to her daughter.
Don’t care.
I swing around, all smiles. “Here she is, my beautiful mother-in-law.”
She half-smiles, half scowls, giving me her cheek to kiss. “Not yet, Jesse Ward. Not yet.”