Total pages in book: 61
Estimated words: 59690 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 298(@200wpm)___ 239(@250wpm)___ 199(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 59690 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 298(@200wpm)___ 239(@250wpm)___ 199(@300wpm)
“I will never get tired of seeing you in that dress,” Chase said. His hands moved to my hips, drawing me in closer. “Or out of it.”
“The reception hasn’t even started, and you’re already talking about getting me naked.”
He arched an eyebrow. “There is nothing wrong with wanting my wife naked underneath me.”
“Or on top of you.”
“Or bent over,” he agreed. “Whatever position you prefer, baby girl.”
“All of them.”
“I’m convinced.”
“Y’all ready?” Nora called as she strode toward us in her mile-high heels. I still didn’t know how she navigated them like a pro. “Everything is set.”
I kicked one Doc Marten–covered foot out from under the floof of my dress. “We’re ready.”
“We could use fifteen more minutes,” Chase said at the same time.
I lifted my brows. “Filthy.”
“I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that so I don’t have to hide anything from West,” Nora said with a laugh.
“We’ve been married for months. He knows we’ve had sex, right?”
“We had sex years before that,” Chase added under his breath.
“Uh-uh-uh, do not need to know,” Nora said with a laugh. “Let’s get you into your reception.”
“We’re ready,” I said again.
Chase took my hand in his and pressed a kiss to the knuckles. “We are.”
We followed Nora to the entrance to the Wright Vineyard barn. We’d agreed to have the reception here with both of our families, fathers excluded, even though we could have gone with neutral territory.
We’d stuck to it—the Wright-Sinclair feud was over.
Our fathers might be trying to hang on to it, but we were done. Arnold was out of Chase’s life and dealing with the aftermath of being taken to court for his sexual harassment cases. I was personally rooting for the girls to win and take him for everything. Chase and I didn’t need his money.
Even better, my mom had left Owen.
She was waiting for us at the closed barn doors. She pressed a kiss to my cheek. “So proud of you, honey.”
“So glad to have you here.”
“Glad I finally made the move.”
Oh yeah, and she’d moved to Lubbock to be with her kids. Grandma and Grandpa had reluctantly come, too, and were now in a home down the street from Mom’s new house. She could walk there every morning to check on them for a fraction of the cost of where they’d been in Seattle. It was the best of all worlds.
“Me too.”
She hugged Chase. “My wonderful son-in-law.”
“Anything for you, Tanya.”
“And for me?” Charlotte Sinclair asked as she took up the other side of our set.
“Of course, Mom.”
We’d compromised on our entrance. Since no one else had been invited to our elopement, we’d wanted our moms to walk us into our reception. Let them have the moment we’d denied them four months earlier. As strange as the pair were—a former groupie and a trophy wife—they’d become friends. Maybe because my mom had just moved into town and Chase’s mom was freshly divorced. They had more in common than they’d ever known.
“Let’s do this,” Nora proclaimed.
The doors opened. I took Chase’s hand in mine and looped my arm through my mom’s. Then, the four of us were striding inside to the announcement, “Mr. and Mrs. Wright-Sinclair!”
The room was crowded with Wrights, but also Sinclair friends and family as well. It was nice to see it was full of all the people in our lives. Ashleigh with her new boyfriend, Matthew. The first guy she’d ever really been herself with. I was happy for them. Kai and Elsie with her pregnant belly. My work friends clustered around Courtney in her wheelchair. Blake and Ivy Holliday, all the way in from New Mexico. Bailey still wouldn’t tell me what was going on with them, but I’d get it out of her sometime.
I kissed my mom’s cheek. “I love you.”
“Love you, too, sweetie.”
Chase released his own mom, and then we were on the empty dance floor. I’d chosen our opening song—an instrumental version of “Ziggy Stardust”—and the first notes made Chase laugh.
“Of course. It’s our song.”
“Not quite the same without Bowie’s lyrics, but I wanted something we could show off to.”
And show off we did.
Because we’d spent the last four months in ballroom dancing classes. Chase’s love for dancing had taken me by surprise, and when I’d suggested that we learn to dance together, he’d been above and beyond excited. Now, we were in classes every week, and I didn’t see it stopping just because the reception was over. I still stumbled compared to his smooth steps, but I was getting better.
The crowd cheered our moves. Not quite choreographed as I followed Chase through all the steps we’d learned over the last couple of months. My confidence growing the longer we were out there. Until I was smiling and twirling and enjoying myself in a way that I’d never known I could off the ice.