“Marry me, Elaina Tripoli,” he said against her lips, and oh how she loved the sound of those words.
“Yes,” she replied. “My answer to that will always be yes.”
He chuckled and kissed her again.
“What about after today, when you’re my wife? I can’t ask you to marry me then, can I?”
She ran her fingers through his hair, loving that he wore it longer these days. It gave her something to grab onto when she needed him closer, just as she did now.
“You can always ask me to be yours,” she rasped against him. “And I’ll always say yes.” She gave his hair another soft tug.
He let out a quiet moan. “El-ain-a…” he pleaded. “We can’t. Not now. I’ve got to sneak my arse out of here and see you at the church for the first time.”
Her hands traveled to his neck, down the length of his back, then stopped to cup that lovely varéli through his kilt.
“Are you a true Scotsman?” she asked, and there was that delicious moan again. How she loved the things she could do to this man—and those he could do to her. Pity they couldn’t do those things right now. She would test the boundaries of her lipstick, but with only minutes before she had to leave for the church, she was not about to push it any further.
Duncan stepped back and cupped her cheeks. Surely they were flushed far beyond explanation. She’d need a few minutes to cool down before her family saw her.
“I am a Scotsman, aye,” he said. “But I am also a gentleman when it’s forty degrees and windy as hell. So you’ll have to make do with my tartan knickers,” he added, then proceeded to tease his wife-to-be by lifting his kilt just enough for her to see the McAllister tartan in undergarment form.
“Go,” she said. “Go before I have my way with you and ruin my dress.” She kissed him twice more—on the mouth and then on his beautiful and bruised cheek.
“There’s nothing I want more than for you to have your way with me…but it will have to wait until you are Elaina McAllister, if that’s okay with you.”
She opened the door and pushed him through it. If she didn’t, she’d never make it to becoming Elaina McAllister, but dammit she would enjoy the reason for missing her own wedding.
“I am not patient,” she said. “Especially when it comes to you.” And because she couldn’t help herself, she put that lip stain to one final test. This kiss was soft yet expectant, and it would have to do until later. Much later. Shit.
“I love you,” Duncan said, and then he slipped out the door without letting her respond, as if he didn’t need to hear her reciprocate. As if he always knew that despite her inability to always show him how she really felt, he never doubted her.
Elaina would never, ever doubt this most beautiful man again.
I think we make our own luck, aye?
“Aye, Duncan,” she said to herself. “I’m the luckiest person I know.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
Griffin
Maggie was already gone by the time Griffin had finished his pint with Duncan and Noah. She’d texted, though.
The bridal party is getting ready at Elaina’s. Jordan said I could tag along.
Griffin’s Rocky soundtrack came to a screeching halt. He’d been buoyed with confidence not only from his ridiculous playlist but from the other guys as well. They’d all gotten themselves into messes, yet each man had been well intentioned in doing so.
Yes, he should have told Maggie what he was doing from the start, and he shouldn’t have put her in some virtual breakables cabinet. She was stronger than that, and he knew it. But that didn’t stop him from wanting to protect her now and always. Nothing…nothing was more important to him than the girl who trusted him to be the man he’d always hoped he could be.
That was it—he had to convince her to trust him again, and with Maggie that meant only one thing: total and utter honesty about why he wasn’t honest. Of course he would always worry about Maggie getting sick again, but that could happen anywhere. Her health wasn’t the reason he’d kept the fellowship from her. He was scared of moving so far out of his safety zone in order to chase a dream he only realized he had once he met her, but that wasn’t it, either. The biggest fear, the one that cost Griffin her trust, was that he didn’t want any of it if it meant a life without her. It wasn’t fair to put the responsibility for his happiness on her shoulders, not when she already carried so much. So he’d have to show Maggie that her burdens and responsibilities weren’t hers alone anymore. That was the deal, the fine print on the contract of what it meant to love someone the way he loved her. It was time to lay his half of the deck on the table and hope that Maggie was all in, too.
Noah
Noah found the small velvet box in his toiletry bag. He knew Jordan wouldn’t be there when he returned. The bridal party was due at Elaina’s at the same time he was having his morning pint. But his gut twisted at the sight of the ring back in his possession. Had he really fucked up this badly? If Jordan’s yes was now a no, he wasn’t sure he could take it. They’d come too far for him to have done irreparable damage. He had to believe that much because the alternative was unthinkable.
The whole point of this trip was to replace painful memories with positive ones, but that had already backfired.
Noah opened the box and found not just the ring but also a note.
Noah—
I wanted to wear it. I really did. But it felt strange. If last night wasn’t how you wanted things to go, then I don’t want to wear it…yet. This isn’t just my moment. It’s yours, too. And I should have realized that. I hope you know that I would say yes anywhere, anytime, as long as it was you asking. So I’ll wait until it’s right for you. I’m not going anywhere.
I love you.
Jordan
He bit the inside of his cheek and swallowed back the knot in his throat. He was supposed to be the one with the grand gesture, and here was Jordan Brooks, surprising him yet again. What had he done to deserve this beautiful, understanding, patient, perfect woman? And why the hell wasn’t she here so he could take it all back, tell her he’d been ready since Scotland?
He called her cell. Right to voicemail.
Shit. Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit.
He’d see her at the church, but when or how could they talk? He wasn’t going to propose to her while they were walking down the aisle. It was bad enough his first proposal stole the thunder from Duncan and Elaina’s rehearsal dinner. He wasn’t going to upstage the wedding as well.
The reception. He could do it at the reception. He had to do it before midnight. Noah would not start the New Year without his fiancée wearing her ring.
His phone buzzed with a text, and Noah saw Griffin’s name on the screen.
Ready? Duncan has a taxi waiting.
Hell yes, he was ready. And this time he’d get everything right.
Miles
Miles straightened his tie and double-checked once more to make sure his pants were zipped. This was not the Miles Parker he’d cultivated for years. Nervous and unsure—those adjectives didn’t suit him, yet here he was, suited up in formalwear and insecurity.
But damn. He did look good. That wasn’t the issue. The issue was all these feelings—because Miles didn’t do feelings. But he was having them anyway, which was ridiculous because he’d met Alex only yesterday.