on her face. “You look stunning in that.”
I brush my hand over the silky fabric and force a smile. “Jessica will, too.” I glance back toward the door. “Where’s the seamstress?”
Athena pulls her phone from the tiny bag on her arm. “Oh!”
“What?”
She narrows her eyes on the screen. “Artemis says the judge wants to do a quick run-through of the ceremony before the guests all arrive to make sure everybody knows what they’re doing because we didn’t have time for a formal rehearsal.”
“I made very sure everybody knows where they’re supposed to be and when.”
“I know,” she waves me off, “the judge is just being meticulous. Come with me.” She grabs my hand and drags me toward the door, but I plant my feet.
“What are you doing?”
“We need someone to be the bride.”
I glance down at the dress. “No. I can’t go out there in her dress.”
“It’ll only take a minute. I promise. Do it for Archie.”
Do it for Archie…
Her words tug at my bruised heart, and I relent and let her drag me from the room across the large entryway of the castle and to the vast, high-ceilinged room where the ceremony is supposed to take place.
Soft piano music hits my ears. This must be a full-on rehearsal. Athena squeezes my hand and pulls me to a stop outside the door.
She takes both my hands in hers and squeezes them. “Blaire, remember the day I was in the office and you had the stack of all the applications?”
I nod slowly.
What does this have to do with the wedding rehearsal?
“Well,” humor dances in her blue eyes, “I told you to throw away all the good ones.”
“What?”
She gives me a guilty little half-smile. “I thought that if I only let through the ones I thought would be bad for Archie that he could see what was right in front of him instead.”
I let out a deep sigh and blink away tears. “You were wrong.”
She squeezes my hand again and shakes her head. “No, I wasn’t.”
“What are you—”
Before I can finish my question, Athena drags me in front of the open door, and I lose my ability to speak.
Archimedes
Blaire has never looked more confused.
Or more beautiful.
The second she stepped into the doorway and I saw her, all the air rushed from my lungs. And now, with her eyes locked on mine, standing at the altar, I have to reach up and swipe under my eyes to keep the tears from falling.
I slowly descend the steps and walk down the aisle with the nearly empty chairs on either side.
Blaire’s best friend, Brandy, leans toward me. “Go get her!”
I flash her a grin and continue making my way back to Blaire. If it hadn’t been for Brandy’s help, I’m not so sure we would’ve even been able to pull this off. But once I realized what an idiot I was being, and after a very heartfelt chat with Grandmother, I knew what I had to do—I had to marry the right woman.
The stubbornness that was keeping me from acknowledging what I needed to do was asinine, and I was ready to spend the rest of my life with a woman I barely knew, who I certainly didn’t love, all to fit some mold established by the very people who have made my life a living hell in so many ways.
Christ, I was so stupid.
Prepared to do that when this woman was offering me everything.
I stop in front of Blaire, and her jaw opens and closes, but she doesn’t say anything. “I know you’re probably really confused right now, Blaire.”
She nods slowly. “Yeah, you could say that.”
Two more steps bring me to her, and I pull her hands into mine. “I’m doing what I should’ve done weeks ago.” I drop down onto one knee. “Marry me, Blaire.”
Her eyes widen. “What?” She scans the faces in the room. “What about Jessica?”
I sigh and glance at Athena, where she stands behind Blaire. “I talked to her, and I told her the truth—that my heart belongs to you. She was upset, understandably, but she said she’d rather have me marry for love.”
Blaire’s breath hitches, and tears well in her eyes.
I squeeze her hands tightly. “It’s a word I never thought I’d say. A word I wasn’t sure I would ever understand. But after our talk at the party, and in the hours and days since, it’s become abundantly clear to me that I could never be happy with Jessica. Not when my heart belongs to you. So, marry