Second Chance Mess (Bad News Billionaires #1) - Lucia Jordan Page 0,60
archway that framed the scenery of the mountains behind it. There were a few guests on either side of the aisle who were all sitting on piles of blankets in the snow, and the bonfire was blazing off to the side to give warmth in the chilled air. It was dusk, so there was still plenty of light to see, but there was a magical dimness that hung in the sky. Standing at the end of the aisle was everything I had ever wanted since the very first moment that I had seen him.
Nick was waiting for me with his arm out, and as soon as I took his it, Kate walked out in front of me and scattered an array of colorful wildflowers onto the ground. Nick and I followed slowly behind her, and when I got to the end of the aisle, he kissed me on the cheek and handed me off to Tim, who took my hands in his. Behind him, Max gave me a wink.
The ceremony was simple and short; we hadn't wanted to say anything that belonged to anyone else. We wanted the few words used to be meaningful to us, the things that got us to this very point in time together, and then have the officiant conclude the ceremony so that we could enjoy time with our friends and then time alone with each other. So, Tim and I challenged each other to come up with one single sentence that we wanted to exchange as our wedding vows. So many weddings had endless paragraphs of vows that most people would forget most of by the following week or maybe even the next morning. This one sentence would be something that we would each remember forever, and since we had kept them a secret from each other until this moment, I was surprised by how similar our sentences turned out to be.
"Even the stars in the sky are jealous of our love," Tim said to me.
"Even in the night sky, we belong to each other," I said in return.
"Wow," Kate whispered in my ear even before the ceremony was finished. "That was kind of like you guys just finished each other's thoughts."
It was perfect.
We slipped the silver wedding bands onto one another’s hand and kissed each other before the officiant even made the announcement. Then we turned to join our friends in a celebration of the best day of our lives.
Everyone stayed until it got dark, and we all enjoyed good friends and good wine around the fire. Then, once everyone had left, we went inside to get comfortable.
"I have one last surprise for you," Tim said as he was helping me to unzip the back of my wedding dress.
"Oh?" I said. "What is it?"
"Something that you have wanted."
"I already have everything that I want now," I said as I turned to kiss him.
"You'll want this, too," he grinned. "It's something that we both wanted." He gently pulled me by the hand. "Come on."
"But I didn't put any clothes on yet," I said.
"I know," he said as he dropped his own clothes by the bedroom door.
The two of us walked nakedly through the hallway and out the backdoor.
"We're going to freeze," I said.
But then, as soon as we got outside, I saw what he had done. We hurried across the blankets that were laid into a path until we got to the large pile of furs that was close to the fire.
He must have asked Max to lay out the blankets and furs and to restoke the fire while we were saying goodbye to the guests. We got beneath the warm furs and lay facing each other with the crackling fire in the background. And just as we had wished for, there was light snow still falling. Every part of my body was drenched in a comforting and enthralling sensation.
The furs and fire mixed with the heat of our bodies were so warm that it was toasty, and the cold ground beneath us with the bursting little icy snowflakes that fell against our skin gave shots of chill that kept our senses on the peak of wonder. The cold air wafted underneath the furs when we moved and then created a warm pocket when we wrapped them tightly back around us.
"Do you remember when we talked about making love under the stars and beneath the furs while the snow was falling?" he asked.