Catching Him(How to Catch an Alpha #1) - Aurora Rose Reynolds Page 0,85

at me, then moves into place. I do the same, while the music starts up.

The back door of the cabin opens, and Chrissie steps outside, holding a bouquet of flowers close to her simple light-pink dress; then Leah’s dad follows in a tux similar to mine. Leah appears in the open doorway, and my throat closes up at the sight of her in a formfitting white wedding dress. The top half is covered in lace from her chest down to her waist, and a fur shawl is tied around her shoulders with a silk ribbon at her throat. Her face is hidden by a veil, and her hair is down around her shoulders.

“Lucky bastard,” Scott mutters under his breath, and I smile. He’s right. I’m one lucky bastard. I found something rare. I found the love of a good woman—a woman I look forward to spending the rest of my life with. Best of all, I wasn’t even looking . . . she literally fell through my window.

When Leah and her father reach the podium, I move forward to shake his hand.

“I don’t need to tell you to take care of her. I already know you will.” Her dad claps me on the shoulder before he kisses Leah’s cheek over her veil and whispers something to her. When he pulls back and looks at me, his eyes are teary.

“I got her from here.” He lifts his chin, and I take Leah’s hand. I help her up the two steps to the podium, and once we’re in place, I look down at her, hating the veil between us. Pastor Rodsend starts to speak, and it seems to take forever to get to the part I’m looking forward to most. When he says the words I’ve been waiting to hear, I say, “I do,” and listen to Leah repeat the same words before I lift the soft fabric away from her face. I look into her eyes, feeling my throat begin to close once more.

“Hey,” she whispers, looking at me nervously, like we’re strangers, and I fight back the sudden urge to laugh.

When I have myself under control, I whisper back, “You look amazing. You’re always beautiful and always have a way of stopping my breath and giving it back to me, but right now . . .” I shake my head. “Jesus, baby, you stop my heart from beating.”

“Tyler.” Her body melts into mine.

“You’re everything, everything to me, Leah.” I capture her face in my hands.

“You’re everything to me too.” She licks her lips and drops her eyes to my mouth. “Now, would you fricking kiss me already?”

“Can’t a guy enjoy the view for a moment?” I tease.

She shakes her head no, and then, surprising me, she leans up on her tiptoes and grabs my face. She pulls my lips to hers, and even though I’m caught off guard, the kiss is not a quick touch of our lips. It’s wild and deep and everything a kiss should be. We’re both breathing heavily when she pulls her mouth from mine, and I hear her faint whispered “Oh my goodness” over the shouts from our family and friends as she tucks her face into my neck. I laugh, holding her close, then swing her up into my arms and listen to her squeak as she wraps her arms around my neck. The shouting gets louder as I carry her down the aisle, but neither of us hears anything after I cart my new wife inside to make out with her.

Epilogue

THREE YEARS LATER

TYLER

I pull into the garage and grab dinner from the passenger seat before I get out of my truck. As soon as I open the door, I hear Leah shouting, “Stop running away from me and put on your clothes.” I pause at the end of the hall, watching my almost-three-year-old daughter, Cori (short for Corina), run past me completely naked, with her mom chasing after her, holding a pair of little girl’s underwear in one hand and a shirt in the other. By the time I hit the living room, Leah has trapped our girl and has forced her into her underwear and is attempting to put a T-shirt on her. I’m not surprised by this situation; Cori would run around naked all the time if we allowed it.

“Cori, why are you giving your mama a hard time?” I look at my girl, who’s hanging half–upside down off the ottoman next to the couch, trying to get out of putting