than fighting against it. "All right, let's get this over. The kids will be bouncing off the walls by now."
Axell cast her an uncertain look, then offered his hand. He didn't know how to take her lack of enthusiasm for their marriage. He'd walked Maya all through fashionable SouthPark Mall yesterday, offering her any gown she'd like for the wedding.
Instead of excitedly running up his credit cards, she'd spurned all the designer dresses and silk suits and lavish accessories in favor of a simple cream eyelet summer gown from the White House. Admittedly, the fitted bodice and long, flowing skirt looked elegant on her newly slender figure, but it had cost nothing in comparison to what he'd been prepared to pay.
Above the scoop-necked gown, Maya wore her thick frizzy curls pinned into an unruly twist. Despite the simple elegance, the soft tendrils spilling down her nape and ears aroused the image of a woman who had just climbed from a tumble in bed, producing an uncomfortable urge Axell couldn't assuage for weeks.
Clasping Maya's fingers, he led her toward the preacher's office and the small gathering of friends and family waiting for them. They'd both agreed on a small ceremony. At least they'd found common ground in that.
He didn't like admitting it, but he was as nervous as she was. He knew her credentials as a teacher, had watched her at work and knew she was an ideal mother. Maya Alyssum was a free spirit, but she possessed the pure goodness of heart of a child. He was the villain in this piece.
He was terrified he would destroy her, or that she would leave and destroy him.
Axell shoved his intended bride toward the preacher's office.
This time, it would be different. This time, only his head was involved.
* * *
"With this ring, I thee wed."
Maya held her breath as Axell slid the delicately braided gold band on the third finger of her left hand. They'd chosen the rings when they'd bought her gown. Axell's ring was thicker and more imposing, but they'd both admired the identical gold braiding. She'd wanted no diamonds, no ludicrously expensive platinum, nothing extravagant, but she'd still been appalled at the cost of the simple bands. Axell hadn't blinked an eyelash.
The ring fit solidly on her finger, its weight a reminder of all the responsibilities she assumed with the vows she repeated now. Constance in her shining patent leather, frilled anklets, and rapidly deteriorating curls stood solemnly to one side of Axell. Matty bounced at Selene's side. Garbed in an extravagantly silly lace and eyelet gown that neither of them could resist, Alexa squirmed sleepily in the arms of a motherly Sunday-school teacher who had turned out to be an aunt of Axell's. Maya hadn't even considered the possibility of her husband having relatives.
Her husband. He stood there in the sophisticated gray of his three-piece suit, his shoulders no less rugged for their civilized confines. Her heart dived to her stomach as the preacher pronounced them man and wife, and she made the mistake of meeting Axell's gaze. He wore that solemn expression she knew so well, but she could swear she could see the impish gleam of professorial curiosity lurking behind his eyes as he leaned over to claim his kiss.
Matty emitted "Ooo, yuck" sounds and Constance abandoned her pretense of obedience to leap between them, yet Axell located Maya's mouth with unerring accuracy, and the explosive shock of his kiss shot clear to her toes before Constance succeeded in pushing them apart.
"Can I hold Alexa now, can I?" she demanded.
Maya could read the amusement dancing in Axell's eyes as he silently handed the responsibility of answering to her. She didn't know whether to smack him for his abdication of duty or love him for trusting her with his daughter.
"I think there are people waiting for us in the reception hall," Maya told her gently, taking Constance's hand. "Don't you want some cake and punch first?"
Satisfied that she'd accomplished what she'd set out to do—separate the two most important adults in her life and focus their attention on her—Constance nodded, loosening a few more limp strands of hair.
Maya tucked a curl behind her stepdaughter's ear and glanced at Axell to see how he took this. He offered a masculine shrug of indifference, but she could see something smoldering behind his eyes that warned it wouldn't always be this simple. He was a patient man, but every man had his limits.