Nash Brothers Box Set - Carrie Aarons Page 0,121

him tomorrow.

He bends, sweeping his lips over mine in a half-kiss. There is no pressure in it, and the kiss to my forehead he follows it up with almost feels more intimate than me naked in his bed.

“Good night, beautiful.”

I’m left standing dumbfounded on my stoop.

The angry, monosyllabic Bowen Nash has disappeared. And in his wake, he’s left the sweet, charming high school sweetheart version that I fell in love with.

I’m not sure who is more dangerous to my heart.

23

Bowen

My night of sleep was fitful, and I tossed and turned with the taste of Lily’s skin on my lips.

It wasn’t the bad kind of restless, but the excited kind. The first-day-of-school kind, the Christmas-morning kind, the championship-game kind.

Because I was anticipating the moment I was in right now. Which was watching Lily walk down the aisle.

As a man, I’ve never really dreamed about my wedding day. Back in high school, I knew I wanted to be with Lily for the rest of my life. I’d been a young, cocky prick with a hot arm, but I knew she was my forever girl. That being said … I had no picture in my head of what us getting married would look like. It was a far-off idea, someday that I’d let her plan and show up for.

But seeing her come toward me in the pink, wispy dress that floated around her body … she looked like an angel. My heart was spasming, going haywire in my chest.

Keaton looks back at me from his premier spot on the altar and winks. I nod and try to hide my smile, because really … no one has any idea what’s going on with us. Oh, I’m sure my older brother has his suspicions, but this is his day and I’m not going to burden him with my confusing life.

Lily blushes as my eyes scan down the length of her body, pausing on the way her hips shift, on her perky, round breasts, and then up, to meet those dark, shining blue orbs. Her hair is twisted up into some braided, fairy-like do, and the whole ensemble makes her look like one of those fairies described in a children’s storybook.

Once she’s standing on the other side of the altar, it’s difficult to keep my eyes off her. But I know my gaze needs to be directed straight, to Presley walking down the aisle to her groom. I need to focus on being the best man. Getting Lily out of that dress will be the first priority once my duties for the day are over.

It’s inevitable we’ll end up back in one of our hotel rooms tonight. And Lily may think nothing of spending time together tonight, but I have to be careful. There are many Fawn Hill residents at this wedding, and we all know the gossip runs rampant. It only takes one word along that game of telephone for it to get back to Senator Grantham.

And I don’t need that prick coming into my shop again, threatening me about the pact he and my father made.

The wedding guests sitting in the pews stand as Presley prepares to walk down the aisle. Hattie is escorting her, which I thought might be a sign of disrespect to her father, but apparently, he doesn’t mind.

Both of the women are beaming, Presley in her white gown and Hattie in her beige women’s suit. My gaze swings to my brother, who is …

Keaton is crying. Actual tears are shining in his eyes, and he’s biting his lip as if he’s trying not to break down like a baby. A lump of emotion forms in my throat, and dammit, these people are basically making my balls shrivel up.

When Presley reaches Keaton, he kisses Hattie on the cheek, and she hands him his bride. It’s all very formal, but each action has significance. They stand together as the priest goes through the service, the vows, and then finally they’re kissing.

“Friends and family, may I present, Mr. and Mrs. Keaton Nash!”

The priest introduces them for the first time, and then my brother and his wife are sauntering down the aisle arm in arm, with smiles so wide their cheeks must ache.

It’s my turn to step down from the altar and take my designated bridesmaid back to the vestibule of the church. Lily meets me in the middle, her eyes shiny with tears.

The minute I touch her, standing here in the spot where we likely would have gotten married, it’s like the whole