Chapter 9
COURTNEY
I wasn’t ready to acknowledge the zing of excitement that shot through me as I touched Flynn’s face in the limo. What I told him wasn’t a lie. We were a team now, for better or worse, according to our vows. Despite how easily Beckett thought that could be transferred to another person, I believed in standing by my promises and, that included my wedding vows. Even if he hadn’t been running around with other women, I would never forsake the vows I took with Flynn to go back to Beckett. I wasn’t sure if Flynn was in the right place to hear that though. He was just as much a victim of circumstance in this as I was.
“Are you ready to do this?” Flynn asked as the limo pulled up to the reception hall.
“Yes,” I whispered as he took my hand in his. The warmth was a welcome balm to my nerves. “Is it weird that I’m more nervous about the reception than I was about the wedding?” I turned to see Flynn’s grinning face beaming down at me.
“Not at all. I think we can quell some of those jitters though. Smash cake or no?”
“Definitely not.” I pointed at my dress. “We are not ruining this masterpiece.”
“On that we agree. Okay, we’ll feed each other in the least messy way possible.” The man winked at me and all I could offer back in response was a giggle. A freakin’ giggle. Come on… He seemed pleased with that, though, so he nodded and gave my hand a reassuring squeeze. “I have a song picked out for us to dance to, but we can change it, if you’d like.”
“What is it?”
“Is it okay if it remains a surprise? Do you trust me with that?”
I thought about it for a minute. If Beckett asked me that same question, my answer would have been absolutely not. There was no telling what he would have picked. For some reason, I trusted Flynn to remain classy about things. “I trust you with it.”
He let out a breath and smiled at me again. “You won’t be disappointed, I promise.”
“I believe you.” We were lost in a sweet, secret stare-off when the door to the limo opened and the driver reached his hand in to offer me help out. I took it and then looked back over my shoulder one more time at my new husband. “Whatever else happens tonight, I need you to know that I feel like we did the right thing today.”
“Then I will make sure you never regret it.”
Flynn and I made our way to the penthouse suite, which he rented out for our first night together, while all of our guests made their way from the church to the hotel where the reception was being held in one of their ballrooms. “Do you need help changing into a different dress?” My new husband asked me, and then his cheeks burned red. “I can call down for your mom or my sister or someone else, if you aren’t comfortable…”
I chuckled and shook my head. “I only need your help, if you don’t mind.”
“I don’t mind.” His cheeks reddened further as he realized how into helping me he sounded. “Sorry,” Flynn huffed. “I know this must be a little awkward.”
“Not at all.” I pointed to the ballgown portion of my dress. “This puffy part comes off, but there are little buttons holding it in place all around my waistline. If you can help me with the ones in the back, I’ll be ready in no time.”
“Sure.” Flynn was careful not to step on my dress as he moved around just over my right shoulder and searched for the first button to release it. Once we managed to get all of them unbuttoned, the skirt portion of my gown drooped away from my body just a bit. I glanced around and laughed as I saw how far I had positioned us away from any furniture.
“I really should have thought this through a bit more. If we were close to the bed I could climb up onto it to get out of this.”
“How did you get it on?”
“It was lifted over my head before the makeup and hair were done.” I bit my bottom lip as I tried to think of how to do this without trampling on part of my gown, since I hoped to preserve it.
“Put your arms around my neck and hold on tight,” Flynn demanded. I followed his instructions without questioning him. As soon as I had a secure hold on my husband, he reached down into the skirt that billowed away from my body and managed to wrap an arm around my legs. As he took a step back, my body pulled free from the oversized skirt and he carried me a few steps away before he set me down again.
“Thank you,” I whispered.
“Anything for my wife,” He teased.
“Careful, I might hold you to that.”
“Please do.” The way his voice dropped on those two simple words made goosebumps erupt all over my body. How was I this attracted to the man I married, when I would have sworn I was completely in love with his cousin only a few weeks ago?
“We should get down to our reception before people start making up stories about what’s taking us so long,” Flynn suggested.
“Lead the way,” I called out, but my husband shook his head and pulled my hand into his.
“We go together.” He dropped my hand once I was beside him and wrapped his arm around me. “I’m not sure which version of your dress I like more. The big skirt made you look like Cinderella attending a ball, but this version makes you look like a sexy siren ready to lure men into your clutches.”
“Thank you?” It came out as a question because I wasn’t sure if being compared to an evil siren was a good thing.
“It was definitely a compliment, Court.”
I grinned at him. “I’m glad you like it.” Without the ball gown, it looked as though I was still wearing the corset top, but the skirt portion only flared a little at my hips and the material that covered my legs, all the way to the floor, was a white gossamer material. Beneath that was a thin satin sheath that only came mid-thigh, so all the places that needed to be covered were done so in an elegant manner. When I moved, the material swooshed around and gave the appearance that I floated everywhere. Every aspect of my wedding gown had been chosen because I wanted my wedding day to feel magical.
“I can’t wait to dance with you, but I really can’t wait to see the video of it. It will look like I was dancing with a goddess,” Flynn remarked. It was my turn to blush profusely.
“I never knew you were such a romantic,” I mentioned.
He shrugged his shoulders, but didn’t bother to respond. The elevator we had taken to the second floor ballroom opened and we managed to get all the way to the ballroom doors before anyone spotted us.
“Attention everyone!” Ky announced when he saw us. “Allow me to introduce to you, Mr. and Mrs. Flynn Robeson!”
Everyone stood and cheered as Flynn swooped me up into a bridal hold and carried me over the threshold to our reception. When he set me back down on my feet, he leaned in and stole a kiss that left me breathless. I couldn’t take my eyes off the man and for the life of me, I couldn’t figure out why he had such an impact on my emotions.
By the time the our first dance was announced, I was on pins and needles waiting to see what song played for us. To my complete shock, it was the song I had originally wanted to dance to, but the one thing Beckett refused to have because he thought it was too depressing.
My new husband held out his hand to me and I joined mine with his as he pulled me close during the first couple notes of One Day Less by Anson Seabra. I might not have been dancing with the man I always imagined, but it was no less magical. In fact, I think the fact that it was Flynn made it better somehow. He understood me in a way Beckett never had. It was something that I never realized until Beckett’s selfishness couldn’t be ignored or excused away anymore.