Chapter 37
HARRISON
I hadn’t thought engaged bliss was an actual thing until it happened to us.
Days slipped by in a haze of lazy mornings, shared coffee she had to make because of her impossible but beloved espresso machine, and late nights spent exploring each other’s bodies until neither of us could keep our eyes open anymore.
We finally left the townhouse to go on an unconventional shopping trip—her name for it, not mine.
Really, it was just a polite way of saying she was dragging me with her to a bridal boutique like it was the most normal thing in the world.
Her logic was airtight, though. If she had to be there, I might as well get fitted for a tux. Equal suffering, apparently.
Except for the fact that she wasn’t suffering. She was thriving while I was the one dying a slow, silent death.
Because nothing, absolutely nothing in the entire world, had prepared me for Aurelia stepping out of that dressing room in a wedding dress. I’d seen Jameson and Callum’s faces when their brides had appeared at the tops of their respective aisles.
That moment of What. The. Actual. Wow.
Honestly, I’d thought they exaggerated the whole experience a bit.
Especially Callum, since I happened to know he’d paid Maisie a little visit prior to the ceremony, but either way, he’d looked at her like in that moment, it’d officially dawned on him that she was becoming his and he honestly hadn’t been able to believe it.
Jameson had looked like he was about to either burst into tears, or rip the dress clean off her body and take her right there in the aisle, or stab the eyes out of every other man in attendance. It had been a confusing expression.
So had Callum’s.
I hadn’t gotten it at all, but when Aurelia came out of the dressing in the first gown, a sleek, pearl-white dress that fitted her in ways that made my throat dry, I barely managed to keep it together.
I was supposed to be standing still while the in-house tailor fussed with my measurements in a private area of the boutique, but I forgot that he had sharp objects in his hands and nearly made him stab me in the balls with a pin.
“What do you think?” she asked, giving me a quick spin that made her hair brush her shoulders, her eyes twinkling with excitement. “It’s not bad, right?”
I made a strangled noise that was supposed to have been an opinion, but she disappeared back behind the curtain too quickly, calling to me as she went. “I’m not sure it’s the right one, though. I like it, but it’s not quite what I had in mind.”
“Uh-huh,” I managed, mentally trying to brace myself for dress number two, but it didn’t work.
Not even a little bit.
As soon as she came out wearing a dress that was much softer, with layers of tulle floating around her like a cloud, all I could think was holy fuck. We’re actually getting married.
In just a few days, she’d be walking toward me wearing a dress like that, and she’d be wearing it to vow that she’d spend the rest of her life with me. I was halfway convinced I had died and gone to heaven.
She propped her hands on her hips, studying herself critically in the mirror.
“What’s the yard like at your place?” she asked distractedly, turning from one side to the other with the skirt swishing around her legs.
She finally looked up, caught me staring like a fish out of water, and giggled.
“You’re supposed to be trying on jackets. ”
“Mentally, I am,” I said, but then I blinked hard and tried to refocus. “What yard?”
She widened her eyes at me in the reflection of the mirror she was standing in front of, as exasperated as she was amused, it seemed.
“The yard at the house where we’re getting married, my dear goldfish.
That’s what we’re doing here. Getting what we need to tie the knot. Have you forgotten about all that?”
I swallowed hard, desperately trying to get it together. “Right. The yard. You mean the grounds of the Westwood Estate, right?”
“Yes,” she said slowly, her head tilting like she was genuinely concerned about my health.
Right now, though, so was I.
I finally managed to grab hold of a coherent thought, suddenly remembering that we’d agreed to go over the plans for the wedding while we were doing this.
“Uh, the gardens should be fine for pictures and stuff. Provided your heels aren’t too high.
If it rains the night before, we might have a problem.
The grass right outside my house should be fine for the ceremony itself. ”
Like all my brothers, I had my own separate home on the estate.
She glanced down at the soft tulle again. “Okay, well, I don’t think this is the one either, then.”
Between dresses, once she’d slipped back behind the curtain, we talked through the plan a little more.
We had decided to have our wedding at my place on my family’s estate.
I rarely actually used it, vastly preferring my townhouse in the city proper, but it was the perfect spot.
I’d already hired a crew to clean, decorate, and make it look like something worthy of her, though.
It would be her first time seeing it. I wanted to impress her.
She’d suggested white roses and twinkling lights.
I’d told her I’d string the whole forest around it in Christmas lights if that was what she wanted.
Well, not me personally, but those were the instructions I’d given to the crew insofar as the landscaping decorations were concerned. Flowers and lights.
“You’re sure your mom isn’t going to mind us stealing her holiday thunder, right?” Aurelia asked from behind the curtain.
I shook my head. “Christmas Day is CC’s time to shine. We can have Christmas Eve.”
Our plan entailed inviting only our nearest and dearest to our first official party together, and when they arrived, we would surprise them with our wedding instead.
Technically, it was the first official party we’d be hosting together, so it wasn’t even a lie.
More of a partial truth with a pinch of deception.
When she emerged again, the third dress nearly undid me.
I thanked the heavens the tailor had moved away from my crotch area.
Aurelia’s dress was all delicate lace, detailed with shimmering crystals and bits of something else that was sparkly.
It accentuated her figure in ways that made it very clear I wasn’t getting through this with my sanity intact.
“Is this too much?” she asked lightly, turning toward the mirror.
“Yes,” I said honestly. “There’s no way I will survive the whole ceremony with you looking like that. It’s way too much. I absolutely forbid it.”
Aurelia laughed, but she was in full, meticulous planning mode while I felt like I was genuinely about to lose my mind. Thankfully, she went back behind the curtain and my mind cleared enough to catch some of the ideas she was tossing out like darts.
“Could you ask the decorators for lots of greenery? We want it to be festive and cozy, but I also don’t want it looking like just another Christmas party.
Also, what do you think about food stations instead of a sit-down dinner?
Or will everyone be offended if the food isn’t brought directly to their tables? ”
I chuckled and shook my head. “I’m sure they can manage. We’ll need to finalize all the dishes you’ve got in mind with the caterer before tomorrow, though. We also might need to compromise on some. She warned me that they might not be able to provide their full service on such short notice.”
“That’s fine,” she called. “Oh, I think I like this one. Hey, have you spoken to my mom yet?”
I groaned. Aurelia and I were hoping that having the wedding this way would force our mothers to work out their issues. Neither would know that the other had been invited, which would hopefully mean they would arrive without their guards all the way up.
Perhaps too optimistically, Aurelia and I agreed that if they saw each other again for the first time at their children’s wedding, neither woman would want to be tacky enough to cause a scene.
With a little luck and maybe some Christmas magic, they might be civil enough with each other to realize they could bury the hatchet.
It might be a long shot, but we were doing this either way. Both women were invited and welcome. Whatever problem they had with the guest list was between them.
I opened my mouth to respond, but then the curtain swished open and Aurelia stepped out again, and everything else in the world just seemed to stop.
Compared to the others, this dress was simple, but somehow, it was also the only one that mattered. Ivory satin caught the light in a way that made her look majestic. Maybe even ethereal. Like a fairy princess from another realm or an angel with amazing curves.
The neckline was elegant, revealing just a hint of cleavage but modest enough that Regina wouldn’t bitch at her about it. The skirt moved like it had been waiting just for her.
It had no frills and no drama. Just Aurelia, in all her natural, regal, old-style Hollywood beauty. Before I even knew it, I was stepping away from the tailor. “That’s the one.”
She blinked hard, a tiny divot in her forehead telling me how startled she was. “What, this one? Are you sure?”
I moved closer, my head shaking because I couldn’t land on any words that would do her justice. “There’s no question about it. That’s the dress.”
Her hands fluttered to her waist as if she didn’t know what to do with them, her eyes suddenly shimmering and glassy with unshed tears. She moved toward me too, meeting me halfway across the small space.
“This is it?” Her voice cracked just enough to break me. “Do you really think so?”
I swallowed hard and reached out, gently taking her hands in mine and pulling her even closer yet. “The whole world disappeared when you walked out in this. If that’s not the dress, I don’t know what is.”
A soft, shaky laugh slipped through her tears. “Should we buy it?”
“Yes,” I said immediately. “Now. Check, please!”
She pressed her forehead against my chest for just a second, her laughter muffled by my half-pinned jacket. “Okay. This is the one.”
“Damn straight, it is. I don’t need to have this tux tailored. No one is going to notice I’m even there. Wait, you don’t have any single guy friends you plan on inviting, do you?”
She dabbed at her eyes with the back of her hand, laughing softly again. “You’ve officially ruined me. Now I’m crying in a bridal boutique.”
“Worth it,” I murmured. “Do you, though?”
“Have any single guy friends? Yes. None that I plan on inviting.” She turned back toward the mirror, studying herself one more time. “You wouldn’t have anything to be worried about even if I did, though. Have you seen yourself in a tux?”
As she stepped away from the mirror, she glanced over her shoulder at me with a look in her eyes that made my heart pound. There was mischief, nerves, joy, and something a whole lot more dangerous.
“You’re good with zippers, right?”
I blinked hard, trying to snap out of the stupor that look had sent me right back into. “They chafe a little if I forget to wear underwear, but I guess I’m fine with them.”
“What?” she asked, confused.
“I don’t know,” I said, feeling my goofy grin widen. “What are we talking about?”
“The back.” She motioned vaguely over her shoulder. “This thing’s impossible. Come help.”
I hesitated for half a second, only just long enough to catch her knowing smirk, then followed her behind the curtain. The tiny dressing room felt about three sizes too small to us both in it. She turned her back to me, sweeping her hair over one shoulder to expose the line of her neck.
“Just the zipper,” she teased, her voice was soft now. “I’m not putting you out of your misery just yet.”
I tugged it down carefully, but my fingers brushed her skin and she shivered, and that was it—the last straw. Before I could even remember where we were, I’d turned her in the circle of my arms and I was kissing her, deep and desperate, walking her back until she was pressed up against the mirror.
She kissed me back like she’d brought me in here with her for this exact reason, tugging at my jacket and pulling me closer until there wasn’t an inch between us. I groaned into her mouth, one arm sliding around her hips as I stroked her tongue with my own and wondering if—
“Everything all right in there?” a voice called brightly from right on the other side of the curtain. “Do you need any help, Ms. Van Alen? Some of those zippers are tricky.”
We froze, both of us breathless. Aurelia’s lips were still only inches from mine, but she ducked her head to stifle a laugh against my chest.
A moment later, she replied, “We’re fine!” Her voice was way too high-pitched to be convincing, but the footsteps retreated, and she looked up at me with flushed cheeks and a wicked glimmer in her eyes. “You should probably get back out there now.”
“We almost got caught,” I muttered, my forehead lowering to hers.
“Worth it,” she echoed my earlier words, stealing one last kiss before shoving me back toward the curtain. “Now get out before I cause a scandal.”