Chapter 47
JESSE
If anyone had told me when I’d woken up this morning that I’d be getting married by the end of the day, I would’ve laughed in their face. Actually, no. That’s not true.
I wouldn’t have laughed. I’d have bet against it, loudly and probably with a lot of money, but here we were, and I’d have happily lost every last cent just to keep standing where I was right now.
The officiant gestured at the small stage where a string quartet had been playing earlier, now awkwardly gathering their instruments to make space. “Right this way, kids.”
He said it as easily as if this was a completely standard Saturday night occurrence in his life. Although, since I didn’t know what the guy actually did for a living, maybe this was how he spent his Saturday nights—marrying couples in love.
Probably, he usually has a little more notice, though.
I leaned into Jacque as we followed him, unable to stop the grin practically disfiguring my face at this point. “Are you sure you’re good with this?”
Her grip tightened on mine, her touch as grounding as it was electric. “Ask me again in five minutes, but right now, yes.”
She was smiling as she said it and my heart was going crazy. Totally nuts. But I’d never been happier. I knew there was probably a lot more that she wanted to say, but ultimately, none of it mattered as long as she’d finally fucking realized that we should be together.
It felt surreal when we stepped up onto the stage together, but the entire room was watching, their conversations abandoned entirely in favor of watching me perform my greatest stunt yet. They probably thought I was out of my mind, but I truly, honestly didn’t give a shit.
The only thing I cared about was the woman standing in front of me, in white, looking like a dream I wasn’t convinced I deserved. But her hand was still in mine, those golden eyes bright and excited.
The officiant cleared his throat, stepping between us briefly before gesturing for us to face each other.
“We are gathered here—” he started.
“Very unexpectedly,” I muttered and Jacque let out a quiet laugh, her head dipping as she tried to hide it, and the officiant paused, blinking before he adjusted.
“We are gathered here tonight, very unexpectedly,” he corrected with a hint of amusement creeping into his tone. “To witness the union of these two individuals who have decided that waiting is not their preference.” He paused, then frowned, then glanced at me. “Do you have vows prepared?”
I lifted my eyebrows dramatically and shook my head. “Vows? Uh, nope. I didn’t even know she was going to be here ten minutes ago.”
He smiled. “Alright, well, do you want to wing it or should I just lead you through the traditional stuff?”
“I’ll wing it,” I said, reaching for Jacque’s other hand as well.
As soon as I was facing her fully, both of her hands in mine and looking into those expressive eyes, I felt a part of my soul exhale that I didn’t even realize I had.
“I thought I’d have a whole speech ready when this finally happened.
I’ve been working on it secretly in my head.
I’m sure the end result would’ve been a true work of art.
It definitely would’ve made people cry.”
“Obviously,” she said softly, a smile ghosting across her lips.
“Yeah, well, I never quite finished it, but this is better,” I said. “This is me telling you that I don’t want a life that doesn’t have you in it. I tried that for, like, five minutes. Hated it.”
A soft ripple of laughter moved through the room, but I didn’t look away from her. “I love you, Jacque. I love how you challenge me and how you don’t let me get away with being anything other than myself. I love how you don’t only accept my crazy, you encourage it.”
More reactions from the crowd but I ignored it all.
“I swear to you that for the rest of my life, I’m going to choose you.
Even when you’re being stubborn. Even when you try to run.
Even when you think you’re not enough. I choose you and I will never stop arguing, stop chasing, or stop proving that you’re more than just enough. You’re everything.”
A small, crooked smile broke through the emotion suddenly clogging up my throat. “Also, I promise to never make you sit through boring charity dinners or galas alone. I’ll be right there, wreaking havoc and shaking things up a little bit.”
“Thank God,” she whispered, smiling through the tears welling on her eyelids. “I wouldn’t want it any other way.”
I grinned. “Your turn.”
She let out a long, shaky breath. Her fingers tightened around mine before she lifted her chin and met my gaze head on.
“I don’t have anything prepared either. Not even half a speech I was working on in my head.
Mostly because I didn’t think I’d ever be standing here, or uh, standing in front of you like this at all. ”
A few tears fell when she blinked again, but she let them track down her cheeks like she wasn’t even aware of the fact that they were there.
“If there’s one thing I do know, it’s that you’ve changed what I thought was possible, Jesse Westwood.
You walked into my life like a storm I didn’t see coming, and you stayed.
You proved to me that the impossible wasn’t just possible.
It could be easy. As long as you have the right person by your side and that person, for me, is you.
I love you,” she said, her voice catching just slightly.
“Even when you’re reckless or when you make decisions that surprise the heck out of me, loudly, in the middle of a crowded room, I still love you.
I choose you too, unashamedly and unapologetically, and I promise to keep choosing you.
Even when it scares me. I won’t ever be too scared to love you again, and I won’t ever doubt that you are the one true mate of my soul. ”
In that moment, something in my chest settled, like everything I’d never even known was restlessly rattling around inside with nowhere to go had finally clicked into place. I squeezed her hands, stepping just a fraction closer. “You’re stuck with me now, Jacque.”
She smiled, tipping her head back in an attempt to hold back more tears before just giving up and letting them flow freely again. “Likewise.”
The officiant gave us a beat before he grinned. “Excellent. That was beautiful and uh, that’s also about it. I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss your bride.”
I didn’t even think about it before one of my hands wrapped around the nape of her neck and the other slid around her waist. She was still smiling up at me when I leaned forward and planted a good, sound kiss on her lips, sweeping her off her feet in front of half of Chicago.
At some point, before I’d even managed to break away from her, the entire tone of the night changed from polished elegance to absolute chaos. The good kind, though. I’d always been better at loud parties than controlled string quartets and murmured conversations.
When I lifted my head away from hers, I caught a glimpse of Will speaking to a guy I was relatively sure was a DJ. I was also pretty sure he’d been hired to play some classical music after dinner, once the string quartet was gone, but a minute later, Will grinned and shot me a thumbs-up.
Out of all the songs in the world he could’ve chosen, the next thing I knew, Signed, Sealed, Delivered, I’m Yours by Stevie Wonder started playing and I laughed. My heart swelled to twenty times its usual size as I straightened up, taking Jacque’s hand again and spinning her into me.
Deafening cheers rang out through the crowd, and when I started dancing with Jacque right there on the little stage, jackets came off and ties were loosened all around. Will and Eliza were the first to start dancing with us, finding an open space between tables in front of the stage.
Nate grabbed Kate too, and I saw her laugh before she looped her arms around his neck. I glanced at Alex next, seeking him out in the crowd to check whether I was going to have my ass handed to me for ruining his perfectly uptight gala, but when I found him, he was smiling.
He was already holding Jane’s hand, looking relaxed as he pulled her away from a group she’d been with and dragged her to the closest open space with him. Something loosened in my chest when I saw him pull her close, dancing right along with the rest of us.
I smiled, genuinely happy that he wasn’t letting himself be crushed under the weight of expectation in that moment. It looked like he’d finally realized that just because he was the leader of the pack, it didn’t have to mean that he had to become our father, replicating everything he’d done to a T.
“Hey,” Jacque’s voice pulled me back, warm and amused as she stared up at me. “You disappeared into your own head for a second there.”
I looked down at her—my wife—and… Fuck. “You married me.”
“I did.” She rolled her eyes, but she was still smiling. “You made it very hard not to.”
“Public declarations help.” I shrugged, vaguely aware of the venue staff moving tables out of the way to create a makeshift dance floor much bigger than the one they’d originally left space for.
“Let’s go. If we’re going to scandalize the first annual Westwood gala in almost twenty years, we might as well commit. ”
She laughed and followed me down the few steps until we’d joined the others, all of whom had now moved toward the space that’d been cleared.
Her body fitted against mine like it’d been designed to when I spun her back into me, breathing in the sweet scent of her and still trying to believe that she was my wife now.
As the night wore on, we started dancing closer, my hands holding her more firmly and keeping her exactly where I wanted her. Her body followed, every movement deliberate and every shift of her weight sending something electric up my spine.
Song after song, drink after drink, and moment after moment, the night became something I’d never even dreamed of but was better than I ever could’ve imagined.
By the time we finally left the gala-turned-wedding, the cool air outside lifted the haze of disbelief a little, but not so much that I could actually believe we’d just gotten married.
“Where are we going?” I asked, squeezing her fingers that were laced through mine like she had no intention of letting go anytime soon.
Her cheeks were flushed, her eyes bright in a way that had nothing to do with the champagne. “My place.”
“Cool. I’m in,” I said without hesitation. “Because of Hubert, right? God, we need to get that dog a yard.”
She laughed. “One thing at a time, husband. We don’t even have rings yet. Let’s give it at least a day before we start putting together a list of stuff we need in a house.”
“You can’t blame me for getting excited. That was the first time I’ve ever detonated the decorum of a black-tie gala, hijacked it, and then walked out with a wife.”
“Fair enough.” She smiled as we climbed into the waiting car, not letting go of my hand until we stopped in front of her door.
After rummaging around her purse for a beat, she unlocked the door and I’d barely shut it behind me before Hubert crashed into my legs like a furry missile, his entire body vibrating with excitement as he barked, circled, and demanded attention.
Jacque laughed, dropping her clutch on a table near the door before she bent slightly, her hand pushing into his coat. “Hi, baby.”
She scratched behind his ears before she straightened up, smiling at me in a way that hit me straight in the chest. God, I’m so gone for her.
I didn’t think I’d stopped smiling all night long, and I sure as hell didn’t when I reached for her and tugged her back to me. “The headlines are going to be insane tomorrow. We might have to hunker down for a couple days. Stay here. Preferably in bed.”
She laughed. “I don’t have any objections to that, but do you think that’s enough publicity for a while?”
“Mm,” I hummed like I was genuinely considering it, but my hands found her waist and I gripped her tight. “It’s hard to say. I think we could’ve made a bigger scene.”
“Oh, absolutely,” she joked. “Next time, maybe a flash mob?”
“Don’t tempt me.” I grinned, but then I lowered my head and kissed her, and everything else dropped away.
Her breath caught against my mouth, her fingers tightening in my shirt as I backed her up step by step to her bedroom. There was nothing rushed about it, even if the energy between us was anything but calm.
She was mine. I was hers. And our future? That was ours.
“That’s enough publicity for now,” I said quietly against her lips, finally answering her question. “Right now, the only plan I have is consummating our semi-legal union. The world can wait.”
Right here, right now, I had everything I wanted and I wasn’t letting go.