Chapter 14
DELLA
THREE MONTHS LATER
“Careful with the pearls, Liana!” I laugh, watching my friend’s steady hands fasten the delicate strand around Betsy’s neck.
“I’ve got it,” Liana replies, her tongue caught between her teeth in concentration. “There. Perfect.”
Betsy stands before the full-length mirror, misty-eyed as she takes in her reflection. The ivory lace of her gown catches the light streaming through the window, casting a soft glow around her.
“I can’t believe this is happening,” she whispers, a tear escaping down her cheek. “In thirty minutes, I’ll be Mrs. Conor Campbell.”
I quickly dab the tear away with a tissue. “No crying yet! We just finished your makeup.”
The bridal suite smells of roses and hairspray, champagne flutes glittering on the side table. Outside, we can hear the low hum of guests arriving, the string quartet warming up in the garden.
Liana hands Betsy a glass of champagne. “To new beginnings,” she toasts, raising her own glass. “And to honeymoons. Both yours and Della’s.”
Betsy turns to me, her eyes widening. “Wait, what? You’re going on a honeymoon?”
I feel heat rise to my cheeks. “It’s not a honeymoon, just a romantic getaway,” I can’t help the smile that spreads across my face. “Axel surprised me last night at the rehearsal dinner. He’s taking me to the Maldives for a week. Private villa over the water, personal butler, the works."
“Oh my God!” Betsy squeals, careful not to spill her champagne. “I bet he’s going to propose!”
"No,” I shake my head, though my stomach flutters at the thought. “It’s only been four and a half months. That’s way too soon.”
Liana gives me a knowing look. “Yeah, but that man knows what he wants. It’s clear as day whenever he looks at you.”
The memory of Axel’s face when he presented me with the tickets last night makes my heart race. The intensity in those blue eyes, the way his fingers lingered on mine.
“The way he watches you,” Betsy adds, “like you’re the only person in the room.”
A knock at the door interrupts us. “Ladies, five minutes,” calls the wedding planner.
My stomach tightens with anticipation—not for Betsy’s wedding, though I’m thrilled for her—but at the thought of seeing Axel again, sitting in the third row, watching me walk down the aisle before the bride.
The ceremony passes in a blur of music and flowers.
Liana and I process down the aisle first, the weight of Axel’s gaze on me with every step.
He looks devastating in his charcoal suit, his auburn hair catching the afternoon sunlight.
When our eyes meet, his smile is slow and intimate, as if we’re the only two people here.
Betsy is radiant as she follows us, her father beaming proudly beside her. I steal glances at Axel throughout the ceremony, finding him already watching me each time.
At the reception, the fairy lights strung across the venue’s ceiling create a canopy of stars above the dance floor. After dinner and speeches, Axel finds me fussing over Betsy’s bustle and approaches with a wide smile.
“Dance with me?” he asks, extending his hand.
The band plays a slow jazz number as he pulls me into his arms, his hand warm against the small of my back.
“You’re breathtaking,” he murmurs against my hair. “Every man here is jealous of me right now.”
I laugh, pressing closer. “I doubt that.”
"I don’t.” His fingers trace slow, deliberate circles on the bare skin of my back, each touch sending ripples of warmth through my silk bridesmaid dress. “But have you seen your brother and Liana?”
I follow his gaze across the candlelit reception to where Felix, his dark hair falling across his forehead, is twirling Liana across the polished dance floor.
Her emerald dress catches the light as she spins, her chestnut curls bouncing free from their pins, her head thrown back in uninhibited laughter.
“Well, that’s unexpected,” I say, watching my usually reserved brother—the same man who once refused to participate in our family talent show—dip Liana dramatically, his confident hands steady at her waist. “When did that happen?”
Axel chuckles, his breath warm against my temple. “Apparently, at your birthday dinner last month. Felix called me at midnight, pacing outside your apartment building, asking for advice on how to ask her out.”
My brother asked you for dating advice?” The thought sends a warm flush across my collarbone and up my neck. My practical, buttoned-up brother Felix, who color-codes his sock drawer and reads investment newsletters for fun.
“He said I must know what I’m doing to have landed you." Axel’s eyes darken to the deep blue of twilight as they hold mine, his pupils expanding until only a thin ring of color remains.
The music swells around us, violins rising above the steady thrum of the bass, and Axel guides me into a spin, his fingertips firm against my palm. The silk of my dress flares out before he pulls me back against his chest, the subtle notes of his cedar cologne enveloping me.
“You’re such a great dancer,” I say, following his lead effortlessly, our bodies moving as one across the polished floor.
His response is to dip me suddenly, his strong arms creating a cradle of muscle and warmth beneath my arched back. When he pulls me up, his stubble grazes my cheek as his lips brush my ear, sending shivers down to my toes. “We’ll still be dancing when we’re old and gray, you know.”
Something in his voice—a certainty, a promise—makes my breath catch.
“Is that so?” I manage to ask.
He pulls back just enough to look into my eyes, his gaze intense and unwavering. “Absolutely. I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life.”
The band transitions to a faster song, but we stay locked in our slow dance, swaying gently as couples twirl energetically around us.
“Two days,” he whispers. “Two days until I have you all to myself in paradise.”
I think of the new bikinis I bought, the sheer white cover-up I packed on impulse. “What exactly do you have planned for this trip, Mr. Warner?”
His fingers tighten on my waist. “Swimming, snorkeling, sunsets...” His lips curve into a wicked smile. “And making you forget your own name at least once a day.”
Heat pools low in my belly. “Ambitious."
“I’m a goal-oriented man.” His hand slides lower on my back, still decent but possessive. “Speaking of which, I have something for you.”
He reaches into his jacket pocket and pulls out a small velvet pouch. For a heart-stopping moment, Betsy might have been right about a proposal, but when he tips the contents into my palm, a delicate gold anklet with tiny seashell charms spills out.
“For our beach vacation,” he explains, his fingers brushing mine as he takes the anklet and kneels to fasten it around my ankle, his touch sending shivers up my leg. “The first of many.”
The promise in those words, in his touch, in the heat of his gaze as he rises to his feet again—it all tells me that while this might not be a proposal yet, Axel Warner is a man with a plan.
And somehow, despite the caution that seven years with Jared had instilled in me, I find myself eager to discover exactly what that plan entails.
As he pulls me back into his arms, I realize with startling clarity that I was never the placeholder. Jared was just the space I had to outgrow before I found the man who was made for me.