I swallow hard, my eyes pinned to his lips as he speaks, and feel my heart trip and my stomach tighten at his words.

“I can live with that,” I whisper hoarsely.

“Good. Sleep, cara.” He kisses my fingers again, rests our hands on his chest and guides my head down onto him, where I just seem to fit perfectly, despite our immense height difference.

I take a deep breath and feel myself relax against him. I feel him grin against my head as his fingertips tickle my neck again.

“Keep doing that and I won’t sleep,” I whisper.

“You’ll sleep,” he replies confidently.

I don’t speak again. I simply lie with him. Be with him, and after long minutes I feel him slip into sleep, but I lie awake for a while, listening to him breathe, listening to his heartbeat against my cheek.

Listening to the silence around us.

Is this what it feels like to be in love? This contentment, this attraction? This trust?

I can’t resist planting a kiss on his chest, and I feel his arms tighten around me in his sleep.

I’m quite sure that if this is what love is, I’ve tripped over and fallen right in.

Chapter Thirteen

“Seriously, this is like hot man overload,” Emily whispers to me as we sit in the white chairs before the arbor Dominic’s brothers made for Will and Meg’s wedding. The whole family is here for the rehearsal. All of the Montgomery siblings and their spouses¸ all of the parents, even the kids. It’s a huge family party, and they’re having a great time ribbing each other.

“And here,” the pastor says patiently, as two of the brothers, Matt and Caleb, snicker at something Isaac whispered to them in the front row. “Is where you recite your vows to each other. Will, you first.”

Will, with a perfectly sober and serious expression on his impossibly handsome face, takes Meg’s hands in his and stares down at her intently.

“Megan, I promise to never make you work out with me. I know how you value your laziness.” His lips twitch as his brothers snicker. “I vow to send cupcakes to your work regularly.” He grins wickedly, and I know we’re about to get an earful of something fun. “I vow to remember where all your sweet spots are on that fantastic body of yours, and pay the appropriate amount of attention to them on a regular basis.”

“You’re the reason we have to put instructions on shampoo bottles in this country,” Samantha calls out, earning a fist bump from Brynna.

“I’m not going to say the real vows today,” Will says, his eyes still pinned on his bride. “Those are for Saturday.”

“Your turn, Meg.”

“I’m not saying mine either,” she says with a grin. “I want to get to the kissing part.”

“That’s my girl,” Will agrees and leans in to kiss her, but she slaps her hand over Will’s lips and leans away, looking at the pastor.

“Wait! How are we supposed to kiss?”

“No tongue!” Leo yells out, making us all laugh.

“Mmph hump smeethart,” Will says against Meg’s hand.

“What?” she asks, pulling her hand away with a smile.

“I’ve never needed instructions on how to kiss, sweetheart.” Will slips his hands around Meg’s waist and pulls her flush against him, bending at the knees to match his lips up with hers, and suddenly they’re in a passionate embrace, kissing with great enthusiasm.

“Stop it right now!” Jules cries and covers her sleeping infant daughter’s eyes where she’s perched on Nate’s shoulder. “There are children here!”

Will dips Meg dramatically, never taking his mouth from hers. Dominic turns in his seat and smiles at me, shakes his head, and then shrugs as if to say, “What can you do?”

“Okay, we get it, you love her,” Steven says as he stands. “Let the poor woman breathe, son.”

“Sweet Lord, if a man kissed me like that, I’d die,” Emily whispers in awe, making me laugh.

“I hear Blake has been kissing you just fine,” I murmur, and watch her face flush.

“I was going to tell you.” We watch quietly, not looking at each other, as the Montgomery family stands and chats, the girls fussing with babies and kids, the guys admiring their handiwork on the arbor.

“As long as you’re happy, I’m happy,” I tell her honestly.

“I’m happy.”

I nod once and drop the subject, standing to get back to work.

“Okay, guys, good job.” I clap my hands as I walk to the happy couple. “Dinner is being served in the tent. We might as well break it in, right?”

“Alecia, this is spectacular,” Meg says with a wide grin. “It’s so pretty.”

“If you like it now, just wait for Saturday.”

“You heard the woman!” Will announces almost urgently. “Food!”

“Will hasn’t eaten in about an hour,” Isaac says with a roll of the eyes. “He thinks he’s starving.”

“Be nice to my boy,” Gail, their mother, admonishes Isaac as she lifts Luke and Natalie’s daughter, Olivia, into her arms and kisses her cheek, then follows the others toward the tent, where the servers have set up a vast buffet spread. A DJ is playing soft music, and the twinkle lights have been turned on, giving the space a dreamy glow.

Emily marches ahead, talking into her earpiece, alerting the kitchen staff that we’re moving into the tent and ready for drinks.