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Saturday dawned clear and sunny. After sleeping for nearly twenty hours straight, Maggie forced herself out of bed. She was moving slowly, but she was moving. The pain in her head had reduced to a dull ache. Her vision was somewhat blurry, but she chalked that up to the meds. Whatever they were, they were powerful. In retrospect, maybe she shouldn’t have taken as many as she did, but there was no sense worrying about that now.
It took her a while to realize the ringing was coming from her telephone and not her head.
“Hello?” The word was slurred.
“Maggie? Maggie! Are you alright?”
She yawned. “Michael?”
“Damn it, Maggie, why haven’t you been answering your phone?”
“I guess I fell asleep.”
“I’m on my way over there right now.”
“Don’t be silly, Michael.” Another yawn. “I feel much better. Refreshed, even. I’ll see you at the wedding, okay?”
Silence hung heavily over the line. “Michael?”
“If you are not there I’m coming for you, Maggie, wedding or not.”
She sighed, sensing it was no empty threat. There was no way Maggie would want him to skip out on his brother’s wedding because of her. She would be mortified. “I’ll be there.”
“Maggie?”
“Hmm?”
“I love you. I’ll be waiting for you.” Michael hung up before she could reply, leaving her to stare at the phone. Okay, she thought. That cut through the fog.
*
Michael paced back and forth along the vestibule. He and his brothers – Ian and Jake excluded – were seating the guests as they arrived.
“Relax, Mick,” Kane said under his breath. “You’re acting like you’re the one getting married.”
Michael checked his watch. Twelve fifty-five. Far above, the church bells tolled, signaling a last call. The wedding would be starting in five minutes. He saw the priest signaling them toward the back. “She should be here by now.”
Finally he spotted her. Somehow she’d slipped in along the side and was quietly making her way into the back pew. She caught his eye and smiled apologetically. He took one step toward her before Kane caught his arm.
“That her?”
“Yeah.”
“Thank God. Now let’s go.”
Kane forcibly guided Michael toward the front of the church where the groomsmen were lining up – not an easy thing to do, but Kane was the oldest and biggest among them. Michael looked back, but Maggie had already vanished.
It took a while for him to spot her again. She was in the very back corner, sitting in the shadows of one of the alcoves. Throughout the ceremony, Michael kept her in his peripheral vision, afraid that she might attempt to sneak out before he could get to her. Something was wrong, he felt it in his very bones, and he wouldn’t be satisfied until he could look into her eyes and see for himself that she was alright.
At the conclusion of the Mass, Michael made a beeline for that section. He caught her just as she tried to slip out one of the side doors.
“Going somewhere?”
She turned, a mixture of surprise and guilt on her face. For several moments, he was speechless. Her hair was drawn up, held in place by antique silver combs that allowed narrow waves of dark red to cascade around her face. Her eyes were lightly outlined in a dark charcoal gray, accentuating the crystalline green. Her skin was pale, but flawless. The dress she wore was simple, but exquisite; a sheath of dark gray silk that fit her like a glove from the hips up, falling into an irregular cascade down to just below her knees.
*
Maggie found it hard to form a coherent thought. From a distance, he’d looked stunning. But this close, he literally took her breath away. Dressed in his black tux, he was devastatingly handsome.
He held out his hand; there was no other option but to take it. “Come with me.” His voice, low and soft, sent shivers through her, and she found herself wanting to obey without question.
“Don’t you have, uh, wedding stuff to do?”
He smiled, and she swore her knees actually went weak from it. “Yes, but I want you with me.”
“I don’t think –“
“Don’t think,” he commanded softly in her ear as he placed his hand along the small of her back. “Just be with me. Otherwise I’ll be forced to do something that will end up embarrassing us both.” His voice was low, silky, and so suggestive it had her moist between the thighs.
Maybe it was the look in his eyes, maybe it was the tone of his voice, or the expression on his face, but she didn’t argue. He led her into a quiet room and closed the door softly behind them. Before she knew what was happening, his mouth was on hers and he was kissing her as if his life depended on it.