With fresh tears streaming down her cheeks, she pressed her finger to his lips. “You’ve never read me wrong a day since we’ve met. Yes, I’ll marry you, Blue. Yes, yes, yes!” Their bodies were still joined together at all points as she pressed her lips to his.
As he slid the ring on her finger, he said, “I love you, Lizzie, and I will spend the rest of our lives making sure you are the happiest woman on earth.”
“That’s all well and good, but can we get back to making love, please, because I really want to knock another item off my list.”
He laughed and kissed her again. “Which item is that?”
“Make Blue happy.”
“Baby, you’ve just made me the happiest man on the planet.”
“Oh, trust me. I think we can make you even happier.” She wiggled out from under him, opened the fridge, and held up two cans of whipped cream.
“You just got a hundred times sexier.” He scooped her into his arms and headed for the stairs. “We’re about to add things to your lists that you never imagined.”
Epilogue
BLUE COULDN’T TAKE his eyes off Lizzie, standing across the room with Trish and Siena. They say that the bride should always be the most beautiful woman at her wedding, but Blue knew, at least in this case, that wasn’t true. Despite how gorgeous Siena looked, no one compared to his stunning fiancée. Lizzie was a vision in a blue dress that hugged every lush curve, her hair pinned up, with sexy tendrils framing her beautiful face. It was after midnight, and many of the guests had already left the reception. Blue couldn’t wait to get Lizzie back into his arms.
“Bro, you’re going to burn a hole through her, staring like that,” his older brother Gage said as he came to his side with Jake, Cash, and Duke.
“There are worse things in life than being attracted to the woman you love.” The woman I love. Blue hadn’t imagined thinking those words, and now he couldn’t imagine a day going by when he didn’t think them at least a dozen times.
“Where’s your woman?” Blue asked.
“No woman to speak of,” Gage answered, making his brothers scoff. Gage was as close to his friend and coworker Sally Tuft as two people could get without being lovers. But their friendship wasn’t like the friendship Blue had with Sky. Everyone could see Gage and Sally’s mutual attraction—everyone except them, that was. The serious look in Gage’s blue eyes told Blue that he didn’t want to have this conversation again.
“Okay, fair enough,” Blue said, letting it go.
“Why didn’t you bring Sally?” Duke pushed, giving Gage an elbow to his ribs.
“She’s visiting Rusty at Harborside University.” Rusty was Sally’s teenage son.
“She got sick of Gage not asking her out,” Jake said before taking a swig of his drink. “You can only tease a woman for so long.”
“Says the man who can’t settle down with one woman long enough to buy her a drink.” Duke lifted his chin with the barb.
“Shit. Why buy a drink when you can get the liquor for free?” Jake eyed a brunette standing by the bar. “Speaking of which, I’ll catch you guys later. I see a lonely lady just asking for a good time.”
“He needs to buy stock in condoms, the way he goes through women,” Blue teased, as Lizzie caught his attention from across the room with a smile, sending his heart into a frenzy. He’d never tire of seeing her smile, those adorable dimples, or the love in her eyes. He lifted his chin and crooked his finger. She said something to Trish and Siena, and the three of them approached.
“You guys put everyone else to shame. The Ryder hunks, line ’em up and roll ’em out,” Siena teased as she reached for Cash. “And I have the hunkiest of them all.”
“I beg to differ.” Lizzie wrapped an arm around Blue. “Mine looks the best in an apron.”
Blue uttered a curse.
“An apron? Do share,” Trish teased as her eyes skittered away, landing on a guy across the room. His shirtsleeves were pushed up to his elbows, exposing heavily inked forearms. Before Lizzie could elaborate, Trish said, “Who is that?”
“Firefighter, off-limits to you,” Cash said.
“That just made him even more interesting.” Trish raised her brows and headed in the handsome man’s direction.
Cash moved to follow her, and Siena held him back. “Leave her alone. She’s a big girl.”
“This is what happens when you get married. You lose your ability to make decisions.” Cash pulled Siena into his arms and kissed her.
“Speaking of decisions, don’t you two want to use that honeymoon suite I booked for you?” Duke winked at Cash, who whispered something that made Siena blush.
Blue snaked an arm around Lizzie’s waist and pulled her in tight against him. “Tired?”
“Not too tired,” she said with a seductive glint in her eyes.
He pressed his cheek to hers and whispered, “If we leave now, we can sneak into the pool and skinny-dip.”
She trapped her lower lip between her teeth and smiled. “In the hotel?” she whispered. “The pool is closed.”
He reached into his pocket and pulled out the pool key, which Duke had given him earlier.