“Well, shit.” He laughs nervously. “There go the vows I agonized over for a month. Nothing I say can top that.” He takes a deep breath and gives me a lopsided smile. “Lo, it’s no secret that I’ve loved you from the second we met. You’ve always had my heart, but I’d give you the air from my lungs if it meant a world with you still in it. You’re my everything. You’ve alwaysbeen my everything, and I can’t believe I waited so damn long to tell you, to make you mine.”
“’Bout damn time, Laurier,” Santa says.
I laugh and turn my attention back to Gabe—because let’s face it, wherever he is, is where I want to be.
“Freckles, I promise to put you and our baby first”—he reaches out and places his wide hands on my belly— “I promise to love you both forever, and to work each and every day at being worthy of your love.”
I can’t keep up with the happy tears that are streaming down my face, and I just know Judah is going to kill me after the ceremony for ruining their perfect makeup job, but I don’t care.
“Gabe and Lo will now exchange rings.”
I gasp. “I don’t have one.”
“Shit. I ... er ... might’ve forgotten to get one for me.” Gabe cringes. “But we already got tattoos branding us together for eternity, so we can get me a gold band later. Worst wedding planner ever, right?”
I chuckle and shake my head. “No. Everything is perfect. You’re perfect.”
Gabe reaches into his pocket and pulls out a ring, placing it on my finger. It’s another rose gold vintage piece with a pale peach diamond at the center and a starburst of smaller diamonds around the outside.Holy shit. Where did he get the money for this ring? I mean, I know the parlor makes enough for him to be comfortable, and yes, he comes from the cushy upper crust of Charleston society, but he spent his inheritance on this house, didn’t he?
“Gabe—”
“Freckles,” he interrupts, and gives me a sly grin. “This ring also belonged to my grandmother. She was my entire world, and now you are, so it seems only right that you should have it.”
His grandmother had great taste in jewelry.
“It’s beautiful.” I shake my head as I study the jewels on my swollen, just-polished fingers.Thank you, Judah, for your insane attention to detail.
“Ladies and gentlemen, by the power vested in me by the internet an hour ago, I give you, Mr. and Mrs. Laurier.” Ruthie leans forward and whispers conspiratorially—just loud enough for everyone to hear, “Now might be a good time to kiss.”
Gabe wraps his hand around the nape of my neck and pulls me closer. He pauses only a hairsbreadth from my mouth and whispers, “You’re finally mine, Freckles.”
“I always have been.”
He presses his lips against mine in a bruising kiss and I open to him, reveling in the way his tongue sweeps my own and my whole body comes alive under his hands.
CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
Lo
My feet hurt from dancing with my new husband, and my back is killing me from the giant Viking baby in my womb and the little bit of extra weight I’ve gained, so I take a breather from our makeshift dance floor and head into the kitchen for a glass of water. Chef and the rest of the Black Sombrero crew are packing up my kitchen and I’m just about to turn back around and get out of their way when movement catches my eye through the front windows. My boss is slowly swinging on the love seat on our porch, overlooking the glittering canal. I make my way outside, and sit beside him. His tie is loosened a little, his body relaxed, and a whiskey glass dangles from his thumb and fingers.
“Hey, Boss Man.”
His smile is warm as he angles his body toward me ever so slightly, but there’s a tightness there too. Maybe he’s just tired. “How is my favorite bride?”
“Exhausted.” I sigh as I lean back in the seat and close my eyes. “So, I er ... I didn’t get a chance to say I’m so sorry about all this. I had no idea.”
Arturo’s brow crinkles. “You’re apologizing for getting married?”
I frown. “No. I’m ... I just. I know how busy the restaurant is, and I know what it must have cost you to do this.”
“You’re my best employee, Lo. But I also consider you mi familia. Iwantedto do this.”
“I’m a really lucky woman.”
“It’s us who are lucky,” he says and finishes his drink. “Are you happy?”
“Of course.” I turn in my seat and glance at the incredible display through the open back doors, at all of my family and friends, and my hands instinctively go to my belly. “I am.”