Page 45 of The Rescuer

Reece went from gingerly holding the device as his mouth swung open, closed, and his grip on the device tightened. He didn’t even recognize himself! This guy on Hailey’s screen was jovial, a total dumbass, and clumsy as hell as he went into a crouch and proposed in the middle of a brightly lit jewelry store with a small crowd watching him make an utter fool of himself. No one-knee proposal there. A crouch. Yeah, he was a true romantic, all right.

He glimpsed Neve’s mouth going through the same motions his did. “You don’t remember either?”

She shook her head. “No.”

“What I don’t understand is why you didn’t turn tail and run the hell out of there.”

“If I could remember any of this, I might be able to tell you, but right now, it’s a total blank. Looks like I thought it was funny, though.” She pointed at herself on the screen, where her fingers covered her mouth but couldn’t hide the broad smile behind them or the squeal of excitement that ripped from her lungs.

Had Neve really been that excited about an idiotic fake wedding proposal from him? Because the proposal was theultimatein stupid. If he were going to propose for real, he would pull off something way better than this clown show. Sadly, it wouldn’t take much to top this. The entire spectacle added cringing on top of cringe-worthiness.

“Oh, you loved it, Neve!” Hailey threw in. “And who wouldn’t? It was so spontaneous and cute and fun and … romantic.” She pointed at the device Reece continued clutching as though his life depended on it.

“Itwasromantic,” Joy insisted, “but not as romantic as Charlie going down on one knee at the chapel.” She fluttered her eyelashes at Reece’s little brother, who gave her a heated look in return. These two had nodoubt consummated their unplanned union several times over by now. No pulling them apart with a divorce.

The word sent jitters up his spine, and not good ones.

Reece’s ridiculous proposal portion of the video came to an end—thank fuck for small mercies—and Neve pried the phone from his fist and handed it back to Hailey.

“Oh, it’s not over.” Hailey scrolled through the device, her beaming smile taking on a satanic quality as she handed it back. “Keep watching. Alma took over filming during the ceremony and sent this to me. It’ll be on your phones too.”

“Why?” Reece barked.

Hailey’s blue eyes flickered with surprise. “Because you asked her to?”

Neve took the phone from Hailey this time, and Reece puffed out a long exhale as she hit the play button and placed the device under his nose so he could see the six of them lined up in front of Elvin. The three woman held bouquets of flowers Reece recognized from the delivery at the suite, and the guys stood straight and tall—like real grooms. Noah and Hailey were in the middle of the pack, though the spotlight didn’t stay entirely on them. No, each couple got to deliver their vows. Reece and Neve went last, and one of Reece’s questions was at last answered. Not only had he kissed Neve, but he’d swooped her into his arms, bent her over backward, and engaged her mouth in an enthusiastic kiss—with tongue. That memory came flooding back into his brain. His tongue stroking hers, the sweet way she tasted, her succulent mouth, how her shock at his action had dissolved … and how she’d returned that kiss with a fervor that matched his own.

His dick gave a rousing cheer. He told it to simmer down and returned his attention to the video, where Neve’s surprised eyes were now closed. He could have sworn a sweet little moan escaped her. Her fingertips dug in as her grip on his shoulders tightened, and he found himself wanting to believe it wasn’t merely because she needed to hang on.

Jesus, who was this guy who had invaded his body and taken over last night?

The ceremony was over quickly. Elvin had been efficient, reading once from the book he held in his palms and prompting their I-dos one right after the other. The whole thing had taken less than five minutes.

Five minutes to get married. How long to getunmarried? If this was real, that is … and he still wasn’t convinced.

His disbelief carried over as he stared wordlessly at Hailey and Joy showing off their rings, oohing and aahing. With a lot of prodding, Neve reluctantly added her hand to the mix so they could fawn over that too. Neve didn’t look any happier about the circumstances than Reece felt, but he had to admit the ringwasstunning. Would he have picked out the same one had he been sober? Would he have picked out the samewoman? God only knew because he’d never even considered proposing marriage before, much less doing the actual asking and going through with it.

For the hundredth time since they’d awakened to find the license, he asked himself how he had lost all control over his sanity.

This couldn’t be real.Thatwas the answer. The four of them had gotten together and staged an elaborate hoax. He had to tip his hat to them—their acting skills were superb. But if they were making all this up, they would have had to rehearse for a long time and pull Neve into the ruse too. Judging by her face, now completely drained of color, he was pretty certain she wasn’t in on it. She looked like she might be sick or pass out, or both, at any moment, and he instinctively reached over and placed his hand protectively over hers.

The move seemed to surprise her, but she quickly mouthed, “Thank you.” Her skin went from skim-milk-translucent to a marginally healthier shade of pale pink.

With his free hand, he slurped his coffee and tried to control the whirling dervish inside him.

Gathering his courage, he cleared his throat, and all heads turned toward him. “Ah, I think Neve and I have more unanswered questions about last night.”

Charlie checked his watch. “Gotta hold them for now. We have a plane to catch.”

Reece was dumbfounded. “What plane?”

Noah gave him a “duh” look. “Cantrell’s private jet? The one that brought us here? It’s ready to take off in an hour, and we still have to pack and get to the airstrip.”

Neve gasped. “Is Leo going to meet the plane?”

Hailey’s brows drew together. “I have no idea. Do youwantto see him as soon as we land?”

Neve shook her head so hard Reece wondered if her neck would snap. “In fact, if you all would do Reece and me a huge favor … We’d really appreciate your keeping our part in this triple wedding to yourselves.”

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