Page 91 of Because You Loved Me

She squeezed his hands. “I know, Brad. And I love you both, too.” She elbowed Ryan, who stood close. “And this one, too. Like a brother,” she added quickly. “We’re all going to be okay.”

“We are.” Ryan slipped his arm around her waist and pulled her from his father’s grasp and back toward his. “And before all this starts, I just wanted to say?—”

“No!”

A voice boomed through the room. The music stopped abruptly, and as if in slow motion, everyone turned to look at the source of the interruption.

* * *

If Asher had been thinking straight, he might not have charged into the wedding the way he had, covered in snow and soaked with sweat from the effort of skiing down from the cabin, no doubt looking like a deranged mountain man. But he hadn’t been thinking straight.

How could he be?

All he could think about since that phone call with Kat was that Noa was about to make a horrible mistake, and he needed to stop her. No matter what.

Over the last few hours, with nothing but time to think, he’d come up with a dozen scenarios of what he would say when he saw her, and what he’d tell her about how he felt about her.

In his head, he was smooth and confident and everything made perfect sense.

In reality, the moment he walked through the front door of the lodge and saw her, all of his carefully planned speeches flew out of his head. And then when he sawhimtouching her, and the way they stood together at the altar, under that arch…he saw red.

Asher stumbled his way across the slate floor, toward them.

His gaze moved from the other man’s arm around her, to Noa’s eyes.

“Don’t do it, Noa.” His words came out in a garbled gasp. He dropped his head and sucked in a breath in an effort to calm his breathing before he once more straightened up and looked into her beautiful brown eyes.

“Asher, I?—”

“I don’t know what this is with us.” He interrupted her, afraid if he didn’t say what was on his heart, he’d never again get the chance. “I never could have expected to feel this way about a woman I’ve only known for such a short time. But then again, I never could have imagined you. You are not just any woman. Not even close.” He tugged his knit cap off and ran a hand through his wild hair before he continued. “Noa, the day you jumped into my truck, you changed my whole world. But it was the moment I saw you in your toilet paper dress that I knew you were different.” He laughed a little at the memory, but Noa’s face didn’t change. He couldn’t read her expression, but she hadn’t turned away. And that was something.

“Together,weare different, Noa. With you, I’m softer. I smile. I feel. And…I care. About everything. Not just you, but I care about you, too, Noa. So much.”

Asher knew he wasn’t making any sense, but he couldn’t seem to stop himself.

“I never should have said those things the other day. I never should have pushed you away.” He swallowed hard and dared to take a step closer. “I was scared,” he confessed. “I was so scared about the way you made me feel because I’ve never felt that way about anybody. Not even close. And here I was, falling in love with you when the entire thing seemed so improbable that you couldn’t possibly feel the same way.”

“I do.”

“I know now that it’s okay if you don’t feel the—what?” He blinked hard and shook his head. “What did you say?”

Finally, the corner of Noa’s lips quirked up and a small, tentative smile slid across her face. “I do,” she repeated as she moved away from the other man and stepped toward him. “I do feel the same way.”

“You do?” More than anything, he wanted to believe her. “Then, why…” For the first time, he looked at Ryan, who was watching the scene with an amused expression on his face. Asher looked back at Noa. “Why are you getting married?”

Noa’s mouth fell open in surprise seconds before she laughed. “I’m not getting married, Asher.” She pointed over his shoulder and slowly he turned to see two older women standing at the base of the steps with small bouquets in their hands. His little sister Kat stood above them on the landing, with a hand over her face. “They are,” Noa finished. “Our parents decided to renew their vows today.”

Asher spun and looked at her and Ryan again. For the first time, he noticed the two older gentlemen standing behind them. Their fathers. “So, you’re not…”

“Nope,” Ryan said. “She turned me down.” He lifted his arms in a dramatic shrug. “She said something about this guy in a cabin in the?—”

“Enough.” Noa smacked him in the arm.

Ryan chuckled and stepped back, leaving the two of them alone, still standing in the middle of the aisle, all eyes on them.

“Do you really think I could marry him after…well, after everything?” Noa stepped forward and took his hands in hers.

The touch of her skin on his sent a shot of energy through him that gave him strength. “I was such an asshole.”

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