Page 109 of Doing It for Love

And my father-in-law looks down at me, half-smiles like Landon does when he can’t quite find the words to say, and he squeezes my hand. Twice.

—

It feels like I’ve danced with every single guest. I have no idea where my shoes ended up. My ribs are starting to cramp because of the tightness of my dress, and as the hours turn into longer hours, I ask Mom exactly how much of the reception we have left, because I honestly want to lie down.

“Well, we’ve done the cake and bouquet toss,” she says, ticking off things on her fingers. “Theresa and Alec gave their speeches. You danced with your father and your father-in-law. Let’s see what else here…”

She starts pointing at things around the hall, and I catch Landon’s eyes briefly across the room while he chats with his parents. Flutters awaken in the pit of my stomach. My wedding day is nearly over, and it’s completely bittersweet because here comes the wedding night!

He winks at me, and I shimmy at him just as my mom turns around.

“Elizabeth Ann!”

“What?”

She shakes her head. “I’ll get the microphone and announce you two are leaving.”

Before she gets too far, I snag her arm and give her an airtight hug.

“Thank you for all of this, Momma.”

She squeezes back, and we stay that way through half a song. When she pulls back, she dabs at her eye.

“Stop that,” I say, fixing my makeup as well.

“You have fun tonight. And just remember, you have an entire life to have Operation Great Sex.”

“Mom.”

“I’m just saying…”

She fixes my hair, and then walks to the stage. Landon catches my wrist and pulls me through the dance floor and into a side hallway…where we find Jace with a wedding guest.

“Oh, hey,” he says, the girl obviously not caring they were just walked in on, since she’s still kissing his neck. “Uh, congrats, you guys.”

Landon laughs and pulls me into another hallway.

“It’s not a wedding without that, right?” I tell him, but my laughter stops when he pushes me against the wall. Fire licks up my stomach, heart beating in a race. His lips are close, and he smells like aftershave and frosting. He puts one hand above my head, leaning in only to look at me with his piercing gray eyes.

“Hi,” he says.

“Hi,” I say back, breath suddenly knocked from my lungs.

“I want you.”

“Okay!”

“Shh…” He laughs and presses a finger to my lips. “I want to show you something.”

“Landon, keep it in your pants.”

He pushes his hand into his jacket pocket and pulls out a hotel key. “Gift from my mom and dad. The bridal suite.”

“No.” I yank the thing out of his hand to make sure it’s real.

“Yeah. Couldn’t believe it either.”

The guests in the hall disappear from my head. All of them. I forget that Mom hasn’t made our exit announcement, and I grab Landon’s lapel and pull him to the elevator. I don’t even have to wait till the doors close and his hands are all over me. I thought I was tired, but we’re doing this. Wearestrawberries and whipped cream.

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