Page 126 of Pretend Wife
Once he believed that I loved Hayden and wasn’t using him for some scheme, Zeb had worked hard to earn Hayden’s and my forgiveness, sharing his side of the story and making every effort to get to know us better.
Hayden said I forgave him too easily, but I couldn’t hold a grudge against Zeb when I was so damn grateful to him for saving Hayden the night he blackmailed me.
Hayden stayed mad for longer, but eventually even he’d let go of the resentment and anger.
Zeb had become an integral part of all our lives in the past months, being there for Allison in the wake of Robert’s death but also stepping up whenever any of Allison’s children needed anything. It didn’t matter to him that Maggie was the only one biologically related to him. They were all Allison’s, and he treated them all with the love a father should have for his children.
He offered advice, trained us all in combat and anything else we asked to learn, and most of all, he cared. I didn’t need to be able to read his emotions to know he loved all of Allison’s children and their significant others. He would do anything for us, just like he’d promised in the hospital years ago, only now I was on that list of people.
Slowly he’d become family, and as I watched Allison walk toward him, I couldn’t be happier for them.
Hayden’s fingers brushed along my bare shoulder ashe leaned in to whisper in my ear. “This brings back memories.”
“Good ones or bad ones?” I replied under my breath.
He chuckled. “Marrying you was the best thing I ever did. My only regret is that I didn’t get to be the one to take your dress off that night.”
“You can take this one off,” I offered.
“Oh, I intend to.”
I felt a shiver slide down my spine at the dark promise in his words.
His hand slid up the back of my neck and into my loose hair, twirling the strands around his fingers idly as we watched the ceremony unfold before us.
Zeb and Allison exchanged vows and rings, and then Zeb bent Allison back in a deep kiss that had Hayden burying his face in my neck with a tormented groan.
“There’s a reason children are not supposed to attend their parents’ weddings.”
I laughed. “Stop being a baby. They’re in love.”
“Ugh. Stop reminding me.”
“Are you saying you don’t want your mom to be happy?” I challenged him.
“Of course I want her to be happy. I just don’t want toseeit.”
After the ceremony, we took a bunch of pictures and then headed back to Zeb’s mansion of a house for the reception. It was where Zeb and Allison had first met, her freshman year of college.
We ate dinner, watched the newlyweds’ first dance, and listened to speeches from a couple Hayden referred to as Aunt Julie and Uncle Chad.
There was no official wedding party, but these two were close. Chad talked about the night Zeb met Allison and grilled him for information on her. Julie told us how they were the couple everyone else was jealous of and how obviously they’d adored each other. Both speeches glossed over the fact that Allison had married someone else between their college days and now.
When all the formalities were over, the DJ started up the music and people trickled onto the dance floor.
Miles took Jessica’s hand and led her out there, followed closely by Maggie and Scott.
I looked to Hayden, but before he could ask if I wanted to dance, Zeb was there, placing a hand on his shoulder.
“Hayden, your mother would like to dance with you.”
Hayden glanced at me, and I gave him a smile.
“Go on, it’s her day.”
Once Hayden was gone, Zeb offered me a hand. “Will you dance with me, Danielle?”
“Of course.” I let him pull me up and into the throng of couples swaying to the song currently playing. He slipped easily into the traditional dance frame we’d both learned as children in Heaven, and I couldn’t help the grin that stole over my lips. I didn’t have many opportunities to dance with angels these days, and it was kind of fun.
