Page 99 of A Lot Like Love
“I never saw our baby bro being the one to wear the ball and chain first,” Nate said, slapping Ryder on the back. “But if you’re gonna have a chain attached, Chloe’s a pretty nice ball to be dragging around.”
“You calling my girl a ball?” Ryder joked, holding his fists up like he was ready to fight.
“Settle down, Romeo,” Chase interrupted. “Your bride’s waiting.”
“And we only have about fifteen minutes left before the next bride and groom arrive,” Shelly announced.
“Do you want to walk her down the aisle?” Ryder asked Shelly.
“No,” Chloe interrupted, touching her friend’s shoulder as she passed and reaching for Ryder. “I want to walk down the aisle with my husband. No offense, Shel.”
Ryder stared down at Chloe, caught in the web of her gaze. She was beautiful, that was one reason he wanted her so damn bad, but there was a challenge in the way she looked at him, a desire there that he loved. Hell, she’d beaten the pants off him at cards and as good as slashed Parker off at the knees when she’d played him, and then she’d managed to charm his brothers and leave him speechless when she left him. And now here she was standing beside him, demanding that he hold her hand and walk her to the altar. He’d thought it was enough doing what he loved for a living, working with horses every day, being on the land, but something had been missing, and that something was Chloe.
“You think I’ll ever tame you enough to have you barefoot and pregnant?”
Chloe stood on tiptoe to wrap her arms around his neck, laughing as he held her around the waist and spun her around. “Not a chance.”
He reluctantly let her down, interlinking their fingers. “Let’s do this.”
“I hope you don’t have any vows prepared,” she said.
Ryder winked at Chloe as they wandered down the aisle, a corny rendition of “Here Comes the Bride” bursting from the speakers. “Damn right I have.”
They stopped when they reached their celebrant, dressed in flamboyant clothes and wearing a bad blond wig. She managed to get their names right, said the official words, then Ryder interrupted her.
“I don’t actually have vows,” he said, looking into Chloe’s eyes, “but I do have some things I’d like to say.”
Her eyebrows pulled together slightly, uncertainty written all over her face.
Ryder glanced at his brothers, then at Shelly. They were all gathered around them rather than standing on the sides. “I know you guys probably thought I was crazy this morning, but as you can see Chloe was just as crazy and agreed to marry me.”
Chase cracked up. “Only because she didn’t have time to think about what she was agreeing to.”
Ryder scowled and Chloe nudged him in the side, laughing along with the others. “The truth is that this woman right here is amazing, and a wise old grandfather once told me that”—he grinned at Chloe—“if a woman is beautiful and smart, can beat you at cards, and you don’t ever want her out of your bed, then only a fool would let her go.”
“Your granddad told you that?” she asked, one hand on her hip.
Ryder laughed. “Yeah, he did actually. But he’s not exactly your stock standard grandfather. Which is why he’ll probably make us do this all over again when we get back.”
“Come on, marry her already,” Nate moaned.
“As I was saying,” Ryder interrupted in a loud voice, “since this is my wedding and all. When it’s yours you can, oh, hang on, no woman will ever be stupid enough to marry you.” Now it was Nate scowling. “Anyway,” he continued, turning back to Chloe, “you wanted proof that I was in love with you, that I was capable of commitment, then this is it. I’m yours for as long as you’ll have me.”
“And I’m yours,” she whispered, leaning in for a kiss.
Ryder pulled away for a second. “This is the part where I kiss the bride, right?” He didn’t wait for a response, but he did kiss the hell out of Chloe, dipping her back into a kiss for everyone to see.
“The new Mrs. King, huh?” he murmured against her mouth as he slowly brought her back up.
“Let’s not get too carried away with thismissusbusiness, or me taking your last name,” she murmured back. “But yes, I’m yours, Ryder. Completely, totally yours.”
“Now that’s what I’m talking about.”
“I can now officially announce you as man and wife,” the officiant said, throwing a handful of colorful confetti over them. “And I would tell you to kiss the bride, but you’ve done that already!”
Nate and Chase let out whoops, clapping and whistling, and Shelly joined in, grabbing hold of Chase and planting a smacker of a kiss on his lips.
Ryder tucked an arm around Chloe and gazed down at her. “What do you say to an early night, just the two of us in that big bathtub?”
