Page 78 of Big Daddy Christmas
So he would wait. After all, he’d already waited half a lifetime for her. What was a few more minutes?
Chapter 10
Ruby
Beckett was staring at her.
It wasn’t just that he was staring, though. It was the intensity with which he was staring. Anyone who didn’t know any better could be forgiven for thinking he was the groom, waiting expectantly for his bride to come down the aisle.
Her unease wasn’t helped in the least bit by the fact that with every step she took, her muscles clenched around the plug in her ass, reigniting the burn of the ginger. While Beckett was staring at her like she was the last bite of food at a buffet and he’d been starving for weeks, she, on the other hand, was feeling rather murderous. Knowing she’d earned the punishment didn’t do a damn thing to ease her annoyance. Or her humiliation.
It didn’t seem to matter that nobody but Beckett and Silver knew she had a plug in her ass. Some illogical part of her brain was convinced that every single person watching her make her way down the aisle could tell she was walking more stiffly than usual and that they knew exactly why.
Taking her spot beside Silver, she shifted as inconspicuously as possible, trying to find a comfortable position to stand in that didn’t make her ass ache. But between the oil and the size of the damn thing, even just standing still was uncomfortable. No matter what, her mind was going to be on her punishment, and by extension her Daddy, the entire ceremony.
Just like he’d wanted it.
The bastard.
Praying her smile covered her growing irritation toward the man watching her from across the aisle, she turned her head to watch Frankie make her way to the end of the white runner and take up her place beside Ruby.
And then there was silence. As if the entire room was holding its breath in those few seconds before the doors opened again, and Lottie stepped into the room.
She really was a vision, even more so than she’d been back in the suite. Ruby snuck a look over at Braden, unsurprised to see he wasn’t even trying to hide the tears welling in his eyes as he watched his babygirl make her way toward him.
Romantic music, played by the stringed quartet tucked away in the corner of the room, filled the air as Lottie made her way to the end of the aisle on her father’s arm. The pair paused, her father also not bothering to hide his tears as he kissed his daughter on the cheek and passed her off to his best friend. Braden shook his hand, bowing his head slightly as Lottie’s father murmured something nobody else could hear. Whatever it was, it had Braden laughing and nodding in agreement as he slipped his arm through Lottie’s and turned to face the officiant.
As the vows that would link them together for life were said, Ruby found her gaze drifting once more across the aisle. To the man who held her heart in his hands. Her annoyance with the plug in her ass faded completely as she thought about the ring she’d found in his drawer, the ring he’d bought just for her.
He was wrong for her, in every single way. He needed complete control, where she couldn’t and wouldn’t allow anyone to put her in a cage. He had more money than they could spend in a lifetime, where she’d spent years working multiple jobs just to put a roof over her head and food in her belly. At every turn, it had seemed as though fate itself was working against them.
And yet, they’d found a way. Through lots of tears and compromise and tense therapy sessions, they’d built a life that worked for them, brick by brick. A life she now couldn’t imagine living with anyone but him.
“I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss your bride.”
Cheers erupted around them, and Ruby joined in as Braden bent his bride completely backward, claiming her in the most thoroughly scorching kiss Ruby had ever witnessed. A glance over at Lottie’s poor father showed he was staring very pointedly at the ceiling, and Ruby couldn’t help but giggle.
As one, husband and wife turned to their cheering crowd. But instead of making their way down the aisle like Ruby had expected, Lottie turned and pinned her with a mischievous grin, and Ruby’s heart tripped in her chest.
What the hell was she up to?
Letting go of Braden’s hand, Lottie stepped forward and held out her giant bouquet. Someone plucked the smaller version from Ruby’s hands, and for a moment, all she could do was stare at the explosion of flowers in front of her as her brain tried to process what was happening.
“Just take it,” Lottie whispered loudly, giving her bouquet a shake. “Wait! Not yet.” She carefully extracted the locket from between the flowers before handing it back to Ruby. “There. Now it’s yours.”
“I-I don’t understand. Why are you giving me your bouquet?”
“You know the tradition.” Lottie winked. “Whoever catches the bouquet is the next to get married.”
Shoving the flowers into Ruby’s numb fingers, Lottie stepped aside, and Ruby’s pounding heart slammed to a complete and utter stop at the sight that greeted her.
Beckett Stone, the man she loved beyond all reason, on one knee right there in front of God and everyone, an open ring box in the palm of his hand.
Holy. Shit.
“Ruby.” His voice rang out loud and clear, though it was thick with what she thought might be tears. “I have loved you from the very moment I laid eyes on you. You are the light that was missing from my life for so very long. And if you’ll have me, I vow to fill your life with as much love and happiness as you’ve given me for the rest of my days. Will you marry me, my sweet Ruby Red?”
She couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t think, couldn’t move. A hundred different emotions welled inside her, crowding into her chest, squeezing all the air from her lungs.
