Page 133 of Fall Into Temptation
“I’m not sure if the woman dressed as a bride should be the one to tell the bride to calm down,” Gia pointed out.
Summer grimaced and looked down at the crocheted white dress. “I was going for a hippie bride,” she said, touching the ring of flowers on her head. “Gotta admit, it never occurred to me that Ellery would actually dress like a traditional bride.”
“I don’t think anyone saw that coming,” Gia agreed.
“Just like no one wouldeverguess you were going as a witch again.” Joey rolled her eyes.
“Hey, your guy likes cowgirls. Mine likes witches. Especially since it was Halloween the first time we had sex in his secret passage. So neener.” Gia stuck her tongue out.
“Okay, everyone is sexy and creative. Can we please go prevent Ellery from imploding Bruce’s brain?” Eva sighed.
While Beckett and Donovan tried to talk sense into the Beautification Committee, Eva and company tried to distract Ellery. Summer pressed a cup of corpse reviver into the Ellery’s hand before the bride could punch someone on her wedding day.
“So, Ellery. Your dress is beautiful but not at all what I was expecting.”
Ellery gave up trying to voodoo Bruce with her eyes. She looked down at her dress, ran black fingernails over the ivory lace. “Do you think Mason will like it? I wanted to wear something that would make him happy.”
“I’m pretty sure he loves you exactly the way you are,” Emma pointed out. “He’s head over heels for you.”
“Yeah, but it’s our wedding day. The most important day of our lives. I want Mason to look back and see the bride he always wanted.”
“See? This drama right here is why Jax was a freaking genius and planned the whole thing without me,” Joey said, waving her hand in a circle. “I’d lose my shit.”
“I’m about to,” Ellery said, narrowing her eyes at the protestors that seemed even louder than before.
Gia and Eva stepped in front of Ellery.
Anthony Berkowicz, camera in hand, popped up next to them like a Whack-A-Mole and fired off several shots. “Dammit, Anthony! I hired you to shoot the wedding, not this!” Ellery moaned.
“Gotta capture the full story! This is news,” he said, capturing another dozen stills of Bruce and Beckett arguing.
Niko peeled off from the men and joined their little circle. “That’s a nice camera, Anthony. Mind if I take a look?”
“Oh sure,” Anthony said eagerly handing it over. “It’s a DSLR with twenty-two megapixels—hey!”
Niko gave Anthony a light shove and turned the camera back on Ellery. “Let’s see a smile from the gorgeous bride.”
Ellery beamed on command, and Niko snapped away.
“Ellery?”
They all turned as one, and Eva heard the quiet click of the shutter as Niko captured Mason’s first look at his bride.
“Mason?” Ellery gasped.
Eva slapped a hand over her mouth to hide her completely warranted gasp. Joey was less concerned about filtering her comments. “What the hell is this guy wearing?”
Mason, mild-mannered accountant and general sweetheart, was dressed to the nines in a tux and tails with black tie, black shirt, and precariously perched top hat. All looked as though they’d been rolled in the dirt of a fresh grave. His face was painted like he was a backup member of KISS, ghoulish white with black accents.
Bride and groom floated toward each other as the entire crowd hushed.
“You look—” they both began.
“You don’t look like you,” Ellery said, running a finger over Mason’s face paint.
“I wanted to look good for you,” he said, taking her hands in his.
“You did this for me?” Ellery asked, tears filling her eyes.
