Page 72 of The Alpha Escort Agency
Epilogue
“Can I come in yet?” Rory asks.
Alice peeks over her shoulder at Maria. “A few more minutes. She’s not quite decent yet.”
“But you wanted one of the dress being laced up, right?”
“Yes, we’re nearly there.”
“And how about you?” he says, his eyes sliding down her body. “Are you planning to get dressed?” He tugs on the tie, slipping a hand between the folds of her gown and cupping the globe of her backside.
She twerks an eyebrow at him. “Keep it professional. You’re on a job.”
“It’s going to be hard to keep it professional with you around distracting me.”
She laughs. “We both know that’s not the truth. Once you go into photography mode, I could dance around in front of you naked and you wouldn’t notice.”
“I most certainly would.”
Alice glances behind her once more, then opens the door wide for him. “Okay, you can come in.”
He winks at her and she rolls her eyes, watching as he strolls over to Maria, giving her a peck on the cheek and complimenting her in the way only Rory can. Then he sets to work.
Alice has accompanied him a couple of times on wedding gigs to help him out and keep him company and she’s always impressed by how he puts people at ease, understanding when they want him to melt into the background and when they need him to give them instruction. Always polite, always warm, always just Rory.
She’s helped in other ways too, designing his website, creating the marketing materials and editing his pictures. He’s come to depend on her opinion more and more, trusting her to know which pictures will work for the gallery, what will be accepted by the wildlife magazines, and the ones the brides will coo over. They’ve formed a partnership and it works.
And she's started to dabble herself, buying her own camera and getting him to show her how to develop her pictures in the darkroom. It's reignited her passion for art, given her more than just her work to throw herself into. Well, taking photos and loving Rory. Both she does with passion, their sessions in the darkroom often abandoned for other pleasurable pursuits.
“Alice,” Maria calls, ignoring her mother fussing with the veil. “Hurry up and get dressed. I want some pictures of me and my bridesmaids.”
“Yes Ma’am,” Alice says, saluting her.
“I think they’ll be best outside,” Rory says, “so I’ll come back to take some group shots of you ladies soon. I’m going to go and take a few photos of the setup for the ceremony on the beach.”
He walks over to Alice and she smiles up at him, stroking his cheek. “And snap some photos of the ocean while you’re there.”
He smiles back. “I’m pretty sure I saw a cormorant fishing down there earlier.”
“What one is that again?”
“I’ll show you later.”
“Don’t be late.”
He leans forward and kisses her forehead. “You look beautiful, Alice.”
“I’m not dressed!”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“Hey,” Maria calls from the other side of the hotel’s master bedroom. “Stop distracting my Maid of Honour. She has work to do.”
He gives a wave in Maria’s direction and heads out the door.
The next few hours are a blur of emotion, tears and laughter. Moments Alice will never forget. Gliding down the aisle, eyes locked on Rory. Maria; breath-taking and stunning and giggling as she says her vows. The look of pure joy on Ed’s face when the officiant pronounces them husband and wife.
And then she’s lost in a swirl — chatting to friends, posing for photos, helping Maria with her dress, sipping on champagne; always her gaze drawn to Rory. She wanders over to him as he stands under a tree flicking through the photos on his camera’s screen.
