Page 50 of The Best Man Problem
Yes. Yes, she most certainly could.
…
Lincoln wiped his face with the back of his hand, brushing away a few stray tears as he watched his two best friends kiss for the first time as man and wife. He wasn’t ashamed at the release of emotions. Real men cried, and that toxic masculinity bullshit could shove it. The two people he loved most in the world just got something they feared they would never have a few short years ago.
A future together.
He cried when Marie got sick and they all feared they might lose her, and he would damn well cry now. Happy tears, of course. Damn, he was so over the moon for them. As they walked back down the aisle, arm in arm, man and wife, he couldn’t stop the huge grin from taking over his face. Kenneth’s cousin had to nudge him to remind him they were still in wedding mode and Rachel was waiting for him to escort her down the aisle.
“Wasn’t it a beautiful ceremony?” She sniffed, dabbing at her eyes with a tissue as she linked arms with him.
“Yeah. And now comes the best part. Cake.”
She laughed as they made their way down the aisle, smiling at all the people who clapped at Kenneth and Marie’s exit. It had been a beautiful ceremony. Short, too, which made it even better. And now they’d get to the fun stuff: food, drinks, dancing, and then…truth be told, as happy as Lincoln was for his friends, now that the official ceremony was over, his happiness had turned into excitement. For after—for tonight.
The second those two left for their honeymoon, he’d be free. No longer attached to any client of Lilly’s, no longer bound by her rule. After tonight they wouldn’t be wedding planner and best man anymore. They’d simply be Lilly and Lincoln. Two people who shared an amazing night—and text exchange—once and, if luck was with him, would share again. Many times over.
“Hey, everyone.” Lilly’s partner Mo popped up at the end of the aisle and ushered the wedding party over. “Lilly is taking Kenneth and Marie outside to do some winter shots with the photographer. We’re going to let everyone pile out of here and head into the library for drinks and hors d’oeuvres. While the waitstaff is setting up the tables, the photographer will come back for the group shots, so if you have to use the facilities, do it now.”
The parents headed toward the restroom, along with the ringbearer and the other groomsman, leaving only Lincoln, the bridesmaids—who were off to the side checking one another’s hair and dresses—and Mo.
“You looked good up there, Lincoln.”
“Oh, um, thank you.”
She chuckled. “You’re welcome, but I wasn’t the one who said it.”
She glanced out the window. He followed her gaze to see Lilly draping a pale lavender cloak over Marie’s shoulder as the snow fell down around the couple. They looked like they were in a snow globe. Beautiful. But not as beautiful as the woman who wore a simple black coat, clipboard in hand as she positioned the couple then hurried out of the shot for the photographer to capture the stunning moment.
“It was unconsciously whispered in my ear as you walked down the aisle.”
He turned his attention back to Mo, who tapped the small, black headset she wore.
“In fact, I believe the exact words were ‘sonofabitch, he looks damn edible in a tux.’” The woman winked.
Fantastic. He was already having enough trouble waiting for tonight. How the hell was he supposed to get through the entire reception knowing the woman he craved wanted to eat him up?
“Better start reciting times tables if you don’t want these pictures to be NSFW.”
He glanced at Mo in question. When the woman’s eyes darted to his crotch, he quickly adjusted himself as discreetly as possible. Yeah, even thinking of Lilly got him ready to go, but since he was pretty sure Marie would kick his ass if he was sporting wood in her wedding pictures, he did as Mo suggested and started some complex math equations in his head. It worked, and soon the happy couple was back inside, noses lightly red from the cold but happy smiles still firmly affixed.
They quickly ran through the preset list of photos as the catering company set up the great room for the reception. It amazed him how quickly everyone worked. Within fifteen minutes, the guests came back in and everyone sat for dinner. Lilly grabbed the mic and welcomed Mr. and Mrs. Buller for the first time. Everyone cheered, clinking their glasses until the happy couple kissed.
The reception went off without a hitch. Lilly seamlessly moved each portion of the night into the next with a practiced ease he found impressive and sexy as hell. Rachel gave a touching speech that made everyone tear up. He went for the jokes in his speech but couldn’t let it end without putting some real emotion into an event they all feared might never come. By the time he sat back down, there wasn’t a dry eye in the room, his included.
After a delicious dinner and some equally delectable cake came the dancing portion of the evening. He had to admit, he was having fun, but every time his gaze fell on Lilly, every time she spoke, his mind raced ahead to later tonight.
Would she come to his room? Was he supposed to go to hers? She’d told him to stay, but she hadn’t mentioned where to meet. They hadn’t really discussed anything beyond her desire to be with him again. He sure as hell wanted to be with her.
Finally, all the food had been consumed, all the traditions carried out, and they were tossing birdseed as Marie and Kenneth carefully hurried down the front walk to their waiting limo. A small pang of sadness hit him directly in the chest as he watched his two closest friends go into the night to catch their honeymoon flight, off to start their new life together.
You sap, you live below them. Not much is going to change.
Yeah, nothing would really change, but in a way, everything would. He’d been married before. He knew the drill.
People started to head to their cars and the other stretch limos Lilly had arranged to pick up the guests they’d dropped off earlier. Before long, Lincoln turned and headed inside. The rest of the bridal party was either already gone or packing up to leave. The caterers and staff were cleaning up, putting away all the magic of the evening.
No.
