Page 129 of Rescuing Gracelynn
“Oh, Nate. It’s beautiful.”
“I picked that color stone because it matches your hair.” He looked down at her with a soul-consuming love and asked, “Gracelynn McDaniels, will you please make me the happiest man in the world and be my wife?”
More tears of joy escaped as she grabbed his face and kissed him. And she kept kissing him until Nate pulled away long enough to ask, “So, is that a yes?”
Laughing and crying all at the same time, Gracie stared back at her future and whispered, “Yes.”
* * *
Matt Turner sipped his beer as he watched the couple in the middle of the dance floor.
He was happy for Kole and Sarah, glad they’d finally tied the knot. The pair actually seemed ridiculously perfect for each other.
Though, they only had eyes for each other, he raised his glass to them anyway, silently wishing them nothing but the best in their future.
Matt glanced over at Nate and Gracie, who were also engaged to be married. That one had shocked him a little, considering the recent trials and tribulations those two had been through.
He’d even mentioned his concerns to Nate last month when he’d announced their engagement to the team while shooting at Jake’s private range. Of course, being a man ‘in love’, Nate had simply smiled and patted him on the back, giving Matt a speech that still haunted him, all these weeks later.
Life’s short, Matt. When you find the woman you want to spend it with, you need to grab on tight and never let her go. Even if you have to stand and fight death, itself, for her. Because when you truly love someone, you’ll realize she’s worth every drop of sweat and every tear that may fall. You’ll also figure out pretty damn quick that, without her in your life, everything else seems meaningless.
Earlier tonight, after Sarah and Kole had vowed to love one another forever, Matt received one final piece of Nathan Carter wisdom.
Trust me, Turner. Your time is coming.
Matt looked back over at Nate and his fiancée. The two were snuggled up at a table in the corner, laughing about who knows what.
He shook his head and swallowed the last of his beer.
Normally, he would’ve spent the night trolling the crowd for a hot bridesmaid to give him a night of empty, meaningless sex. Tonight, Matt surprised even himself by wanting to get as far away from the scene as possible.
Standing, he made his way to the reception hall’s exit. Nate’s damning words were still rolling through his mind as he left without so much as a goodbye to anyone.
He understood Nate had meant well with his little talk a few weeks back, but what Matt’s buddy didn’t know was that he’d already found the perfect woman.
She was soft and sweet. Funny and cute. And smart. God, she’d been so fucking smart.
It had blown him away when he found out she had a crush on him, too. From that point on, Matt had been on cloud nine and before long, he was planning his own happily ever after.
But that was all before.
After, Matt had vowed never to give that much power to another woman again. Now, he had rules when it came to the fairer sex. The first and foremost being to never, ever, let it become serious.
If he did, he’d risk dropping his guard down. Maybe even find someone he could really care about.
Fuck that.He already knew how that turned out.
Now, Matt got in and out, and then he moved on. Never again would he let his guard down. Not foranywoman.
Because Matthew Turner wasn’t someone who made the same mistake twice.
* * *
