Page 48 of Penny & Royce

Nodding, the officiant gestured toward the aisle. “Right this way.”

Royce tugged her to a stop for a moment and faced her. His eyes swept over her features, and he brushed his fingertips along her cheek. “You are so beautiful.”

She scoffed, but he cupped her face in his hands with such heartbreaking seriousness in his eyes that the sound died quickly.

“We’re going to walk down that aisle,” he said, “and if there’s one thing I want you to know, it’s that I want this more than anything I’ve ever wanted. I want you.”

Her breath caught in her chest.

Breathing was nearly impossible when he stared at her the way he was right now. She could feel the truth in every word he spoke, and the way her heart reacted to him made it hard to think about anything else.

Royce seemed to be searching for something in her expression, and when he apparently found it, he smiled.

“I’m going to do everything I can to make sure you’re happy, Penny. Not because I think that’s mine to control, but because your happiness matters to me. I want to spend my life proving that we can build something good together.”

She let out a laugh, finally managing to catch her breath. “I’m pretty sure you’re supposed to say your vows up there.” Penny tilted her head toward the end of the aisle where the officiant waited.

His eyes shone with amusement. “I just wanted to share this moment with you and you alone. I didn’t want you to have any doubts that I’m choosing us. If you haven’t noticed, the way we’re going about this is a little unorthodox.”

Penny giggled. “Yeah, I noticed.”

Boy, she loved the way he smiled. It flooded his face with warmth and sunshine. She could bask in the glow of the man standing before her.

It was in that moment she realized something extraordinary.

There was no nausea.

No anxiety.

Right here, in this moment, all she wanted was to be with Royce Meyers.

Without thinking, she slipped a free hand behind his neck and kissed him. Her lips crashed over his, and she hoped he could feel everything she wasn’t sure she could find the words to say yet. She hadn’t had a chance to come up with her own vows.

But this?

Maybe this would be enough for now.

The officiant chuckled, bringing her back to the present, and they turned to face him.

Music played, and they walked together toward the man who would pronounce them husband and wife.

Light filteredinto the hotel suite, and Penny blinked against the rays that filled the room. She sat up in bed and pulled the covers up to her chest. After the ceremony, they’d gone to a restaurant to celebrate, and then they’d come back to the hotel.

Her skin warmed at the memories of the night before. The way Royce had been gentle and sweet. The way he’d treated her like someone precious, not something claimed.

That had her gaze drifting to her side, where the bed was empty.

Penny’s thoughts were still in a daze, running over everything that had occurred since she’d agreed to come to Nevada with Royce. But then reality set in, and her heart lurched.

The bed was empty.

She reached out with one shaking hand and dragged it along the sheets.

They were cool to the touch.

That familiar panic rose in her chest. There were no other sounds in the hotel suite. He wasn’t in the bathroom. He wasn’t watching television in the separate sitting space. At first glance, she didn’t see anything that belonged to him.

His suit from last night was gone too.