Page 87 of Man Candy (After We Fall 1)
But now…I was going to disagree.
Twenty-Nine
JAIME
Alex and Nolan’s wedding day dawned clear, bright, and crisp. I woke up in a surprisingly good mood, considering I’d been dreading making the toast for a year and Quinn wouldn’t be there tonight to get me through it. But I felt optimistic about both my words and the evening ahead—and I was genuinely happy for Alex and Nolan. I had a new appreciation for their relationship.
After breakfast I took a walk, breathing in the cool spring air and going over my little speech in my head again and again.
I spent the late morning and early afternoon at the salon and then dressing in my old bedroom at my parents’ house, where the car would pick us up. Getting ready in my old bathroom reminded me of being a teenager—and crushing on Quinn, of course. Who’d have thought, after all this time, he’d be the love of my life?
The thought gave me shivers.
Since I was the only female attendant, I’d gotten to pick my own outfit, and I’d chosen a gorgeous light gray dress that coordinated with the grooms’ charcoal gray suits. (Light gray was on the list of Approved Wardrobe Colors Nolan had given family to guide their choice of wedding attire.)
I wore diamond earrings, borrowed from Margot, and the necklace Quinn had given me, and I had my hair done up in a twist, which showed off the jewelry and the cutout in the back of the dress.
Both the ceremony and reception were held at the Ford Piquette Avenue Plant, which sounds like a crazy place to hold a wedding, but I had to hand it to Nolan—the place looked fantastic. It was the perfect spot.
The industrial elements—Model T’s parked along the room’s perimeter, the exposed brick on the walls and ductwork on the ceiling, the huge factory windows, the wood-planked floor—gave it a rustic, masculine feeling. The flowers, linens and party lights lent softer elegance, and the fading sun cast the entire room in pale amber light. Almost two hundred guests were seated in rows of white folding chairs.
A string quartet played as our parents and Nolan’s were seated, then Nolan’s brother Sean took my arm and we walked up the aisle together. Once we’d reached the officiant, we split to each side, just as we’d rehearsed the previous night.
When I turned to face the back of the room, I saw him
Quinn.
He’d snuck in somehow, and he was standing at the back, dressed in a dark suit and looking so handsome he took my breath away. My flowers jittered in my hands.
He’s here! He came!
A moment later, Alex and Nolan were walking up the aisle hand in hand, and I found myself completely choked up. They looked so happy, so in love, so sure of themselves. I thought about what it had taken for them to get here—as a gay couple, getting married wasn’t something they took for granted—and I felt lucky to witness it.
I peeked out at Quinn. He smiled at me—not huge, but it made my heart pound all the same. I started thinking about what I
was going to say to him and realized I was totally unprepared.
Damn it! How dare he surprise me like this! I wanted to get it right this time, and I hadn’t practiced!
OK, no panicking. Maybe it will be even better if it’s unrehearsed…just say what you’re feeling without holding back.
When the grooms kissed to seal their union, my eyes filled, and my heart thumped with joy. When they embraced each other and I saw the tears on Nolan’s face, I gave up trying to stem the tide, and let mine fall too.
Love was real, and it was worth celebrating.
I only had a few minutes between the ceremony and the elaborate photo shoot Nolan had planned, and I had to use most of it to repair my eye makeup, but I was dying to get to Quinn. After I touched up my face in the bathroom, I hurried back into the reception room, where guests were mingling with drinks in their hands, talking and listening to live jazz. My eyes skimmed the crowd, but I didn’t see him right away.
A hand touched my shoulder. “Jaime.”
I turned, and at the nearness of him, my breath caught. Without thinking, I threw my arms around his neck and hugged him tight. “Oh my God! What are you doing here?”
“I rearranged a few things. I actually have to fly back to London tomorrow night.”
Surprised, I stepped back. “You do? When did you fly in?”
“Today.”
“You flew in for one night?”
