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Feeling her hot, ragged breaths against my shoulder was exquisite. Once they calmed down completely, she straightened up her back and looked at me with a sassy smile.
“This was magnificent. The only thing missing was the champagne.”
I laughed. “I’ll bring it up here.”
“Or we can drink it drink downstairs.”
“Nah. We’ve got more plans with it, babe.”
“After all, we do have all evening and all night for ourselves,” she whispered.
“We have our whole damn lives. I promise to make you scream like this every time.”
She put a hand over her mouth and giggled. “Oh my. I was loud, wasn’t I?”
“Yes, and I fucking loved it.”
“Hmmm. All right, I accept that you’ll have your way with me for the rest of our lives on one condition.”
“And what’s that?”
“We get that bubbly here ASAP.”
I laughed. “That’s easily arranged. But I have a request too.”
“I’m all ears.”
“I want us to have a real wedding.”
Her breath caught, and she put a hand on her chest. “What?”
“Yeah.”
“I mean, ours was beautiful,” she murmured.
“But I want one where we allow ourselves to feel what we’re feeling,” I said. “Does that make sense?”
She nodded. “Yeah. Yes, it does.” Then her face exploded into a grin. “Oh, Nick, this is the best idea you’ve ever had. When do you want to have it?”
“I don’t know. But we can debate it some more over champagne and orgasms.”
She grinned. “Yes, we can.”
First Epilogue
Allison
“Are you ready, Auntie Allison?” Annie asked. “I can walk in front of you. I’m a big girl.”
“I want to walk too,” Jack said.
Nick and I decided to have our real wedding on the anniversary of our first one. There just seemed something magical about the twelve-month mark. The twins were big enough that I could trust them to walk with the rings, although I couldn’t really trust them not to fight all the way.
So much had changed over these past few months. Nick and I were closer than ever. Once we’d decided that our marriage was real, we somehow became even more in sync, especially when it came to raising the kids. I’d already told Derek that I was ready to take on an M&A whenever the company decided to acquire a new venture. He was glad after I’d turned the last one down. And Nick was going to open the very first gym location in Texas next year.
In between all of that, we’d also organized our wedding. Of course, the Whitleys helped.
The ceremony was taking place at Maddox and Gabe’s hotel. The party was inside the restaurant, and the vow renewal ceremony was in the gorgeous forest adjacent to it. Nick and I had been thinking forever about where to have the event. One day I came here with his family for a picnic, and I completely fell in love with those old trees.