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Carmela smiled as she stared at the beautiful girl who had willingly endured a wedding for her. “I am absolutely ready

to go,” she said, holding out her hand. Rhiannon took it without hesitation.

“Then what are we waiting for?” she replied, smiling like choosing each other was the easiest thing in the world.

Flying high after truly closing a large chapter of her life, Carmela was overwhelmed with hope and optimism.

Maybe this really can be that simple.

CHAPTER THIRTY

THEY HADN’T BEEN the first people to leave the wedding, but they were close. As soon as they popped on to the back of a waiting golf cart, Rhiannon pulled the tight high heels o her throbbing feet. “After this, I think I’m going to wear sneakers for a year.”

As soon as they were o , Rhiannon sat back and enjoyed the cool night breeze in her hair as the cart zoomed to their cottage. If she hadn’t been so pained, she would have insisted on making the night last a little longer by walking.

Without a word, and as if reading her mind, Carmela reached down, picked up her sore foot, and rubbed it. The relief was so thorough and immediate, Rhiannon threw her head back and groaned. It was only when she’d started rubbing her second foot that she remembered the nice man driving the cart and apologized.

“You are surprisingly good at that. Thank you,” she said when Carmela released her feet as the cart slowed to a stop.

“No. Thank you,” Carmela said after they hopped o the cart and strolled toward the cottage, neither of them in any apparent hurry. “You’v

e been incredibly convincing these last couple of days. Sometimes you almost had me fooled,”

she added with a hoarse chuckle. Shouting over the music had made her already sexy voice lethal.

Rhiannon waited until they were inside before responding. “You really think I’ve been playing make-believe this whole time? No one can really be this dense, right?”

Carmela stopped a few feet from the door in the little hallway in front of the bathroom, causing Rhiannon to stop too and turn to face her.

Have you really been faking it this whole time? The lingering doubt kept Rhiannon from asking her question aloud. If it was all for show, she couldn’t bear to know.

“I should take a quick shower,” Carmela said before breaking eye contact and turning away. “All that dancing. . .

you know.”

Rhiannon watched helplessly as she floated away from her before closing the bathroom door behind her.

Oh, hell no.

Seconds later, Rhiannon knocked on the door. When Carmela didn’t answer, Rhiannon opened it a little and peered through the crack. Still fully dressed, Carmela was gripping either side of the sink as if saying a silent prayer.

Since the water wasn’t running, she guessed the shower hadn’t been her top priority.

Once Rhiannon was inside, Carmela looked up at her through the mirror’s reflection. She didn’t ask what she wanted or tell her to get out. With huge, vulnerable, dark eyes, she just stared back at her. If Rhiannon strained, she might be able to hear whatever thoughts Carmela was screaming in her head.

Wordlessly, Rhiannon took hesitant steps forward as if the wrong move might set o a landmine. When she stopped inches from Carmela’s curved back, her fingers trembled as they reached out to touch the soft, sage fabric.

When Carmela closed her eyes, Rhiannon closed the small gap between them and turned her around.

“I’m scared,” Carmela confessed in a whisper with her eyes still closed.

Rhiannon cupped her face and waited for her eyes to open. When they did, they were brimming with unspoken doubt.

“I’m not going to hurt you, Carm,” she swore as her chest tightened under threat of her own swelling emotion.

The promise only served to make Carmela’s eyes well up with unshed tears.

“If only you could guarantee something like that,” she replied before tilting her head up and pulling Rhiannon in for a kiss.