Page 16 of Joel (Guardians of the North #6)
LATER THAT DAY…
JOEL
I stand beneath an arch decorated with blue and green spray-painted fish netting.
It’s covered in appropriately themed sea ornaments: orange life rafts, starfish, and anchors.
A large wooden helm hangs at the center of the arch overhead.
It’s the entrance to the local museum’s display for The Esmerelda.
It’s also where I’ll be standing when Kylie Robison becomes my wife in just a few short minutes.
“You sure about this?” Jaxson asks from beneath the arch. “She’s not leaving. I can marry you another day. The certification is good for a year, man.”
“I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life.”
Though the J-Squad crew—wives included—knew this last-minute wedding was a farce, they went through with all of the planning it to see how far I’d go before I called uncle. They intended to make a party of it, no matter the outcome. They just thought it would be my roast.
Joke’s on them.
When we declared we were still getting married, the wives immediately hauled Kylie off for hair, makeup, and a final dress fitting.
Any minute now, the love of my life will walk down the aisle—or the hallway of the museum—and become my wife .
“We’re happy for you, Joel,” Jonas says.
“It’s true,” James admits.
“We were also getting tired of our wives complaining about how damn picky you were about all your dates,” Jordan ribs.
“Is it too early to toast to that?” Jasper chimes in.
“You act like I was the only picky one out of all you fuckers,” I fire back, unable to keep a straight face.
In all seriousness, I feel incredibly lucky to have my brothers in arms with me on this very special day. They’re my best friends—my family. Now that Kylie is about to be my wife, my life feels complete.
“It’s time,” Blakely announces from the back of the hall as soft music starts to play.
The men, minus Jaxson, head to the back of the hall, behind a set of double doors. Seconds later, they come out in pairs.
But everything turns to a blur when I see her .
My heart fucking stops.
Emotion clogs my throat, and I think I might actually cry.
I’ve known Kylie was the most beautiful woman in existence since the first time I laid eyes on her in that life raft.
But today? Today her beauty transcends everything I thought I knew.
The ivory silk gown accentuates all her best features.
The low dip between her breasts makes my dick twitch in my dress uniform pants.
Wavy blonde hair cascades around her bare shoulders.
She looks like an angel.
My angel.
She flashes me a devilish grin, as though she knows exactly what she’s doing to me.
My bad girl angel.
I reach out my hand to her, and guide her in front of me.
“You two are sure about this?” Jaxson asks.
“No, so hurry up before I change my mind,” Kylie says playfully.
The group laughs.
Jaxson begins reading from something he printed off the Internet. I’m sure the words are perfect—his wife probably helped him pick them out—but I don’t hear many of them. And I suspect we still have a little bit before we get to the vows anyway.
The only thing I hear is Kylie’s barely audible whisper as she asks, “What are you thinking right now?”
I lean close, dropping my mouth to the shell of her ear and whisper, “I’m thinking about how much I’m going to enjoy getting my wife out of this dress later.”