Page 119 of Men or Paws

“I can’t help it—I’m on top of the world,” Beth said. “My brother is going to marry my best friend. How cool is that?”

I nodded, thinking about it. “Yeah, that’s pretty cool.”

She smiled. “And I just love weddings.”

“What’s your favorite part? I mean, besides the food since you’re a chef.”

Beth laughed. “The exchanging of the rings.”

“Yeah?” I said. “Why is that?”

“The rings are about the promises.” She shrugged. “And I always keep my promises.”

“I like that,” I said.

“What about you?” Beth asked. “What’s your favorite part of a wedding?”

I grinned. “The kiss.”

She snorted. “Why am I not surprised?”

I leaned down and kissed her, then caressed the side of her cheek.

“What are you thinking?” Beth asked.

“You would make a beautiful bride,” I said before I could stop myself.

“Oh . . .” Beth’s cheeks went from pink to pale.

I’d shocked her, no doubt.

I suddenly felt sweat on my palms.

Why the heck had I said that out loud?

It was the truth, but it was too early to be thinking about a wedding. Yes, I was falling in love with Beth, but I wasn’t going to rush into anything. The last thing I wanted to do was scare her away, or worse, scare myself away.

Still, I couldn’t help feeling a little jealous that Josh was going to propose tomorrow. I wondered how it felt to be so sure that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with Holly.

Would I ever have that type of certainty?

At that moment, all I really wanted was another kiss, before I got into my head and started thinking too much. The last thing I needed was to jinx our relationship before it had truly taken off.

ChapterTwenty-Four

Beth

I really don’t know how I made it to the comedy club without having a nervous breakdown. I was so excited about the proposal I was ready to explode. Obviously, I couldn’t do that because Holly would get suspicious when bits and pieces of my body were scattered all over the place.

And the proposal wasn’t the only thing on my mind.

Rocco’s words from last night kept replaying in my head.

You would make a beautiful bride.

The words melted my heart, but they also terrified me. I found myself wanting to have that kind of a connection with him and at the same time, afraid I wasn’t good enough for him. I wanted to wake up to his kisses and let them be the last thing each night.

Oh, for crying out loud, I felt like I was in desperate need of anxiety meds just to calm down.