Page 71 of Holding Grace

I felt tears well up and I willed them back. I forced myself to remember why we were here. This was an agreement between friends, nothing more. Just an arrangement to try to keep me safe. As wonderful as Michael was, no matter the way he looked at me, he was not in love with me.

He was an amazing man doing an amazing thing. I had to remember that, or I was destined for utter and absolute heartbreak when this all ended.

Head firmly on straight, I walked forward with a smile to stand next to my husband-to-be.

“Ready to get hitched?” I asked brightly.

“Ready.” The intensity in Michael’s eyes didn’t diminish even a fraction as he reached for my right hand, lifted it to his lips, and pressed a soft kiss to my fingers, then turned us to face Vaughn.

My head swam as Vaughn’s words flowed over me. I heard Michael rumble “I do” and roused myself to do the same when asked if I would love, honor, and cherish the man standing beside me, to have and to hold, for all time.

As we turned to face each other and I looked up at Michael, I realized that unconventional as this marriage was, the promises I’d just made were true. Regardless of what did or didn’t happen between Michael and me in the future, no matter how this crazy situation turned out, Michael had a permanent hold on a big piece of my heart.

Chapter 26

Michael

I couldn’t stop looking at her.

Grace Mathews, now Baron.

My wife.

The words reverberated through me. My wife. Grace and I were legitimately, legally married in the eyes of the law and anyone else who cared to look.

The whole wedding had felt surreal, almost like a dream, though I’d known it was very much reality. Grace’s presence next to me, the sound of her soft voice saying those all-important words, the feel of her hand in mine, the cool metal as she’d slid the ring on my finger, and I’d slid her rings on hers.

And the surprise and pleasure in her eyes when she saw the ring I’d added to the plain platinum wedding bands we’d agreed on.

The ring had a deep pink tourmaline center stone surrounded by smaller stones of rich purple-blue alexandrite, a combination of her birthstone and mine. Mercy spotted it at the jewelers when she’d gone to pick up the rings for us and had sent me an image of it. The second I’d seen it I’d told her to get it. The symbolism of my birthstone surrounding Grace’s struck a chord with me and I hoped, in some way, it would for Grace as well.

She’d looked at it a hundred times from the moment I’d put it on her hand up until now as we sat surrounded by my family and our friends at Brothers Pub.

I knew because as much as she looked at the ring, I looked at her.

I tore my eyes away from her as Jamey’s hand landed on my shoulder. He’d reserved us a few tables in one corner of the pub and set us all up with some appetizers and drinks. Jo and Ellie had even surprised us with a small two-tier wedding cake, which sat center stage on one of the tables waiting to be cut and served.