held out the bouquet for her to hold. Hoping none of the guests had seen, Kate blushed and quickly took the flowers before turning to watch her friend step into the gazebo with her soon-to-be husband.
Kate tried her best to focus on the ceremony, but her gaze kept straying to Dawson. Each time it did, she found him looking her way, so it wasn’t surprising when the priest had to ask him twice for the rings. As he hastily dug in his pocket for them, Kate saw Rachel give her a knowing smile from the steps of the gazebo.
Fortunately, she and Dawson didn’t have to do anything else but stand there for the rest of the ceremony. When Rachel and Bob descended the steps of the gazebo after it was over, Kate surprised herself by actually remembering to give the other girl her bouquet of flowers. As soon as the couple started down the aisle, Dawson offered Kate his arm and they followed.
Thankfully, Rachel and Bob had to stand in the receiving line when they got to the back of the bluff, which gave Kate a few moments alone with Dawson before they had to pose for pictures.
He reached up to gently finger a tendril of hair that had been artfully left loose from the updo to frame her face. “You’re enough to take my breath away.”
The compliment warmed her all the way to the tips of her French-manicured toes. “Thank you,” she said softly. “You look pretty breathtaking yourself in that tux.”
His mouth quirked. “It’s uncomfortable as hell to wear, but I’m glad you like it.”
She laughed. “I most definitely like it.”
Dawson glanced around, then lowered his voice. “You have no idea how much I want to kiss you right now.”
“So, what’s stopping you?” she teased.
Chuckling, Dawson bent his head to kiss her, but just as his lips were about to touch hers, the wedding photographer loudly announced he needed the bridal party to gather together so he could take pictures. Dawson groaned and lifted his head.
“Think they’d notice if we slipped upstairs for a quickie?” he asked.
“I think they might,” Kate laughed. “Since it would probably take me an hour to get out of this dress.”
He sighed. “I don’t know why you’d have to take the dress off for a quickie, but I suppose you’re right. Okay, pictures it is then. But I’m going to thoroughly ravish you after the reception.”
Kate smiled up at him. “I can’t wait.”
While Kate wouldn’t have minded going up to his room for that quickie Dawson suggested, posing for pictures along with the rest of the wedding party was rather fun, especially since she and Dawson were together in almost all of them. When they were done with the photos, they all went into the ballroom, where the bride and groom made their big entrance to a round of applause from their guests.
Although the chicken cordon bleu Rachel and Bob had decided on for dinner looked delicious, Kate was too busy having a good time with Dawson to pay much attention to what they were eating. She hadn’t even realized it was possible to fall for a guy as quickly as she’d fallen for Dawson, but as she listened to him give the toast, she realized he was the man she’d been searching for her whole life and this time, she hadn’t even been looking. Maybe that was why she’d found him.
Kate was still marveling at that as she and Dawson walked out to join the rest of the bridal party in the traditional first dance a little while later. As he took her in his arms and pulled her close, she discovered he was as talented on the dance floor as he was in the bedroom. But then she’d always thought dancing was a little like making love. All those rhythmic motions were quite erotic. And feeling his body move against hers as they danced was one very erotic experience.
She would have been content to stay on the dance floor for the rest of the night, or at least until they went up to Dawson’s room, but a little while later, the DJ announced it was time for the bride and groom to cut the cake. As they sat down along with everyone else, Kate eagerly reached for her water glass and took a sip.
“I’m glad we decided to hook up for the weekend,” Dawson said as he reached for his own glass and took a long swallow of water. “It was a good idea.”
Something about the offhand way he said the words made Kate’s heart suddenly squeeze in her chest. Was this his subtle way of reminding her that he was only in this for some casual sex? Had he somehow figured out she’d started having feelings for him and wanted more than a simple weekend fling? Her hand began to tremble and she quickly set the glass down on the table.
She forced herself to smile. “Yeah. Me, too.”
Kate supposed she should have said more, but right then, she couldn’t trust herself to speak. She wasn’t even sure she could breathe. Tonight was it. This thing with him was really going to end. But how could she spend the night making love to Dawson now when all she wanted to do was go up to her room and cry her eyes out? At the same time, how could she not? It was her last chance to be with him. There would be time enough for tears on the ferry ride home tomorrow. Tonight at least, she was going to enjoy herself.
But that was easier said than done. Fortunately, Dawson didn’t seem to pick up on how quiet she’d gotten and Rachel was too busy being the blushing bride to notice. Or so Kate thought. Unfortunately, the other girl was still observant enough to realize Kate hadn’t gathered around with the rest of the single women when it was time to catch the bouquet.
“Kate!” she called. “Where are you, girl? Get over here!”
Kate groaned inwardly. Damn. She’d forgotten all about catching the bouquet. Considering the man she was in love with wanted nothing to do with her after their little weekend fling was over, she wasn’t really in the mood to take part in the silly tradition. But now that Rachel had singled her out, there was no way she could get out of it. Not that it mattered, she supposed. She never caught the stupid thing anyway.
She got to her feet. “I’m coming, I’m coming!”
As Kate made her way to the center of the dance floor to join the other single women, the other bridesmaids clapped and cheered, as did the rest of the guests.
At all her other friends’ weddings, Kate always made sure she was front and center for the bouquet toss, desperate to get her hands on the darn thing, but this time, she purposely positioned herself at the back of the group, figuring there was less chance of catching it there. However, when Rachel threw the bouquet over her shoulder, it sailed over all the other women to land right in her hands like it was guided by GPS. How was that for ironic?
Around her, everyone clapped and cheered again, more loudly this time. Though her heart really wasn’t in it, she picked up her gown and gave the room a small smile and a curtsy all the same. As she straightened up, Rachel hurried over to wrap her in a big hug.
“Congratulations, future Mrs. McKenna,” her friend whispered in her ear.
Tears stung Kate’s eyes and she quickly blinked them back, not wanting the other girl to see. She even managed to give Rachel a smile when her friend pulled back to look at her. This was Rachel’s wedding day and she wasn’t going to do anything to bring her down. Luckily, Bob swooped in and whisked his wife away before Kate could reply.
“I think someone’s impatient to get his bride up to the honeymoon suite,” Dawson whispered in her ear.
Kate shivered as his warm breath tickled her cheek. She’d been so caught up in her own thoughts she hadn’t heard Dawson come up behind her. She took a deep breath, then turned to smile at him. “I think you’re right.”
“You know what that means.”
“What?”
He flashed her a sexy grin. “That you and I can finally be alone.”
Kate’s pulse fluttered at the promise in his eyes and she went up on tiptoe to give him a kiss. “And you can ravish me just like you promised.”
As it turned out, it was another hour before Rachel and Bob left the reception, but once the bride and groom were gone, Kate and Dawson said good night to the rest of the wedding party and hurried upstairs. In his room, he took her in his arms and covered her mouth with his. She closed her eyes and melted against him, shutting out everything else as she kissed him back. If this was going to be her last night with Dawson, she wanted it to be perfect.
Letting out a groan, Dawson tore his mouth away to kiss his way down her neck to the curve of her shoulder as he reached around to undo the zipper on her dress. With his help, the straps slipped over her shoulders and the gown landed in a puddle of peach satin at her feet to leave her standing in nothing but a lacy bra and matching panties of the same color. He took a step back to slowly look her up and down before he bent his head to kiss her
