Total pages in book: 130
Estimated words: 121054 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 605(@200wpm)___ 484(@250wpm)___ 404(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 121054 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 605(@200wpm)___ 484(@250wpm)___ 404(@300wpm)
Listening to his heartfelt words, I had never felt more loved. And that was an unbelievable feat, considering how loved and cared for he made me feel every day.
Rudy came forward and produced the rings, Neil’s a smooth, platinum band set with a small black sapphire, mine platinum with a polished, pale aquamarine. His birthstone on mine, my birthstone on his. Emma had suggested that romantic touch.
Neil took my hand in his. We noticed each other’s tremble at the same time. When I met his gaze, we both giggled like idiots.
“With this ring, I thee wed and, with it, bestow upon thee all the treasures of my mind, heart, and hands,” he murmured as he slid the ring onto my finger.
At my turn, I got the wrong finger. Neil waggled the correct one, and I quickly adjusted my course. “With this ring, I thee wed…” I repeated the words he’d said.
The officiant opened his hands. “Neil and Sophie have pledged their love, commitment, and friendship in our presence today. It is my great honor to pronounce them husband and wife.”
My breath caught at those words.
To Neil, the minister said, “You may kiss the bride.”
Neil hooked his arm around my waist, and our mouths met as he bent me back, to the cheers and applause of our guests. The string quartet struck up a bouncy, joyous version of the Beach Boys’ “God Only Knows,” but all I heard was my heartbeat pounding in my ears. Delicious shivers raced up and down my arms as our kiss went on for, admittedly, longer than it strictly needed to, and when we parted, Neil blushed from collar to hairline. We hurried back up the aisle with our hands joined, and I could tell he felt as giddy as I did.
Shelby was waiting to intercept us; while we were relieved to be through it all, her job was only half over. “Let’s go, let’s go,” she ordered us, sweeping us along to the room where we would hide in until the guests moved to the Grand Ballroom for cocktails.
The moment we were alone, Neil leaned back on the door. His huge smile was infectious. “We’re married.”
“We are!” I launched myself into his arms, and he caught me gladly, picking me up to spin me in a dizzying circle.
See, Sophie? All that worrying for nothing.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
The photographer was very good, and super efficient, with her assistant corralling family members and keeping them on deck while another group was having a photo taken. By the time we were done with the pictures, though, my face was numb, and the corners of my mouth wobbled from trying to hold a smile for so long.
Not that I didn’t have anything to smile about. My heart could have punched its way out of my chest for all the adrenaline flooding through me. It intensified every time I met Neil’s gaze. He looked at me like I was the only woman in the room. Or the world, for that matter. He looked at me like I was the only other person alive, and as though he could be okay with that.
Well, with the exception of a few people. Our photo with Emma and Michael was a difficult one to get, because Neil wouldn’t take his attention off Olivia. She’d gotten much cuter now that her face wasn’t all squashed in and red. She even smiled now, and she beamed up at her grandfather, delighting him, even though everyone said she just had gas.
When the pictures were finally done, my eyes were strained from the camera’s flash, and my cheeks ached. There wasn’t much I could do about the latter. I was going to end up smiling all day long, whether my face could take it or not.
“All right, the bride needs to change, and then, we’ll get the couple to their reception,” Shelby called over the sound of hotel staff already collecting up chairs.
“I think that means I have to go.” I caught Neil’s hand and squeezed. “See you at the reception, Mr. Scaife?”
“Oh, I wouldn’t miss it for the world, Mrs. Elwood.” He kissed my forehead then released me with a little push. “Off you go. Wardrobe change the first.”
Shelby snuck me deftly to the suite. This wasn’t her first Plaza rodeo.
“Wait, I need my mom,” I protested, looking over my shoulder. There was no sign of her. “She’s going to help me get out of this.”
“Don’t panic, I’ll find her. And I’ll send the stylist to touch up your hair.”
I self-consciously patted a curl. “It’s not flat, is it? It wasn’t flat for the pictures?”
“It was beautiful for the pictures,” she reassured me. “We’re just going to do some preventative maintenance.” She tucked me away in the upstairs bedroom with Pia’s dress form and held up one finger as she backed from the room, saying into her headset, “We need Pia Malik. Has anyone seen her?”