When she tried to thank Constantine, he gave her a quick hug around the shoulders so as not to crush the flowers then checked his watch. "Time to go." He looked around. "Kyle said there was a bridesmaid."
Eva would have crossed her fingers if she wasn't holding the flowers. "Jacinta will meet us at the church."
When they arrived there, only five minutes' drive away, the cloud cover had increased, blotting out the sun and giving the day a murky cast. Praying that the thick cloud would blow over, Eva let Constantine hand her out of the limousine. There were a few stragglers outside the church, although Eva didn't recognize any of them. She groaned when she started counting children playing around the church grounds. The Vicar had clearly forgotten to reschedule the La Leche League meeting.
A car door popped open. Jacinta waved at her, and Eva's heart sank. Jacinta wasn't wearing her pale pink bridesmaid's dress. Instead she had on a bright, summery dress, one that fairly shouted cocktails on the beach.
Jacinta looked stressed. "I'm sorry. But when I tried to fix the car, I got oil down the front of my dress and had to change."
Sienna poked her head out the church doors. When she saw Eva, she rushed over with a pretty toddler in tow. Handing Amber to Constantine, she gave Eva a hug. "You look gorgeous. Are you ready? Kyle's going nuts in there."
Eva, who seriously doubted that Kyle was going nuts, retrieved the bouquets from the backseat of the limousine. "I'm ready." She nodded at Jacinta, who gave her a relieved grin as she accepted one of the bouquets.
Sienna took Amber off Constantine's shoulder, gave Eva a last reassuring smile and strolled into the church.
Constantine held out his arm. "Ready?"
Feeling a little shaky, Eva placed her hand on Constantine's sleeve. Jacinta remembered to pull Eva's veil over her face and they were good to go.
As the "Wedding March" started and they stepped into the cloistered shadows of the church, her heart thumped hard in her chest. Someone had taken the trouble to light candles in sconces around the wall, and of course the candles on the altar were lit, the flames lending a soft glow to the wooden pews and the vaulted ceiling. There were also flowers everywhere, white-and-pink roses dripping from vases, their scent mingling with the honeyed beeswax of the candles.
Kyle, standing tall and broad-shouldered at the altar, with Gabriel keeping him company as best man, turned, and time seemed to stand still as their eyes met: his tinged with a softness she hadn't expected to see, hers brimming. A little desperately, she reminded herself that she could not afford to feel this way, and neither could Kyle.
* * *
Kyle watched as Eva walked toward him in the soft, romantic dress, which clung delicately to her narrow waist, the skirt flowing gracefully with every step. When he'd seen her standing in the hallway of his house, for a moment he'd been stunned because the dress was the exact opposite of the sophisticated gown he had expected her to wear. But in an odd way, the dress summed up the Eva he was just now beginning to know: unconventional, gorgeous and packing a punch.
Gabriel, his eldest brother, and the obvious candidate for best man, since they worked together, caught his gaze. "Are you sure you want to do this?"
Kyle glanced at Eva, noting the way she clung to Constantine's arm. She had a reputation for being tough, professional and coolly composed, but with every day that passed he was coming to understand that the image she projected was as managed as the airbrushed ads she had used to pose for. Beneath the facade the seventeen-year-old girl he had kissed on the beach was still there.
And there was the root of his problem. Somehow, he had never been able to forget Eva even though he had stayed away from her for years, even though he'd married someone else. And Mario had known it. "Yes."
Eva came to a halt beside him and Kyle met Constantine's gaze, which was as male and direct as Gabriel's challenge. Only Constantine's version carried a different message. Marrying an Atraeus was not done lightly. Mario was no longer here, which meant now he would have Constantine to contend with.
As Kyle faced Eva, he should have been painfully reminded of another wedding day, another woman, but his first wedding, as important as it had been, was now viewed through the distance of time. At some point in the past four years, he realized, time had done its work and the grief and loss, while still there, had faded.
Eva took a deep breath as Kyle folded her veil back. A little disconcerted at the steadiness of his gaze, she said her vows steadily, although when it came to the part where they would care for each other through sickness and health, she almost faltered, because that was not in the plan. Kyle placed the ring on her finger, then Gabriel handed her the ring for Kyle.
She slipped the ring on Kyle's finger and experienced a moment of fierce possessiveness. The rings symbolized the vows, commitment, belonging and the exclusiveness of the relationship.
It was not the ideal time to consider the negative implications of her veto on lovemaking, but she was abruptly aware that if she wanted the exclusivity that the rings symbolized, then sex was going to have to be part of their bargain.
Over the past couple of days, she had been brought face-to-face with the unvarnished fact that Kyle might like to have sex sometime in the next two years. She also knew from her reaction to Elise that she would not cope well if Kyle slept around.
The thought that he might have a sexual relationship with Elise or some other unnamed woman made her go still inside. That could not happen. If Kyle was going to have sex, she needed it to be with her.
In a clear voice, the priest pronounced them man and wife. Kyle took her hands and drew her close. Eva met his gaze. "We need to talk."
"Not now." Then his mouth came down on hers, and for long moments her mind went blank.
The signing of the register was a confused affair, because the adjoining room to the chapel was filled with lactating mothers and small children.
Eva signed, then Kyle. When they stepped away from the desk on which the priest had spread the papers, Sienna almost tripped over an extremely interested little person who was clutching at the fabric of her dress.
"Sorry," a pretty young mother murmured, scooping up the little girl. "She thinks you're a princess."
Eva curtsied at the little girl, who giggled. "Then she should have this." Digging in a secret little pocket at the waist of the dress, she found the little blue silk flower she had tucked in the pocket as part of the "something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue" tradition.
When the young mother tried to refuse, she insisted, pressing the silk flower into the little girl's hand. "It's just a little thing and I'd love her to have it." Words she hadn't meant to say tumbled out. "I adore kids."
The young mother picked up the child, who was already demanding the flower be sewed onto her dress. She smiled as she started back to her seat, the little girl waving happily. "Now you'll be able to have some of your own."
Blinking at the sudden wave of emotion that hit her, Eva turned back to the wedding party to find Kyle watching her with an odd expression.
"This is different," Constantine muttered, detaching a toddler from his ankle and gently turning him around so he could crawl back to his mother.
Sienna picked up a pen and signed. "No, it's good," she corrected him. "It's like a day care at a wedding. Amber can play." She moved aside for Constantine and turned to watch Amber, cute in her polka-dot dress, who was busy martialling a group of babies.
As Kyle shook hands with the priest and handed him a check, Sienna chatted about Amber until it was time to walk back into the church.
As Eva bent down to pick up her bouquet, which she'd left on a seat while she signed the register, her stomach hollowed out and her head spun. Gripping the back of the chair, she waited for the dizzy spell to pass. However, when she straightened, she was still a little off-balance.
Kyle's arm came around, steady as a rock. His expression zeroed in on hers. "Are you all right?"
"It's nothing," she muttered, although her vision was still doing weird things. "I didn't eat last night-no time. And I didn't have breakfast."
In fact, she hadn't felt like breakfast, which was unusual. Usually, she woke up ravenous.
Sienna insisted she sit down for a minute, and once she was seated, handed her a wrapped candy. "Here, chew on one of these. I know it's sugar, but they're good when you can't keep breakfast down."