He stepped back, hands dropping away from her. “If you don’t like it—”#p#分页标题#e#
“What? No! I didn’t mean to be rude about it. I was just so angry— Oh, Paolo, it’s lovely.” She melted into near tears as she took a proper look at the antique ring, so simple and delicate and obviously treasured.
He slid the ring onto her finger and lifted her hand to kiss her knuckles, his expression shining with masculine pride.
And from there they had to have a real kiss. Had to. He moved his hand to the back of her neck, holding her in place while he stole one deep kiss after another, his mouth moving on hers as though savoring her. Lauren moaned in pleasure, but before she could press herself into the hard ridge of his erection, he pressed her back in a show of merciless discipline.
“Get some sleep,” he said gruffly. “Because I swear after that ceremony tomorrow, I’ll be keeping you awake. A lot.”
CHAPTER TEN
SOMEHOW PAOLO PROCURED a perfect wedding dress overnight. The simple sheath with an overlay of eggshell lace was stylishly understated, just right for a midmorning wedding. New shoes, better than Cinderella’s, were a perfect fit and sparkled with promise. Her hat with a short veil completed the outfit, making her feel chic and sophisticated.
All good omens, Lauren told herself, as her groom’s appearance nearly knocked her off her feet.
The familiar couched energy of Paolo’s dynamic personality was vaguely austere in a tailored Italian suit. His shoulders, sharply defined by the cut of his jacket, eased slightly when he saw her. He looked a little tired, a lot determined, and sexy as hell.
Nerves struck her. Marriage was permanent. Not to be entered into lightly. At the same time, Lauren had the sentient feeling that this was inevitable. Like she and Paolo would have come to this no matter what.
Therefore, it seemed both right and surreal that he took her to a towering cathedral to speak their vows before an archbishop, of all people. Paolo had said it would be a small, private ceremony with only two witnesses, so she wasn’t entirely surprised to see Vittorio and Maria waiting on the steps, Maria’s daughter Alys in tow.
“Don’t be nervous,” Maria urged Lauren when she realized how intimidated Lauren was. “He’s a family friend. He marries all of us and would be insulted if Paolo hadn’t asked him. Although he’s a little put out with the speed. I can’t imagine what Paolo paid him to waive the banns. When my brother makes up his mind, though, don’t even think of getting in his way.”
“Is this a wedding?” Alys nearly leapt out of her skin. “When Mama said to wear my church dress, I thought it was for mass.”
Paolo reached a hand to Alys’s curly head. “Didn’t you make me promise that when I married, you could be my flower girl? Vittorio brought bouquets and everything.”
Vittorio greeted Lauren with a lazy kiss on her cheek, looking slightly hungover and unabashedly amused as he handed over the flowers.
Alys grasped her posy in reverent hands, her adoring eyes lifting to Paolo. “Oh, Uncle, I love you.”
They all laughed, but Lauren grew teary-eyed at the same time. Of course Alys loved him. Who could resist a man who kept promises to little girls? Whether he kept promises to big ones, was the question.
She was distracted from her fears as they entered the reverent building and she was introduced to the archbishop. The ceremony was under way seconds later.
And it was too easy. Lauren had done the fairy-tale thing with Ryan, working herself into knots over every small detail of the huge event, agonizing through the ceremony with so many eyes upon her while her own focus kept slipping to the brooding man on Ryan’s right.#p#分页标题#e#
This was intimate and solemn and very much between the two of them. Which made it almost too big for Lauren to handle. She was hypersensitive to his concerned frown as he took her cold hands in his warm ones and massaged lightly to warm them. She began to well up as Paolo looked into her eyes to make his vows. It was too impactful. Lack of sleep, she tried telling herself, but her throat was one big lump of hope that he meant these vows. By the time he kissed her, she was trembling with the effort not to reveal how susceptible to him she was.
He wrapped his strong arms around her and drew her in, promising to square up all her loose edges with one warm, comforting embrace.
“Are you okay?” he murmured.
She wasn’t. Everything about this was too right, leaving her deeply disturbed by how skinless he felt. She hid her expression by tilting her head down.
“It’s just the baby making me emotional,” she whispered in excuse, and felt a tender kiss brush her temple.