She made eye contact with Jason as she was about halfway to the front of the church. He stood almost a head taller than the men surrounding him, and was definitely built like the linebacker he’d once been. He had a soft smile on his face, and his eyes twinkled at her. She took a deep breath and walked slowly toward the man she’d be spending the rest of her life with.
As she reached the front of the church, he reached out and grasped her hand. She could feel the calluses on his hand as his thumb slowly rubbed across her palm, calming her nervousness. She barely registered what Bob was saying as he talked about the commitment they were making to one another. She turned toward Jason as they made their vows, nervously looking up into his eyes.
It was over quickly. He dipped his head and barely brushed her lips with his own for their first kiss as a married couple. Then they were introduced to the church as Mr. and Mrs. Jason Daugherty.
As they walked to the church toward the reception area, Jason held tightly to her hand. She was almost embarrassed to even look at him. He sensed her nervousness, and pulled her off into a corner for a moment. “You okay, Mandy?”
Her gaze jerked up to his. “No one has called me Mandy in years.”
“Oh, I’m sorry. Don’t you like it? I’ve been thinking of you as Mandy for months now.” His deep voice sent shivers up her spine.
“No, it’s okay. It just surprised me, that’s all,” she whispered. “I’m okay. Just really nervous.”
He brought that strong hand to her cheek and stroked one finger down it. “Don’t be. We just have to get through the next couple of hours, and then all will be good.”
She laughed softly. “I’m less worried about the next couple of hours than I am about after that.”
Stephanie ran over and grabbed them each by the arm pulling them back to the group. “You two have the rest of your lives to be alone together. Today, we all get to celebrate.”
The wedding lunch had been arranged by Stephanie and cooked by many of the women in the church. Amanda ate a little bit of everything, but couldn’t have told anyone what she’d eaten. She was too aware of the man at her side to be able to think of anything else.
Chapter 5
It seemed like only five minutes had gone by when it was time to leave. Jason slipped his arm around her shoulders as he guided her toward the door. They ran out of the church while everyone blew bubbles at them. He led her to his pick-up truck and helped her to tuck her dress around her.
As he started to drive out of the parking lot, she quietly asked, “Do you already have my bag in here?”
“Stephanie had me put your overnight bag behind the seats. She said she’d take the wedding gifts and the rest of your stuff to my place.”
“Okay. Just wanted to make sure I’d have some clothes to wear other than my wedding gown,” she said, thinking of the white nightgown she’d made for that night.
Jason slid his fingers through hers. “Don’t worry about that. You won’t need clothes. I picked a hotel with room service.”
Amanda blushed. “Where is the motel we’re going to?”
Jason laughed out loud at her change of subject. “Wausau. They have a really nice hotel in downtown. It’s not so far that we’ll be driving all day, but far enough that I’ll feel like it’s a vacation.”
“That sounds nice,” Amanda was watching his face as they drove. His fingers on hers had little butterflies flying around in her stomach. She still couldn’t believe how strong the physical attraction between them was.
“If you want, we can go back to the hotel and change, and maybe take a walk down to the Wisconsin River. It runs right through Wausau and is really pretty along here,” he told her.
“That sounds nice,” she told him, relieved that he had made some plans for the day that would keep them out of the hotel room.
He pulled up in front of the hotel and helped her down. When they reached the suite, she was amazed. It was hard to believe he would spring for something so nice. She knew he didn’t have a lot of money to waste on things like this. “You went to a lot of expense on this room. Thank you,” she said softly.
He walked to her and took her hands in his. “We’ll be frugal for the rest of our lives. We only have one wedding night and one honeymoon. It’s going to be as special as I can make it.” Holding her eyes with his, he slowly lowered his head and brushed his lips across hers.
His kiss sent tingles up her spine. It was just a soft kiss, no tongue, but it was so nice. It made her feel like she was a real bride about to spend the night with the man she loved.