Tina and Jodie were both shaking their heads as if understanding was impossible.
“I know it’s early, but I think we’ve waited long enough to get back to our honeymoon. So if you’ll excuse us...” And with everyone watching, Megan found herself swept off her feet, tucked into Connor’s arms. “Drinks are on me tonight. Congratulations.”
CHAPTER NINE
“WHAT IN THE HELL do you think you’re doing?” Megan demanded from the far side of the elevator where she stood, hands on hips, eyes boring into him like little embers of hell.
Connor snapped the picture from his phone then slipped the device back into his tux pocket before it ended up incinerated beneath his wife’s fiery glare, or more likely crushed beneath the spike of her sexy glass slipper.
“Documenting our first fight.”
For a moment, all the red-hot rage directed his way turned to utter shock, leaving her sputtering in a way he couldn’t deny he was getting a serious kick out of. But in a blink, she rocketed back to fury, leaning into the space between them, her voice going lethally low. “I can’t believe you did that.”
“Come on, it’s something for the scrapbook. You’ll thank me later.”
“You know good and well I’m not talking about a picture.”
Yeah, he did. The way he knew taking a snap of her when she was this cranked up was probably a move just short of suicide, but like his decision to break his promise to her back in the club, it was one he wouldn’t regret.
“We had a deal,” she hissed, her eyes darting between him and the elevator’s digital display. “But maybe you forgot. Or perhaps our agreement didn’t suit your needs at the time, so you just changed your mind.”
The car slowed, sounding a low chime to alert them they’d arrived at their floor. The doors soundlessly opened and Megan turned forward—her face a mask of calm, belied only by the rapid pulse at her neck. Placing his hand at the small of her back, they stepped out into the main floor.
“Definitely the latter,” he answered quietly at her ear.
A taunt, almost daring her to lose her cool in the midst of all these people. But not Megan. She kept it together, impressing him more and more. Confirming once again how well suited she was to being his wife. Not that he’d make a habit of goading her in public or out of it. He didn’t expect much fighting, but it was important to know how she would handle it.
From there, they walked silently through the hotel, before arriving at their private villa.
He was more than ready to go toe-to-toe with her on this point, regardless of what kind of mad she had on. That scene at the nightclub was beyond unacceptable.
The second they were inside, Megan spun on him. “You promised me.”
He had. But circumstances weren’t what he’d expected, requiring a judgment call, and he’d made one. Firming up his stance, he crossed his arms.
“Did you hear what they said?” he demanded, giving his own mad its head. “I wasn’t going to let those catty, backbiting—”
Her hand cut through the air. “I don’t care what they said. All that matters to me is what you said. Your word. What it’s worth. What I can believe.”
He held her stare, not backing down. “You can believe I took you to be my wife. To honor, respect and protect, for all the days of our life.”
* * *
Megan blinked up at him, suddenly at a loss for words. “Those were our vows?”
“They were mine. And I meant them. I’m not the kind of husband to twiddle my thumbs while my wife is maligned. I would have liked to accommodate you tonight, Megan. I fully intended to. But in a choice between breaking my vow to protect my wife and breaking my vow to protect your cousin’s ‘special day,’ you can bet I’ll be putting you first every time.”
“Oh.” She swallowed past the knot of emotion in her throat, trying to force it back down. Trying not to allow a few simple words the power to leave her vulnerable.