Total pages in book: 224
Estimated words: 215705 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1079(@200wpm)___ 863(@250wpm)___ 719(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 215705 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1079(@200wpm)___ 863(@250wpm)___ 719(@300wpm)
“I, Reid Maxwell.”
“Take you, Carrie West, to be my lawfully wedded wife.”
“Take you, Carrie West, to be my lawfully wedded wife.” I don’t wait for him to feed me the rest of the vows. I fill them in. “To have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, until death do us part, according to God's holy ordinance, and thereto I pledge myself to you.”
Carrie’s eyes light with the same love, that I know shines in my eyes. The preacher turns to her. “Repeat after me, Carrie. I, Carrie West take you, Reid Maxwell, to be my lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, until death do us part, according to God's holy ordinance, and thereto I pledge myself to you.” Carrie repeats the words.
“Well then,” the preacher says. “I now pronounce you man and wife. Reid, you may kiss your bride.”
I pull Carrie to me and my mouth closes down on hers, and this kiss is all about love, so much love that I feel for this woman, and I feel it to my soul. I feel her in my soul and when I pull back, the room applauds and we smile.
“Join hands and face forward,” the preacher orders.
We do as he says and he announces, “I now present you with Reid and Carrie Maxwell.”
Chapter one hundred nineteen
Reid
The dance floor is in a connecting room and Carrie and I head in that direction. Once we’re through the doors and walking onto the dance floor, she turns to me. “I want the song you played for my walk down the aisle, please.”
I kiss her. “I’ll make it happen.”
I cross to the DJ we hired and whisper our request. The crowd funnels into the room, and I return to Carrie, pulling her into my arms. “Wife.”
She smiles a beautiful smile and says, “Husband.”
I nuzzle her neck. “I love how that sounds.”
“Me too,” she says, her hands settling on my jaw before I pull back to look at her. “You’re all mine now.”
“And you’re all mine.”
“Yes, baby, I am. All of me.”
“Ladies and gentlemen, the bride and groom will now share their first dance.” The song starts to play and I bury my face in Carrie’s neck, the two of us starting to sway.
I keep fighting voices in my mind that say I’m not enough
Carrie pulls back to look at me, stroking my cheek. “You’re everything to me,” she whispers.
I cup her hand and kiss her knuckles, a well of emotion in my chest at those words, at the depth of emotion in her eyes. “As you are to me, Carrie,” I say. “And that both scares the hell out of me and gives me a reason to live at the same time.” The song verse lifts in the air: Taking all I have and now I'm laying it at Your feet.
“All of me,” I repeat. “I’m not holding anything back.”
“If I didn’t know that, I wouldn’t be your wife.”
The room fades away and I kiss her, licking into her mouth and molding her close. The way I plan to hold her forever.
Carrie
The cake and the photos and every moment of the reception is perfection. In ten days, we managed to pull off the perfect fairytale wedding. Reid and I exit the Rockefeller Center with me in a beautiful, pink lace, knee-length gown, and a matching Chanel coat with confetti being thrown at us. We slide into a limo and Reid drags me to him and kisses me thoroughly before he says, “Wife,” as he has over and over during the reception.
“Husband,” I say and we both smile.
“Ready for our honeymoon?” he asks.
“What? What honeymoon?”
“You didn’t think I wouldn’t plan a honeymoon, did you? You did everything else. Everything is set. You just need to pack. We have a private plane waiting for us to take us to Italy.”
I have a flashback to him asking me when we were in Japan, the one place I wanted to visit the most. I’d said Italy. “Really? Italy?”
“That’s right, baby. Rome, Venice, Milan, and Florence on a two-week honeymoon.”
“Don’t we need to work?”
“Gabe has it handled and we’ll have phones and the internet.”
“What about our fur babies?”
“Cat and Reese are going to pick them up before we leave. They say it will be good practice for the baby.”
“Oh my God. We’re really going to Italy.”
“Yes. I was going to take you to Paris, but I saw the stars in your eyes over Italy.”
“It’s perfect. Everything about today has been perfect.”
“You’re perfect,” he says, molding me close. “Everything about you.”
“Reid,” I breathe out. “God, I love you.”