Total pages in book: 115
Estimated words: 108173 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 541(@200wpm)___ 433(@250wpm)___ 361(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 108173 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 541(@200wpm)___ 433(@250wpm)___ 361(@300wpm)
The officiant was speaking. Her tone warm and indulgent and grating. Ben figured he’d better tune the fuck in before he missed something. He now wished he’d taken Rhys up on that offer for some hard liquor this morning while they’d been dressing. It would have taken the edge off.
“Lilah and Benjamin have opted to write their own vows.” The officiant nodded at Ben, who still held Lilah’s left hand in his right. The hand that looked way too small and delicate in his larger, rougher palm.
Fuck! The vows.
For some reason, Lilah had insisted they write their own vows. He couldn’t for the life of him figure out why she wanted it so badly, but when Cyrus—whom they’d been having lunch when she’d suggested it—had nodded approvingly and said that it sounded like a wonderful idea, it had been hard to refuse. Ben wanted to keep the old man happy. She did too. And this was something that would make him happy.
Ben had thrown together something last night at the hotel bar. He’d typed it in the Notes app on his phone, memorized it, and called it a day. Now he struggled to recall how it started and he was tempted to tug his phone out of his breast pocket to…
Shit, had he switched off his phone for this? He thought he had. But he couldn’t be sure. He expected a call from Tokyo later, but what if they called early? It would be bad form to—
“Ben?” the officiant prompted. “Nervous? I get it, public speaking can be daunting.”
The guests tittered politely from the pews and Ben forced a smile, knowing it wouldn’t do to level his infamous face-melting glare on the woman. She was just doing her job.
“Uh, no, I…” He bared his teeth in another semblance of a smile again and cleared his throat. “I’m good.”
The officiant gestured toward Lilah with a smile. “Whenever you’re ready.”
“Right.”
Lilah was watching him expectantly. Her cute-as-a-button dimples flashing as she smiled up at him. His grip on her hand tightened slightly. Shit, he honestly couldn’t believe they were really going through with this.
He inhaled deeply before speaking.
“Lilah Iris Beckett, the course of my life forever altered when I first met you.” Yeah, that was an honest enough start. Ben knew that he’d always been heading to this moment like a train hurtling toward a concrete wall. He heard her soft sigh and the sound was so dreamy it gave him pause for a second. Her smile never wavered, but her eyes were doing that weird melty thing they did when she saw puppies.
He was too distracted. It wasn’t like him. This was just another task. He could do it.
He continued, “I, Benjamin Elijah Templeton, take you, Lilah, as my wife. I promise that you will never want for anything. I will care for you to the best of my ability. I will honor you and remain faithful and true to you throughout our marriage.”
Did her smile fade just the slightest bit? Some of the sparkle seemed to leave her eyes, and—mercifully—she no longer had that swoony expression on face.
He glanced over at Rhys who handed over the ring. A diamond encrusted platinum hoop that looked ridiculously small in Ben’s grasp.
“Lilah, I offer this ring to you as a token of my respect and my commitment to this marriage. With this ring I marry you and pledge to live a life entwined with yours.” He slid the beautiful slim diamond encrusted wedding band into place behind the perfect diamond solitaire that he’d put on her finger two months ago.
He looked down at the top of Lilah’s downcast head as she splayed her fingers and stared at the rings. When she lifted her head, he inhaled sharply at the tears he saw gleaming in her pretty amber eyes. For a second, he thought maybe she was regretting this as much as he was. But he couldn’t be certain.
The officiant prompted Lilah into beginning her vows and she smiled up at Ben through the tears gleaming in her eyes. She didn’t look sad, so he wasn’t sure what the tears meant.
Until she spoke.
“Benjamin Elijah Templeton, I have loved you from the very first moment I saw you. You are—and always have been—the owner of my heart.”
Jesus Christ!
What the fuck? This was not the plan. Ben felt immediately ambushed. Why was she talking about love? This was not about love and she knew it!
Surely this was part of the act? It had to be. She couldn’t be serious. But he didn’t think she was the type of person who would lie in her vows. He’d expected the same generic bullshit he had spewed. Every word he’d uttered had been the God’s honest truth. But none of his vows had contained sentimental lies about loving and cherishing and whatever the hell else it was that people said at these things. Sure, it hadn’t been romantic but it had been honest.