Weddings in the Family. Tessa McDermid

a good man.” They started the march down the aisle. “As long as he remembers to take care of you.”

      The wedding passed in a blur. She saw Nick’s eyes light up when she came into view and her lips curved into a wide smile that didn’t disappear the entire evening. She danced with uncles and cousins she hadn’t seen in ages. Her father whisked her into the father-daughter dance with old-world charm and then made her giggle when he swung her in a wide dip. Her brothers each claimed a portion of a dance, teasing her until their wives dragged them away.

      The last dance was with Nick. His hands rested on her waist, their feet barely moving across the floor. She couldn’t take her eyes off his face or the love she saw mirrored in his eyes.

      “Happy?” he said.

      She nodded. “Deliciously so.” She had found words welling up in her mind all night, fulsome words she would never use any other time. In her Cinderella dress, with her handsome prince in his dark suit, the music playing around them, their family and friends surrounding them, she couldn’t help thinking that no bride had ever been so lucky.

      He deftly swung her out of the way of two little cousins dancing a jitterbug of sorts to the slow music. “How much longer before we can get out of here?”

      The urgency and desire in his voice made her quiver. She had thrown the bouquet, he had tossed the garter. The cake was almost gone. “Now?” she murmured.

      He stopped dancing and the cousins bumped into her hip. They scowled and jiggled around them. Nick grabbed her hand and dragged her toward the door.

      She dug her heels into the flooring. “We can’t just rush out. We have to tell our parents goodbye.”

      He growled but detoured toward the front tables and halted in front of her parents, his hand tight on hers. The wedding band she had slipped onto his finger felt smooth against her palm. “Thank you for a lovely wedding. We’re leaving now.”

      Caroline’s cheeks heated up. Without waiting for her parents’ reply, he tugged her along to his parents. “Mom, Dad, we’re leaving. Have a safe drive.”

      She caught his wrist with her free hand. “Nick.”

      He glanced over his shoulder at her. “Caroline, I’m not stopping again until we’re at our motel. Do you have a problem with that?”

      Desire shimmered in the air between them. A fine sheen glistened on his forehead and his lips were pressed together in a tight line.

      They’d waited long enough. She leaned toward him. “How fast do you think you can get us there?”

      A grin lit up his face. “Watch.”