3 Brides for 3 Bad Boys (29 page)

"Is she awake?" This time it was a masculine voice.

Fayre dove under the covers. "Tell him to go away." Her hair was a disaster, and she was naked.

"She's awake, but I don't think she's coming out until you and Moonbeam leave."

Fayre nodded under the covers in agreement.

The man chuckled, and then another feminine voice intruded. "I want to meet her, too."

"Is that Fayre?" yet another woman asked.

"Well, if it's a party, why wasn't I invited?" The voice sounded so much like Colt that if he hadn't been right next to her, she would have wondered if it was him.

Was it Carter or Rand? She remembered their names, but Colt had never said anything about one of them sounding just like him. Maybe the men didn't notice.

She bet her sister-in-law did.

"It's not a party." Colton was laughing, so the words came out choked.

Fayre kicked him under the blanket. He said a not very nice word.

"Come along. I'll see about making lunch." Moonbeam's voice left no room for opposition.

"I want more than salad," Colton warned.

"I'll help her." The offer came from one of Colton's brothers, not the other women.

It was silent for several seconds before Colton tugged at the sheet and light blanket she'd burrowed under. "They're gone. You can come out."

She dropped the blankets and sucked in a big breath of air, glaring at her husband the whole time. "If your whole family is here, what are you doing in bed with me?"

"I didn't want you to wake up alone."

"That's nice, but don't you think bringing your mom, brothers and sisters-in-law in on it was overdoing it a tad?"

His smile was all rascal. "I didn't put them in bed with us, did I?"

"They probably think I'm some bimbo who tricked you into marriage when you were drunk."

"Why would they think that?"

"You were drunk when we got married."

"So? Moonbeam thinks getting drunk that night was the smartest thing I've ever done and leaving without talking to you was the dumbest."

"You told her all of it?" Fayre threw the covers back over her head. "She's going to hate me."

Instead of pulling the covers off of her, Colton tunneled under them. "She's going to love you."

"She'll think I got pregnant to trap you into marriage."

Colton kissed her, and Fayre forgot everything but the sensation of having him so close.

When he lifted his head, the blankets slid down to leave them both exposed.

"Fayre, my family is happy for us. Okay?"

"How can they be? You married a showgirl! I remember what you told me about your brothers. They're both rich. They attend charity balls and drive sports cars that cost more than some people's houses. Rand is married to a woman who is a descendant of the founding family in their hometown. She owns this island.

The only thing I own of any value is my car. Don't you see the difference?"

Colton's eyes were warm and incredibly tender. "All I see is a woman I would give my life for."

Tears filled her eyes, and she punched his shoulder. "Don't say things like that."

"Why not? It's true. I don't care about money or who your grandparents were. I only care that when I'm with you, I don't feel like the secret bastard son of Hoyt Sloane. I feel like a man worthy of an amazing woman's love and courage."

She bit her lip, trying to stop its trembling, but nothing could stop the tears spilling over from her eyes. "I d-do l-love you."

His mouth came down again, and he kissed away the tremble and the tears.

Then he slid off of her and onto the floor beside the bed.

Leaning over, he grabbed something off the nightstand and then faced her. "I don't remember asking you to marry me, and I want that memory to share with our children."

She sat up and clutched the sheet in her hands, not bothering to cover her body. It belonged to him, and his family had closed the door when they left.

It was just her and Colton.

"You got down on your knees in the middle of the restaurant."

He smiled. "I like this better." And he was looking at her, all of her, but not with lust, with awe.

Frissons of joy went all through her.

He took her left hand and rubbed the back of it with his thumb. "I love you, Fayre, will you marry me?"

She was too choked up to reply, but she nodded until it felt like her head would pop off.

Then she felt a ring sliding onto her finger, and she looked down. A big square-cut emerald glittered up at her.

"We'll both wear rings after the ceremony at the Mexican church." He said it like a vow.

She swallowed.

"I love you, Colt. I don't understand how I could love you so much so fast, but I do."

"I know, Fayre. I feel the same way. I fell in love with you on sight six weeks ago, and I did it again yesterday. Please don't ever make me live without you."

She shook her head until he stopped the movement with another kiss.

Far from thinking the worst of her, Colton's family embraced Fayre from the moment she made her first nervous entry into the kitchen. His brother Carter had made lunch as her new sister-in-law Daisy had been quick to point out. She was obviously totally besotted, and Fayre thought that was sweet. Rand and Phoebe were too busy canoodling in a chair by the table for them to be of any help at all with the meal, but no one else seemed to mind.

No one made her feel uncomfortable, least of all Colt's mother. Fayre saw a lot of the person he had been while he was inebriated in his mother and hoped that over time, he would show more of that playful side without the inducement of alcohol.

But he was anything but playful during their wedding ceremony the next day.

As promised, he'd bought her a white Mexican dress with lots and lots of handmade lace. Moonbeam had lamented the lack of color, but agreed with Colton that Fayre looked like an
angel
in it.

Her gaze locked with his while she repeated her marriage vows, and he never once broke eye contact when he said his back.

Then he kissed her. It was a lot more flammable than she was expecting in front of his family and the priest, so she was high in his arms and being carried from the church before she realized the ceremony was over.

He broke the kiss as they stepped out into the bright sunshine. "You're mine, Fayre. Now and forever."

She'd wanted to hear those words her entire life, and they wrapped themselves around her heart like a protective shield she could always hide behind. She belonged to someone.

"And you're mine."

He nodded and kissed her again.

His brothers and their wives joined Fayre and Colton on the steps.

Moonbeam smiled at them all, her expression turning fey. "It was each of your destinies to break the cycle of pain from the past, and you've done it."

Colton looked down at Fayre. "If that's true, then I've got my destiny in my arms."

She didn't want to cry again, so she grinned instead. "Do you notice you're carrying me again? Moonbeam, you've raised a real unreconstructed man here, and I'm wondering how that happened when you're so progressive in your thinking."

Colton pretended to drop her and then threw back his head and laughed out loud when she screamed.

She knew she would love this man until the day she died, and he would love her.

It was their destiny.

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