All of Me (Inside Out Series Book 6) (14 page)
Read All of Me (Inside Out Series Book 6) Online
Authors: Lisa Renee Jones
“Thank you. I hope Chris thinks so, too.”
“Of course he will. And I’ve never seen that man nervous until today. He’s very eager to have his wife by his side.”
“Chris doesn’t get nervous.”
“He’s pacing, and on his sketch pad he’s drawn everything from stick people to someone’s coffee cup.”
“Stick people? Chris? Okay, maybe he is nervous.”
She glances at her watch. “They should be ready for you in five minutes. I’m going to check on things. Don’t sit, or you’ll get wrinkled.” She exits and isn’t gone more than a minute before a knock sounds on the door.
I open it and peek around to find Mark standing there. “I’d ask how you got to me, but something tells me it involved Jacob or Blake.”
“It did,” he confirms, and I open the door.
Mark steps inside the room, consuming it as he does most rooms he enters, looking his normal, immaculate, good-looking self in a blue pinstriped suit and matching tie. “You look lovely, Sara. Chris is a lucky man, and I just finished telling him that.”
“You did?”
“Yes. I did. I asked his permission to come and talk to you. I was hurting and in denial, just like you said I was the night I tried to kiss you. I tried to break you and Chris up, and it ended up delivering me to the doorstep of the woman I plan to call my wife. And she’s an amazing woman. She wouldn’t let me deny what Rebecca was to me, then or now. I am forever in your debt. Anything you need, just ask. And when I say
you
, I mean both you and Chris.”
“Thank you, Mark. I’m so happy you’ve found a way to heal with Crystal.”
“It’s a work in progress, but I’m getting there. I asked Chris to be my best man.”
“Now you’re going to make me cry and mess up my makeup.”
“No tears, Ms. McMillan. That’s an order.” He closes the space between us and hugs me, holding me for a long moment. “You have affected my life in ways I’m not sure you’ll ever fully understand.” He releases me and leaves, shutting the door behind him.
When the door opens again, it’s Katie. “It’s time, honey.”
“Oh,” I whisper, nerves exploding inside me. “It’s time.”
“Your man is already in the gazebo, waiting for you.”
I step into the hallway and Mike is waiting, looking sharp in a tuxedo. “I have the rings.” He takes my arm. “And now I have the beautiful bride.”
I cling to his arm. “Thank you. I feel unsteady.”
“I won’t let you fall. And I promise you, neither will Chris.”
There’s a tiny pinch in my chest at his sincerity, and a wish that my father could say such things and mean them, but I quickly shove it aside. “I know,” I say, eager to get to Chris.
Jacob and Blake are at the exit when I arrive, and Jacob hands me my bouquet, giving me a grand bow before he opens the door for me. I pause and kiss him on the cheek. “Thanks for taking good care of us.”
“What about me?” Blake demands.
“You stole Jacob from us. You get no kiss.” I walk out of the chateau with Mike, and freeze with the realization that hundreds of eyes are upon me.
Then the music starts, and goose bumps rise on my skin. This is it. This is where Chris and I have been headed since the day we met. My feet carry me forward as I scan the crowd, and I find Chantal sitting with Rey, several famous artists I’ve only dreamed of meeting, Gina Ray, the famous actress who’d come to my aid when I’d faced Michael in Los Angeles. . . . The list goes on.
I hold tight to Mike, focusing on the words of the song
. ’Cause it’s you and me and all of the people . . .
I clutch my flowers.
Nothing to lose, nothing to prove. And I don’t know why I can’t keep my eyes off of you.
I step onto the bridge and finally see Chris. He steps to the center on the other side, looking like pure masculine perfection in his tuxedo. His eyes meet mine, and everything else fades. No one else matters. It’s just me and him.
I’m steadier, my pace quicker now, and when Mike releases my arm, I step in front of Chris.
His hands go to my waist and he pulls me to him, his eyes warm with promise. “You look beautiful, Sara.”
“I can’t believe we’re finally doing this.”
“Finally,” he echoes as the music stops and we step under the pink rose-covered gazebo. We stand in front of the preacher, facing each other.
The ceremony starts and Chris and I stare at each other, the words barely registering for me. I hear the call for the rings, though, and the preacher gives me Chris’s ring. I take it, my hands trembling so badly, I can’t get it on him.
Chris takes it, and my hand. “Easy, baby. We’re almost there.”
I nod and the preacher says, “Repeat after me, Sara. With this ring, I thee wed.”
“With this ring, I thee wed,” I say, and my voice shakes as badly as my hands.
Chris takes my rose-etched band from the preacher and places it on my finger, and he doesn’t wait for instructions. “With this ring, I thee wed.” Then he pulls me to him, leaning down to whisper in my ear, “You are the reason I breathe.” He eases back and cups my face. “Every reason.” He kisses me, deeply, passionately, and I’m clinging to him, this man who has healed my broken pieces.
The preacher clears his throat, and Chris reluctantly tears his mouth from mine, as I do his.
And then we hear the words where everything past and present comes together: “I now pronounce you man and wife.” The preacher steps to us and turns us to the crowd. “Allow me to proudly introduce Mr. and Mrs. Chris Merit.”
• • •
Hours later, our magical evening is far from over. Chris and I are finally back in our apartment in San Francisco, and I am naked, sitting on a chair on Chris’s orders. He’s naked, too, gloriously, wonderfully naked, a palette and a paintbrush in his hand as he goes down on one knee in front of me. “I’m going to paint you, Sara.”
“Paint
me
? As in my skin?”
“That’s right. All of you—because that’s the only thing that will ever be enough.”
Dear Readers:
Thank you for taking this journey with the Inside Out characters, who have become so dear to my heart. I always knew Rebecca’s fate, and how profoundly she would affect the many lives she touched. I also always knew Ella’s future, and I have long planned her three-book journey and can’t wait to share her story with you. Stay tuned for her to tell you her story herself!
Lisa
Can't get enough of the Inside Out series?
Mark desperately needs his control back, but will that push Crystal away for good?
My Control
Find out everyone's deepest secrets in one place. You'll uncover Rebecca's deepest desires . . . and meet "him" in
The Master Undone.
Rebecca's Lost Journals
See how it all began in the first book in the Inside Out Series, on sale now!
If I Were You
ORDER YOUR COPIES TODAY!
About the Author
Lisa Renee Jones is the
New York Times
and
USA Today
bestselling author of more than forty books that have been translated around the world. Her highly acclaimed Inside Out series is now in development for a cable television show produced by Suzanne Todd (
Alice in Wonderland
). She loves to hear from readers.
The Inside Out series by
Lisa Renee Jones
I Belong to You
No In Between
Revealing Us
Being Me
Rebecca’s Lost Journals
If I Were You
E-originals
My Control
My Hunger
His Secrets
The Master Undone: An Inside Out Novella
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This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2015 by Julie Patra Publishing, Inc.
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First Pocket Star Books ebook edition February 2015
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ISBN 978-1-4767-9391-7