All You Need Is Love (20 page)

“Well, go ahead, Nathan. It’s finally time. You may kiss the bride.”

The grin on her new husband’s face was positively wicked, and Julia’s eyes widened in surprise as he swept her into his arms and captured her lips in a fiery, possessive kiss. She slid her arms around his neck, holding on tight as he kissed her long and thoroughly, until she could hear the unmistakable sound of both her father and her uncle Mal clearing their throats. Laughing, she eased her mouth from Nathan’s, whispering urgently in his ear, “I think we’d better save this for later.”

Nathan grinned, giving her one quick, final smooch. “I guess you’re right,” he murmured back. “Especially since I can hear my buddies egging me on all the way up here. Come on, Mrs. Atwood. Time to go greet our adoring public.”

Hand in hand, they turned to face their guests just as the string quartet launched into a rousing version of
All You Need is Love
. They walked back down the aisle accompanied by a round of applause, and a cloud of bubbles that guests were blowing from the little plastic bottles they had been handed before the ceremony. Julia couldn’t hold back the happy giggles that rose up from her throat as she smiled and waved to her family and friends, practically skipping down the aisle in glee.

As soon as they reached the back of the garden chapel, Nathan slid his arms around her waist from behind and murmured naughtily in her ear, “How ‘bout we just keep on going until we reach our suite? We ordered enough booze and food to keep ‘em all happy for a while. They’ll never miss us.”

But before Julia could reply, Lauren, Jared, Angela and Greg reached the end of the aisle, too, and her sister’s voice rang out loud and clear.

“Jeez, you’ve been married for what – three minutes – and you two are already pawing each other? Come on, give it a rest until we get these photos taken and I can get a drink.”

Nathan shook his head in exasperation. “One of these days someone is going to hog tie that girl and gag her. Maybe I’ll hire someone to do the job. And she is never, ever, coming to live with us.”

Julia’s laughter was quickly swallowed up as she was swept into a bear hug by both of her new brothers-in-law in turn.

The rest of the afternoon and evening sped by in a whirlwind, even though Julia tried valiantly to savor every single moment of her dream wedding. Just as Lauren had promised, everything went off without a hitch – the food, champagne, flowers, music. Jared, as the best man, made the requisite toast that was both amusing and genuinely touching. As soon as the sumptuous dinner was over, it was time for the dancing to begin and Julia happily let her husband lead her out to the middle of the floor.

They’d chosen
At Last
for their first dance, the poignancy of the lyrics bringing tears to her eyes yet again today.

“And you
are
mine at last,” she whispered in Nathan’s ear as he twirled her around the dance floor. “Forever and ever.”

“You’ve always been mine, baby,” he murmured back. “From the very first time I saw you. It just took me a little time to claim you.”

“Hmm.” She wrapped her arms around his neck and lifted her head to smile up at him teasingly. “Well, not to worry. You have a whole lifetime to make it up to me.”

Nathan’s eyes sparkled. “I’ll look forward to it. Ah, time to change partners, I’m afraid. Just got the signal from the bandleader and your father is already heading this way to claim his dance. But don’t go too far, baby.”

She gave him a quick, sweet kiss. “Never.”

But it was quite some time later before they were dancing with each other again. Julia was almost dizzy from changing partners so often – her father, uncle, father-in-law, brothers-in-law, Nathan’s uncles and cousins. After that the line-up continued – Travis, Anton, Jake, Ian, Jonathan, Rick, Gerard, Sam.

Nathan had almost yanked her away when her dance with Sam was over, pulling her tightly against him.

“That asshole Patterson was holding you a little too close for comfort,” growled Nathan. “And I’m still not sure why we had to invite your ex to our wedding.”

Julia touched his cheek tenderly. “Relax, baby. You know Sam and I were over a long time ago. But I’ve known him forever and he’s been a good friend. Besides, having an NFL quarterback here seems to be keeping your drunken friends under a bit of control.”

“I suppose,” he grumbled. “But he doesn’t get to dance with you again.”

As soon as the song ended, it was time to cut the cake and Julia was immediately wary of the mischievous gleam in her husband’s eyes. Her suspicions were proven right when he rather deliberately smashed a chunk of white chocolate cake all over her mouth and chin.

“Oops.” His eyes twinkled merrily. “Guess my hand slipped. Oh, well. I’ll just have to, uh, lick it all up.”

Which he did – more than a little suggestively – and she was blushing furiously by the time he’d finished. She was sorely tempted to return the favor – and in fact a group of guests were noisily urging her to “smash it all over his face”. But instead she chose to feed him a small, dainty bite of cake, grinning when he licked the crumbs off her fingers.

“Don’t worry,” she told him sweetly. “I’ll find a different way to get even”, and then had to stifle a giggle at the look of alarm on his face.

As they sat down to enjoy cake and coffee, Julia was startled when her father approached the bandleader and was handed a microphone. Robert’s deep voice was filled with tenderness as he addressed the guests.

“Natalie and I hope that everyone is enjoying their evening and this beautiful wedding. We are very honored to have all of you share this special day with our family. And now, I’d like to serenade my beautiful Julia, who will always be my little girl no matter how old she is. This is for you, darlin’.”

The tears that Julia had been fighting back all day couldn’t be controlled any longer as her father sang
Sunrise Sunset
in his beautiful baritone voice. Nathan’s arm went around her shoulders as she wept silent tears of joy at such a lovely and unexpected treat. Natalie, too, was crying softly and even Lauren looked suspiciously teary-eyed.

At the end of the song Julia went to her father and hugged him fiercely, whispering in his ear, “Thank you, Daddy. That was the most wonderful present I could have ever dreamed of.”

The dancing resumed shortly thereafter, as did the drinking, and the noise level in the outside patio where the reception was being held rose significantly. Julia was glad that there weren’t any guest rooms in this wing of the hotel given the increasing rowdiness of some of their guests. It was no surprise whatsoever that Nathan’s group of friends were the loudest and most funloving of the group, and even less of a shock when Lauren joined forces with them.

Nathan shook his head as he claimed his wife for another dance. “If I’d had to pick one person among all of our guests who’d be the most likely to start a conga line, it would definitely have been your sister.”

Julia grinned, watching as her twin led a growing number of tipsy guests around the floor in a weaving, stumbling dance. “That’s Lauren, always the ringleader. And at least she’s happy tonight. Lately – well, my dad and I have both been worried about her. Something’s off.”

“Well, for tonight she seems to be having the time of her life,” declared Nathan. “And you, my lovely bride, are forbidden to worry about anything. Clear?”

She wound her arms around his neck and pulled his head down for a kiss. “Clear.”

When the song ended it was time for Julia to toss her bouquet to all the single women in attendance. The bandleader helped her step up onto the makeshift stage, and she gave the gorgeous bunch of pink and cream roses one last wistful sniff before turning her back to the group of women who’d assembled on the dance floor.

“All right, ladies. Here’s your chance,” announced the bandleader. “Whoever catches the bouquet will be the next one of you to tie the knot. Good luck and no pushing! Ready now – one, two, three!”

Julia closed her eyes and flung the bouquet backwards as hard as she could, smiling to hear the assorted squeals and exclamations from the two dozen women clustered around. But when she turned back to face the group, her jaw dropped in astonishment to see just who had caught the bouquet – her staunchly single twin sister.

Laughing excitedly, Julia hurried over to Lauren’s side, slipping an arm around her waist as her sister continued to stare at the flowers in shock and alarm.

“How in the hell did that happen?” mumbled Lauren in disbelief.

Julia rested her head on her twin’s shoulder. “And you’re just about the shortest one here. I thought for sure Angela or Tessa had a real shot at it since they’re both so tall. But I’m so happy it was you. And you know what this means, don’t you?”

Lauren glared at her sister darkly. “It means this is all a silly superstition. I’m no more ready to get married than I am to take up knitting.”

Julia winked. “Fate is a funny thing, sis. You never know what can happen.”

And then Nathan was tugging her urgently by the hand back up to the stage for the tossing of the garter. Predictably, there were dozens of wolf whistles and cat calls as Julia propped her foot on the stage and helped Nathan lift her voluminous skirts to just above the knee. Just as predictably, the band played a few bars of
The Stripper
as Nathan slowly rolled the lacy pink and cream garter down her leg. He turned his back to the group of bachelors who’d gathered around and flung the garter slingshot style into the crowd.

“Figures,” he chuckled when his newly-engaged brother Greg came up with the lacy scrap. “He’s not as good a baseball player as Jared but he did play left field in high school. Now, Mrs. Atwood, I’d very much like to suggest we, ah, adjourn for the evening.”

Julia glanced around in alarm. “Nathan – we can’t just leave. I mean, no one else has left yet and the party will probably go on at least a couple more hours.”

“Tough. It’s time to start our own party. A
private
party,” he stressed.

She looked wistfully at the table that had been set up next to the cake. “But I haven’t visited the candy bar yet. And it looks so pretty.”

She’d spent weeks choosing and ordering all of the different kinds of candy – everything in varying shades of pink and green, of course – and planning the attractive display. Glass jars, vases, and bowls held an array of colored M & M’s, mints, foil wrapped chocolates, lollipops, and other assorted candies. Guests were already filling the gaily striped paper bags that had been personalized with Julia and Nathan’s names and the date of the wedding with scoopfuls of different confections.

Nathan pinched her cheek as though she were a little girl. “Not as pretty – or as sweet – as you do, baby. Besides, I happen to know you have extra candy stashed at your parents place. And there might – just might – be some chocolate in our suite.”

She grinned. “And what else might be waiting for me in our suite?”

He whispered in her ear. “A really, really horny husband. And he’s very anxious to get started on the real wedding festivities. So, come on, wife. Let’s ditch this party for a much hotter one.”

“Nathan, wait.” She tugged urgently on his hand as he would have whisked her away. “We can’t just leave our own wedding. I mean, we still have to say good night to everyone and thank our parents and - ”

He shook his head. “Time for all that tomorrow. We’ve got that brunch in the morning with our families and our flight doesn’t leave until early evening.”

They were honeymooning on the lush tropical island of Bora Bora, stopping overnight in Honolulu en route.

Julia hesitated. “I know we’ll see most of the family again in the morning, but still – it just seems a little rude to leave without saying anything.”

“Okay, I get that. Hmm. I know.”

Before she could offer up any additional protests, he grabbed her hand and pulled her along in his wake. He spoke briefly to the bandleader, and Julia’s eyes widened in alarm as Nathan was handed the microphone.

“I hope all of you are enjoying the party,” he told everyone. “And I encourage you to stay and keep dancing and drinking until you close this place down. Julia and I want to thank everyone for sharing this amazing day with us, and tell you how much your presence today meant to us. And now, I hope you’ll all excuse me because there’s something I’ve been wanting to do since I saw my beautiful bride here walk up the aisle a few hours ago.”

Nathan handed the microphone back to the bandleader, and then, before Julia could so much as squeak, he’d hoisted her over his shoulder. There was a rousing course of mingled applause, laughter and bawdy shouts – the latter undoubtedly from Nathan’s band of buddies – as he very determinedly wound his way through the crowd, carrying his very shocked – and very embarrassed – bride.

“Good night!”

“Good luck”

“We love you guys!”

“You lucky bastard, Atwood!”

“Hey, need any help there, Nathan?”

Julia couldn’t help laughing at all the greetings – semi-obscene or otherwise – that accompanied their departure. From her rather awkward position draped over Nathan’s shoulder, she blew kisses to her laughing mother, grinning sister, and mock-stern faced father, and waved merrily to the rest of the crowd.

Once inside the hotel, she wriggled in Nathan’s arms. “You can put me down now, you know. I promise I won’t run back to the candy table.”

Nathan chuckled and merely hoisted her up a little higher. “Uh, uh. I wasn’t kidding when I said I’d been dying to do this all evening. So just sit tight and enjoy the ride, baby. It isn’t far.”

The well-trained staff at the hotel was far too discreet to do more than smile indulgently as Nathan bore her though the lobby and down the hallway that led to the owner’s suite. Julia’s cheeks were flushed pink with embarrassment, especially when the private butler assigned to their suite gave a little bow as they approached.

“Sir. Madam. May I offer my most sincere congratulations? And why don’t you let me get the door, sir? You, ah, appear to have your hands full at the moment.”

Julia giggled uncontrollably as the butler ushered them inside, locking the door firmly behind them. Only then did Nathan gently lower her to the ground, pulling her into his arms as he did so.