Which only made Owen look even hotter.

  Ugh. Girl, get it together.

  She’d been so caught up with getting ready for this wedding she’d momentarily forgotten he was going to be here, and Brenna had been in charge of handling the groomsmen, so he hadn’t been on her radar.

  Until now. And now he was the only thing she could focus on, when her attention should be everywhere else. She decided to move to a different angle where she wouldn’t be ogling her husband, but then he directed his eyes on her and smiled, that sexy half smile of his that always got to her.

  She couldn’t help but smile back.

  She was such a mess. She moved away and to the left of the arbor so she could watch the ceremony and the crowd, making sure the photographer was getting all the right shots, that the videographer was in place and that the skies stayed sunny—not that she had any control over that, but she could hope.

  Vows were said, parents got teary-eyed and Alice and Clay had so much love on their faces that it filled the vineyard with joy. And when it was official and they kissed, applause rang out and despite this being a work event, Honor was near bursting with happiness for her friends.

  After the ceremony, they led the attendees toward the barn for cocktails and appetizers while the wedding party stayed behind for photos. Brenna and Mae would supervise the crowd at the barn while Honor stayed behind to help out the photographer as needed.

  Since the bride and groom were having their photos taken first, everyone else milled about. Honor made sure there was water and juice available since it was a warm day.

  “What? No tequila?”

  She turned to find Owen smiling down at her. “No tequila. I’m not sure I’m ever having tequila again.”

  He took a sip from his water. “Why? Does it make your clothes fall off?”

  She let out a laughing cough at his quote from the song. “Among other things.”

  “You look beautiful tonight,” he said. “I want to touch you. And kiss you.”

  Warmth curled around her. “Everyone thinks we’re just friends, remember? The no-contact kind.”

  He laid a hand on one of the chairs. “Uh-huh. I’ve thought about you every day and every night since the last time we were together. I can’t stop thinking about you, Honor. The way your eyes light up when you see something that interests you, and the way you lick your lips when you see food, the way your hair blows in the wind, like now . . .”

  He swept her hair back behind her ear and she drew in a breath, his words and his touch evoking a chemical reaction she couldn’t control.

  “Oh, hey, Owen.”

  Honor swallowed hard as Erin came over.

  Owen, on the other hand, was completely casual. “Hi, Erin. What’s up?”

  “Have you seen Jason?”

  He hooked his thumb over his shoulder. “I think he went to the main house for something.”

  “Probably to check on Agatha and Puddy. We knew it was going to be a long night here and we didn’t want to leave them at our house.” She looked over at Owen. “I heard you got a dog. Jason said she’s really cute. You’ll have to bring her by so we can all see her.”

  “Thanks, I’ll do that.”

  “I’m going to go find my husband.”

  “Don’t linger too long, Erin,” Honor said. “I think the photographer will be ready for bridal party photos soon.”

  She nodded and wandered off toward the house, and Honor turned back to Owen. “This is why we can’t be around each other in public. Erin could have seen that.”

  “Seen what? Me fixing your hair? Seemed perfectly innocent to me. I think you worry too much.”

  “And I think you don’t worry enough.”

  “I still plan to kiss you tonight. Sometime, somewhere. We’ll sneak away.”

  She hated how much she wanted to do that. “Absolutely not.”

  “Okay. I’ll let you make the call. Mrs. Stone.” He winked and walked away from her.

  Mrs. Stone. She was not—

  Well, actually, she was Mrs. Stone. For a while longer, anyway. Which didn’t mean he got to decide when and where he was going to kiss her.

  And it absolutely was not going to be here, tonight, where family and friends could see them.

  * * *

  • • •

  THERE WAS NOTHING better to Owen than hanging out with his best friends. That one of them had gotten married tonight was even better.

  Time seemed to have flown by the past couple of years. And then at other times it seemed to have crawled, especially when he was undergoing his cancer treatments, and it felt like life was passing him by and he was missing everything.

  But now as he stood back and watched everyone dancing, he realized that in the past year, two of his best friends had gotten married. And another was building a house with his forever love, and he knew they’d get married eventually, too.

  Owen was supposed to be the first one to get married, but that obviously hadn’t happened. Now Jason was married to Erin, and they were meant to be together. And tonight Clay had married Alice, and as he watched his friend laughing as he twirled Alice around on the dance floor, he couldn’t be happier for him.

  His gaze tracked across the room and settled on Honor, who was having a conversation with Alice’s parents, no doubt making sure they were comfortable and had what they needed since they lived out of state. That was typical for her, wanting to be sure that everyone was happy.

  Owen had spent the past several hours watching Honor do her magic. She was excellent at her job, and she made it look effortless, when he knew it was anything but. She moved from table to table, occasionally stopping to give direction to Mae or talk to Brenna. Then she’d leave the room for a few minutes and come right back, a constant beauty in motion. He could watch her do this dance all night long.

  “Got your eye on someone?”

  He quickly shifted his attention to Jason. “Me? No. Just watching the dance floor.”

  “Yeah, it’s like an old-style mosh pit out there.” Jason got a fresh beer from the bartender.

  “That’s a good way to describe it. Speaking of the dance floor, why aren’t you on it with Erin?”

  “Oh. Uh, she wanted a break.”

  Unusual, since Erin was always the last one to want to leave the dance floor. “Can’t keep up with your manic dance magic, huh?”

  Jason smiled as he lifted the beer to his lips for a long pull, then said. “Yeah, that’s me, man.”

  Clay came over and threw his arms around both of them. “I got married today. That’s my wife over there.”

  Finn joined them. “He’s had a little of my whiskey.”

  Owen laughed. “Hey, it’s your wedding day. You’re supposed to enjoy yourself.”

  “I am.” Clay patted Owen’s chest. “Life is short, got to live every second of it. Am I right?”

  Truer words had never been spoken. “You are so right about that. I’m really happy for you and Alice.”

  “Thanks. I’m happy, too. Did I tell you she made me take a whole week off from the ranch to do the honeymoon thing?”

  “Oh, she made you, huh?” Finn smirked. “I’m sure it’s a real hardship to do a trip through all those pubs and castles in Scotland and Ireland.”

  “Not to mention all the great food you’ll get to eat,” Jason added. “I’m a little jealous of your itinerary.”

  “Okay, it won’t suck. And we’ve both been working really hard, so we’re looking forward to some relaxation time.”

  “Hey, husband.” Alice came over and slid her head under Clay’s arm. “You gentlemen wouldn’t mind if I borrowed him for a few, would you?”

  “He’s all yours,” Owen said.

  “Forever and ever,” Jason added.

  Finn let out a chuckle as Clay and Alice walked off hand in hand.

  “I would have said he’d be the last one to walk down the aisle,” Jason said.

  “Yeah?” Finn looked after their retreating forms, then over at Jason. “And I’d have said that would have been you.”

  Jason pointed at his own chest. “Me? Why?”

  “Because you were always dating different women.”

  “Finn’s right,” Owen said. “For a while there you went through so many that I got confused over who was who. I was thinking you should put name tags on them.”

  “Well, fortunately for me, you fucked up and I got Erin.”

  Jason’s eyes widened as soon as the words left his mouth. Finn just stared at both of them as if he expected them to come to blows.

  But Owen laughed hard. “Lucky for you I’m such a jackass.”

  Then Jason laughed and slung his arm over Owen’s shoulder. “Yeah, I’m damn lucky.”

  Finn blew out a breath and joined the group hug. “I think you’re both jackasses.”

  Owen was the lucky one to have friends like this. Friends who were forgiving, friends who could see past major screwups, who were ride or die, like these guys.

  He wouldn’t have made it the past couple of years without them.

  They eventually went their separate ways. Owen went to the bar to get a cold glass of ice water. As he stood there, his gaze hovered over the room. He didn’t see Honor. Maybe she was taking a few minutes to sit and put her feet up. He wandered around and saw Brenna overseeing the caterers cleaning up the dinner area.

  He made a leisurely stroll out of the barn and around the tree-lined walk, eventually ending up at the bridal room. The door was partially open, so he pushed it open fully and saw Honor in there. She was dressed in her peach-colored beaded cocktail dress, killer sparkly heels, but had added a tiara on her head. She had a broom in her hand and was sweeping the floor.

  “Having your Cinderella moment?”

  She lifted her head, then smiled at him. “Kind of Cinderella in reverse, don’t you think?”

  He closed the door, walked in and took the broom from her hand. “The crown fits, but definitely not the broom.” He finished the task and swept everything into the trash can.

  “Just tidying up.” She pulled the tiara off her head and tucked it into the bag that sat on the tufted chair. “The bridesmaids had brought it for Alice this morning to let her know she was the princess of the day. I was just making sure it didn’t get left behind.”

  “Is there anything you don’t do?”

  “What do you mean?”

  He moved in close and pulled her against him. “I’ve watched you tonight. You monitored the wedding ceremony, chased down a wayward kid who ran amok in the vineyard, filled in for the bartender who had an emergency phone call, made sure the bride’s parents felt comfortable and at home, danced with the bride’s dad and now you’re sweeping up the bridal room. Did you fix tonight’s dinner, too?”

  She laid her hands on his chest. “You know I don’t cook.”

  “But you do everything else. You must be tired.” He shifted his gaze down to her feet. “How do you walk all night in those heels?”

  “Years of practice.”

  “You look beautiful. Sparkle suits you.”

  Her cheeks turned a lovely shade of peachy blush. “Thank you. This tux suits you. I couldn’t tear my focus away from you when you were standing up there at the arbor. You know you’re not supposed to outshine the groom.”

  “Trust me, I didn’t.”

  She moved her hands up over his shoulders. “To me you did. You were all I saw.”

  His throat tightened. “Hey, remember what I said earlier?”

  She gave him a slight tilt to her head. “No. What?”

  He slid his hand along the side of her neck and leaned in, brushing his lips across hers, teasing and tasting, flicking his tongue against hers and enjoying the feel of her, the way she seemed to melt her body to his as if to say Yes, I want this, too.

  He pulled slightly away. “That I was going to kiss you.”

  “Oh.” Her voice had gone soft, breathy. “I do seem to recall that, but I’m still a little fuzzy. Can you help me out?”

  “Yeah, I can do that.” He went in deeper this time, settled there, taking them both on a journey of taste and exploration.

  There was no denying that he enjoyed kissing Honor. Her lips were full and the way she moved her body when she was in his arms let him know she was more than into it. She ran her hands all over his chest and around his back, sliding lower until she grabbed his ass and squeezed. He was trying to take this slow and easy, but with Honor, there just wasn’t a slow and easy. She went for it, and it was one of the things he liked best about her. When she was in, she was all in.

  It was right then he got a flash of memory—a darkened hotel room, with just enough hazy light to see a naked Honor on top of him, her body moving in rhythm to his strokes. Her head was tilted back and her breasts thrust up and it was like the best dream a man could ever have.

  Except it wasn’t a dream. It was their drunken wedding night.

  He wished he could remember all of it, because it must have been a really great night. Just holding Honor in his arms right now, listening to the sounds she made as they kissed and touched each other, told him everything he needed to know about the passion they felt for each other.

  He’d had two nights with her, only one of which he could really remember. He wanted more.

  He pulled his lips from hers and kissed her neck. “We should—”

  The door handle jiggled. “Hey, is someone in there?”

  Honor took a step back, licked her lips and answered Mae’s question. “It’s just me, Mae. I’m picking up in here.”

  “Oh, okay. Do you need some help?”

  “No, I’m almost finished. But can you go check on Alice and see if she needs anything?”

  “Sure. I’ll take care of that right away.”

  Honor stood in front of him heaving in deep breaths. “I have to go.”

  He could tell from the look on her face that she was equal parts panicked and regretful. “Sure.”

  She grabbed the tote bag and brushed past him, then paused, reached out and took his hand. “Thanks for that . . . moment.”

  “Anytime.”

  She left the room and he took a few minutes before peeking his head out. No one was around, so he walked out and made his way back to the reception. He stopped at the bar and got a sparkling water, then went to grab a seat at the table, just in time for the cake cutting.

  Good timing. After he ate, he got up and wandered outside.

  “You’re not fooling anyone, mate.”

  He turned to see Finn standing next to him.

  “Fooling anyone about what?”

  Finn motioned down the private walkway. “I saw you disappear down toward the bridal room. After Honor had gone down there a little while earlier.”

  “Oh. Anyone else see?”

  Finn shrugged. “No idea. Why are you keeping it a secret?”

  “Like I said. It’s complicated.”

  Finn took a sip of whiskey from the flask in his pocket. “I don’t know complicated, but I do know about secrets. And those tend to blow up in your face.”

  “You’re the only one who knows.” And even Finn didn’t know everything. “I just need you to keep a lid on this one a while longer.”

  “Whatever you say, mate. But I don’t think anyone would care if you were dating Honor.”

  Maybe. Then again, maybe not. Because he had a long history with the Bellinis. And sure, he’d been forgiven for his cataclysmic fuckup with Erin and welcomed back into the family fold.

  But taking up with another Bellini sister? That might not go over well. And marrying her during a drunken night in Vegas?

  Yeah, that would be a disaster.

  So this secret would just have to continue to be kept.

  CHAPTER

  fourteen

  IT WAS SO great having Mom and Dad back home.

  Honor had noticed a definite difference in them since their return, too. They had always been affectionate with each other, but now? Now they were downright nauseatingly romantic.

  Dad would pop into Mom’s office in the middle of the day, sit down in a chair, and they’d just . . . chat. For like ten, fifteen minutes, when normally Dad wouldn’t set foot in the house unless lunch or dinner was served. He was always out in the vineyard or the warehouse or in the wine cellar.

  And now Honor would occasionally see Mom in her hat wandering the vineyards alongside Dad, the two of them strolling and talking, hand in hand. Typically, Mom never left her desk, her head buried in numbers and schedules.

  Honor stood at the window with her sisters watching her parents kissing among the grapes.

  “What do you think’s going on with those two?” Erin asked.

  “I think they had a lot of really awesome sex on their vacation,” Brenna said, offering up a smug smile.

  “Ew, Brenna,” Erin said.

  “What? You can’t tell the difference in them? They’re gooey romantic since they got home. It’s like they can’t keep their hands off each other.”

  “I’ve definitely noticed,” Honor said. “But it’s more than just the touching and the kissing. It’s a deliberate attempt to spend more time together. Maybe they realized they weren’t doing enough of that.”

  “You know what,” Erin said. “You’re right. I guess that’s a good lesson for all of us. Be more mindful of our partners and don’t take time and attention for granted.”

  Brenna nodded. “You’ve got it pegged, Erin. And duly noted. I think I’ll go make Finn a picnic lunch and we’ll have our own alone time today.”

  “Aww, he’d appreciate that, Bren,” Honor said.

  “I agree,” Erin said. “And I think I’ll meet Jason after work tonight and take him to his favorite restaurant for dinner. Since I’ve been nauseated so much, we’ve been eating at home a lot. But now that I’m starting to come out of it, he could use a night out.”