State of Grace Read Free

erection. 
    If Lucas noticed, instead of starting his honeymoon that night he’d be sitting in a jail cell and Sean’s parents would be planning a funeral.
    Desperate to put the pieces of his brain back together, he kept a frozen smile and his gaze trained on the bride as she began to float down the aisle with her mother by her side.
    The priest cleared his throat. “We are gathered here today, to celebrate the union between Sophie and Lucas. Who gives this woman to be married to this man?” he questioned, his voice wavering slightly. Sean narrowed his eyes. He was pretty sure he’d seen the priest eyeing the assortment of red wines stocked at the bar, as guests were being seated and wondered if the man was toasted already.
    Again, his thoughts were derailed as the bride’s mother lilted out a charming, “I do,” before setting her daughter’s hand in Lucas’s outstretched one. 
    A chuckle resonated throughout the crowd as Sophie held a hand out to the crowd, gesturing a halt, before swirling to the woman who stood behind her in the maid of honor’s spot. She handed her bouquet to her groom before wrapping her arms tightly around the younger woman and bending to whisper something in her ear. 
    Grace simply grinned before hugging the other woman back just as tightly, then moved into her place as the priest commenced the ceremony.
    She stood, a bright bouquet of flowers in her hand, taking in every moment of the happy couple’s joy as they exchanged their hand-written vows.
    She wondered if the priest was on something when he asked Sophie if she took, “this woman in Holy Matrimony,” then hastily corrected himself.
    She scowled when the priest asked if anyone had objections to the wedding, and relaxed with a smile when no one did.
     She heard the rush of the waves in the background, and almost inaudible weeping of the bridesmaids behind her.
    She cheered when the priest finally declared Lucas and Sophie man and wife.
    She smiled, laughed, and despite her reputation as a hard-ass, she even cried a little when Lucas kissed his new wife …
    But she couldn’t help the prickle of awareness that made tiny hairs on her neck stand straight up. Because even though she’d been completely attuned to the wedding as it was taking place, she’d been unable to avoid the grip of the bright blue gaze she felt burning into her.
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
     
     
    Sean happily downed his third shot of the night as Lucas’s warning blasted through his mind.
    “Be nice to her …”
    Well hell, if he’d met the gorgeous, seemingly good-natured sexpot instead of the boring woman with a huge chip on her shoulder, he’d have been decent from the beginning. He paused in his thoughts for a moment, before sort of taking it back. She hadn’t been a woman to begin with, just a smart-assed kindergartener. 
    And he had to admit, she was hardly ever boring, personality wise. Sure, sometimes the things she said made him wish he was listening to nails scrape down a chalkboard, but she never failed to thoroughly entertain him. A few times, he’d even found himself wishing they got along and could actually be friends. She’d only looked boring.
    Or she’d tried her hardest to appear as though she was.
    What was it they said about the word assume?
    Memories of her lush hips gently swaying down the aisle with a pure mischief glinting out of her gray eyes rolled on instant replay in his mind. The image of how the bodice of her strapless dress hugged her torso until it ended in a “V” at her waist was now permanently stamped on his brain. The way the rest of the dress hugged the generous curve of her hips gave him cotton-mouth every time he thought about it.
    Sean wasn’t one to wax poetic, but the most irritating woman in the world just so happened to have the body of a goddess.
    Too bad the pretty, pouting mouth he’d like to worship hid the bite of a shark.
    He shook his head quickly, hoping to clear his mind, but a sixth sense