Page 84 of D’Vaughn and Kris Plan a Wedding

“We made it,” I parroted. Unable to help myself, I reached out and touched one of the flowers in her hair. “You look...breathtaking.”

She grinned, those dimples making an appearance as she ducked her head.

“Thank you.” Lifting her gaze, she eyed me once more and I felt a thrill zip through me at the shine in her eyes. “I’m sure you already know this, but you look good enough to eat. With my hands. No utensils necessary.”

I chuckled, swallowing back the lump in my throat. “Look at you, being nasty in public. Let me find out you wanna put ya lips on me.”

She started to bite her bottom lip but caught herself before she could ruin her lipstick.

“My lips...amongst other things.”

A murmur went up across the room and we looked over to see Kevin strutting up the aisle. I glanced over my shoulder at my family and found a sea of confused faces.

“Here we go,” I murmured as Kevin jogged onto the platform.

He pulled a microphone from the inside of his suit jacket and shot us both a wink before addressing the crowd.

“Good afternoon, beautiful people. I apologize for crashing the party, but we’ve got some matters to address and announcements to make.”

“Ooh, girl. What the hell is this?” Ray’s whispered question was funny, but I was too nervous to laugh.

Kevin turned to us.

“D’Vaughn. Kris. For two people who only met six weeks ago, you’ve managed to convince your families that you were not only madly in love, but eager to enter matrimony with one another. You not only convinced your families and those most important to you that you were indeed getting married, but you managed to convince me too, and for that you have won Instant I Do season three. I have here for each of you, a check for one hundred thousand dollars.”

The noise level grew as our families and friends registered what Kevin had said. My stomach tightened further as I glanced from Kevin to D’Vaughn, who stared back at me with a soft smile gracing her beautiful face. We stood in front of a few dozen people, but was it too late to tell her that I’d give up the money if I could have her instead? Licking my lips, I leaned toward her.

“Baby, I—”

“But, wait, there’s more!” Kevin’s excited voice interrupted mine.

Annoyed at the interruption, but too nervous to shirk a moment to think, I glanced from D’Vaughn to Kevin, and back again. Her brows were knitted contemplatively, and I wondered what she was thinking. Was it anything along the lines of what I’d been wracking my brain over?

Turning toward our guests, Kevin smiled wide.

“For the first two seasons of the show, we’ve presented the winners with checks and that was it. This season, we’ve changed things up a bit.”

Surprised, I shared a questioning glance with D’Vaughn before we both turned to see what the hell Kevin had up his sleeve.

“With season three,” he continued, “we’ve decided to see just how close the contestants have gotten.” He turned back to us, smiling widely as if he was delivering the news that we’d won the Powerball and didn’t have to pay taxes on the money. “I can give each of you these checks or you can get married and the show will cover all expenses for this wedding and your honeymoon. The choice is yours.”

The volume in the room became deafening as those murmurs turned into full-out conversations.

“Oh my gosh,” D’Vaughn whispered, bringing a trembling hand up to her mouth.

My jaw fell open, eyes bucked. “Are you fucking serious?”

Nodding, Kevin lowered the checks. “Rebecca is going to get in my ass for saying this on camera, but I’ve never seen a couple who seemed more in love than the two of you. I know people say that things don’t always work out in situations like these, but if my opinion means anything, I think that you’re the real deal. The bond you’ve managed to form in these past six weeks is as solid as they come.”

“You’d better take the damn deal!” I heard D’Niesha yell. “Weddings aren’t cheap!”

Laughter rang out, and I looked out over the crowd to see my parents nodding their agreement. I met eyes with Mami and felt my throat tighten. She stood on her feet, her hands clasped over her heart, and I could see that her eyes were glossy.

“Marry her,” she mouthed to me, bringing a smile to my face.

Before I could turn around to do just that, people started shouting and then cheering. Mami began jumping up and down as Papi began clapping. When I saw tears trail down his cheeks, I turned back to D’Vaughn and felt the world stop. I dropped my gaze to find her dress hiked up as she balanced on one knee in front of me. The prickling at the corners of my eyes gave way as tears instantly formed and marched their salty way down my face.

D’Vaughn gazed up at me, a bright, hopeful smile on her face and tears in her eyes that had yet to fall.