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“Guidelines?”
“No.”
“Terms and conditions?”
“I want to make sure you understand how much time you’ll spend together.”
“I understand what a wedding party does.”
“This isn’t a normal wedding.”
“No shit. You rented a castle.”
“Bliss rented a castle and used my credit card. I stopped looking at invoices after she developed strong feelings about imported ribbon.”
“That’s healthy.”
“It’s survival.” Cade changed lanes before continuing. “Charm is one of Bliss’s two maids of honor. Aura is the other.”
“I know.”
“Easton had strong feelings about Aura walking with anyone except him.”
I turned my head slowly. “He’s already a groomsman. Pair him with Aura.”
“We are. Bliss originally had the wedding party paired according to height, and Easton objected.”
“Objected how?”
“He stared at the processional list and asked why his girl was paired with you.”
“That sounds almost reasonable.”
“Then he explained, in disturbing detail, that Aura wouldn’t be wrapping her hand around another man’s arm while wearing the dress Charm designed for her. He also made it clear you wouldn’t be walking her down any aisle while he remained alive.”
I laughed despite myself. “He knows I don’t want Aura. The thought feels incestuous.”
“He knows. Easton has never allowed information to interfere with territorial bullshit.”
“With Easton walking Aura, that leaves Charm with me.”
Cade nodded. “You’ll walk her down the aisle.”
The sentence created a clear picture before I could stop it. I imagined Charm’s hand wrapped around my arm and her body moving beside mine while we waited for our cue. I would stand close enough to smell her perfume and hear whatever she whispered before we entered a room full of people together, and fifteen months of distance would disappear inside a few steps.
My chest tightened, so I looked out the window before Cade found the reaction on my face.
“If that’s a problem, I can change it,” he said. “I’ll tell Bliss the decision is non-negotiable.”
“No.”
“Ryan.”
“You aren’t changing your wedding because I once loved the woman standing beside me.”
“Once?”
I turned toward him.
