How To Be A Blissful Bride

His smirk marked her as a liar. “Next time maybe you’ll try the beach. That’s my favorite spot.”

Alexa had a view of the rugged coastline from her suite along with the uneven, rocky pathway that led to the beach. It was not what she’d consider a leisurely stroll. As he turned, Alexa realized he hadn’t been stretching on the porch; he’d been warming up.

Without stopping to think, she reached out and caught his arm. His skin was warm, undeniably masculine muscle beneath a dusting of dark hair, and for a moment, she forgot what it was she wanted to say.

Forgot everything but the memory of sliding her hand down that same arm as she’d slipped the white tuxedo shirt from his broad shoulders.

Chance froze beneath her touch, and Alexa swallowed. “Are—are you sure that’s a good idea?”

His heated gaze dropped to where her hand still rested on his forearm. “Are you sure that’s a good idea?”

Snatching her hand back, she said, “I meant pushing yourself so hard.”

“Hard was being stuck in traction. You don’t have to worry about me, Alexa. I heal fast.”

She couldn’t imagine what that had been like for him. For a man who was always on the move to not just be stuck in a hospital bed, but to be held in place, immobilized by ropes and pulleys.

She was dying to ask him what had happened, what he’d gone through, beyond the news reports she could barely bring herself to read. After that first devastating headline, she hadn’t known what to believe. Was he truly recovering or was that information wrong, as well?

But she knew better than to expect an honest answer. Especially not after he pinned her with a look and added, “Before long, I’ll move on like nothing ever happened.”

The way he thought she’d moved on to Griffin? Alexa swallowed but asked, “What about your job here?”

“You mean...wedding photographer? That isn’t my job, Alexa. That’s a favor to my sister. One I never should have agreed to,” he added beneath his breath.

“Why? Photographing weddings will be a piece of cake compared to what you’re used to.”

“What I’m used to—” he muttered. “What I’m used to is photographing some of the worst of humanity. I’m not sure I trust myself to still recognize the good.”

His vulnerability grabbed hold of the secret she kept, tugging the words straight from her heart. She longed to reassure him of the good in the world, of the something great the two of them had created together. But would he see their baby that way? When he was so dead set on pushing himself to get better so that he could move on?

So instead, she pointed out, “Your sister clearly trusts you.”

“My sister tends to trust everyone. It’s one of her biggest failings.” Chance glanced around the towering trees and the Victorian hotel in the distance. “Rory’s always thought this place was magic.”

With her arms still crossed at her waist, Alexa could feel the slight swell of her belly. She and Chance had made a baby. It might not have been magic, but as far as Alexa was concerned, it was a tiny miracle.

A miracle she needed to share. Swallowing against the lump in her throat, she whispered, “Chance...”

He straightened abruptly. “You should go. I’m sure your fiancé is wondering where you are.”

“Chance, we need to talk—”

“I think you said everything you needed to say during our last phone call.”

Goodbye was pretty much all they’d said during that phone call, and so much had happened since then. Finding out that she was pregnant, the bombing, the reports of his death. “But...”

He started to turn away, then stopped. Alexa’s heart jumped to her throat as he reached up a hand and brushed his fingers through her hair. A muscle in his jaw clenched, and she could only stare helplessly into the firestorm of emotions in his sapphire eyes.