27. Greer

CHAPTER 27

GREER

We pulled up to the house right after lunch to find a bevy of cars and work trucks in the driveway. Austin reached up, and pushed the button to open the garage door, parking the car in the third bay.

"I thought you said this was supposed to be a small wedding?"

I sighed. "It is. I'm sure this is the event planner's crew."

As I reached to open the door, he extended his hand to stop me. "Hey. What's our plan? When are we going to tell them?"

I sat back and shifted toward him. "I would happily go in right now and announce it to everyone, but I don't want to draw any attention from Elizabeth. She deserves all the bridal accolades. So maybe we wait until after the wedding to announce our news."

Reaching into the back seat, I picked up the brown envelope that held our marriage certificate from the resort.

Austin eyed it and nodded. "What about our rings? I really don't want to take them off. Ever." I looked down to where he twisted it around his finger. I hated the look of disappointment on his face.

I loved how the simple gold band symbolized so much to him. Reaching over, I took his left hand in mine and kissed his palm over his ring before meeting his eyes. The softness he dared to show made me love him even more. "Then we won't. We'll keep them on, and maybe no one will notice."

"The Sith Lord will," he deadpanned, "but we can do this for our niece. You're right. She deserves it."

I lifted my hand to his dark stubble, where his beard was beginning to grow. "I love you so much. I promise we'll put them back on as soon as the wedding is over."

"Like right after the ceremony. We'll carry them in our pockets."

I pulled him to me for a kiss that quickly became heated. His hand found my hair as we angled ourselves for the most intimate kiss that would surely lead to sex if we were alone. But as it turns out, we weren't.

"Woah, Uncle G," my nephew called. "That's hot."

Pulling away from my husband, I looked out the back window to find Fisher staring at us with a goofy grin spread across his face.

"Hello, Fisher," I called with a smile. "Did you need something?"

"Yeah, sorry to interrupt, but Mom saw you pull in and wanted me to tell you she needs you on the veranda."

I nodded, then sighed. "Thanks, Fish. Can you give us a minute and tell her I'll be in soon?"

"Sure thing," he said, amusement in his tone. "And you can go back to tonsil hockey. I won't tell."

I laughed and nodded, then looked over at Austin.

"Nice kid," he said, turning to look at me as he leaned his head on the headrest.

"He is. He's a lot like his dad."

We simply looked at each other for a moment and then reached to remove our wedding bands. Austin placed his in the palm of my hand, and I placed them in the envelope for safekeeping.

"Don't expect me to be nice about this," he teased.

I smiled. "I wouldn't dream of it."

With a sigh, we got out of the car and gathered our bags before heading toward the house, hand in hand. When we entered the foyer, Austin reached for my bag and the envelope. "I'll take these upstairs and be down in a few minutes."

I nodded as he kissed me softly. "Hurry back."

As he climbed the stairs, I went to find my sister.

My sister was not alone, flanked by two other ladies. She jumped up out of the chair and came walking toward me. I would've had to have been blind not to notice the two women who smiled at me over my sister's shoulder.

"There you are!" Katherine called, as I walked across my veranda.

"Here I am." I pasted on a smile for her benefit. "How's the planning going?"

"Wonderful," she said, wrapping her arm through mine. "Come meet my friends."

"Remember what I said."

She laughed. "Oh, big brother. You just need to relax and enjoy yourself."

I snorted. "Where's Elizabeth? Shouldn't she be here?"

"Oh, she and Daniel went into town to have lunch." She tugged me toward the blond and the redhead. "Greer, this is Elle Davenport," she paused as I smiled at the blonde, then extended my hand to shake. "She's a VP for The Holcombe Group."

"Nice to meet you, Elle," I replied cordially. She could have been the president, and I wouldn't have cared.

She took my hand and squeezed just enough to send me a message. "It's nice to meet you, Greer. You have a beautiful place here."

I pulled my hand back and gave her my media smile. Not the one that Austin elicited from me. "Thank you."

"And this is Nicole Banks," Katherine interrupted. "She's a PR representative for the Alliance."

I turned to shake hands with the redhead, who was noticeably smitten with me. "Nice to meet you, Nicole."

"Call me, Nickie," she said, not releasing my hand.

The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end as he approached. I loved how I didn't have to be looking at him to know he was here.

"Oh my," Elle chuckled. I turned to find her with wide eyes, appreciating my husband. "Who is he?"

When he walked up next to me, wearing those sexy Aviators, it was all I could do not to jump him right there. My instinct was to step in front of him and throw my arms up. But I didn't.

"Good afternoon, ladies. How's the planning coming?" His tone was sickeningly sweet and drew my attention to him, almost making me laugh.

Austin raised his right eyebrow over the rim of his sunglasses, then smirked at me.

"Girls," Katherine said, "this is Allen Wendleton."

I heard the slight grumble rise from his chest.

"Nice to meet you ladies, but my name is Austin. Not Allen."

"Yes, whatever," Katherine said, waving a dismissive hand.

"Do you play for the Pirates?" the blonde asked, moving closer to him.

"No," he chuckled. "I own a security firm in Portland."

"He's a former SEAL," I heard myself add. What the fuck was I doing?

Austin must have wondered the same thing because he laughed at me.

My face heated as I pasted on another smile. I pulled away from my sister. "If you'll excuse me, ladies, I have some things to do."

But before I could walk away, the redhead touched my arm. "Would you like some company? I'd love to see the rest of the house."

I looked at Austin, who looked back at me with raised brows. This was ridiculous. And I couldn't help myself. The only game I liked was football, and I was too fucking old for this. My niece would get over it.

"I'm not sure what my sister here has told you, but I am not looking for companionship this weekend. I already have it. Austin is not my bodyguard, he's my..."

"Boyfriend," he interjected, wrapping an arm around me. "I'm Austin Wentworth, Greer's boyfriend."

I looked up into his eyes as he leaned down to kiss my cheek. "It's okay."

"Good lord," I heard Katherine mutter under her breath.

I'd had enough of her bullshit, so I turned to her and grabbed her elbow. "Excuse us for a moment."

"Greer!" she huffed as I walked her inside the house. When we were inside, I closed the sliding glass doors and turned to her, hands on my hips.

"Katherine, I've had enough. You are not fucking in charge of my life. I thought I made it clear to you I have no intention of having anything to do with another set up. I am capable of living my life without your interference or permission. So I'm going to ask you as nicely as I can to back the fuck off."

Her eyes were wide, because I'd never spoken to her like this before. I'd also never realized how annoying she was, but I wasn't finished.

I looked out at Austin, talking with her friends, then looked at her. "I'm in love with him, and he makes me happy. So just let all this shit go. I'm too old to do this with you."

"That's the point. Do you think he's going to stick around with you when you're sixty or sixty-five? Those ladies out there are closer to your age."

"I don't give a fuck, Katherine. And yes, I do think he'll stick around. I know he will."

She laughed humorlessly. "What guarantee do you have, big brother? I just want to see you happy."

I looked out the window, where Austin turned to look at me. The anger simmering inside me was almost at a boiling point until I looked at him. All I wanted was him.

So I motioned for him to join us. I watched as he excused himself, much to my sister's distaste.

"Why are you calling him in here? This is between us."

I glared at her, ready to lay it out there when he entered the house. He swept his sunglasses off and looked at me with concern. He wanted to be the one to do this, so I was going to let him do it.

"We're not waiting any longer. Go ahead. Tell her."

The smile that broke across his gorgeous face made my heart skip a beat.

"Tell me what, exactly?"

Austin stared into my eyes as he spoke. "The best news ever. We got married last night in a beautiful private ceremony."

He hugged me to his side as we turned to look at her. I wrapped my arm around him.

"I'm family Katherine. There's no getting rid of me, and there will be no more interference from you. Your brother has been the love of my life since I was seventeen years old. He's always been the one for me."

Her mouth hung open in disbelief. "I... I don't believe it. You're not gay!"

I sighed. "Again, I'm queer. And it's none of your business. If you can't accept that I married the one person who lights me up inside and makes me happier than I've ever been, then we have no more to talk about. I will cut you out of our life if you keep pushing me. I don't want to do that, because you're my sister, and I love you. But I will not tolerate the disrespect for my marriage, my husband, or my choices."

My sister stared at me with tears in her eyes. "You'd cut me out of your life for him?"

"In a second," I replied, not breaking eye contact. It was the very last thing I wanted to do, but she would not derail my happiness. I wouldn't allow it.

"We don't want that, Katherine," Austin added, his voice soft and low. "I don't want Greer to lose you, but you do not know how long we've waited for each other. He's everything to me."

She wiped at the tears threatening to fall. "All I want is for you to be happy."

"Deep down, I know that. But you need to act like it. Because constantly throwing women at me is a complete waste of time. I'm a married man now."

She looked at me, then at Austin. I hoped she saw the sincerity in him. "Are you legally married?"

I nodded. "Very much so."

Austin kissed my head, then pulled away. "I'll be back."

Katherine frowned. "Where is he going?"

I smiled as he took the stairs two at a time. "You'll see."

Within a minute, he was bounding down the steps, carrying our brown envelope. Pulling out the paper, he set our rings on the counter, then held out his hand for mine.

"Can I do the honors, Mr. Wentworth?"

I smiled, almost choked up at the sight of the simple gold bands that meant so much to us. "Absolutely, Mr. Rowan."

Austin never failed to touch my heart as I placed my left hand on his. I watched as he slid the ring back on my finger, where it was going to stay until the day I died.

Emotion gripped me again as I held my hand out to him and placed his ring on his finger. We didn't need words or have to explain anything further.

When I looked at my sister, tears were streaming down her face. She nodded as if she finally understood what I already knew.

Austin Wentworth-Rowan was my soulmate.