31. Lani

CHAPTER 31

LANI

Thanks to not prebooking anything and then having flight delays, Asher’s surprise took a lot longer to come to fruition than he expected. We arrived in Vegas at like three in the morning, and he was frazzled and frustrated by the time we finally booked a hotel room.

As soon as I saw the Vegas lights out the plane window, I knew his plan, and I was so there for it.

But not at three o’clock in the morning.

Once we checked into the hotel, I drew us a bath, massaged his tense body, and then made love to him, the water splashing out of the tub as I sat on his perfect cock and rode him until he was crying out my name and exploding inside me.

Now I’m walking down the Strip, the hot summer sun trying to melt my skin off as we prepare for our spontaneous wedding. Asher’s already bought me a dress that is to die for—fitted white silk covered in sparkles and draping to the floor. I told him a Vegas wedding didn’t need a fancy dress, but he wouldn’t have it any other way, and I wasn’t about to pass up the gorgeous gown. I’m sure I’ll find an excuse to wear it again sometime, right?

All I need to do now is shower this sweat off my body, redo my makeup, and slide into the limo Asher has ordered for us.

My something blue is my sapphire engagement ring.

My something new is the dress.

And now I just need to find something old and something borrowed. I stupidly stress about it as I’m doing my makeup, and Asher must notice my tension as he’s zipping up the gown.

“What is it, boo?” He gazes at my reflection, his eyes warm with appreciation as he runs his hands lightly over my hips. “You still want to do this, right? Because damn, woman, you look so fine.”

I can’t help a soft laugh. “Of course I want to.” I spin, tweaking his bow tie, then wincing. “I’m being stupid.”

“What do you mean?”

Against my will, my lips form a little pout, and I tell him, “I don’t have something old or borrowed. And I know it’s dumb to want the old, new, borrowed, blue thing, but… I’m only planning on getting married once, so…”

His smile gets all soft and mushy as he gazes down at me, then lightly pecks my nose. “We’ll find something.”

I look around the hotel room and raise my arms out wide. “What? I’m not about to shove a hotel toothbrush down my bra.”

He snickers and shakes his head. “First of all, no one borrows a toothbrush, and second…” He looks around, patting his pockets while he thinks, then stops and stares down at his hand.

“What?” I try to decipher the smile on this face.

With a little wiggle, he slips off his signet ring. Holding it between his thumb and forefinger, he grins at me. “My father gave this to me when I turned eighteen, just like his father gave it to him… and when my youngest son turns eighteen, I’m supposed to do the same.” He takes my hand, and my fingers start to tremble at the idea of watching Asher’s eventual son grow into a young man, knowing that the boy will be my son too. It makes my eyes burn as he slips the ring onto my middle finger. “I don’t wear it that often because the guys always hassle me about being a rich prick, and the whole signet ring thing doesn’t help. But for some reason, I slipped it on yesterday…” He raises my hand to his lips and kisses my knuckles. “And now I know why.”

His wink turns my insides to putty, and if I hadn’t just applied my lipstick perfectly, I would pull him in for a panty-melting kiss.

But that part can come later.

Right now…

“Let’s go get married.”

“As you wish, my love.” He pulls me out the door, and we head through the hotel lobby and casino.

We get cheers and congratulations as we pass happy strangers.

For a second, I feel bad that none of my family and friends are here to see this, but there’s also something super special about just being with Asher—my person. He’s the one I was always meant to be with. It just took us a minute to figure it out.

Resting my head on his shoulder, I play with the buttons on the cuff of his tux until we pull up to the Amore Chapel. It’s small and quaint and obviously new, although it’s built like a chapel from the eighteenth century—white wooden panels with a pale blue trim.

I grin up at the steeple and thread my fingers between Asher’s.

He looks like a giddy schoolboy as he bounces on his toes by the reception desk and gives the woman our names.

She’s already got the paperwork waiting for us, and we walk down the aisle hand in hand. No big pomp and ceremony, just the way I wanted it.

The man who marries us is sweet and gentle, his voice quiet, and the lady who checked us in can’t stop smiling as she bears witness to our nuptials.

Our vows are simple—the standard “I take you to have and to hold.”

Asher’s face as he says them to me is radiant, and I hope I shine just as brightly as I promise to stay with him for better or worse, for richer, for poorer.

My voice trembles when I say, “I do.”

And his eyes are glistening when the minister pronounces us husband and wife.

There’s no big applause or cheering as he pulls me into his arms. It’s a quiet, intimate kiss filled with promise and belief.

“I love you,” he murmurs against my mouth, and I cling a little tighter, deepening the kiss once more… until the minister clears his throat.

“We have another wedding in fifteen minutes. You might want to…” He rolls his finger in the air, and I start to laugh, then kiss Asher once more before taking his hand and practically skipping down the aisle.

The receptionist greets us, throwing confetti in the air as we walk through the foyer.

I spit the white circles out of my mouth, giggling as Asher does the same. We complete the paperwork, making everything official, and I sign my name below Asher’s, a thrill whistling through me.

We’re married!

Once outside in the sunshine, Asher pulls me into his arms again, and I melt against him.

“I love you, Mr. Bensen.”

“I love you, Mrs. Iona.”

I pull back before he can kiss me, playing with the ends of his hair. “Actually, I think I want to be Mrs. Bensen.”

“Really?” His eyebrows rise in shock. “I for sure thought you’d want to keep your own name.”

“Well, I do… for study, like my PhD and stuff, but… I also really love the sound of saying, ‘Hi, I’m Mrs. Lani Bensen.’” I can feel my cheeks flush as I bite my lips together. “What is wrong with me?”

Asher laughs. “You’re pretty loved up right now, so I won’t hold it against you if you change your mind later.” He winks. “I don’t care what you call yourself, just as long as you’re mine.”

“I’m yours.” I wrap my arms back around him, loving the way his hands feel as they glide around my back and he secures me against him.

We stay in that mind-melting sunshine, kissing by the limo, until another bride and groom arrive with a little party of friends. With joyful congratulations, we wish them well, then slip into the limo and make out some more.

I hate to think what my makeup looks like between Asher’s hot lips and the sweat melting my mascara off, but I’m too happy to care… until he gets a phone call from Liam.

“Hey. What’s up?” Asher’s eyes dart to mine, and I mouth, “Put it on speaker.”

What? So I’m nosy.

He presses the speaker button, and I catch the end of Liam’s question. “So, the kids are getting settled, and I wanted to let you guys know. You know, in case you’re looking out the villa window and wondering why there’s an adorable three-year-old running around in the yard.”

I gasp. “You’ve got a three-year-old?”

“Oh, hey, Lani.” Liam chuckles. “Yeah, it was all very last minute, but we’ve got two foster kids until further notice.”

“That’s amazing,” I gush. “I can’t wait to meet them.”

“Well, come on down if you like.”

“Actually…” Asher clears his throat, and we share another look. “We’re not home right now.”

“Well, when you get back, swing by.”

“We’re in Vegas,” my husband (Eeeppp! My husband!) admits.

There’s a pause, and I can picture Liam’s face as he slowly calculates that news and probably starts to draw some pretty accurate conclusions.

“Vegas.”

“Uh-huh.”

“What are you guys doing in Vegas?” I catch the smile in his voice, then hear Rachel.

“Vegas? They’re in Vegas?”

I can’t help a giggle and want to roll my eyes at myself. I sound like a schoolgirl.

Then Rachel’s voice is coming through the speakers. “You guys didn’t go to Vegas to get—” She gasps. “You totally did!”

I wrinkle my nose, my gaze completely goofy as Asher and I admit in unison, “We did!”

“Ah!” Rachel yelps, then orders us to stay on the line while she gets everyone else to dial in.

A few minutes later, we’re listening to a bunch of overenthusiastic voices as they all try to figure out what’s going on and what Rachel is babbling about.

“Okay, everyone, shut up!” Ethan calls through the speaker.

We all go quiet, and I hear him sigh while Mikayla stifles a giggle.

“That includes you, lil’ mouse. We need to get to the bottom of this.” His voice is playful and cute, like the Ethan we haven’t seen in a while. Asher and I share a hopeful look.

“Have they made up?” I mouth.

Then Asher just gets to it and asks, “Hey, have you and Mick worked out your shit?”

Casey snorts and starts to laugh. “Always to the point, Bensen. Nice.”

“You have no class,” I whisper, my voice a teasing lilt.

He wiggles his eyebrows at me while Mikayla clears her throat and tells us, “Yes, marriage crisis averted. I don’t want to go into it right now, but I can assure you that we will both be there for the Fourth of July picnic, and I will not have my phone with me.”

Caroline and Rachel both cheer, and I blink back happy tears, relief pumping through me.

“Well, thank fuck for that,” Casey mutters. “Now, why are we on this phone call?”

“Because Asher and Lani have some news to share,” Rachel singsongs.

I blush and nearly call her out on her epic news, but this phone call has the potential of being way too long already, and we can catch up on all the latest goss at the July Fourth picnic.

“So, what is it?” Tammy asks.

I wince and quickly tell them, “We got engaged.”

There’s a collective gasp as I ease them into this.

“It happened just before the wedding, and we didn’t want to steal anyone’s thunder, so we kept it quiet,” Asher explains.

“I knew something was up with you two,” Casey murmurs.

“Yeah, they were sickeningly loved up at the rehearsal dinner,” Ethan grumbles.

Asher grins. “Not apologizing for that. We had the best reason to be.”

“So, you were engaged for less than a week?” Rachel balks.

“What!” Mikayla matches her tone. “What’s that mean?”

“It means…” Asher looks at me again, his eyes so full of love they’re practically shining. “We flew to Vegas to get married… and this sexy woman in front of me is now officially my wife.”

The phone explodes with shocked surprise, and we let the voices drift around us as we lean together for yet another kiss.

The limo driver is patiently waiting as we stay in this chapel parking lot, making out and listening to our friends talking over one another as they process their surprise.

“You little shits.” Mikayla’s voice finally pulls us apart. “Sneaking off to get married without us. Damn, I wish I’d thought of that. We would have saved a fortune.”

Ethan laughs. “You didn’t love our wedding? Come on, babe. It was epic.”

“It was epic, but Vegas sounds amazing!” Her voice picks up. “I’m so happy for you guys.”

“Me too,” Caroline pipes up. “And I can’t wait to hear all the details when you get back. Lani, I mean details . Every tiny thing you can think of. I’m gonna want it all.”

“I promise to deliver,” I tell her, relieved she’s forgiven me so easily for not including her. I was her maid of honor, and she has every right to be pissed at me for sneaking off without her.

“We’re expecting to see you at our Fourth of July party, guys,” Baxter says, finally joining the conversation. “No shirking off just because you’re newlyweds.”

I laugh. “We wouldn’t miss it.”

The annual event has become one of my favorite days of the year.

“Oh my gosh, can you believe it? The next time we get together as a group, we’ll all be married.” Rachel’s voice is sweet with excitement. “Our Hockey House family has grown so much, and I’m just so grateful to each and every one of you. I love our family so much.”

My eyes glass with tears because I can hear how much she means it. I can feel how much she means it, because I mean it too.

“I love you, guys,” I tell them, emotion getting the better of me.

Asher brushes away my tears and leans in for another kiss. I’m not sure when everyone hangs up, but his lips and hands distract me all the way back to the hotel… and we spend the rest of our time in Vegas making love on every surface of that hotel room, eating delicious food from the various restaurants, and walking the bedazzled Strip at night.

By the time we get back to Nolan, I’m more loved up than I’ve ever been and ready to celebrate Independence Day with my favorite people.