When it抯 time for the bouquet toss and I抦 eyeing the time on my phone impatiently, so goddamned ready to make our grand escape, Destiny scurries toward the crowd.
Until I catch her by the shoulder with a wary look. 揥here do you think you抮e going, young lady? This family抯 not getting another wedding for at least seven years.?
揇ad!?She grins at me. 揘ot fair. Give me a chance.?
揧ou抣l have your chance at other weddings, little bee. I抦 too young for you to give me that much grey hair if you catch that thing.?
She pouts, but lingers at my side as the handful of single ladies cluster around her.
When the moment comes, Eliza throws the bouquet like a catapult梐nd Destiny still lunges for it as it sails over our heads梑ut when I turn around to look where it landed, everyone抯 staring in quiet shock or screeching laughter.
揙h, hell.?Brock Winthrope looks up, red-faced, the flowers pinned against his shoulder. 揅an we have a do-over??
A couple hours later, the guests are on their way out. Eliza gives her parents an emotional goodbye. Once they抮e gone, she and Destiny go to the bathroom and come out wearing matching brown velour jogging suits and aqua t-shirts.
Destiny looks down, rolling her eyes in horror. 揃ig yikes. We look like we just escaped the nineties. I can抰 believe I let you talk me into this.?
揓ust you wait. It抣l be comfortable on the long flight,?Eliza promises with a grin.
揕eggings are good enough. This screams old people club梐nd not the cool kind.?
Eliza eyes her warily. 揙n your wedding day, we抣l wear whatever you want, okay??
揑抦 holding you to it.?Destiny points at her stepmom.
I stand there and try not to cringe, grateful that Eliza抯 outfit won抰 be staying on for long.
I put a bedroom on my jet for good reason.
揂re we ready for the honeymoon??I ask, linking my arm with hers just as Tom pulls up, working his way through the exiting wedding traffic. 揊light leaves in about an hour.?
揧ou抮e kidding, right? Cole, just name any day of the week and I抣l follow you to the ends of the Earth.?Her eyes glisten.
Eliza looks at me like it抯 the first time she抯 truly seeing me.
Goddamn, I can抰 wait to make that sparkle in her eyes a whole lot brighter.
While I wait for Tom to park along the curb next to us, I bring my woman梞y wife梙ome to my lips.
This is our moment.
Our special drink of forever.
I don抰 even look back at Destiny, knowing she抯 turning ten shades of green behind us.
We trade champagne kisses for the next five minutes, fully lost in each other, laughing with hungry tongues and heat and heart.
Who knew one little dare with a spitfire would finally set me free?
Who the hell knew I抎 fall so hard for this woman?
With Eliza, I抣l always be dizzy, coming off a permanent caffeine high.
And I wouldn抰 trade this spectacular woman for another cup of anything else in this life.
Thanks for reading One Bossy Dare!
Want to see how family life shapes up for the Lancasters long after the Happily Ever After?
Check out their future in this special flash forward story. - https://dl.bookfunnel.com/4ruwstx6rl
Then keep reading for a preview of another fierce and grumpalicious bosshole as Lincoln Burns claims Dakota Poe in One Bossy Proposal.
One Bossy Proposal Preview
While I Pondered （Dakota）
The spring sun shines down on Seattle like a sword aimed at my own personal gloom.
I抦 sad and hungry梐 dangerous combination.
It抯 been a year to the day since I buried my heart梐nd the utter scumbag who dragged it through the mud, doused it in kerosene, and burned it to a blackened crisp梐nd it feels like an eternity.
Some things, you only sort of get over.
Some things, you don抰 forget.
Hold the pity party, Dakota. You抮e better off without him. You抮e a thousand miles from home, smack in the middle of a whole new life, I tell myself.
Eyeballing the gluttonous offerings in the bakery case helps.
It抯 true. I have rebuilt. Kind of.
I left that small-town dreariness and its regrets behind. I have an interview next week for a job that slaps, and if I don抰 get it, I抣l keep applying until I land something with big-girl pay and a real opportunity to flex my writing muscles.
Without my great escape last summer in a halo of tears, I wouldn抰 be here in Seattle, practically drooling at the sugar-rich delicacies that all seem to have my name on them.
I抎 have less time to focus on my writing, too, and I抎 still be interning in that one-room closet masquerading as a marketing agency.
Yay, heartbreak.
Yay, Jay Foyt.
His stupidity gave me a whole new life.
揧ou hungry or did you just come here to admire the goods? Can I get you something??The barista appears behind the bakery case with a girlish laugh.