Lucky This Isn't Real: MacBride Brothers Series St. Patrick's Day Fake Fiance Romance by Jamie Knight (good books to read for beginners txt) 📗

or not, I’ve never actually been to a wedding before. I was under the impression I was supposed to escort a bridesmaid down the aisle. I thought that meant I should meet her where the bridesmaids start walking.”

I did know, and his confusion only added to his attraction. Self-awareness was worth a lot in my book, as was being able to admit when you didn’t know something. Despite his looks, he clearly wasn’t arrogant.

“I can understand the confusion,” I told him. “But the time that you’re supposed to escort her is after the ceremony ends. So, a better way to say it might be ‘escorting her back up the aisle, rather than down it?”

His eyebrows scrunched together in confusion, and even that was an adorable look. I began to fear I was making the issue even more complicated in my attempts to simplify it.

“Anyway, um, before the ceremony, you usher guests to their seats and then stand next to the other groomsmen, up at the altar, beside the groom. After the ceremony is over is when you link arms with a bridesmaid— or, in my case, maid of honor— and walk with her back up the aisle on the way out.”

“Gotcha,” he said, jotting notes in a small Moleskine notebook he’d conjured from the pocket of his jacket.

His earnest sincerity was so cute. As was everything else about him.

I gave him a small smile.

“You can walk with me if you want. I don’t know if it’s strictly protocol, but I don’t mind. It might help us both.”

He looked both grateful and relieved as well as a bit excited. I honestly was, too. I knew Gavin had a lot of brothers, even though I couldn’t keep all the names straight.

I had heard a lot about them during all this time that Maggie had been dating Gavin. No one had mentioned, though, that Sean was even more attractive than Gavin. At least in my humble opinion, of course.

Sure, Gavin had movie star good looks that undoubtedly helped him launch his now-successful acting career, but Sean had a devil-may-care attitude and a natural, carefree look to match it, as if being handsome came as effortlessly to him as the falling rain came down in the spring.

“You sure?” Sean asked. “From what my brother has said, Maggie is very particular about practicing this just the way it’s supposed to go.”

“I’m sure,” I said, putting a gentle hand on his arm. “She’ll understand. I’m her best friend as well as the maid of honor.”

One of his eyebrows lifted, and my heart all but stopped.

“Lucky for me.”

From the way he looked at me, I could tell he’d meant what he’d said. Honestly, though, I felt like I was the lucky one, and it was all I could do to focus on the task at hand and not focus on how damp my panties were. Instantly orgasming in a church wouldn’t do, but, damn, I was turned on.

The bridesmaids and I went back to our places and tried again. Sean stood where he was supposed to be with the other groomsmen— more brothers, I presumed— who were positioned in order of height. All of them looked dashing in their matching outfits, which were black suits with green handkerchiefs.

We went through our paces. Sean had been right— the choreography was similar to an old-fashioned dance.

Unable to stop, I found myself glancing in his direction more often than what would be considered appropriate, particularly given the context that I wasn’t there to hook up. That wasn’t my primary function, anyway.

I had a duty to do, and I couldn’t let my silly emotions get in the way of Maggie’s big day. Even if they didn’t feel the least bit silly and something told me Sean could be much more than a simple hook up. He’d struck a chord, deep and resonant, and it would be a long while before the reverberation ceased.

He was almost as bad as me. His eyes met mine nearly every time I stole a glance. Every time our stares locked, a crackle of electricity echoed through my ears. One that only got stronger as he approached after the practice vows had been exchanged.

Our arms linked, my heart stopped, and my breath caught in my throat. I never wanted him to let go, and I never wanted him to stop touching me.

It was as if strange forces were pushing us together, feeling like magnetic fields. I didn’t know if Sean felt the same or if I was just more sensitive to such things.

My dad would absolutely deny it if asked, but there was a history of intuition on my mother’s side. One that could, and had, been taken as witchcraft when discovered in the wrong context.

She said her great-grandmother used to tell stories about their ancestors and the Salem Witch trials, but those tales had been lost to time and hadn’t been written down. I had often thought— to myself, of course, since it would be such a crazy thing to voice out loud— that such innate powers could have possibly been passed down to me, though.

I bit my tongue in case I said something inappropriate to Sean about my newfound feelings for him. The last thing I needed was to confess my crush and have to watch him run for the hills.

The way he was still looking at me let me know that might not be what would actually happen. But I couldn’t take any chances— I had to stay focused on making sure my best friend’s big day went as smoothly as possible.

Time truly became a relative concept because the trip between the ceremony location and the restaurant for the rehearsal dinner ceased to exist in my perception. One minute I was at the church, doing up my coat against the sudden biting wind, and the next,