SEAL Brotherhood 06 - SEAL My Destiny by Sharon Hamilton

afternoon. Honestly, Julie, you’ll be the prettiest one out there.”
    “Nonsense.”
    The makeup artist demanded Stephanie’s exclusivity again, and then looked at Julie’s face and applied some blush and powder. Even her mother was attended to. A gentle knock on the door was the only warning before a bevy of peach and pink lovelies came squealing in, jumping and hugging the bride and getting caught in her veil. Julie enjoyed the happy banter and laughter of the bride and her attendants. She was so happy for all of them.
    Julie and Colin’s dad was going to walk Stephanie down the aisle. Her father was smartly dressed in a three-piece black suit with a silvery brocade vest. He’d kept his trim figure and proud bearing, looking more like an older SEAL than an architect. He came over to wrap his arm around her waist and whisper to her ear, “Sweet Julie, next I’ll be walking you down the aisle.”
    She threw her arms around his neck, kissed him on the check, and then squeezed him in a tight hug. “Not today, Daddy. Today belongs to Colin and Stephanie. I’m just so happy to be able to be here to enjoy it.”
    He gave her a squint and tilted his head to the side. “There isn’t a single man downstairs,” he pointed to the floor, “I’d object to you landing as a husband.”
    “In time, Dad. But don’t get your hopes up. I’m happy being single.” He held her face between his palms and kissed her gently on the lips. “My good girl. Always Daddy’s special one. Always will be.”
    He gave a hug and kiss to his wife and then addressed the bride as if he’d just noticed her. “Oh, my heavens! You look just like an angel, my dear,” he said. The bridesmaids giggled softly. “My son is one very lucky man,” he said, winking at his wife.
    It was arranged so the grooms stood in order at the foot of the stairs and the bridesmaids followed each other single file down to them. Stephanie stayed alone in the bedroom with her future mother-in-law. Julie made her way down the stairs carefully and watched over the top of the crystal-enhanced hairdos of the other bridesmaids while they paired up with their grooms.
    She deliberately didn’t look for Luke, and then when she realized she was close, instead of looking into his eyes as all the other couples had done, she looked down. Luke hooked his arm out to the side and she tucked hers through it, gently pressing her upper arm against the back of his and resting her fingers on his forearm next to his elbow. This had all been choreographed and scripted, and she followed along as instructed. She moved with him as he escorted her across the concrete floor of the living room, and out the ten-light double doors towards the patio. She carefully stepped over the threshold. Part of her dress snagged briefly on a rough spot in the wooden doorjamb.
    In an instant Luke was there in front of her, kneeling, looking for where the fabric had hung up. The delicate material looked soft and luscious in his large, callused hands, like he was handling armfuls of whipped cream. He pressed the fabric he’d freed back into her skirts and she felt a gentle touch of his fingers on her voile-encased thigh. That’s when he looked up at her and his blue eyes seared her, and in spite of herself, she focused on his lips, thinking it would be safer than his eyes, until she realized he had done the same.
    Their look mated. Both of them did a deep, controlled inhale, and both of them noticed the other doing it. Neither one looked away as the rest of the room faded to the background of muted voices and faded, blurry colors.
    She had gotten used to his constant dark stubble, but today he was clean-shaven, his cheeks smooth and shiny, like they’d been oiled, but she knew it was his aftershave lotion. The lemony one he used, and yes, she could smell it. The light fragrance would still be on his fingers. His full lips were deep pink. Without his stubble, she noticed he had a dimple on his right side