❦Jason❦

"Man, you look positively pale. Are you sure you're alright?" Nathan asked as we sat inside the master bedroom of the beach front mansion my parents owned in Ibiza. The wedding ceremony was to take place on the 3 miles of private beach that came with the property. We were all dressed and ready, waiting for the wedding planner, Sylvie, to tell us when it was time to go.

"I'm fine." I muttered, wishing I could have a drink. I had been waiting so long for this day and yet I was so nervous. I had no fucking idea why. It wasn't as if I had any doubts or anything. Running a hand through my hair, I glanced around the room.

Nathan was lounging on the bed, propped up on one elbow. Nik sat beside him, a small smile playing on his lips as he watched me. Nathan was my best man and Nik was the groomsman.

Nathan straightened up and grinned. "You know I attended my assistant's wedding last month. Poor guy was so nervous. And turned out he was right to be."

"What happened?"

"His bride had pre-wedding jitters and left him at the altar."

Seeing my reaction to that, he doubled over and started laughing.

I glared at him trying to mask my nervousness. "I swear if you weren't my best man, you'd be sporting a black eye by now."

"Ignore him." Nik grinned, getting up and heading to the wet bar. "It's okay to be nervous. I'm sure every man feels that way on his wedding day." He fixed a drink and handed it to me. "Here, drink this. It will help you to calm your nerves."

"Yeah." Nathan smirked. "We don't want you passing out on the altar."

"The only one who is going to pass out is you if you don't shut up." I scowled and took the glass from Nik and gulped a few sips down.

Mom entered the room just then. "Oh, sweetheart. You look so handsome." She rushed to me and kissed me on both cheeks. "How are you feeling?"

"He's on the verge of a nervous breakdown." Nathan commented coming up and wrapping an around mom's shoulder.

"I'm not." I bit out, wishing I could knock that smirk off his face. He had been provoking me with these comments since morning.

"Quit teasing him, Nathan." Mom smacked his arm. "When you get married you're going to be the same."

He visibly shuddered at the idea of marriage. "Nah. There's no way I'm ever getting married."

"That's what Jason used to say. But look at him now. When you find the right woman, just like he has, then you'll change your mind."

Nathan laughed but I could see he was uncomfortable about the topic of marriage. He was more of a commitment phobic than I had been before I met Kate. To the world, he was a successful billionaire who had a perfect life, but only Cheryl and I knew how broken he was inside. He was abused as a child and as a result suffered from Nyctophobia and Claustrophobia. He put such a good front to the world and no one suspected he had his very own personal demons inside.

"Is Kate ready?" Taking pity on Nathan, I steered the conversation away from him and asked mom.

"Yeah. Wait until you see her. She's the most stunning bride I've ever seen."

"I'm sure she is." I grinned thinking of my beautiful wife to be. I hadn't seen her at all today. Apparently, it was bad luck to see the bride before the wedding, which I thought was absolute crap, but she seemed to believe it. I couldn't wait to see her walking down the aisle towards me. I had waited a long time for this day. To finally make her mine completely.

A few minutes after mom left, Sylvie entered the room. "We have about ten minutes until the ceremony starts." She announced. "I'm waiting outside."

"Okay." I nodded and took a final look at myself from the full-length mirror. Since it was a bohemian style beach wedding, instead of a tuxedo, I was dressed in beige slacks, a white crisp shirt with suspenders and a bow tie. The sleeves were rolled up to my elbows in a careless way. Nathan and Nick were also dressed the same way, except they wore short sleeves.

Nik slapped on my back. "Having cold feet?" He teased mistaking the look on my face for nervousness. It was excitement that I was feeling.

"Nah. I've never wanted anything more in my life."

Nathan appeared on my other side. "Let's go before Kate changes her mind and decides she could do better."

"That's it." I moved quickly, grabbing him in a headlock. He was laughing, trying to break free but I was too strong for him.

Nik look amused. "After you kill him, can I be your best man?"

"Only if you help me hide his body."

❦❦❦

❦Kate❦

"Aren't you the most beautiful bride?" Paige said coming up behind me and smiling at me through the mirror. "You look absolutely stunning."

I gripped her hand in mine tightly and smiled. "Thanks, so do you." She was my maid of honor and was dressed in a dusty pink caftan style dress that showed her legs to perfection. Her hair was down and she had a white lily tucked behind one ear.

"I can't wait to see the look on Jason's face when he sees you." Cheryl said from across the room. She was sitting on a settee checking her phone. "I'm sure he's going to have a hard time keeping his hands off you." She grinned. She was also dressed like Paige. I didn't have any female friends so I had asked her to be my bridesmaid and she had happily agreed.

I laughed and turned to look at myself from the full-length mirror. I was wearing a white flowing lace mini dress that was designed by a world-renowned French designer. The dress was held by two thin straps over my shoulders and featured a deep V neckline front and back. The draping oversized off-shoulder sleeves and the rope waist tie gave it a relaxed boho chic look.

My hairstylist had curled my hair to give me what she called a sexy surfer girl look. The beachy waves tumbled around my face, the tips teasing my bare shoulders. Instead of a traditional bridal veil, I had chosen to go with a simple flower crown of greenery, small blooms of pale pink carnations and white baby's breath.

All of us were going barefoot, so I was wearing a barefoot sandal with a delicate silver chain adorned with real pearls and a starfish. For jewelry, I chose a three-layered platinum necklace with rare diamonds and matching earrings. It was a gift from Jason's mom. She had it especially made for me.

"So has Jason told you where he's taking you on the honeymoon?" Paige asked me.

"No. He says it's a surprise. But I have a feeling it's somewhere in Europe."

"Not even close." Cheryl said grinning widely.

"You know?"

"Nathan and I were there when he arranged it. You're going to love the place."

"At least give me a hint." I was suddenly very curious. Jason had refused to even give me a hint when I had asked him. "Is it somewhere warm? Cold?"

"No hint. You'll find out soon enough." Cheryl laughed and touched my shoulder. "I'm going to go check on the guys. I'm pretty sure Nathan is giving Jason a hard time."

As soon as she left, Paige turned to me with an awed look. "How cool is she? I mean, she is so sweet and down to earth."

It looked like Paige was still star-struck by Cheryl. When I teased her about it she grinned. "Of course. It's going to take a bit more time for me to get used to being friends with a Hollywood icon."

Just then mom entered the room. The lilac dress she was wearing made her look younger and vibrant. "Oh, look at you, sweetheart. You look absolutely breathtaking."

"Thanks, mom. You look great too."

She kissed me on both cheeks and held me at arm's length. "It's hard to believe my little girl is all grown up and getting married." The sudden moisture in her eyes made me catch my breath.

"Mom. Don't. You'll ruin your make up." I murmured gently and gave her a quick hug.

"I can't help it. I'm just so happy and proud of you. You couldn't have chosen a better man than Jason."

"And he couldn't have chosen a more amazing person than you." Paige flung an arm around me. "I don't know much about him but from what I've seen so far, I'm certain that he is going to make you really happy."

"He already does."

"I can tell. Every time you talk about him, your whole face glows. And the way he looks at you." Paige sighed dreamily. "I wish someone would look at me that way."

"And by someone you mean Nik?" I couldn't help teasing her. The previous day Jason and I had dinner with Nathan, Cheryl, Nik and Paige. And the entire time Paige had been gawking at Nik.

Her face reddened immediately. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh, sure you do. You couldn't keep your eyes off him all through dinner last night."

"Nik?" Mom's curiosity piqued. "Is he the one with that cute eyebrow piercing?"

"Wow, mom. I didn't know you were into piercings."

She laughed and smacked my arm. "I don't but it looks good on him. He's a very handsome young man." She shot a teasing look at Paige. "So you like him?"

"Mom." She groaned. "Can we not focus on me today? It's Kate's day. We should be talking about her."

"I'd rather talk about your little crush on Nik."

She shot me a death glare. Mom grinned taking pity on her. "Let's not torture your sister. We can do that later. So tell me, how are you feeling? Are you nervous?"

"Kind of I guess. I just feel happy, excited and anxious at the same time." It was difficult for me to put into words how exactly I was feeling. I had never in my wildest dreams thought I'd someday become Mrs. Jason Perez. And to think that in just less than fifteen minutes I'd be married to him felt like a dream. A really wonderful, amazing dream from which I never wanted to wake up from.

"It's normal to feel anxious. This is the biggest day of your life." Mom kissed me again. "You're going to be fine."

"Oh, boy." Hal's voice came from behind me. "Is it really you?" He grinned walking up and giving me a hug. "You look stunning. Jason is one lucky man."

"Thanks, Hal." I said happily. Hal had been ordained so that he could officiate the marriage. He had always been like a brother to me and Jason and I had decided having him perform the marriage instead of getting a stranger to do it.

❦❦❦

"When the music starts, it's your cue to walk down the aisle." The wedding planner, Sylvie, was saying with a smile. "You have about a minute. Are you ready?"

"Yeah." Sudden butterflies erupted in my stomach. Mom must have noticed my nerves because she squeezed my hand. I clutched the bouquet of magenta blooms tightly in the other hand. My heart was so beating so fast.

"You okay, sweetheart?"

I managed a smile. "I'm fine." Even my voice was weak. Why was I having a sudden attack of nerves? My stomach was doing somersaults.

"You look a little pale." Sylvie murmured. "Take a deep breath. You're going to be fine."

I gulped in some air. The wedding altar was hidden from our view by a curtain of fresh flowers. Just thinking of Jason waiting for me on the other side made me feel a little better. Instead of the traditional wedding march, Jason and I had settled on a slow instrumental version of Disney's A whole new world.

When the first note of violins sounded, Sylvie nodded. "This is it."

"Ready?" Mom asked offering her arm.

Taking a deep breath, I threaded my arm through hers. "As ready as I can ever be."

She beamed. "Then let's get you to where you belong."

The moment we walked out through the curtain of flowers and stepped out on to the beach, I was struck by the beauty of my surrounding. The long walkway was covered with artfully scattered red rose petals and everywhere I looked I could see fresh flowers. It was like a magical beach garden. Guests sat in simple white chairs covered with red roses and all of them got to their feet, their familiar faces split into huge smiles.

In the center of the altar was an arch made out of twisted tree branches and colorful flowers. With the sandy beach and the sparkling blue ocean as the background, it was really spectacular.

On the left side of the altar, stood Nathan and Nick. On the right side were Paige and Cheryl. Hal stood in the middle and next to him was Jason.

The moment our eyes met I felt all of my nervousness fade away. It literally felt like time stopped. Nothing existed for me other than us. He looked so handsome. Utterly, breathtakingly gorgeous. And the look on his face took my breath away. I was overwhelmed with emotions and fighting hard not to give into the sudden lump that was at the back of my throat.

It was finally happening. It wasn't a dream. I was about to get married to the most amazing, wonderful man in the world whom I loved so much. The emotions coursing through me was making my whole body slightly tremble. I remembered the first time I had seen him. Our first kiss. The first time we made love. Our first heartbreak. Then finding him again after years. How I fought so hard to stay away from him and in the process almost ended up losing him again.

Throughout all of it, I had caused him so much pain, hurt and suffering. And with each step I took towards him, I mentally vowed to myself that I would never ever hurt him like that again.

I was so lost in him that it took a moment for me to realize that we had reached the end of the aisle. Those intense blue eyes were shining with love as he reached out to take my hand from mom's.

"You look like a dream, baby. So breathtakingly beautiful." His voice was hoarse and the look of possessiveness on his face sent tingles down my spine. I couldn't find my voice. I was afraid that if I tried to talk I would end up crying and ruining it. He kissed my hand as we moved into position in front of Hal. Hal cleared his throat and started the ceremony but I didn't even hear what he was saying.

All of my focus was on Jason. Everything else faded into the background. His thumbs were caressing the back of my hands, his intense gaze never leaving mine. We were so lost in each other. When the time came to say the vows, Jason cleared his throat and started. My eyes welled with tears as he delivered the sweet vows in a voice that was achingly tender.

Then it was my turn and his hands tightened on mine when I started. My voice was shaking so much, but the look of encouragement, love and admiration on his face kept me going. His eyes were suspiciously bright when I finished. I knew he was feeling the exact emotions that I was feeling.

Paige and Nathan handed over the rings. Jason wanted his to be simple so he chose a platinum wedding band with black diamonds. After he slipped on the asscher cut rare Burmese ruby and diamond ring on my finger, he lifted my hand to his lips and kissed it. "I love you so much, baby."

"I love you too." I whispered smiling through the tears. I was so happy I wanted to fling myself into his arms.

Hal cleared his throat to get our attention and then continued with a smile, "And by the power vested in me, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride."

Husband and wife. The words kept echoing in my head. I felt like I was floating on air. Never before had I felt so happy in my life.

Jason slipped one arm around my waist and pulled me up against him in a way that made me catch my breath. "My beautiful wife." He whispered against my lips before kissing me. I met him with fervor, my arms going around his neck.

When we finally broke the kiss, we became aware of the clapping and cheers from our families and friends.

"You should save some of that for the honeymoon." Nathan teased and my blush deepened. Even Nick chuckled. Paige and Cheryl were smiling and like me, they had tears in their eyes. Jason just grinned and pulled me closer to him again as we faced everyone sitting in front of us.

"Ladies and gentlemen." Hal started with a wide grin, "I now present to you Mr. and Mrs. Jason Perez."