Lyle’s never been a pretentious guy, despite our privileged upbringing. That’s why I’m convinced it had less to do with the place itself, like he’d made it seem, and everything to do with the person responsible for planning it, which is more than understandable. And really, after what that man did for me today, who am I to deny him anything?

So, recent case of separation anxiety aside, I readily agreed, trying my damnedest to hide my unease.

With every mile marker that whizzes by, the pit in my stomach expands.

“I do.” I smile up at him with all the faith I can muster. “I trust you.”

He bobs his head, taking my hand from my lap and holding it in both of his. “It’s just…despite how this marriage came about, I want to do what little I can to make it ours, you know?”

A highlight reel of the day’s events rapid fires through my mind giving me a wicked case of emotional whiplash.

Despite all the crazy—and there was so much of that—Lyle managed to make our wedding special in its own right. He had me smiling through the tears and swooning over his heartfelt words. That man did everything in his power to ensure I felt loved and cherished. And he did all of this on a day when—let’s face it—I didn’t really deserve it. I made my own bed, and he didn’t have to lie in it with me. Yet here he is.

“And you have,” I assure him, “from that epic proposal to those amazing vows.”

“Meant every word,” he says, brimming with pride.

“Except for the part about my being the most stubborn person you know, right?”

His obnoxious guffaw rattles my chest. “Especially that part.”

I jab a playful elbow into his ribs, and his answering laughter sets my soul on fire.

In this moment, he looks young and carefree, a vision that’s so reminiscent of the boy I grew up with.

I can’t help but pause to stare at him in all his beauty, which somehow seems heightened by the soft glow of the full moon filtering in through the sunroof above our heads.

Lyle Livingston is a stunning man. With a full head of caramel-colored hair that always looks sex mussed, and skin permanently kissed by the sun, no matter the season, he’s a treat to behold, turning heads wherever he goes. Gosh, even as a boy his jawline was pronounced, but now? As a full-grown man? It looks as if it was chiseled from the finest stone, his pert nose sculpted to perfection. And those pillowy lips of his were simply built for kissing. It’s no wonder, next to the front man, he’s the most lusted-after member of The Rhett Taylor Band.