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And he had ended up with the bride breaking and entering into his apart hiht to end

"You want to go inside?" he asked Anne

"Not if I have to go hang with those woroomsmen"

At any other time, he would have thrown a casual arm around her shoulders, but not today Not after he’d kissed her Not after that speech he’d made to her, and not to the couple, at the rehearsal dinner

"Yup," she said, "I’ht as they started walking together

They had been instructed at the rehearsal the night before to enter the cathedral at the side door and head down into the base their pictures done in the rear Danny held the way open for Anne, and as she went by hiether at the rental store, the jacket, shirt, and cu, her slacks a ss

She looked way better than any of those pink-clad girls with their spray tans and cri sexy as hell about a woman in a tuxedo It made him want to take off all those clothes and find the female underneath

With his hands Hisin behind her, he tracked the way sheloose, the jacket over her arm

He wanted her naked Now

He wanted in her Now

He wantedeverything from her

Now

But this was not the ti worried there would never be either It was rare to get four days off for R&R, and Danny had a feeling that if he didn’t co this tio back to the station on Monday and return to the grind of alarms and rescues and recoveriesand this cusp would turn into a closed door A lost opportunity

A road never taken

And he wasn’t sure he could live with that

The stairas right in front of them, and the red-carpeted steps creaked as they descended into the cool, da made him think they were in the cellar of aout of an open room, they passed by brass plaques donated by families with Irish last names

He had been down this hall all his life, it seemed For Sunday school Catechisroup

His mother’s funeral His father’s

His twin, John Thomas’s, who had died on fire service three years before

Guess thatsomeone as almost thirty could be classed as such

The corridor opened into an area that seemed to take up half the cathedral’s footprint With , and a lot of carved oak furniture, and shelves crammed with leather-bound books, the place smelled like beeswax candles, incense, and old stuff

The other groomsmen were all there, Jack and Mick, the other roommates, and E and laughing

Moose, the groouy looked up

For once, he wasn’t jovial Joking Jocular

He was subdued in his tuxedo, a pink rose on his lapel, his beard newly triht hat had happened the night before in the dark When the bride had dropped her dress to the floor, and made him an offer that had been very, very easy to decline

Shit The cat was out of the bag

Chapter 2

As time passed slowly in the cellar of the cathedral, Danny kept an eye on Moose The guy continued to stay on the periphery, pacing in circles and keeping his eyes on the floor And in response to his

Taking a seat on a settee that had all kinds of velvet cushions, Danny rubbed his face and felt like he wasMoose Anne

He’d never hadinto a problem They’d had a casual hookup that she’d tried to turn into one any further, she’d jumped ship to someone ould fall in line

See also: Mr and Mrs Moose