Barefoot in Pearls (Barefoot Bay Brides Book 3) Read Online Free Page B

laughed. “Actually, only recently, as you know. But, still.” He looked back again, feeling a bittersweet happiness for her. “I don’t know. They seem pretty sure, but…”
    Arielle eyed him suspiciously. “Don’t tell me, you don’t believe in love, marriage, or happily ever after?”
    “Believe in it?” he said with a soft snort. “I just witnessed it. So, what’s not to believe?”
    “Do you have to see something to believe it?” she asked.
    “Why do I think that’s a trick question?” he asked, noting that she looked awfully serious, like the answer mattered.
    “I’m simply looking for some insights. Do you need to see something to believe it exists?”
    There was no avoiding the question, so he shrugged and gave the only answer there was. “Of course.”
    She turned her lips down as if that disappointed her, but spun around as Gussie came rushing over the sand to them. His sister held out her hand, beaming with more joy than he’d ever seen on her face.
    “Congratulations, Auggie,” Luke whispered, hugging his sister and getting a pelt on his back for the hated nickname.
    She turned in his arms to reach out to Arielle, who hugged right back, eyes closed, an unreadable emotion etched on her face.
    “I’m so happy for you, Gus,” Arielle whispered.
    Gussie backed up, laughing. “I guess I found The One, huh?”
    “Looks like you did,” Arielle agreed.
    Gussie kept her arm around Arielle, giving her a squeeze. “This is our resident sorceress, you know,” she told Luke. “She’s all about the woo-woo, like signs from the universe and your mate being fated by destiny.”
    Arielle gasped softly. “Gussie, I—”
    “Really?” Luke asked.
    “Oh, yes,” Gussie exclaimed. “In fact, I’m surprised you didn’t call it when I met Tom, Ari.” She glanced over her shoulder to see her new fiancé approaching. “You always say there’s only one true love for everyone and you’ll know it the very moment you meet him.”
    Next to her, Arielle smiled self-consciously. “Well, sometimes it’s not immediately obvious.”
    But she didn’t argue the fundamental point, he noticed. “So you really believe that?” Luke asked.
    “She really does,” Gussie answered for her, clearly too over-excited to let Arielle say a word. “She’s always going on and on about meeting The One.” She added air quotes for emphasis. “In fact, she told me she met the man she’d marry to—”
    Arielle’s hand slapped over Gussie’s mouth. “Shut up.”
    Just then, Tom came up behind Gussie, wrapping his arms around her waist. “Good luck with that, Ari,” he said. “My fiancée is too happy to stop talking.”
    After another flurry of hugs and handshakes, the bride and groom came rushing over to share the moment of Gussie’s engagement, the friendship between the three women palpable even to a virtual outsider like Luke.
    He had to hand it to Willow. Most brides would go bat-shit if someone in their wedding party borrowed the limelight like that, but these three seemed to be more like family than friends, and it was clear Arielle and Willow were genuinely happy for Gussie.
    Luke stepped back to let the small crowd around them grow, taking a moment to drink in his sister’s obvious joy. But, after a few seconds, something drew his attention right back to the black-haired beauty who was standing awfully close to the best man, sharing a laugh with him.
    Uh, sorry, SEAL.
    Luke stepped closer to her and leaned down to put his mouth near her ear and let his lips graze that hair that reminded him of satin sheets. And being in them with her. “I thought I was the one—”
    She froze for a second and slowly looked up at him, slaying him with a look of hope and heat in her soulful eyes.
    “—who was going to amuse, dance, and kiss you,” he finished.
    Her lips lifted into a smile. “Oh, you are.”
    He angled his head toward a table in the back in silent invitation.
    “After the pictures,” she