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Matt
Matt walked into the kitchen a happy man. Hayley had agreed to be his wife. They’d spent the evening making love by the lake, just as they had when they were teenagers. He appreciated it even more now because he knew how incredibly lucky he was.
A tub of ice cream, sundae fixings, and curling up in bed with Hayley and a good movie sounded like the perfect end to the perfect evening.
“You didn’t mean what you said about leaving Sanctuary, did you?” Heff asked, appearing out of the shadows with the stealth of the sniper he was.
Matt narrowed his eyes at him. “That was a private conversation.”
Heff put up his hands. “Hey, if you don’t want people to overhear, you shouldn’t talk near the lake. You know sound travels better over water.”
Matt grunted.
“For the record, I was not intentionally eavesdropping. Sandy and I had the same idea, but you got there first. Congrats, by the way. Sandy says it’s about time you got your head out of your ass and asked Hayley to marry you. She said everyone else knew you two were the real deal ages ago.”
“Sandy said, huh?”
Heff grinned. As much as Matt wanted to be irritated with him, he couldn’t. He was just too goddamn happy.
“Hayley did have a point about integrating these guys into society,” Heff said thoughtfully. “The ones who are ready for it anyway.”
Hayley had said that before they had sex, which meant that Heff had been around for a lot longer than a quick trip to discover someone was already there and turn around. Matt knew he and Sandy were adventurous, but that went too far.
“I thought you said you weren’t eavesdropping.”
“I said, intentionally eavesdropping.” Heff shrugged. “It’s not as if we were watching. But like I said, sound travels, and listening to porn can be every bit as stimulating as watching it. Next time, keep it behind closed doors if it bothers you.”
Matt grunted again.
“Getting back to Hayley’s point, we don’t have a well-defined exit strategy here.”
“Not everyone has something to go back to.”
“That’s true,” Heff agreed. “However, the core of our mission is to get these guys to the point where they can get back out there and create something for themselves.”
Matt understood what he was saying, but he wasn’t going to put a time limit on anyone’s reacclimatization process. “Any suggestions?”
“A few. I bet the others have some, too. Team meeting?”
Matt nodded. “Set it up.”
“Already done,” Heff said with a grin.
Matt sighed. “When?”
“How about now?”
“Right now? Tonight?”
“No time like the present. Besides, it’ll provide a good cover story for your much-needed recovery time. You’re not a young kid anymore, Church.”
“Speaking from personal experience, are you?”
“Me? Not a chance. But I’m not as old as you are. Just looking out for my elders.”
Elder. Matt snorted. Heff was exactly one year younger than him in terms of physical age. In maturity, however, the gap was significantly larger.
“My recovery time is just fine. And I’m busy. Hayley’s waiting for me.”
“You’re right; she is. In the war room. Sandy pulled an intercept. Come on. This is important.”
Matt sighed and put the ice cream back into the freezer. The sooner he took care of this, the sooner he and Hayley could get back to his private quarters.
Everyone was waiting in the war room. Not just the guys, but their significant others too. It was just as well. Matt considered them partners as much as he did their husbands. Sanctuary wouldn’t be the success it was without them.
Hayley was there, too, grinning at him as he walked in. Matt sat down next to her.
“You okay with this?” he asked quietly. “It’ll delay ice cream time.”
Her eyes flashed with heat, as if they hadn’t already made love several times over the course of the evening. Matt couldn’t really say anything because the thought of drizzling syrup on Hayley and getting creative with the whipped cream had him stirring, too. Extended recovery time, his ass.
Hayley threaded her hand with Matt’s, her eyes twinkling with amusement. “What did Heff tell you?”
“Emergency meeting to discuss exit strategy.”
“You fell for that?”
“What did they tell you?”
“Initiation ceremony.”
“Good one.”
“We’ve both been snookered.”
“Agreed.” Matt turned to the others. “All right, we’re here. What?”
Bree was the first to speak. “Are we having the wedding here? When? The sooner we start planning, the better.”
Matt chuckled softly. He should have known.
“We haven’t discussed any of that,” Hayley told her. “He just asked me tonight.”
Sandy pffted and waved her hand. “Please. We knew this was coming the moment you stepped foot back in Sumneyville.”
Hayley looked to him, her eyes questioning.
“It’s completely up to you,” he said with a shrug. “Anywhere, anytime, anything you want.”
“You’re giving me carte blanche?” she asked.
Had the fire not destroyed the resort, if his family were still around, if Sanctuary were a public place, it wouldn’t have been just up to them. There would have been expectations to be met. Their wedding would have been a community event, a pageantry of pomp and circumstance in a stately manor setting. Tuxedos and expensive gowns. Flowers and professional caterers. An organist. Probably a choir.
But that wasn’t the case, and Matt didn’t care about any of that. The only things he cared about were looking deeply into her eyes, slipping a ring on her finger, and hearing her say I do.
He lifted his shoulders in an easy, masculine shrug. “I just want you.”
Several, if not all, of the women present sighed. The guys snorted and shot him martyred looks. Matt didn’t care. They felt exactly the same way about their women.
Hayley thought for a minute and then said, “In that case, I’d like to have it in the pavilion by the lake, as soon as possible, and as casual and fun and easy as we can make it.”
That sounded perfect to him.