Through every conversation he’d had with her friends and neighbors during the past week, he had gained a little more insight into the woman he loved. She’d grown up surrounded by so much love that it was no wonder she was overflowing with it herself.

Lucia Ferrer was holding court at the front of the church, beaming with the joy of her dream for her daughter finally coming true. Jack had come to love his soon-to-be mother- and father-in-law a great deal during the days he’d spent in their home, so much that he was more than a little tempted to remain in Italy for a while. Larry and Howie had been extremely happy to hear that Mary’s mother was doing well and that he and Mary had decided to tie the knot right before Christmas. As soon as they’d filled him in on the incredible sales and response to the Pocket Planner, Mary had taken the phone from him and promised she’d have Jack back in California and behind his computer by January second.

Jack’s thoughts were brought back to the present as his gaze was caught by movement at the entrance to the church, where the little girl from across the street was waving at him from the doorway. As their flower girl, she stood proudly in a pretty white dress with a heaping basket of poinsettia flower petals in her sturdy little hands.

Again and again throughout the week, Jack had caught himself dreaming of the children he and Mary would have. Her mother had made him a photo album of Mary’s childhood photos, from birth until she’d left to pursue modeling, and he could so clearly see himself lifting a little girl in his arms who looked just like her mother.

Everyone in the church was dressed in their best clothes, with holly decorating the ends of every pew. He knew the children must be counting down the hours until Christmas Eve and when they could open the packages under their Christmas trees. But, considering all the excitement, they were an extremely well-behaved bunch.

Just then, Jack’s brother Ethan walked in through the side door with a huge grin on his face. Jack had called his family to let them know about the wedding, and though he hadn’t expected any of them to be able to make it to Italy on such short notice, as luck would have it, Ethan had already been in London and promised to make the trip to Italy to support Jack at his wedding. True to form, Jack thought with a matching grin, Ethan had squeaked in just under the wire.

Mendelssohn’s “Wedding March” rang out loudly from the organ high above the pews, and Jack instantly turned his focus back to the front doors of the church.

The flower girl skipped down the aisle tossing petals from her basket, and then everyone gasped with awe as Mary appeared on her father’s arm.

Everyone and everything but Mary and the soul-deep love he felt for her fell away. Wonder wove through him as she slowly came up the petal-strewn aisle on her father’s arm.

She was impossibly beautiful in her wedding dress, a dark-haired angel in lace and silk. Even through her veil, he could see all the love she felt in her eyes as she smiled at him, her joy a living thing. She was wearing a crown made of bright green leaves and berries, and as he worked to recover his senses, it took him a few beats longer than it should have to realize it was a crown of mistletoe.

I love you, Angel. I’ll always love you.

He knew he didn’t need to say the words aloud for her to hear them pass from his heart to hers.

At the final pew, Mary’s father pressed a kiss to her cheek, but she never took her eyes from Jack’s. Moving down the few steps that separated them, Jack held out a hand for his bride, and when she took it, instead of drawing her up to where the priest was waiting for them, he couldn’t stop himself from lifting her hand to his lips.

A moment later her arms were around his neck, and her mouth was soft against his in a promise of love that had nothing to do with priests or wedding gowns. They’d come so far, from their first kiss under the mistletoe when they were two strangers drawn to each other, to this beautiful day when they would make vows of forever.

Everyone was waiting to hear those vows, but Jack decided they could wait a little while longer as he pulled her flush against him and deepened the kiss. When they finally drew back from each other with bright eyes and flushed faces to take their places before the priest, the crowd was quite happily scandalized.

As Jack held both her hands in his, the priest led them through the traditional ceremony that they had learned during the past few days of matrimonio classes when the priest had prepared them for their marriage and the vows they would make to each other. Jack drank in every breath, every tremble, every flush of heat across Mary’s soft skin.

Taking the simple gold wedding band from the intricately stitched pillow the priest held in his hands, Jack slid it onto Mary’s ring finger. “Tu sei tutto per me, la luce dei miei occhi, sei mia per sempre.” She was his entire world, the heart of his heart.

When two tears slid down her cheeks and he gently reached out to wipe them away, she pressed her face to his palm in a gesture of boundless trust.

“All my life I dreamed of adventure, and I thought all of my dreams had already come true,” Mary said softly as she slid the gold band she’d had made for him onto his ring finger. “But then I found you and realized you were the dream I had been waiting for all my life. Ti amo dal profondo del cuore e non vedo l’ora di cominciare quest’avventura con te, amore mio.” Everyone in the church sighed as they heard her tell him that she loved him with all of her heart and soul…and that she couldn’t wait to take this adventure with him.

They were already kissing to seal their vows by the time the priest declared them husband and wife, and as applause rang through the centuries-old church, Jack knew that theirs was a love that would transcend time.

Chapter Twenty-Five

Mary and Jack’s wedding reception was a glorious blur of music and laughter and hugs and dancing and bites of cake…and dozens upon dozens of stolen kisses from her new husband that made her lips tingle and her heart race with joy. Throughout the celebration, Jack almost never let go of Mary’s hand, and as the sun fell lower in the sky, his gaze grew more heated and full of love every time she looked in wonder at the man who had just become her husband.

Jack was beyond gorgeous in his dark suit and tie, and Mary couldn’t blame every woman at her wedding—even the married ones—from drinking him in with clear appreciation. He’d remembered to shave this morning, but his jaw was already covered with a dark shadow.

When she’d seen him waiting for her at the altar, her legs had nearly given out on her, and she’d had to cling to her father’s arm for support. A moment later, she’d wanted to pick up her skirts and run to him so that she could throw herself into his arms.

Now, as they stood surrounded by everyone in her hometown, and he moved his hand to the small of her back to lightly stroke across the curve of her hips through her wedding dress, she wanted badly to tangle her hands in his hair and yank his tie off and kiss him until they were both breathless.

Mary Sullivan. Love had given her not only a new name…but a new future, as well. Sullivans were determined and focused, loving and supportive. It was exactly right that she should embark on her new future as a Sullivan, and that the children they hoped to have in the near future would grow up knowing they were loved and supported, no matter what.

Mary had been very glad that Jack’s brother Ethan had been able to come to support Jack as they’d made their vows, even if he was an irrepressible flirt who would leave more than one broken heart behind in Italy when he headed back to London the following day. After a lifetime as an only child, she couldn’t believe how blessed she was now to have a sister and four brothers, and she couldn’t wait to finally meet his parents as their newest daughter-in-law.

With Jack’s hand in hers and the love of the friends she’d grown up with in every smile and hug and handshake, Mary worked to push away her impatience to be alone with him. This celebration was extremely important to her mother and father. Surely she could continue to smile and chat with everyone for another few hours without counting down every single second until she could be alone with Jack again.

Taking a deep breath, she made certain her smile remained firmly in place as one of her old friends from school began to walk toward them. But before her friend was even halfway across the reception hall, Jack lifted Mary into his arms.

Only by sheer force of will did she stop herself from laughing out loud. Her husband—oh, wasn’t that a beautiful word?—didn’t stop to speak with anyone, didn’t say any more thank-you’s or nice-to-meet-you’s, just carried her through the reception hall, out the front door and down the steps to the cobblestone street below.

“I was hoping you’d run out of patience soon,” she confessed as he practically ran down the street toward the small inn where they’d be spending their first night together as husband and wife. Holding on even tighter to him, she buried her face in the crook of his neck. He smelled like spice and heat and the man she couldn’t live without.

During the ceremony, she’d loved how sweet and gentle he’d been. Tonight, she loved his demanding passion as he slid the old key into the lock and roughly opened the door, kicking it shut behind them.

Despite the need she could feel rumbling through every inch of her husband, he lowered her feet to the ground with infinite care. Every inch of her body that pressed against his ached for more.

“This is the most beautiful dress I’ve ever seen,” he told her in a voice made raw with emotion. “The only reason I’m not going to rip it off you tonight is so that our daughter can wear it one day.”

“I’ve gotten much better with a needle and thread this week. I can stitch it back together.”

His eyes flared with heat, but instead of tearing the fabric from her in one swift move, he gently turned her in his arms so that her back was to him. The brush of his fingertips across her spine and shoulders as he lifted her dark hair away from the long row of small pearl buttons made her shiver.

He slid one of the buttons free. “Beautiful.” Another two came loose, and he leaned forward to press his lips to the small patch of skin he’d just bared. “Sei bellissima.”

Mary’s breath stuttered in her chest as he worked his way down the row of buttons with steady hands that also teased and caressed. How, she wondered, was she ever going to make it through his wedding night seduction in one piece?

Finally—finally!—he slid the bodice of her dress off over her shoulders, and his large, strong hands stroked her muscles, cherishing every inch of her skin.

Needing more, needing everything, Mary shifted her torso and arms so that the dress slipped all the way down to her waist. Groaning against the curve of her neck, Jack’s hands immediately slid around to cup her breasts. Arching her head against his shoulder, she turned her face so that their mouths could meet in a heated kiss. Her breasts felt heavy and sensitive against his fingertips until—thank God—he was turning her in his arms again with his hands on her hips and dropping his head to her chest to take first one peak, and then the other, into his mouth. Wild, sweet love poured from husband to wife and wife to husband as she arched closer.

Even as his lips worked magic over her breasts, his deft fingertips made short work of the rest of the pearl buttons at her hips, and moments later the beautiful silk and lace wedding gown was pooled at her feet.

“Were you—” He ran his hands over her bare hips and then the delicate white garters that held up her silk stockings. He was clearly stunned—and extremely aroused—at the realization that she hadn’t been wearing any panties beneath her wedding dress. “You didn’t—”

Though they wouldn’t be opening their gifts for each other until the following day, Mary had wanted to give herself to Jack as an early present. “Merry Christmas.”

He dragged her hard against him at the same moment that he crushed his mouth to hers. And then they were falling back onto the bed, and his mouth and hands were seemingly everywhere at once.