"Today?" I spun around to stare open mouthed at Angel.

Today? My mind echoed, still struggling to grasp what he was saying.

He shrugged. "I didn't see the point in delaying it any longer."

"You just told me you were moving the wedding up yesterday. I haven't even received my dress yet. It only arrives in a couple of weeks." My head was already spinning with every reason why our wedding couldn't go ahead as he had planned.

It was crazy. Right? He was crazy. This couldn't be happening. Their dress wasn't ready, we hadn't picked a venue, flowers hadn't been chosen. The list for every reason we couldn't marry today was endless.

"We are going to marry today Kira." His tone determined and unwavering.

He was clearly mad. There was no way.

My knees felt shaky so I moved to sink down at the edge of the bed. "But I have nothing to wear."

"I remember you saying you didn't care what you wore. Garbage bag comes to mind."

He was right, it had been an offhand comment. No woman wanted to get married in a trash bag no matter what the circumstance of the nuptials.

"You know I didn't mean that," I shot back at him.

"You have an hour before the ceremony."

An hour? My mouth fell open, and my mind went blank.

"You're already wasting valuable time," he said as he exited the bedroom. "You'll find your garbage bag hanging in the closet."

I frowned. Was he trying to be funny?

I looked after him still trying to grapple with the realization that today he would become my husband. It did something weird to the middle of my chest but I didn't have time to analyze it.

Irritated, I went to the walk in closet and stopped in my tracks. The dress I had chosen hung in my closet with a matching pair of shoes. Something constricted in my chest and I took a moment to breathe normally again.

The dress fit perfectly. I felt like a fairytale princess, even if my wedding was tainted by reality.

There wasn't time to do anything but wear my hair down.

There was no time to think about what this day would mean, the only thing on my mind was trying to make the most I could out of what I had readily available to get myself ready.

Just under an hour later there was a knock on the bedroom door. I opened it to find James waiting for me on the other side. I had managed to get dressed and put some make up on but I was no where near as ready as I wanted to be but I would have to do.

"I'm here to escort you for the ceremony," he said. He offered me his elbow and I linked my arm through his.

"Let's go," I said as he led me out the room and then out of the house.

"Are we having it outside?" I asked, trying to figure out exactly where we were headed. He nodded.

Honestly I had expected it to take place inside the house, even in Angel's study. This was unexpected.

He led me to the pond on the edge of the property as we moved past the trees surrounding the water I saw an Angel with a priest and a couple of other guys. He stood under a wooden arch that was interweaved with my favorite flowers, white lilies. The sight was unexpected and took my breath away.

Angel had never looked more handsome in a tux. My heart swelled. It was getting harder to ignore the emotion he created in me when he was near.

James stood beside his boss as Angel took my hand into his. His touch warm and assuring. I took a breath trying to get myself together.

"It's beautiful," I murmured, feeling overwhelmed. The setting beside the pond where had spent countless hours as children seemed to be perfect, even if it wasn't a traditional marriage.

"It's not the big wedding I had planned but with the time constraints it was the best I could do at short notice."

My throat clogged with emotion. I remembered the time I had spent chasing butterflies while Angel had looked for frogs to scare me with.

"It's perfect," I assured him. In my mind it was better than any wedding we could have planned. "As long as there aren't any frogs."

He smiled. "No frogs."

The indescribable feeling filling my chest made it impossible to speak as I stared up at Angel.

It was a combination of all the small things he had done that had come together to create a very thoughtful setting to our wedding. The dress, the place, the flowers and the familiarity of our childhood.

The priest cleared his throat. "Are we ready to begin?"

Angel took both my hands in his and held them as we turned to the priest. "We are ready," he said.

There had been countless times I had questioned whether marriage to Angel was the right thing to do but in that moment I couldn't remember a reason not to.

It was difficult not to repeat the words the priest spoke without some emotion and my heart continued to swell as Angel spoke his vows softly but clearly. Speaking them out aloud, gave them more weight than any fairytale I had ever dreamed up as a little girl.

I swallowed hard when Angel slid a wedding band on my finger.

When it was my turn I tried to keep the emotion I was feeling from filtering into my voice. Jack gave me the wedding band I had gotten for Angel. I slid it onto his finger as I repeated the same vows, unable to look him straight in the eye, instead I kept my gaze on his hand in mine.

It was then, just before the priest announced we were husband and wife I finally realized the emotion I was experiencing as Angel's lips pressed against mine. I loved him. The realization sent me spiraling.

Somewhere along the line, I had fallen in love with him. Had it been there before from when we were younger or had it only happened now? I couldn't tell.

It wasn't impossible to believe that his actions through my childhood had made me fall in love with him. When I had needed someone, he had always been there. I didn't have a memory of him abandoning me like my family had.

I was stunned as he put his hand on my waist and lifted his lips from mine. My hand touched to his chest as his eyes held mine. Could he see how I felt? It felt like it was written in neon across my forehead?

I was dazed as a photographer took some photos of us before Angel led me back to the house with my hand in his.

Maria had put together a beautiful assortment of foods. I excused myself to the nearest bathroom to try and compose myself. I was shaking, the emotion I was experiencing I couldn't ignore or talk away.

I put my hand to my forehead and took a shaky breath. It didn't matter how I had gotten to this, what mattered was what I was going to do. It would be so easy to let myself feel what I did for him but it would be detrimental to me if I allowed myself to believe for even a second that he could return the feelings I had for him.

How did I protect myself? But it was too late. I was already in love with him and nothing was going to change that. I let out an emotional breath. How had I been stupid enough to fall in love with someone who was incapable of loving anyone?

I patted my face with some water to bring myself back to the present and get myself to stop thinking about my feelings for Angel. One thing was for sure I didn't want him to know and if I couldn't get myself under control, he would be able to see it.

He was someone who used every advantage to get what he wanted and he would use my love for him to get me to do whatever he wanted. If I had any chance of holding my own I would have to keep my emotions from him. He couldn't find out, no matter what.

I fisted the hand with with my engagement and wedding band. I was his wife and I had to find a way to be with him and not let him break my heart.

He had made it crystal clear that there would be no declarations of love from him, and I wasn't naive enough to believe there was anything I could do to change that.

He would protect me, he would keep me safe, he would care for me but he would never love me the way I loved him. The thought filled me with a sudden sadness and it took a moment to catch my breath.

I expelled a breath to rid myself of the feeling that there was nothing I could do to change what had happened.

The most important thing was to make sure he didn't find out. I would have to keep the feelings buried so deep that I would forget I even had them. It was not only for my heart but for my survival.