Others looked around, clearly unsure if this was part of the evening’s program or if the Westwood family had finally lost their minds entirely. Meanwhile, I stared at Jesse, half horrified and half breathless but entirely in love.
God, he’s insane.
I wasn’t even sure if he’d noticed people’s confusion over the break in decorum. He was already turning back to me, those eyes twinkling with joy. It didn’t look like he was struggling at all to process the fact that we’d gone from broken up to engaged in the space of only a few heartbeats.
I am engaged. To Jesse Westwood.
A laugh bubbled up from someplace deep inside me, coming out breathless and a little hysterical, but then his attention sharpened again, focused entirely on me like announcing our engagement to an entire ballroom full of Chicago’s elite was just a minor aside.
“When you pictured your wedding, did you want people throwing rice in your face like assault is okay as long as it’s festive?”
“What?” I asked dumbly. “No, I don’t think so. Why?”
He tilted his head slightly, a grin tugging at his mouth that was softer than usual but still dangerous. “So you didn’t want the whole, walking down the aisle, overpriced flowers and long speeches after kind of deal?”
I laughed again, completely startled by the question. “No. No, I really didn’t, but again, why?”
“That’s great news for me,” he said, as happy as if I’d just handed him the best possible outcome.
Before I could even ask why—again—he turned once more and addressed the room in that same loud, excited voice he’d used to make his prior announcement. “Is anyone here legally able to marry us? Right here. Right now.”
Oh my God.
“Jesse,” I hissed under my breath, trying not to smile and failing spectacularly. “What are you doing?”
My hand tightened instinctively around his to get his attention, but he wasn’t looking at me. Instead, his gaze was skimming across the crowd like he was fully expecting someone to step forward. I followed where he was looking, my pulse still racing and my head spinning, but I supposed he wasn’t wrong.
The city’s who’s who were in attendance tonight. Surely, that included a few judges or whoever else could officiate such a ceremony in America.
As I tried to see if someone would step forward, I suddenly spotted Alex and Jane and my heart stammered. They were only a few feet away from us. Alex’s expression was caught between confusion and disbelief, but Jane was the exact opposite, beaming beside him.
Her hands were clasped together under her chin for just a second before she started clapping and cheering along with everyone else. I let out a small, incredulous laugh, wrapped my arms around Jesse’s neck, and looked back up again.
“We wouldn’t even be legally married,” I said. “There’s paperwork to complete and?—”
“That sounds like a Monday problem.” That handsome face was absolutely alive with joy. “I’ve never wasted a Saturday night in my life and I’m not about to start now.”
I shouldn’t have laughed, but I did. This wassohim, chaotic, certain, and completely unwilling to wait for something just because it made more sense on paper, and for some reason, I wasn’t terrified. I was excited.
Especially since it didn’t look like one of the Westwoods was going to come charging forward to prevent him from going through with it. A man I didn’t recognize raised his hand then, stepping forward slightly and clearing his throat.
“I’m licensed,” he offered, looking like he was trying very hard not to grin. “If you’re serious, that is.”
I glanced back up at Jesse to find him already looking at me like this had all gone exactly according to plan. As soon as our eyes met, everything slowed down again. I smiled, pushing my hands into the hair at the back of his head.
“This isn’t how things are done in your family,” I said quietly, my heart fluttering like the wings of a butterfly. “I’m not saying no, but we don’t have to do it right this second.”
Although I’d been wrong about a lot of things, I knew for an absolute fact that the Westwoods understood the weight oftradition and valued the way things weresupposedto look. This wasn’t that. It was messy and impulsive, but Jesse just shrugged.
“We’ll make our own traditions from now on,” he said. “This is about us. If it’s what you want, it’s what we’ll do. So what do you say, will you be my bride?”
The question was so simple and so enormous all at once, but I didn’t even have to think about my response. I’d been so afraid to reach for something that had felt too big, too good, and too fragile to trust. I’d been so certain that I didn’t belong at events like this on the arm of a man like him, but he’d just upended an entire gala without a second thought. All because he didn’t want to wait another minute to choose me.
“If you’ll be my groom,” I said softly.
A wide, bright, and unstoppable smile broke out across his face. “Let’s do it.”
It was a miracle I was already wearing a white gown, but perhaps it hadn’t been a miracle so much as Jane. I smiled at her as Jesse took my hand again, stepping toward the unassuming man who was apparently about to marry us.