“Ugggh, you haven’t changed.” I shake my head, trying to keep up. He abruptly stops, causing me to collide into him.

“See, that’s where you’re wrong, Bell. You’ll see and after I’ve shown you, I’ll have you in my bed,” he boldly replies, and all I can do is stand there in shock.

“Come on, I’ve only got fourteen hours.” The order is desperate as he moves us to the door once more.

I don’t reply, because what is there to say. If he keeps up this act today, I’m not even sure he would need fourteen hours.

I’m not even sure he would need one hour.

Oh, God, what is wrong with me? Have I not learned anything?

Clearly not.

“There you are. You hiding from me?” Jesse steps out onto the open patio, breaking me from my thoughts. It’s later that afternoon in the north wing of the Bellagio. With just five minutes till wedding time, I snuck out, trying to catch some alone time.

“Yes, I needed a few minutes to myself.” I turn and watch his grin grow wider. “It’s not funny, Jesse.” I complain, knowing he’s not giving up. He’s dragging me back into the flames, burning me all over again.

“Come on, you know you’ve missed me.” He pulls me into his chest and settles his arm around me. We’ve gone from not talking for over a month, to him pestering me every chance he gets.

“Seriously?” I move to step out of his hold, but he stops me.

“Stop fighting it, sweetheart,” he whispers, setting my heart on fire. I don’t want to react to Jesse’s touch, but I can’t help it. It’s as if his body electrifies mine. Like we’re in sync, and being away from him has made my body fall out of step momentarily, but now with each touch, my body begs to realign.

“I’ve barely had time to myself since you showed up at my room this morning. I haven’t even had a chance to miss you,” I complain, only half meaning it. The truth is Jesse not leaving me alone hasn’t been all too bad. After we left the hotel, we walked twenty minutes down to Fashion Show Mall, which the concierge directed me to. Jesse insisted on coming into every store to help me find the perfect dress. I have to say the man is smart. Walking around the mall, him cracking his lame jokes and acting like a normal boyfriend and girlfriend really affected me. We had been so caught up in our own lives, in the pain and misery we both carried inside of us we never even had these sorts of days back home.

Once I found the perfect dress, one that Jesse insisted I show him or he would storm my fitting room, we stopped for lunch and caught up on the last few weeks. It was comfortable and easy, like we hadn’t even spent those weeks apart. When I allowed myself to let go, allowed him one day, we fell back into our old selves. Only this time, Jesse wasn’t guarding himself. He had dropped his defenses and boy did I notice it.

We spoke of my mom and dad, and the lack of news on Paige and how much he was trying to work a new angle. It was interesting to realize that over the last few weeks, my thoughts about finding Paige had really taken a back seat. I was too caught up in myself and how my life was moving forward. But after talking with Jesse again, he gave me a newfound hope. It was enlightening and something I wasn’t expecting. Jesse talked freely about his dad, how he was reconnecting with his mom and brothers, and he also talked more about his time in Afghanistan. I opened myself up to it and allowed him to talk. I know he has a long way to go, four weeks is barely enough time to scratch the surface of what he went through and the guilt he carries, but being able to talk to him about it with me, shows just how far he has come.

“This is true.” He agrees, pulling me out of my thoughts. “But you’ve had a good day, you can’t deny it,” he pushes, still trying to get me to admit it.

“Hey, guys, they’re ready.” Kadence ducks her head out, breaking the moment and allowing me to get away without answering. Her grin is wide, knowing but I don’t let myself get caught up in it. I’m sure when we get back to Rushford I’ll be grilled for every detail.

“Great.” I smile and step back out of Jesse’s reach. “We were just heading in.” I go to move around him to follow, but don’t get very far when he reaches for me again and interlocks our hands.

“You said one day,” he reminds me with a wink. Rolling my eyes, I let Jesse take my hand and guide me inside the small chapel set up for Holly and Sy’s wedding.

The room is intimate, soft purple and cream colors set in a low light. When Holly told me she and Sy decided to make her bachelorette party a combined wedding, I had thoughts of Elvis and some tacky drive-through chapel, but am pleasantly surprised how absolutely breathtaking this place is. It’s perfect for them, elegant but casual.

Taking a seat next to Lissy, I ignore Jesse next to me and give her my attention.

“I see you haven’t been able to get rid of him yet?” Lissy leans into me, rolling her eyes at Jesse’s Neanderthal ways.

“No,” I reply and look back at Jesse. He bounces his brows but doesn’t say anything.

“You have a good day?” My eyes find Beau, sitting two rows up. Z sits to his left, Red to his right, and he’s bouncing Low on his lap, while Kadence continues to get everyone settled. Lissy only crawled out of his bed late this afternoon, but with Jesse on my heels all day, we haven’t had a chance to talk about what happened.

“The best,” she sighs, a small blush darkens her cheeks.

“Do I want to know?” I ask, not sure if anything will surprise me.