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would not do. At all.
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    I wanted her to be my friend because she was awesome. So I just
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    sort of . . . um, bugged her relentlessly until she fi nally just gave 02
    in and even better, shared that sweet baby with our group of
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    friends. I’ve been fortunate enough to count Gillian as my best
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    friend ever since. And that sweet baby is now a fourteen- year-
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    old boy who is taller than his godmother.
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    “It makes me incredibly happy to see Gillian with someone
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    who deserves her the way Adrian does. Though he had his
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    moments and I wasn’t so sure we should let him have our lovely
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    Gillian.” Jules winked and Adrian blushed at the memory to his
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    not-so-stellar entrance into Gillian and Miles’s life. “But in the
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    end, he proved himself to be the man Miles could be proud to
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    call Dad and Gillian could call her partner in life. So let’s lift a 13
    glass to Gillian, Adrian and Miles— the Brown family.”
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    Mary held her glass aloft and took a drink, believing every
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    word to be true.
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    “Stop now or I’ll start crying again.” Gillian took the hand-
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    kerchief Brody handed her way, dabbing her eyes.
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    “It’s your wedding day, English. You’re supposed to cry.”
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    Though Adrian’s eyes were pretty glossy too.
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    There was cake and laughter. Drinking and music.
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    Damien couldn’t stop looking at the back of her neck where
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    the little curls had won free from the bun. He wanted to press
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    kisses right there. Wondered if she was ticklish. Wondered what
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    she tasted like.
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    They’d performed a few songs, from Adrian’s new CD, one
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    he’d written for Gillian. Miles had played with them, and then
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    did a song of his own for his parents. Damien liked these people
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    and their strong sense of love and family a great deal.
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    When he’d fi nished up, they’d sat together again and he’d
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    wanted her even more. She’d disappeared; he fi gured she’d gone
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    to hound her staff again.
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    He and Miles had discussed music for a bit and fi nally,
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    Damien had gotten an itch only she could scratch and he excused
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    himself to fi nd her.
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    he night had been full of magic. Mary hadn’t felt so light
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    and carefree in ages. Things had been great with work
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    and for her friends and this wedding felt like the capper
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    on all that wonderful.
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    After the emotion of the music Adrian and Miles had dedi-
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    cated to Gillian and the success of the food, she’d paused just
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    at the large back porch to grab some alone time.
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    The air carried the scent of all the peonies decorating the
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    entire space. Heady and sensual, it made her tip her head back
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    to breathe deep.
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    “Well, lookie here.”
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    She opened her eyes slowly to take in the sight of Damien
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    walking toward her. A slow, sexy lope, his features intent on
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    Lauren Dane
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    her. It sent a shiver through her because goddamn, he was deli-
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    cious.
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    She smiled. “Hello there.”
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    He kept walking until he was just a breath away. “What are
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    you doing over here all by yourself?”
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    “I snuck in to check on the food.