Love Me Or Leave Me by Claudia Carroll Read Free Book Online Page B

partner’. To this day, she could still vividly remember him leaning down to her, brushing her waist-length hair away from her face, then really going for it. Tongues, feeling her boobs, the whole works. Not even caring that a whole roomful of guests were staring right at them, most of them clapping and cheering happily. Most of them.
    Jesus, Dawn thought, pulling his beautiful body in tightly to her, would tonight ever come and would it ever be just the two of them finally alone? Just for one moment, she wished she could fast-forward through the rest of the whole day and cut straight to the wedding night. And from the sexy way Kirk’s tongue was teasing hers, he seemed to be on exactly the same wavelength as her too. Wasn’t he always? Back then, at least.
    Sex you see, was where Kirk really excelled; Mother of Divine, Dawn had never known anything like being in bed with him. With him it had been breathtakingly unbelievable … acrobatic, even Olympian at times. Okay, so maybe a tad exhausting, but still beyond fabulous. Sure, who wouldn’t envy her with a husband and lover like that, she remembered thinking.
    Oh, the blessed irony.
    Then, after their final blessing, they’d had the gifting ceremony, a truly magical experience, where Dawn and Kirk sat cross-legged in the centre of the Circle of Giving, as well-wishers queued up to give the newlyweds a little something. And the parade of gifts they were presented with really went no end towards cheering Dawn up a bit.
    It was so touching, she’d thought, tuning out all the negative vibes, just how generous people had been with gifts, not to mention so imaginative. They’d been given a backpack picnic basket from Willow and Dave, matching his ‘n’ her tie-dye linen shirts from Shiloh, a two-foot-high lemon tree from Poppy (‘so when life gives you lemons, you can both make lemonade!’), a ‘fruit of the month’ club subscription from Josh and Sammie and last but not least, a coffee maker from Kirk’s Dad, Dessie. Which he then proudly whipped open to reveal a three-kilo bag of weed inside.
    ‘So you kids can really enjoy tonight!’
    ‘He grows his own!’ Kirk had proudly announced to the room, exactly the same as if he was talking about his Dad’s prize-winning petunias. ‘And it’s the best!’
    ‘Sweet Mother of Divine!’ Dawn overheard her Mum muttering, fanning her flushed face with the order of service.
    ‘Ehh … and that’s his idea of a wedding gift?’ Eva hissed back at her. ‘Out of curiosity, have these people ever come across an IKEA catalogue?’
    Probably the only time all day her Mum had even cracked a smile.
    Dawn flashed the pair of them a lightning quick warning look, for all the good it did her. Why did her side all have to be like this, she’d thought disappointedly, as a shadow suddenly fell across her happy day. So relentlessly rude about everyone and everything? Constantly putting the whole celebration down and finding fault every single place they looked? Why couldn’t any of her family or friends just chill out, relax and celebrate her happiness, like at any other wedding? Why, she wondered for the thousandth time, couldn’t they just be a bit more like Kirk’s family?
    The Lennox-Coyninghams were all so cool, so laid back, so free and easy. Drinking the elderberry wine, munching on the yeast-free, gluten-free, non-dairy nibbles, laughing, celebrating, actually enjoying themselves. Like you were supposed to at a wedding. None of them were openly sniping and griping about the day in front of the newlyweds, now were they?
    Disappointedly, Dawn snuggled into the crook of Kirk’s arm and he locked her tight in his arms.
    ‘Just let it all float away, sweetheart,’ he whispered down to her, correctly reading her thoughts. ‘Just remember, we’re life partners now and that’s all that matters.’
    Then at midnight, there had been a very moving tree dedication ceremony but the warm, happy glow on Dawn’s day dimmed even