Her Wedding Escort: A BWWM Alpha Male Romance (3 page)

She shuddered at the thought and he laughed at her.

“So... that means we’re going to be affectionate with each other all weekend?” he asked with a little trepidation.

She realized then what he was saying. “Oh...” she bit her lower lip and it made him smile. “Uh... yes. I guess I didn’t think about that.”

He laughed. “Yeah, it wasn’t in the job description that I’d be holding your hand, or hugging you, or kissing you in front of your whole family.”

Her eyes got big and she drew in her breath as she realized that he was right. They would have to do all of those things for anyone to believe it. “I am so sorry,” she said with a grimace.

He chuckled at her. “I’m not. You’re a beautiful woman and a good lady. I think I can suffer through some romantic acting with you. I just hope it’s all right with you.”

She nodded her head. “It’s going to have to be. We’ve got to make everyone believe it!”

Derek looked at her with a cocked eyebrow and asked her a question that had been burning the edge of his mind ever since she had brought it up. “So you haven’t ever actually
really
dated a white man before, have you?”

Julia looked around at him slowly and shook her head almost imperceptibly. “No, I haven’t. This is a first for me.”

He smiled a little. “Well, it’s a first for me, too. I think we can make it work, though.”

She tilted her head and gave him a grin. “Do you think so? Do you think you can fool my family into believing that we’ve been deeply in love for two years?”

Derek grinned. “I’m going to give it my best shot.”

They drove on over hills and down them, around sharp corners and through small seaside towns, and made their way down the beautiful California coastline, talking and getting to know one another as they went. The further they went, the more they both felt like old friends who hadn’t seen each other in a long while, and the more comfortable it made them.

Derek’s easy going manner and attitude made the partnership more comfortable for Julia, and the prospect of selling him to her family and Ronald as her long term boyfriend much easier.

“So,” she said, looking over at him for a moment, “do you have a girlfriend or do you just date the women who pay you and call that good for a romantic life?”

His smile slipped away a little bit and she knew then that she had touched a sore spot in his heart.

“Well, the truth is that the paid dating is actually a pretty lonely thing. I don’t have a girlfriend. I do just date the women who pay me, but it’s lonely because they want me with them on their arm as someone to adore them, or keep them company, or for show. They aren’t with me because they are interested in me as a person, and at first I was okay with that, but then it really begins to feel like a job because none of them are with me for myself. I’m being paid, they are putting me on display, and it’s all very... cold and calculating. Some of them want more than just the public show and I don’t ever do that. I’m not a prostitute. I’m just escorting to pay the bills. It’s not a career for me, but it takes up a lot of my nights so I don’t really have time to date, and I wind up feeling alone a lot of the time because of it. It’s a weird situation.” He sighed and shrugged his shoulders.

Then he looked at her and realized that she felt badly for him. “Oh! I’ve made you uncomfortable. I’m sorry. Too much information?” he asked.

She laughed at him and the difficult moment dissolved. “It was your turn for a TMI moment.” She was quiet a minute and then she added, “You know, it’s not my business at all, but I feel sorry for you. I wouldn’t have imagined that it could be a lonely lifestyle, but now that you have explained it like that, I can see why it would be. I hope that you’re able to make something of your artwork soon so that you don’t have to keep dating for money.”

He nodded adamantly. “Me too!”

They stopped at little cafe on the beach for lunch and ate fish and chips and drinking lemonade. When they finished he looked at her and asked, “Would you like to walk on the beach for a few minutes and stretch your legs? We’ve been going a while.”

She nodded and smiled at him. “That sounds good!”

They left the little cafe and began to walk through the sand to the water. He looked around them and whistled. “Boy, this is beautiful, isn’t it?”

Julia sighed and agreed with him. “It is. I never can get enough of the ocean. There’s just something that draws me to it.”

Derek grinned and reached for her hand, holding it in his and drawing her near to him. “Me, too,” he said softly.

She felt her nerves begin to dance all through her body as he pulled her close to him and lifted his hand gently to her face. “I hope you don’t mind, but I thought maybe we’d have our first kiss here, so that we have that out of the way before we see your family. It might be awkward if we try to kiss for the first time in front of them. I don’t want to blow my cover right away!”

She hadn’t thought about a first kiss with him, and the idea of it made her heart began to beat swiftly. “Right... of course. We’d want to already have that figure out,” she agreed quietly.

He slid his hands around her cheeks and tilted her face up to his. “Just close your eyes and pretend it’s someone you’re really in love with,” he told her quietly. Then he touched his lips to hers softly, brushing them over hers with the barest caress, and it felt like her entire world twisted upside down. She drew in her breath and her hands closed over the muscles on his arms, holding him tightly as he leaned in closer and opened her mouth with his, running his tongue over the inside edge of her lips.

Her heart pounded in her and she closed her eyes and lost herself in the taste and feel of him, as his arms closed firmly around her and he held her close, his tongue moving over and around hers, as his hands slid from her face into her red curls. He held her that way, kissing her deeply for a long moment and then he let her go and there was something strange and electric in his eyes that hadn’t been there before. She felt that same electricity in her body, and all she could do was try to catch her breath and stand up straight.

She held to him for a moment and his serious expression gave way slowly to a smile. “Wow,” he said softly.

She raised her eyebrows. “Wow indeed,” she repeated.

“So, that wasn’t so bad,” he told her quietly, his hands moving slowly from her curls over the sides of her neck and just barely touching her collar bone before they dropped away from her, sending waves of heat through her as his touch drifted over her skin.

“No...” she sighed. “That wasn’t bad at all.”

He tilted his head slightly and turned away for a moment and then looked back at her. “I’d believe it, if I saw us kissing like that.”

She laughed a little. “Me, too,” she told him and then she turned in the sand and tipped her head at the car. “We’d better go. We have to get there in time to check in and get ready to have dinner with everyone.”

He nodded. “Dinner with the family. Okay, let’s do it.”

Chapter Three

They walked back to the car and got in, both of them unsure of how to go back to the easy friendship that had begun between them, now that they had tasted a wild electricity with one another.

Julia turned the radio on and for a little while, the miles spun away from them with the music, but then some of their favorite songs came on and they began singing along with the radio a little, and then singing along with the radio full blast, with shameless abandon, and the easiness they had found in the beginning returned to them.

They drove on without stopping for much more than gas and snacks, and occasionally a photograph along the beautiful coastal highway, and by six that night they had pulled into the hotel parking lot. They were both impressed with it. It was a huge glistening resort on the beach, with every nuance and amenity that could possibly be desired. The valet took her car and as they were walking toward the front desk, Derek pulled Julia aside and looked into her big brown eyes.

“I didn’t ask before, but I’ll need to know before we get to the front desk. Are we staying in the same room? It seems like if we’ve been together for two years that we would be.” His earnest eyes searched hers, making sure everything would be all right with her if he did stay with her. He didn’t really see that they had a choice, and he was worried that it might be awkward for her.

She drew a deep breath and let it out slowly. “We are going to have to be in the same room together for this to be believable. Are you all right with that?”

He nodded and gave her a half smile. “We’ve got to make it believable. We can do it.”

They turned together and headed toward the desk, hand in hand.

“Hello!” greeted the bubbly clerk at the check in counter. “Do you have a reservation with us?” she asked with a megawatt grin.

“Yes, here’s my ID,” Julia said, handing her driver’s license over to the girl.

The girl looked it up in the computer and her eyebrows shot up, “Oh! You’re with the bridal party this weekend! Lovely! Well, the bride has your room booked for you. You’re in a suite overlooking the ocean and the beach. It’s one of our best rooms. Now, it connects to the other suite next door to yours where some of your family is staying.”

Julia raised one eyebrow in concern. “My room connects to another room that my family is staying in?”

The clerk bobbed her head with a friendly grin. “That’s right!”

“Who’s staying in there?” she asked in trepidation.

The girl looked back at her computer and checked. “Evelyn and George Robinson,” she told them.

Julia turned to glance at Derek. “My parents... well... that’s... nice.” she said with a fake smile plastered on her face.

The girl at the counter missed her reaction, as she was busy gathering the room key and hotel information for them. “Here’s everything you’ll need. Please let us know if there is anything we can do to make your stay more comfortable!” she beamed at them both.

They thanked her and walked away and Julia muttered under her breath, “You could put my parents on another floor of the hotel. That would make my stay more comfortable.”

Derek laughed a little and placed his hand on her back, walking down the hall with her to their room. It was an enormous place: they had their own kitchen, sitting room, a bathroom with a jacuzzi tub, and a large bedroom with a king sized bed in it and a balcony going off of it through glass doors that led to a private beach for them, surrounded by lush vegetation for privacy.

There was a door in the sitting room that Julia looked at suspiciously. She was sure that her parents must be staying in the room beyond it. She took her bags into the bedroom and set them on the bed, looking around at the bedroom. It was a truly beautiful room. Derek set his bag on the couch.

Julia walked back into the sitting room and saw him there and said, “I think that the couch folds out into a bed. I’m sorry, I didn’t realize they had already booked a room like this. I was going to get us a room with double beds so you’d have somewhere comfortable to sleep.”

He shrugged. “I’ll be fine. It won’t be the first time I’ve slept on—”

Derek was interrupted by a knock on the door in the sitting room, which opened up immediately after the knock, and in through the door walked an older woman and man who looked at them both with wide eyes.

Julia’s jaw dropped slightly and she stared in surprise. “Mom! Dad! Uh... hi!” she went to them and hugged them tightly, and they hugged her back, holding her for a long while.

“I have missed my baby so much!” her mother said, holding her greedily before releasing her to her father so he could hug her as well.

They let her go and then all three of them turned and looked at Derek.

“This must be Theo, right?” her dad asked with a smile as he reached his hand forward. “I’m glad to meet you, son. I wish we’d met before now. I’m George, and this is Evelyn.”

Derek reached out for his hand and shook it, feeling the man’s strength and gentleness in his grip. He smiled at her parents and her parents both smiled back warmly at him.

“I didn’t know if I was ever going to meet you!” Evelyn told him with a smile. “I’m so glad you were able to make it. This is a nice surprise.” She looked at Julia and winked. “I guess Ronald will be disappointed.”

Derek looked from Evelyn to Julia and then he wrapped his arm around Julia’s shoulder and leaned close to her, kissing her cheek and making her eyes fly wide open in surprise. “I’m not letting anyone else get near my girl. I love her too much to let her be stolen away by another man. I’m sure he’s a great guy, but she’s spoken for.” He kissed her cheek again and held his arm around her shoulders snugly. Her face flooded with warmth and her breath caught in her chest.

Evelyn smiled at them both and nodded, and then she looked down at his bag on the couch. “Aren’t you going to take that in your room and unpack?”

Derek glanced down at his bag and raised his eyebrows. “Oh! Oh yes... I just set it there for a moment while we were looking at the place. It’s nice isn’t it? Huge. I didn’t expect it to be so big. I might need a guide and a map just to get around in here! Did you two get a good room as well?” he asked with a smile.

George nodded. “We did. It’s a well-appointed suite. I’m pleased with it.” He smiled at Derek. Evelyn nodded.

“I like it really well. Especially since it connects to your room! I can spend a little more time with both of you. I don’t get to see my girl very often, and I am interested in getting to know you, Theo.”

Derek nodded. “I’m really looking forward to getting to know you both as well. We’ve been putting this off for far too long.”

George smiled at them. “Well, we’re meeting up for dinner at seven, so we better let you kids get unpacked. We’ll see you in the banquet room.” He nodded to them and walked back into his room, and Evelyn hugged her daughter once more and smiled thinly at Derek and then followed her husband, closing the door behind her.

Julia looked around the handle and tried to flip the lock but it wouldn’t budge.

“The lock doesn’t work!” she whispered frantically. “The lock doesn’t work!”

Derek tried to move it and he couldn’t get it to budge either. He sighed and looked at her. “I’m sorry, but I think you’re right. They could walk in here at any point.”

She covered her face with her hands and then looked up at him with wide eyes. “That means you’ll have to sleep in my bed with me,” she whispered to him.

He nodded. “I thought as much. I’ll put my bag in there.” Then he wrapped his arms around her and hugged her. “It’ll be okay. The hardest part is over. I met your parents and they took it well, much better than you thought they were going to, so let’s count that as a win and move forward. Okay?”

She nodded and laughed lightly, amazed at the fact that her parents hadn’t lost it like she thought they would when they met her white boyfriend. “I guess I was wrong about that. I thought it would be awful.”

Derek shrugged. “Well, they surprised you in a good way, and that’s really nice.”

He set his bag in the bedroom and looked at the bed and then raised his eyes to meet hers. “I promise not to kick you in my sleep,” he told her with a straight face.

She laughed a little, and her tension began to ease up. “I don’t promise that I won’t talk in my sleep,” she told him honestly.

“Well, if you do, I promise to keep all of your secrets.” He winked at her.

She took a deep breath and it came out as a laugh, diluting her nervousness and easing her worries somewhat.

“Well, we’d better get ready for dinner. We don’t have much time.” She opened her bag and pulled out the yellow dress, and Derek’s hand went to his mouth in realization.

“Why don’t you go ahead and take the bathroom, and I’ll get ready out here, all right?” he offered with a smile.

Julia smiled back gratefully. “That’s generous of you,” she told him, taking her bags into the bathroom to ready for the rehearsal dinner.

She came out a short while later, her hair pulled back up at the top of her head and her curls cascading down the back a short way. She had refreshed her makeup and her dress hugged every one of her curves like a lover, moving with her as she walked, and making her look like a summer afternoon dream.

Derek stared at her when she came out, his eyes drifting over all of her as his breath escaped him. “You look amazing...” he breathed.

She couldn’t help the grin that took over her face as she nodded in thanks and then looked at him. He was wearing navy pants and cobalt blue silk shirt with a navy tie. His shirt brought out all the bright blue of his eyes and made them stand out even more than they already did.

“You look really good too!” she told him with a grin. “Thank you for doing this,” she said gratefully.

“Hey, I’m glad to help you.” He smiled at her, letting his eyes move over the fine features of her beautiful face and linger for just a moment, taking her in and memorizing every detail of her.

He looked away from her and she took a deep breath, reminding herself that she hired him to be her pseudo-boyfriend.

They walked down the hall together toward the banquet room and as they entered, he placed his hand on the small of her back and followed her into the room. One by one, people in the room began to turn and look at them, and several of their eyes widened in surprise, but they stood and greeted Julia and shook Derek’s hand as they met him.

“Theo! It’s so good to finally meet you!” Samantha said as she hugged him and smiled up at him. “I didn’t think we were ever going to meet you! Thank you for coming for this special weekend. It means a lot to us that Julia is here, and that you’re here with her!”

Julia looked as if her smile might crack in half at any moment, she was so tense, but Derek just wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her close. “Oh, I couldn’t miss it. I had already asked for the time off ages ago but we have a new manager who didn’t realize it and I was scheduled to work by mistake. They fixed it for me pretty quickly, but it took a few days and poor Julia here was so worried I couldn’t come. Luckily it all worked out at the last minute. She’s been so excited! This is all she has talked about since she found out about it! I’m just so glad to have this chance to meet all of you and share what is undoubtedly going to be one of the most special days of your whole life. I am truly, deeply humbled and honored to be a guest here for this wonderful occasion,” he said to Samantha and her fiancé.

He reached his hand forward to them and the man with his arm around Samantha took it. “I’m Kevin. It’s nice to meet you. Thanks for coming!” he said with a wide smile. Samantha nodded at his side, her eyes shining happily.

Derek met the rest of them: Kevin’s best man Eli, and both of the other bridesmaids, Bea and Shelly, who both gushed over him, grinning and giggling. Then he noticed another man of medium height and a slight build, standing just off to the edge of the group, his eyes locked on Julia. Derek felt her tense and saw her looking everywhere but at the man who was staring at her and he knew. He led Julia to him, though he could feel her not wanting to go, but his strong arm around the back of her waist gave him no choice and she plastered a smile on her face as they approached the man.

Derek held out his hand and finally the man took his steady gaze from Julia and lifted his eyes to Derek’s. “I’m Theo. You must be Ronald Williams. I’ve heard so many good things about you.”

Ronald didn’t take his hand immediately, but rather looked at him intently and then shifted his gaze back to Julia for a moment and staring into her before looking back at Derek. “I’m Ronald,” he said quietly.

He shook Derek’s hand and Derek gave him a firm and friendly squeeze, though Ronald did not return it. Then Ronald moved toward Julia and gave her a half hug, kissing her cheek softly.

“It’s so wonderful to see you, Julia. I’ve missed you so much. I couldn’t wait for this day. It’s been a long time since we were around each other. Your mother told me that you were probably going to come alone.” His eyes flicked back to Derek for a split second, and then they returned to Julia’s face. “You look so beautiful. Even more beautiful than I remembered,” he told her quietly.

She looked supremely uncomfortable. She smiled and nodded. “Thanks, Ronald. It has been a long time. I hope you have fun at the wedding.” She couldn’t think of anything else to say to him. She refused to lie to him and tell him that it was good to see him; it wasn’t good, it was awkward and she didn’t want to see him.