Authors: Kelly Jamieson
She smiled at him over her shoulder and nodded. “Okay. I’ll see you at the church, I guess.”
They watched her walk out, her cute butt outlined by the snug, low-rise jeans. Tyler turned to Nick.
“Did we screw up big time, or what?” he asked.
The Visine, the tea bags and the heavy-duty concealer did seem to help. The several large cups of coffee she’d downed served to keep her alert, though her shaky hands were going to be pretty obvious as she carried her bouquet down the aisle ahead of Avery. Dammit.
What had she been thinking? Okay, sure, she’d wanted one wild night, but did she have to do it the night before her best friend got married? She closed her eyes, standing there in front of the full-length mirror in a Wirth guest room, then opened them again to study her reflection.
The bridesmaid dress was very nice, as bridesmaid dresses went. At least it wasn’t pouffy and hideous, and powder pink was a good color for her. Strapless, like Avery’s, the knee-length skirt was fuller, not straight, and a big satin bow tied around the waist. She held her arrangement of pink lilies, amaryllis, speckled green phalaenopsis orchids, pink dendrobium, and dusty pink calla lilies. Honeysuckle foliage trailed in a free-flowing cascade and she lifted the flowers to her nose to inhale their sweet scent. God, she hoped Avery liked them.
She sat on the bed to slip on the bronze shoes, sling backs with a pointy toe and an elegant heel. Okay. She was ready, on time and though maybe not looking and feeling her best, she’d have to do.
She left her room and knocked on Avery’s door.
“Who is it?”
“Me. Kaelin.”
“Come in.”
She opened the door and walked in. Avery was still there alone, dressed, breathtakingly beautiful. She faced Kaelin and smiled. “You look gorgeous, Kaelin.”
“Oh my god, so do you. So beautiful.”
Avery literally glowed, her skin golden against the white dress. The dress did in fact look stunning on, fitted to Avery’s curves, her small waist and slender hips. Her blonde hair sat on her head in a simple, gleaming updo and the long necklaces of pearls and rhinestones added sparkle to the dress in a sophisticated way.
“See what Scott gave me?” Avery tipped her head.
“The earrings?” Kaelin moved closer.
“Yes.”
Ginormous diamonds studs winked at her from Avery’s lobes. “Is that to make up for last night?” Kaelin asked with a smile.
Avery laughed. “I think he had these before then.”
“You’re not mad at him anymore?”
Avery sighed. “No. Everything worked out okay. Thanks again for your help. That Brent seems really nice.”
“Ha!” Kaelin couldn’t stop the word from exploding out of her mouth. “He gave me a speeding ticket today!”
“What!” Avery gaped at her. “Is that why you were running late?”
“Er…yes.” Kaelin swallowed. “Forget that. Where’s Maddie?”
“Right here,” she said from behind them. They turned to watch her, in her identical pink dress, cross the room. Maddie and Kaelin helped fasten the pink orchids into Avery’s blonde hair, then Avery added a little highlighter to Kaelin’s face. “You look a little washed out,” she said. “That’s better.”
Two hours of sleep would do that to you. Two hours of sleep and six hours of wicked hot sex.
Don’t go there.
When a knock on the door sounded, Kaelin opened it to see Mrs. Wirth standing there. Her blonde hair also shone in an elegant up-do and more diamonds sparkled at her ears. She, too, wore pink, but a deeper rose pink that flattered her creamy complexion and her toned figure.
“Oh, Kaelin.” Mrs. Wirth smiled and tipped her head to one side. “You look beautiful.”
“Thanks.”
“Is Avery ready? Can I come in?”
Kaelin turned and cocked an eyebrow at Avery who nodded. Kaelin let Mrs. Wirth in. She stopped and lifted her hands to her mouth, regarding her daughter.
“Avery. Honey.” Tears trembled on her mascaraed lashes. Hopefully it was waterproof. Weddings had a way of bringing on a few tears.
Mrs. With touched a fingertip to her eyes. “You look absolutely gorgeous, honey. That dress is incredible.”
“I thought you might be disappointed.” Avery looked down at herself.
“Oh my goodness, how could I be disappointed? You look so elegant and glamorous. It’s totally you.”
Now Avery’s eyes got all glossy and she and her mom hugged.
After innumerable posed photographs in the Wirth back yard in front of Mrs. Wirth’s rose garden, the limo took them to the church.
“He’d better be there,” Avery muttered as they neared the church. Kaelin shot her a startled glance.
“Are you worried about that?” she asked.
“Not really.” Avery grinned. “I just don’t want anything else to go wrong.”
“It’s going to be fine.” Surely to god nothing else could go wrong.
They entered the church through the side door and waited upstairs as guests entered, listening to the faint strains of guitar and piano. Kaelin faced her friend, putting all her own crazy thoughts and memories out of her head for her friend’s big moment. She smiled at her. “Almost time.”
“I’m ready.” Avery smiled, her lips shiny, eyes shinier.
Tyler appeared in the door. “Okay,” he said. “We just seated Scott’s parents and Mom and Dad. Time to go, Sis.”
“Oh.” Avery took a breath. “Okay.”
“Sure you want to go through with it?” Tyler asked.
“Tyler!”
“Just kidding. Don’t hit me with that bouquet, you could kill someone with that. It weighs a freakin’ ton.”
“It does not.”
Avery’s cascade of flowers was three times the size of her bridesmaids’. And this was keeping it simple. Ha.
The musicians changed to Vivaldi’s Guitar Concerto in D Major and Maddie went down the aisle first. Kaelin followed her, hoping her hands weren’t shaking too badly, a smile pasted on her face. When she passed Nick, seated right on the aisle, and caught his eye, his reassuring smile, she relaxed. A little. Tried not to think about him naked. No. Not now. Her hands started shaking again.
Tyler stood at the front of the sanctuary, gorgeous in a black tux. He, too, caught her eye, but instead of reassuring her, the wicked glint in his eyes had her almost hyperventilating.
They all turned to watch Avery come down the aisle, radiant and beautiful. The ceremony was mercifully short, though Kaelin wondered if she actually fell asleep standing up for a few moments, it seemed so short, and then it was done and Avery and Scott were man and wife.
They turned to walk back up the aisle, Hardeep holding out his arm for Kaelin. And then something weird happened. The pianist and guitar player finished their song, the church went quiet, and then strong, beating guitar chords throbbed through the church. The music sounded familiar… Kaelin frowned, trying to place it. The chords beat on and on, and just as she realized what it was and turned wide-eyed to Avery, the Black Eyed Peas started singing “I Got a Feeling”.
Avery grinned.
She’d planned this! Kaelin laughed out loud, caught the eye of Tyler, who was smiling too, then she took Hardeep’s arm. Avery waved them to go back up the aisle and so they did, moving to the uplifting beat of the music as it picked up tempo. Kaelin got a glimpse of the shocked look on Dr. and Mrs. Wirth’s faces, in contrast to everyone else in the church who seemed highly amused. Just at the door to the vestibule, Hardeep twirled her in a dance move and she laughed again, turned to watch Maddie and Tyler coming, smiling and laughing, and Tyler gave Maddie a spin too. Then Avery and Scott danced up the aisle in some moves they’d obviously practiced, laughing and looking so triumphant and happy, the jubilant music making everyone’s spirits lift, making everyone smile, and there could not have been a happier, more celebratory end to the traditional ceremony. It was indeed going to be a good night.
Chapter Eleven
The dinner and speeches were over. The cupcakes had been handed out by the bride and groom. The happy couple had danced their first dance, and Tyler had had several beers. It was a pretty good night.
His mom had driven him a little nuts with all the photographs, but overall she was too busy socializing to have time to bug him, and he’d actually enjoyed talking to some of his relatives—aunts, uncles, cousins—who were interested in his life in Chicago and his new business, and it was cool to talk to them too and hear about their lives, to reminisce a little. The wedding was almost…fun.
He looked around for Nick and Kaelin and found them together. On the dance floor. Talking and smiling at each other as they moved to the slow song. Tyler leaned back in the chair and lifted his glass to his mouth, watching them.
He hadn’t had much time to think about last night. After being so rudely awoken that morning—okay, not rudely, but abruptly—they’d been racing around all day getting things ready, then getting pictures taken, then the wedding, then more pictures.
He should be shocked as hell by Kaelin’s behavior last night. Sweet little Kaelin, the town sweetheart. He wanted to laugh, thinking about what people would think if they knew. His eyes roved over the guests—his parents, who loved Kaelin and thought she could paint a rainbow in the sky. Paul Bickford, the town’s most prominent lawyer, his dad’s best friend and coincidentally, Kaelin’s boss. Reverend McTavish, who’d performed the ceremony. What would they all think if they knew the truth about Kaelin?
His mouth twisted into a wry smile. They’d probably still love her. In fact, they probably wouldn’t even believe it.
Was he shocked? Somehow, no. He had complicated feelings about what had happened last night, that was for damn sure, but shock wasn’t really in there. Amazement, arousal definitely, admiration for her guts at going after what she’d clearly wanted so deep-down inside, and even something that felt like…gratitude.
Maybe because she hadn’t been shocked. Not at what she herself had done. She’d wanted it. But she hadn’t been shocked at him and Nick. And for some reason, that tugged at his heart and made him feel something huge and warm and… Jesus. He sat up straight. It felt like those old feelings he’d had for Kaelin back in high school, especially that last summer before he’d moved away, that summer they’d spent all that time together and he’d gotten to know her better and…
The summer he’d deliberately hurt her because he knew she was having the same feelings for him, and he knew there was no fucking way he was anywhere near good enough for her. The town sweetheart and the town asshole? Not likely. Not to mention she was two years older than him and his big sister’s best friend.
He drained the last of the beer and sighed. He’d been having such a good time, why did he have to start thinking about crap like that? He should just drink more beer and keep himself busy so he didn’t start thinking things that would get him into trouble. Like he always did.
Kaelin smiled at Nick. She’d been a little nervous about how she was going to feel with him and Tyler today after what had happened. But as always with Nick, she just felt comfortable and warm. He didn’t make her feel like the town slut even after what she’d done. And strangely, when she examined her feelings, she didn’t feel like the town slut anyway.
Sure it had been wicked. Wicked fun. Wicked sexy. Something she’d remember for the rest of her life. ’Cause that would never happen again.
Only, was she ever again going to be satisfied with vanilla missionary sex with the lights out, like Brent had wanted? It hadn’t satisfied her. It had driven her crazy with frustration and a deep, hungry yearning that she couldn’t find the nerve to tell him about.
“What’s wrong?” Nick asked, looking down at her, his hands on her waist, hers linked around his neck.
She smiled. “Nothing.”
“Regrets?”
She shook her head. “No. Not the way you mean.” She peered up at him. “You never told Tyler we kept in touch, did you?”
“No. I told you that in my emails.”
She nodded. “Thank you.” She’d asked him not to, but she’d never been sure if he’d kept that from Tyler.
“Did your ex-fiancé really give you a speeding ticket this morning?”
Her smile disappeared. “Yes.” She frowned. “He really did.”
“Jerk.”
“That’s the thing. He’s not a jerk. He’s a really nice guy.”
“Sounds exciting.”
She eyed him and saw the understanding in his eyes.
“Nice guys are boring,” he said.
“You’re a nice guy.”
“Gee, thanks.”
She laughed. “No! That’s not what I meant! You’re not boring! My god, how can you think that!”
“I’m boring compared to Tyler.”
She shook her head slowly. “No. You’re different, that’s true. But not boring. Never.”
“Thanks.”
They shared another smile.
“Why’d you break up with him?”
She blinked at him.
“Brent,” he clarified.
“Oh.” She dropped her head to his shoulder briefly then looked back up at him. “Because he was boring.”
Nick grinned. “See.”
She nibbled her bottom lip. “I never realized how much I wanted something…more. Something wilder.”
“You think you’re gonna find that here? In Mapleglen?”
She stared at him, his question reminding her of their conversation last night. “What are you saying?”
He lifted one shoulder. The song came to an end and they stopped moving, stepped apart. “I don’t know. I guess I’m saying last night was special. And after that, are you going to be satisfied with some other guy like Brent?”
“Maybe I just needed to get that out of my system.”
He tipped his head to one side. “Maybe.”
Tyler appeared beside them. “My turn,” he said, elbowing Nick out of the way. Nick just grinned and moved away and Kaelin turned to Tyler.
“Hey,” he said. “Great job on the wedding.”
“Thanks.”
The music started again, the tinkling opening notes of “Babe” by Styx. Tyler took her in his arms and she moved against him. He was a couple of inches taller than Nick, leaner, but just as strong. She couldn’t help but smile as she thought about how she would have reacted to this in high school, slow dancing with Tyler Wirth. God, she would have been so tongue-tied and intimidated. Now she’d slept with him. Lord. That flippy, fluttering feeling down low inside her returned. “And thanks for your help this afternoon.” She had to keep things cool tonight. Even though she couldn’t help thinking about Tyler and Nick’s hotel room, just a few floors above them, with that big king-size bed and…