The Billionaire and Me - Complete Series: BWWM Alpha Billionaire Romance (7 page)

“Coming here so soon might’ve been a mistake,” I said to Blake once we were out of hearing range.

“They’ll have to adjust to it,” Blake answered.

“Perhaps you should’ve given them some warning.”

“No amount of warning would’ve done any good.  They wanted me to marry a woman who came from money but the heart wants what the heart wants.”

I paused as we walked up neatly painted stairs.  Why they had been painted white and not allowed to let the natural uniqueness of the hardwood show was beyond me.

“Are you sure I shouldn’t go to a hotel?”  I asked.

Blake looked to me, “You’re our
guest
.  Guests don’t have to stay in hotels.  Besides, we have planning that we need to do.”

I had forgotten about the wedding due to the displeasure of Blake’s family.  I had the feeling it would be just my family attending the dress fitting and everything that went with it.

“How soon are we planning on getting married?”  I asked.

“Soon,” Blake answered.

“How soon is
soon
?  I have to get a dress we need a cake and—”

Blake smiled patiently at me.  “Don’t worry about it.  We’ll find a way to make it all work out.  Tomorrow you can get your mother and sister to help you pick out a dress.”

The spiteful part of me wanted to get a dress at a second hand shop just to rub it in the faces of Blake’s brother and sister-in-law.  I knew not all wealthy people were so snobby and judgmental but the temptation was just
so
overwhelming.

“They’re going to judge and let them.  The only people they’re hurting are themselves,” Blake said.

I wish I was as easily convinced.  In-laws could easily wreak havoc with relationships and I knew they could do so just as easily.  Blake was bound and determined that nothing bad would happen so I did my best to stay positive for him.

The next morning my mom and sister came to pick me up to go dress shopping.  I had made arrangements to meet them elsewhere so they could not be scrutinized by Blake’s family.

“So when do we meet this Blake?”  Mom asked.

“Soon, I hope.”

“Trouble in paradise?”  My sister guessed.

“It’s trouble with the in-laws.  They’re incredibly judgmental and don’t like it that I’m not one of them.”

“It’s their loss.  At least you two will be away from them.”

I paused, “You two don’t disapprove?”

Mom stopped me before I could say something else, “You’re my daughter and I want you to be happy.  Having a son-in-law will take some getting used to but that doesn’t change who you are.”

For the first time in what felt like a long time I threw my arms around Mom and hugged her tightly.  Having someone’s support meant so much to me.

After a few minutes my sister spoke up, “How about dress shopping?”

“The dresses here are so expensive I was thinking about the second hand shop.  I’m sure there’s plenty of pretty dresses available there for a cheaper price.”

“Practical to the end.”

“I’m only going to be wearing it once so I don’t want to spend close to a million dollars on a dress I’m only going to be wearing to the wedding.”

“I repeat, practical to the end.”

“You’d do the same thing.”

“You win this round.”

Mom laughed, “Come on girls!”

The first thrift store we came across was an attractive one.  It had been an old building that was converted and updated.  It was also huge which I liked.  I suppose part of me was stubborn that I refused to accept Blake’s money on buying my wedding dress.  Some of it was due to my pride and the rest was due to the fact I feared his family would hold that little fact over my head for the rest of their lives.  I could already imagine the comments about needing a “hand out.”

Money was not the only reason I chose a thrift store to go shopping in.  Not only did I like them but every wedding dress needed alterations which would have been very expensive.  Getting a dress at a shop like this would’ve saved me a lot of money in alterations as Mom could do them.  Sometimes being thrifty was a good thing to be!

I was right about finding a pretty dress at the second hand store!  It was a modern piece but done to look vintage.  It had pretty lacy and beaded straps which suited me just fine.  I understood why people liked the strapless look but it wasn’t for me.  I would’ve been too worried about the dress sliding down and think I would’ve spent more time tugging at for fear of it falling.  If I wasn’t going to be accepted
before
I was bound to be rejected
forever
for a wardrobe malfunction!

I also liked the fact the dress was a light ivory color.  A white dress could indeed be pretty but unless your teeth and eyeballs were perfectly white it was not going to look flattering.  I didn’t want my eyes to look red nor my teeth look yellow.

“Here I am!”  I told them when I stepped out of the dressing room.  “I’m a little tall for the skirt but I like it that I can’t trip over the skirt.”

“I love it!”  Mom said.

My sister nodded in agreement before asking, “What about the veil?”

“I was thinking a birdcage veil.  I like the look of them.”

After a few more words of encouragement were exchanged I went back into the changing room and changed back into my street clothes.

I liked being able to wear the wedding dress of my choosing.  I was able to pay for it in cash and it was mine!  Not even Blake’s family could take that away from me.

That night Blake joked that he wanted to see the dress but I refused to let him see it.  I had placed the dress in a large dry cleaning bag and then neatly folded it into a sturdy box.  It wasn’t the best way to store it but it would have to do until I could find a better way.

I also didn’t want to admit it to Blake but I didn’t trust his brother or sister-in-law not to do something that could potentially damage the dress.

Blake was sitting on a large and plush bed that was being used as my guest room.  It was a huge bed, so big that at least three people could sleep comfortably on it.  I certainly had to hand it to his family; they certainly didn’t do things half way!

It seemed rather excessive to me but then I wasn’t their family.  If it had been me I like to think I would’ve done some things a bit differently.  The extra money could’ve made quite the investment to schools, churches, or to kids.

“Just one peek?”  Blake jokingly asked.  That brought me out of what I was thinking.  As soon as he spoke I had forgotten what I was originally rambling in my own mind about.

“Not even one!”  I retorted as I carefully placed the box inside the closet.

“That’s no fun.”

“You’ll just have to wait until the wedding.  Besides, Mom has to alter it so it’ll fit me better around the waist and hips area.”

Blake nodded his understanding and leaned back.  “It’s really nice of your mom to do that for you.”

“Mom’s always been altering fancy and expensive dresses.  I’m worried, though.”

That made him sit up and even lean forward.  “About what?”

“The wedding.”

“What about it?  Do you think we should wait?”

“It’s not that, it’s how is your family going to react to mine?  You know that they don’t like
me
so how are they going to react to a whole group of people who are ‘beneath’ them?”

Blake got up from his perch on the bed and took my hands in his.  “You leave that to me, okay?”

Looking up at him I managed a small smile and a nod.  I smiled again when he quickly kissed me.

“I’ve got an idea,” Blake said.  “Why don’t we go out for dinner tonight?  Just the two of us?  It’ll help get your mind off things.”

“Let’s go somewhere nice,” I said.

“Then we shall.  I’ll leave you to get changed and I’ll meet you down stairs.”

Blake closed the door behind him and left me alone to choose what I wanted.  At first I thought about that little black dress and then decided that it would be too cliché.  I had nothing against the idea of a little black dress but I wanted something unique this time.

I had decided on a dark coral colored satin dress with a matching lace overlay.  I had always liked lace and the overlay provided for a nice textured look without any of the weight or expensiveness.  Designers should really use lace more often.

For black I decided to wear black pumps.  Not the stiletto types as I feared I would fall and break my neck trying to navigate my way around this monster sized house.

I skipped the jewelry for the most part both to feeling that I didn’t need it and also out of worry.  I wasn’t worried of theft of it but Blake’s family and friends could feel I was trying too hard to be like them and thus give them reason to give us further problems.  It reminded me of the story of the
La Calavera Catrina
or elegant skull that was drawn by José Guadalupe Posada.  He had drawn the
La Calavera Catrina
to poke fun at the Mexican natives who tried to imitate the Europeans in dress.

Would they feel that I was trying to imitate their style?

I knew I shouldn’t worry myself over such things, and besides, Blake was waiting for me down stairs.  I had to act confident and collected to them as they would exploit any kink in the armor that they could find.

Walking down the steps I soon found Blake who smiled up at me.

“Ready?”  He excitedly asked.

Looping my arm around his I leaned in and smiled, “I’m ready.”

Perhaps saying it a bit too loudly to get attention or to ruffle some feathers Blake then said, “I really do like the dress that you are wearing.  It’s beautiful and looks elegant on you.”

Playing into it I said, “Does my coach have to turn into a pumpkin at midnight?”

“Only if you want it to.”

If Alexander and Melinda heard they did not say a peep.  That suited me just fine.

Sometimes it seems the more you’re waiting for something the longer it takes to even get here.  Other times when you’re not waiting for something it comes rushing right up on you.  I did wait for our wedding date to come up on us at a snail’s pace but it ran at us at full speed.

Before I knew it the cakes were done, the dress was altered, and the building for the reception was done.  How could this have possibly been done so fast?  I could hardly remember saying what we needed.

I had lucked out in the fact my sister had decided to make the cakes.  There were some things money certainly couldn’t buy and I was happy for that.

The one thing I wasn’t happy about is I was all but forced to have Melinda in the bridal party.  At first I resisted and while Blake couldn’t blame me for that he also wanted to keep the peace so I had relented.  After the wedding, however, I wanted to stay as far away from
them
as humanly possible.  I didn’t care if we lived in Antarctica; I wanted to be away from them!

With the help of the stylist the last bobby pin I would need was placed in my hair when we heard a scream that sounded an awful lot like Melinda.  The stylist jumped, digging that pin deep into my scalp.

I hissed in pain and mentally grumbled at Melinda’s scream and what I assumed was general carelessness.  She was the type of person I assumed would have a stroke if she broke a nail.  Right now I didn’t see any reason to think differently.

Still, despite my anger at her, there was curiosity. 

“What happened?”  I asked in the most patient voice I could possibly muster under the circumstances.  It was not easy either as I felt as if the school yard bully was trapped in a room with me.

I could hear the clucking of over women as they were all gathered around Melinda’s backside and hip.  Under different circumstances it would have been rather entertaining.  Still, the stubborn, hurt, and angry part of me hoped that this would force her to change dresses.  She had chosen to wore a screaming fire engine red silk satin dress with crystals beaded all over it.  I had suspected this was somehow done to upstage me as the bride.  Despite it being the bride’s day there was often someone who wanted all the attention on themselves and Melinda did like her attention.  This kind, however, I don’t think she wanted.

“My dress split!  It split right open in the back!  Alex bought this dress for me and he’ll have kittens!”  She wailed.

I could’ve just blamed this on a dose of instant karma and hoped that she would change.  I could have but something wouldn’t let me.

“My mom left an old sewing kit here.  Take the dress off and I can mend it,” I said.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes!  Now take it off because we don’t have much time!”

She reluctantly did so and handed it to me.  Someone else gave her a robe so she would not be sitting there practically naked in front of all of us.

Though I was not that familiar with this type of fabric I did my best to mend it with as small stitches as possible.  If it at least held until the end of the ceremony or the reception I would be happy.  I was also grateful Mom had spent that time teaching us basic mending skills.

“You should thank Amanda for what she’s doing,” my sister spoke up.

Melinda muttered something of a quick thanks but my sister was having none of it.

“You treat us all badly because we’re not wealthy like you and now that you need us you still treat us poorly?”

Before it could escalate I cut in, “I’m not doing this for you, Melinda.  I’m doing it for Blake as I know it would also be important to him.”

“If it were me I’d just let you waddle down the aisle with your ass exposed to half the world!”  My sister snapped.

“Stop it!  All of you!”  I ordered as if I were talking to a group of unruly kids.  “It’s
my
wedding and I want you all to behave!”

I clipped the stitches to Melinda’s dress and turned it right side out before handing it to her.

“There, that should do it until the end of the ceremony.  You might want to enlist in a backup dress just in case.”

Melinda took the dress from my hands, “I do have one.  Thank you.”

To my surprise she actually
did
seem grateful.

It was a small victory but still a victory.  Perhaps this would be the one little thing that might help me gain an ally while navigating my way through this family.

If nothing else it at least stopped some problems for now.

Mom had indeed been right in always carry some small necessities with you on the day of your wedding.

There was a knock on the door followed by an announcement that it was time for the ceremony to begin.  I would have been the first one out the door but Melinda reached it before I could.  For a moment I thought that she was trying to upstage me when she stopped and looked from side to side.

“All clear!  No sign of the groom in sight!”  Melinda said.

It was an old custom that the bride and groom should never see one another before the wedding.  While it may be a dated custom part of me still felt glad that Melinda was making sure that Blake was not around to see me.

Even Melinda’s attitude seemed to be tamed down as we walked to the ceremony.  She was actually putting forth an effort to do nice things for me.  I didn’t know if she could out right apologize to me for her actions due to pride or something else that she wouldn’t reveal.  Perhaps this was her way of trying to make things right by doing the right and nice things.

Thankfully the rest of my party was also calmed down and there were no more spats.  If there were I certainly was not informed of or about them.

The grand doors of the church open and off walked my bridal party followed by me.  I could see Blake at the very end of the aisle looking almost relieved that I was in fact standing there.  I was equally nervous and hoping that he was standing in his place when the ceremony began.

We had opted for a quick ceremony with the exchange of vows and rings.  I liked the idea of having a quick ceremony and I suspect Blake liked it too.

At the end of the ceremony we were practically rushed out of the room and to a large limo that was waiting for us.

“Are we going home?”  I asked my new husband.

“We will eventually, but right now we have our honey moon to attend to.”

“Where will we be going?”

“You will find out soon enough.”

We both smiled at each other.

Mom was right about one thing.

The wedding ceremonies always seemed to go off perfectly.

I felt it was both perfect and very happy. 

I know I was happy
.