Chapter Two
I fidgeted with my bouquet as I watched Tanya straighten the skirt of Lucy’s wedding gown. We were due to walk down the aisle in just a few moments and instead of helping Lucy get ready and maybe calming her last-minute nerves, I was freaking out. Silently and deep down inside.
I’d been excited about this day for months. Until yesterday night when I arrived at the rehearsal and discovered that I would be paired with Landen Weber in the wedding party.
Because I was a bridesmaid I hadn’t asked anyone to be my date. I knew that I would need to help Lucy before the wedding and probably offer assistance in putting out any fires during the reception. The figurative kind, and maybe even literal ones since there were tea lights around the centerpieces on every table.
Now, I was regretting it. Because Landen was coming without a date as well and Lucy had taken it for granted that the two of us would remain paired up during the entire reception. She’d even seated me next to him at the bridal party table.
When she told me all of this, I’d had to bite back the urge to wring her neck. Well, verbally at least.
“Ready?” Yancy asked as she handed Tanya her bouquet.
Lucy’s answering smile was wide and brilliant. “Definitely.”
She looked beautiful. Radiant. I blinked back the tears that suddenly welled in my eyes. She was the first of us to have a lavish wedding. Tanya and her husband, Jordan, had been married in a small civil ceremony a few months ago. Now, Tanya was pregnant and her little baby belly was adorable.
The bridesmaid dresses that Lucy chose were perfect. They were deep blue, almost navy, and the fabric gathered over the right shoulder, leaving the other one bare. While the rest of us wore figure hugging styles, Tanya’s was looser, more like a Grecian gown and it skimmed lightly over her body, not too loose but not as tight as the others. Amazingly, they were comfortable and the style looked good on all of us. We each wore low-heeled shoes and carried bouquets of white flowers tied with a sky blue ribbon.
Lucy wanted us to be comfortable and look great and she’d succeeded on both counts. Her dress was beautiful, a simple white gown that skimmed over her body like water. Gorgeous white lace overlaid the silk dress and the neckline was a simple white vee. The vee neckline also revealed the incredible diamond necklace that had been delivered this morning. It was Chris’ wedding present to her. When she opened the box, Lucy had gasped and refused to touch it, afraid that she would lose such a lovely and obviously expensive piece of jewelry. The diamond studs that sparkled in her ears had been a birthday gift from Chris a few months earlier and they looked perfect with the necklace.
My boss was a class act and he showed it in unexpected ways.
Amanda, the wedding planner entered the room, smiling when she saw us all gathered around Lucy. Though Lucy was a photographer, she wanted us to have privacy while we got ready for the wedding, so the photographer she hired was waiting in the ballroom to take the pictures rather than hovering around us in the dressing room.
“It’s time,” she said simply.
Lucy’s smile faded for a moment before it returned full force. “Does he look nervous?” she asked.
Amanda shook her head. “No.”
Lucy laughed. “I bet he’s shaking in his shoes but he’ll be damned before he shows it.”
I disagreed but said nothing. I knew Chris was more than ready to marry my friend. He’d been more content this week than I’d ever seen him, even as we worked like fiends to prepare for his week-long honeymoon. He’d been adamant that work wouldn’t intrude on his time with Lucy after their wedding.
I didn’t mention any of this to her, though. I had no doubt that Chris would show her exactly how happy he was to be her husband once the wedding was over.
Amanda lined us up and led us toward the ballroom doors.
I took a deep breath as I heard the music inside change. Tanya was first, followed by Grier, Yancy, then me.
Lucy’s dad approached her side and grinned at her. “You look beautiful, honey.”
She grinned at him
Then my ability to breathe deserted me completely when the doors opened to reveal the ballroom. It was magical. And very, very crowded.
To Lucy’s utter surprise, Chris had insisted on a big wedding. She assumed he would want to do what Tanya and Jordan had and have a civil ceremony at the courthouse. When she asked him why, he’d replied that they were only going to get married once and he wanted it to be impossible to forget. Then he’d spared no expense at making it happen.
As Tanya started down the aisle, moving gracefully despite her pregnancy, I turned toward Lucy and reached out. The urge to say something to her gripped me and I couldn’t fight it.
“You look beautiful,” I told her. She smiled and squeezed my hand and I continued, “And you’re marrying a man that loves you more than anything or anyone else in this world, you know that, right?”
Lucy blinked at me and I saw her eyes shimmer. I returned her hand squeeze.
“No matter what he says or doesn’t say, that man will love you forever,” I told her.
“I know,” she murmured, one tear escaping her eye when she blinked. “Now shut up because you’re making me cry and I don’t want to be a red, snotty mess when I say my vows.”
I winked at her and released her hand, turning back around just in time to see Yancy step forward. Then I squared my shoulders and started down the aisle, my eyes resolutely ahead.
Amanda was right when she said that Chris didn’t appear to be nervous. He didn’t. But I knew him well enough to see the anticipatory gleam in his eyes. He was looking forward to the entire hoopla. I managed to suppress the desire to shake my head at his strangeness and continued to move forward.
Unbidden, my gaze shifted toward the man that stood to the right of him and I nearly stopped moving. Landen Weber on a normal day was enough to make my stomach tighten but today was worse. So much worse. He looked incredible in his tux.
I couldn’t take my eyes off of him as I continued down the aisle. The black fabric draped over his shoulders and tapered to his torso. It must have belonged to him because it was clearly tailored to fit him perfectly.
I was only a few feet away when my gaze lifted back to his face and I sucked in a sharp breath. His lean jaw was tight and his dark blue eyes burned as they met mine. I wondered if the same heat lingered in my stare as well because I saw the muscles in his neck flex as he swallowed and a dull flush spread across his cheeks.
I tore my eyes from him and concentrated on my task—making it to the spot next to Yancy. My legs were unsteady but I managed to climb the two steps onto the raised platform without tripping. I winked at Chris as I passed but his attention was at the back of the ballroom.
Once I stopped and turned to face the guests, I felt the lingering heat on my skin and knew that Landen’s gaze was still on me. I ignored it and him. It was the only way I would get through the ceremony without sweating.
When Lucy appeared in the doorway, it felt as if the entire room held its breath. She looked stunning as she came down the aisle, a huge smile on her face. Her eyes never left Chris as she moved with slow, steady steps toward him.
I glanced over at him and found myself grinning as well. Chris smiled. Not often and usually they were small, but the full-out grin on his face was one I’d never seen before and I doubted I would ever see it again. It was reserved for the woman walking toward him.
The rest of the ceremony passed in a blur. I kept my gaze on Chris and Lucy though every so often I would feel the weight of eyes on my face and body and I knew Landen was looking at me. It was an instinctive awareness, the same one that responded to his nearness or when his hand touched mine on Wednesday.
When the officiate pronounced them man and wife and the music played, I steeled myself. After Lucy and Chris stepped off the platform, I moved forward and lifted my gaze to Landen’s. Without a word, he held out his arm and I slid my hand into the crook of his elbow.
Together we walked down the aisle and I tried to ignore the feel of his bicep beneath my hand. He was warm and solid. I’d always blocked out the shape of his body from my mind, never wanting to acknowledge that he had a build that I appreciated.
Now, I couldn’t ignore it. His arm flexed beneath my fingers and his leg brushed the skirt of my dress. I could smell the clean scent of his deodorant or cologne and feel the heat of his body through the thin fabric of his tuxedo.
It made me light-headed and a little freaked out. This was Landen Weber. The client that gave me a hard time whenever he came into the office. He was arrogant and irritating, not sexy.
We made it out of the ballroom without speaking a single word and I released Landen’s arm immediately. My body was still going haywire, but no longer touching him meant I would regain my equilibrium faster. Amanda was waiting for the bridal party and directed us to follow Lucy and Chris outside to take photos before the reception.
As we exited the lobby and walked across the grass, the short heel of my shoe sank into the ground, throwing me off balance. I stumbled and threw both of my arms out. Before I could hit the ground, two strong arms wrapped around me from behind and lifted me back to my feet.
Unfortunately, one of the hands holding me had landed directly over my breast. His other arm was wrapped around my lower belly with his hand cupping my hip. I gasped at the sensation of his hands on my skin, my body heating and stiffening in shocked arousal.
“Got your balance?” Landen asked me, his voice rough.
“Yes!” I replied sharply. “You can move your hand now.”
“Shit,” he cursed, jerking his hand off my breast. “Sorry. I saw you falling and just grabbed you.”
I kept my back to him, sucking in deep gulps of air in an effort to calm my traitorous body. When I felt him step closer, the front of his jacket brushing my bare shoulder, I lifted a hand. “I’m okay. Apology accepted. I just need a second.”
A warm gust of air blew across the back of my neck and I couldn’t prevent the shiver that ran through me. “It was an accident,” he murmured.
My head dropped forward and I closed my eyes. He sounded as though he truly regretted it and I knew it hadn’t been intentional. I knew he’d mistaken my silence for anger and forced myself to get it together.
“I know, Landen. I’m not angry. It just…caught me off guard.”
He hovered silently behind me for several long moments and I resisted the desire to turn toward him. That would be a mistake.
I heard the door behind us open and knew the rest of the bridal party was coming. I lifted my head and opened my eyes as they approached, turning toward them.
“Hey!” Yancy greeted me with a smile. “What are you doing?”
I shrugged one shoulder. “I nearly took a bad fall and Landen had to catch me. I needed a second to get myself together.”
Her brow knitted together. “Did you twist your ankle or something?”
I shook my head. “No, just scared myself. Ready?”
Yancy’s eyes narrowed and darted from my face to Landen. “Yeah.”
This time when we started across the lawn to where Lucy, Chris, and the photographer waited, Landen reached out, took my hand, and tucked it back into the crook of his arm.
When I twisted my head toward him, he smirked, “Just making sure you don’t hurt yourself.”
Though I narrowed my eyes at him, I didn’t pull away.