Chapter Fourteen
Kayson
Reid had me worried. Not a little bit like, I have a hangnail bothering me, I should probably take care of it. More like, hmm, I should probably get that broken arm casted before it falls off.
We weren’t to the point where I felt like I could sit him down and say, “Hey, babe, I need to know what your plans are.”
I wish we had gotten to that point.
“What’s the emergency?” I asked a little callously as I entered the restaurant. Celeste was in the corner, crying, with a raccoon’s worth of black crap running down her face and a crowd of worried onlookers surrounding her.
“Look!” she screamed and pointed to the ceiling. The piece I had used to covertly cover the dusty ceiling fan was in a shambles. Despite my begging everyone to not turn the fan on and even placing a Post-it note over the switch.
They did it.
They turned the damned fan on.
“No problem. I need a ladder, and I’ll grab some other stuff from my truck.” The hostess from before scrambled to the back yelling for a ladder while I passed Reid and grabbed his elbow, dragging him outside with me.
Because the man was almost doubled over in laughter, and he wasn’t doing a stellar job of hiding it.
“That’s ridiculous, Kayson. Did you see the switch? Someone had to remove the note that said not to touch the fan, turn it on, and the put the sapsucker back. That takes balls.”
“It does. I wrote that note.”
“You should’ve covered the damned thing with duct tape. Clearly, notes don’t work.”
“Here. Hold this.” I put clear tape, wire cutters, ribbon, and a few extra things in his hands while I got the rest. I couldn’t wait until this wedding was over.
I might put a sign up on the shop that said, No longer taking wedding projects. Sounded good to me.
What didn’t sound good to me was Reid leaving. I supposed that after the wedding was over, there would be no more reason for him to stay.
Unless, we were enough of a reason.
Unless, I was enough of a reason.
“What was that?” He shuffled everything to one hand and used the other to stroke my cheek. Out of instinct, I pressed my face against his palm and reveled in the warmth while I could.
“Nothing.”
“Liar.”
With a shrug, I pried away and forced myself to go inside and fix the stupidest situation known to a florist in the history of florists.
“Can you fix it?” Celeste asked, now cleaned up and sobbing more like a baby than a grown woman.
“I hope so. Reid, can you tape that switch up so no more idiots can touch it?”
I grabbed the haphazard ladder they’d retrieved for me and got to work. With a bunch of ribbon, wire, and tape, I finally got it looking halfway decent.
“It was me,” Celeste blurted with a screech as I got down from the ladder. “I turned it on. It was hot in here.”
I bit the insides of my cheeks. “You asked me to put this on the ceiling fan. Remember?”
“I do. I’m sorry. I promise this will be the last emergency.”
Sure, she did. I left the restaurant with Reid following me, chuckling the whole way.
“What’s so funny?” I asked, getting back into the driver’s seat.
“I think I dodged a bullet by getting rid of Knox. Seriously, that’s his new type? Ditzy and dramatic? Who knew?”
The tension went away at the sound of his deep laughter in my van. It filled the air and my heart with a song I didn’t know I loved.
“I suppose it’s time to go get dressed,” I said, sighing after our fit of laughter.
“Should we meet here or…?”
I scoffed and put my hand over the console to tug on his thigh. “No way. I’m coming to pick you up all proper-like. You even get to see me in a suit.”
“You? In a suit? Yeah, I’ve pictured it, but I’m fairly certain you’ll burst that dream.”
I sighed, heavy and loud.
“What?” Reid asked.
“Nothing. It’s just that the more I see you, the more I want to see you and even now, just dropping you off, even for a little while seems painful. That’s stupid, right? After two days, I’m ridiculous to feel this way.”
“It’s not. I’m a firm believer in the fact that no feeling is ridiculous—ever.”
The standoff is what scared me. I knew he felt the same, but he was standing at a distance I couldn’t cross.
He would have to cross it when he was ready.
“Let’s get this over with,” I said, putting the van into drive. We didn’t speak on the way to the hotel, which I simultaneously regretted and reveled in. It was wasting time with Reid, but I knew if I spoke, I’d do something rash like beg him to stay or never leave his hotel room.
I’d stated my case. I needed my omega to close the space between us.
“Here we are.” I stopped in front of the hotel, mentally debating whether or not to walk him up to his room, but I knew that wouldn’t end well.
It would end well, but we wouldn’t make it to the rehearsal dinner. Maybe not even the wedding.
“I know.” Yet, he didn’t make a move to get out of the car.
I decided to make light of the situation. It was the only way.
“Well, look, I have to go home and make myself look hot for this fine omega I’ve been seeing so, dude, you have to get out. I need my beauty time. Go!”
He barely cracked a smile, but got out, shutting the door gently before turning and going into the hotel.
Damn, Reid was going to break my heart hard.