Chapter 7

“Is the dress ready?” Drake nervously asked Scarlett over the phone.

“Yes, don’t worry. Everything is ready on my end.”

Drake couldn’t help worrying. The wedding was less than twenty-four hours away, and Drake felt like there were still a million things to do. Everyone was starting to arrive for what they thought was an engagement party, and Drake was sure that he was going to accidently spill that it was a wedding. Every moment was consumed with trying to remember who he was talking to and what version of the story that person knew.

Their friends and family had all started to arrive, and everyone was eager to visit and talk with Drake and Samantha. They had family in from all over the country and even a few people from overseas. Drake had put Samantha in charge of visiting with most of them though, because she was the one who thought it was an engagement party. Samantha was laid back and not worried at all about the event because to her it was just another fun party they were throwing at the house.

“Have you been in touch with the other ladies? Are they all riding with you to the wedding?”

“Well …” Scarlett started to say and then trailed off.

Drake felt a lump in his throat at her hesitation and instantly worried about what it was that she was trying to tell him. His nerves were shot, and he couldn’t take anything going wrong on their wedding day.

“What is it?”

“All of the ladies have decided to come,” Scarlett said quickly.

“All of them?” Drake asked as he held one hand over his eyes.

He was at his office, so he could have some peace and quiet while he finalized the wedding plans. It was going to be a long day, and Scarlett wasn’t helping with the news she had just given.

“But don’t worry. I’ll keep the ladies with me, and we will all ride in a limo together to the event. They are genuinely excited to be part of the wedding and are happy for you.”

Drake still felt dread in knowing that Victoria, Sophia, and Cynthia had also decided to accept their invitation to attend the engagement party. Drake had not spoken to those three women since they left the house after their week with him, and he didn’t know where their minds were at after everything that had happened. At least, he had talked with Lauren, Allison, and Emily since then and knew they were all moving on and happy for Sam and Drake.

“I don’t even have time to worry about them, just promise you’ll try to keep them under control.”

“You don’t have anything to worry about. We aren’t all friends or anything, but we can all behave ourselves for a little bit of a party. They are probably just here to see one of your amazing parties. You know, everyone talks about them in the papers like they are better than even the Playboy Mansion parties.”

Drake couldn’t help laughing. He used to throw some pretty wild and crazy parties but wasn’t really into all that anymore. This wedding was going to be sophisticated and stylish. He hoped it would still be something everyone talked about, but more than that, he hoped that Samantha would be excited about it.

“I’ve got to run,” Drake said shortly as another call was coming in. “I’ll see you early tomorrow at the house. Thanks for your help.”

Drake switched over to a call from Colin. His heart rate was still up as he tried to calm himself and focus on the tasks that still needed to be handled.

“The flowers aren’t going to be ready,” Colin said without even saying hello to Drake.

They were long past pleasantries as both men had been working their asses off for the past two weeks. Neither of them had the energy to even be nice to each other anymore.

“What do you mean? Why?”

“Apparently, the truck they were on for delivery is stuck in the mountains, and they are waiting on a new one to arrive. They could possibly be here tomorrow, but the florist couldn’t guarantee it.”

“Goddamn it!” Drake yelled out.

This was not acceptable. He didn’t have time to find another florist, and he certainly didn’t have the energy to go over which flowers he wanted and all the arrangements that had to happen for the tables and wedding area.

“What do you want to do?” Colin said.

“Send a damn helicopter to the goddamn florist’s house and take her to the damn truck for all I care. Just get those damn flowers here.”

“No problem; I’ll make it happen.”

Colin had just needed the blank check okay from Drake to do what was necessary to get the flowers to the house. Not all of his clients were willing to spend money like Drake was, but it did make things easier. Almost anything could be accomplished if you had enough money to motivate people to get it done.

“Thanks, Colin. I know things are stressful, but I promise after tomorrow I’ll show you the appreciation you deserve.”

“It’s all good, Drake. This event is going to be fabulous.”

Drake sat quietly in his office as he tried to think about all the other details that could go wrong. So far, there hadn’t been any big disasters, and he knocked on wood, hoping that it continued that way. His nerves were totally shot, and he couldn’t imagine being able to do what Colin did for a living. It actually seemed much harder than running a company.

Everyone’s emotions were on high alert when a wedding was being planned. Drake suspected that Colin got yelled at almost daily. But he also suspected that Colin did a lot of yelling at vendors daily.

As Drake’s phone rang again, he dreaded who it was going to be and what sort of problem they were going to have. He didn’t even look at the caller ID as he answered.

“Hello.”

“I think you should come home and give me a full body massage,” Sam said.

“Oh, you think I should. Why is that?”

“I’ve just finished talking to no less than a dozen of our family members and getting them settled into their rooms in the house. I need a break. Where are you; I’ll come to you.”

Drake loved that Sam had spent the morning talking to family because he certainly didn’t have the time or patience to deal with anyone. He could barely keep himself together to deal with the items that he had to.

“I’m at the office, just finishing up a few things. I submitted the paperwork to make you the new VP of marketing position.”

“What? Already? Are you sure?”

Sam was quiet and seemed in no hurry for the new title or the new salary, but it was a long time coming. Almost every marketing idea they had implemented in the last few years had come from her. The only downside of making her a vice president was that Drake was going to have to hire a new assistant. He had gone through dozens of them before Sam took the position, but he suspected by avoiding sleeping with them, he would be able to find a much better staff, that might actually stick around.

“You will be great. I think it’s about time you had something else to do besides keep me busy.”

“I’m so excited!”

“We should go grab a drink and celebrate. Just get away from everyone for a few hours.”

“Yes. I’ll be ready at two, just swing by the gate, and I’ll come out.”

“Deal.”

Drake couldn’t wait to get a few minutes alone with Samantha before their big wedding day. There was one problem, more like a superstition, that he still had to figure out how to deal with. He needed to figure out how he and Sam could not sleep in the same bed the night before their wedding. It was an easy task if Sam knew the next day was the wedding, but since she saw it as their engagement party, it was going to be much trickier to find a reason not to be home that night. Drake hoped he would come up with something before the end of the day.

After finishing a few things at the office, Drake drove up to the street outside his house. He didn’t want to dare go into the parking lot as he knew one of his family members would be there and would want to congratulate him on everything that was going on.

“I feel like I just sneaked out of my parents’ house,” Sam said as she climbed into Drake’s car.

“It’s kind of exciting, isn’t it?” Drake leaned in and kissed Sam before driving away.

“This engagement party is turning into one huge event. Are you sure you don’t want to just elope?” Sam joked.

“Sure, let’s fly to Vegas tonight.”

Sam and Drake laughed, but it did make Drake feel much better about the whole wedding surprise. The anticipation was killing him, though, and it took every inch of willpower that he had not to tell Sam about the wedding. But he had come so far and wasn’t about to ruin his own surprise.

“Let’s eat; I’m starving,” Sam said, grabbing Drake’s hand and holding onto it.

The touch of her skin on his always got him excited. Drake could only hope that twenty years down the road, his body would still stand at attention when his beautiful wife touched his hand. It was a life goal that he would be eager to accomplish.

Drake drove them to a little chicken shack that was down by the water. It was one of their favorite places to visit on sunny weekend days, and he loved how quiet it was. They grabbed some chicken sandwiches and found a spot on the beach where they sat and watched all the beachgoers enjoying the sunny afternoon.

“Did you know that I love you?” Drake asked, looking over at his beautiful wife to be.

“Actually, I did know that.”

“I can’t wait to be your husband.”

“Drake, I can’t wait to be your wife. Nothing has ever felt so perfect, and I’m only sorry that I waited so long to say yes to moving things forward with us.”

“I’m not sorry you waited,” Drake started to say. “I don’t think I would have been a good enough man before, and I’m happy we waited.”

Drake had spent the previous five years screwing any decent looking woman that he wanted to. He hadn’t cared about their feelings or worried that he would be emotionally damaging them. Drake hadn’t cared about anyone but himself for most of the years that Samantha had known him. He didn’t blame her at all for not wanting to date him, she had made a very wise choice not to get involved with him.

“It’s weird that a sex-filled week with seven women is what finally changed our minds and got us together.”

They both laughed, but it was strange how things worked out. Samantha had been part of helping to cast the women who stayed with Drake. She had been the deciding factor on several of the women and had found him some amazing and kind women to date. But in the end, Drake wanted the one woman who had denied him for years and years.

He was happy that the week with all seven women had happened, but not because he slept with them or had crazy sexual happenings with them. Drake was happy that the week had happened because he grew as a man, and he knew what he wanted when the week was over. The week had also convinced Sam to give him a chance, and that was all they needed to build their happily ever after.

“I’m happy that everything in our past has brought us to this point. Whatever it was, good or bad. We are here and together, so that’s all that matters.”

Drake and Sam stayed at the beach for the rest of the afternoon. They cuddled and enjoyed the warm air and then watched the sunset before finally deciding to leave. For Drake, it was the last moments with his fiancé before seeing her in her wedding dress. He cherished that time and couldn’t wait for the morning when he would get to surprise her with the ultimate wedding day.

Suddenly, he had the perfect idea of how to get himself out of the house for the evening so he and Sam didn’t see each other at all on the night of the wedding.

As they climbed back into the car, Drake text Robert a cryptic message that told him to call Sam and frantically look for Drake.

There weren’t’ many people in Drake’s life that he could trust no matter what was going on, but Robert was one of those people. Robert didn’t know that the wedding was happening that weekend, but Robert made the call to Sam only moments later. He was a true friend, and Drake loved that he could count on him at all times.

“Robert’s calling,” Sam said as she answered the phone call.

Drake couldn’t exactly hear what was being said, but he heard Robert’s voice frantically talking to Sam. He tried not to smile at the urgency with which Robert was talking, but it was quite funny.

“What is it?”

“I don’t know. Robert is babbling on about something with that overseas client. I think he wants you to go into the office for a conference call with him or something.”

Drake grabbed the phone away from Sam so he could talk to Robert.

“The China client is angry?” Drake asked.

“If that’s what you need me to say,” Robert replied.

“Okay, yeah, I’ll meet you at the office. We might have to be there most the evening to straighten all of this out.”

“Christ, Drake, do I have to actually come to the office now?”

“Yes, I’ll meet you there in a few minutes. I just need to drop Samantha off at the house.”

As Drake hung up the phone, Sam just rolled her eyes. It wasn’t the first time that Drake got called away for work. Luckily, she knew the business well and didn’t get worked up at all when Drake had to make work a priority. Sam knew that he only went into work when things were absolutely necessary, and she didn’t mind it.

“I’ll hold down the fort, just wake me up when you climb into bed,” Sam said as they drove back to the house.

“I might just crash at the office if it gets late. But I’ll text you and let you know.”

“Alright, darling.”

Drake dropped Sam off at the house and then drove straight to work. He was going to have to explain everything to Robert, but that was alright. It wouldn’t hurt to let him in on the plans a little bit early.