There really wasn’t even a question about how Anna was going to get to the reception. She and Jake lingered as the other bridesmaids filed into cars and limos, and she felt almost like a kid playing hooky, especially when Jake pulled her round the corner to where he’d parked his bike, both of their helmets hanging from the bars. She memorized that image, knowing she’d need it in the weeks ahead, when she returned to her real life and her weekend as a wild-haired bridesmaid was well and truly behind her. Minutes later, as they zipped along the city streets, she tucked her head against Jack’s back and held on, her gown flying in the breeze as they rode the short distance to the South Carolina Aquarium. This was it, she told herself firmly. When the motorcycle stopped, so did her silly crush. It was time to get back on task.
But since that was the case, she really didn’t want the ride to end. It was too easy to imagine herself as a legitimate girlfriend, legitimately enjoying a beautiful Saturday afternoon. Jake seemed to pick up on her mood, taking his time as they cruised to a stop some distance away from the aquarium, somehow managing to make an innocent walk to a reception a prelude to intimacy.
Now, as they neared their destination, Anna slipped her hand into Jake’s and slowed her step, just taking in the gorgeous glass-and-stone structure that jutted out into Charleston Harbor. Another memory to preserve. And she had everything to be happy about. Kristen and Todd, with any luck, were convinced she was either in love with Jake or well on her way.
And Jake, she desperately hoped, had no idea that the prospect of her falling in love with him was even on the table. Or anywhere near the table. Or in the same room as the table.
Because it wasn’t. That was absolutely ridiculous.
So this was the end of those unruly, inappropriate emotions that seemed to be cropping up every time she turned around, and now she could just enjoy the weekend for what it was. She could do this. She would do this.
“Now, Anna, don’t tell me you’re thinking too much again.” Jake’s words were soft as he folded her arm into his, and she blinked at him in surprise. “I know you’re bent that way, but this isn’t a night for regrets. That would be bad luck for the bride and groom.”
Anna’s brows went up, and the smile she delivered next was perfect—light, unconcerned, flirtatious. “And since when are you an expert on what might bring luck to newlyweds?”
He shrugged. “Irish family, remember? That means lots of aunts and uncles. Every single one of them with an opinion.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.” They kept moving, now stepping up onto the ramp. At the entrance to the aquarium stood two attendants wearing teal-green South Carolina Aquarium polo shirts. One of them held a tray of blue cosmos. As they walked up, the girl raised the tray. “It’s tonight’s special,” she said, smiling as Jake leaned over to sign the clipboard of the other attendant and flash the wedding invitation. When he’d finished, the woman handed them the drinks. “Compliments of the bride and groom.” Jake and Anna each took one of the long-stemmed martini glasses, then continued up the gangplank.
“What should we toast to?” Jake asked as Anna lifted the glass to her lips. She stilled her hand and looked at him searchingly as they crested the gangplank and came up on a wide veranda overlooking the harbor. Jake’s eyes were drawn to the sea, and seemingly almost without his direction, his legs took them over to the railing, until that was all that stood between them and the ocean.
Anna smiled, gesturing to the aquarium. “How about to Scott and Kristen? To ‘happily ever after’ and all of that.”
“Sounds good to me.” He smiled, and tilted his glass toward her. They clinked their cosmopolitans together, and Anna took a deep drink of the cool liquor to blunt the confusion coursing through her. This all seemed so … right. So normal, so real. So perfect.
“Let’s join the party,” she said, pulling Jake toward the revolving doors of the aquarium. Music already spilled from the building, the crescendo noticeable even out on the veranda.
They cleared the swinging doors and were treated to the view of a miniature rain forest, tucked into an alcove just behind the door. Mist shrouded the towering trees and shrubbery, giving one the instant feeling of being swept away to a tropical paradise.
“Nice,” Jake said beside her. “We’ll go find the bride and groom and then take a look around, okay?”
Anna nodded as they passed tastefully decorated tables with tiny place cards affixed to each setting. “Look, assigned seating.” She wondered if she could pocket the card that held Jake’s name—except it would be Dave’s, she suspected. Still, it was a memento, something she could keep to remind herself of everything that took place this weekend. Oh God, she thought. You’re becoming a barnacle, Anna. Nobody likes a barnacle. And that really wasn’t her style. She’d worked hard for most of her life to be the strong one, to be the rock in the ocean that didn’t waver. But something was conspiring against her this evening, making everything seem more important, more desperate. She hated her reactions, but she didn’t seem to have any control over them. Just like that long-ago young Jake, she supposed, who’d felt things so intensely that he reacted with his fists, his body, his heart—battling demons outside himself when those inside wouldn’t back down. She chose that moment to look up at him, only to catch him staring down at her.
“Seriously, Anna, what is it you’re thinking about?” Jake asked, his own voice strangely intent. “Because I’m not sure it’s what you’re supposed to be thinking about right now.”
“You,” Anna blurted, before she could stop herself. “I was thinking about you. I don’t think you got in fights because you got angry, Jake.” Now her heart was thumping heavily, but she couldn’t stop now, not with the words so insistent, demanding to be spoken. “I think you got in fights because you cared too much. Because everything mattered to you, everything was just … too big. And I think that’s—not necessarily a bad thing, is all.”
Jake got a startled, almost hunted look on his face. “Anna, what are you—”
“Oh, c’mon! Break it up, you two!” announced the bright, happy voice of Kristen. Breaking away from Jake, Anna turned, her mood suddenly lightened to see Kristen’s obvious pleasure with the evening, and with her newly married status. Kristen put her fists on her hips and scowled with mock severity. “We’re the newlyweds.”
Jake held out his hand to Scott, a grin replacing the look of concern he’d just leveled at her. “Congratulations, Scott. Judging from what I know of Kristen so far, you’ve made an outstanding choice in brides.”
Scott smiled as Kristen turned to him. He shrugged. “I made the only choice I could have. Kristen would have killed me if I’d backed out at this point.” Kristen punched his shoulder lightly and he hugged her. The two of them looked so quintessentially newly married that a thread of envy invaded Anna’s happiness for her friend.
“Well, here’s to making wise choices,” Anna said, but it was Jake’s gaze she found grabbing her attention, Jake whose glass she sought out to tap. There was no real choice to be made with him, though. So what was it she was really searching for? That he would make better choices going forward, but still find ways to keep caring, no matter what? Anna shook herself as they all raised their glasses, and with blue curaçao for courage, she decided to just stop thinking for now.
A passing waiter divested them of their empty glasses, and Kristen glanced at the front of the room. “There’s Aunt May,” she said, the consummate bride once again. She looked back at them. “Dinner is sort of casual, so just help yourselves. There will be dancing and all of that. And Anna, no hiding during the bouquet toss.”
Anna groaned as Jake looked at her with curiosity. “I always get bruised in those battles.”
“Ha,” Kristen said, rolling her eyes. “You always avoid them.” She nodded to Jake. “It’s your job to get her there, Jake.” And she sailed off toward the entryway of the aquarium, her gown flowing behind her.
“Well that sounded like an order.” Jake waylaid a cocktail server and secured them two more of the signature blue martinis.
Anna scanned the room for exits. “Kristen’s default conversational mode is ordering. It’s what she’s best at.” She shrugged. “Let’s go through there.”
Jake allowed Anna to lead him from the room, the citrus aroma rolling off her hair serving as an aphrodisiac more powerful than the sultriest of perfumes. Off the main entrance to the aquarium was a series of display rooms, each lit to best show off the exotic fish swimming behind the thick plate glass. In every room, tables were set up, all with name tags.
“I think I’d rather be back here,” Anna murmured as they passed another shadowy alcove, its display showcasing brightly colored fish darting through seaweed and coral.
“Don’t you need to be close to the head table for all the random toasts and bridesmaid things?” Jake asked, but his eyes were also tracking the slow, easy movement of the fish.
“Yeah, I guess,” Anna said. After that, conversation between them seemed unnecessary as they meandered past cases of coral and deep-sea artifacts. Jake definitely had the feeling they were entering strange and unexplored territory. He resisted the urge to pull Anna to him, and just let his thoughts swirl through his head like so many angelfish.
The next room was darker still, with a purple-and-blue display of jellyfish. Time had fled the small room; the lack of windows turned day to night and rendered night meaningless, as if they had descended to the dimmest reaches of the ocean. Jake stood, transfixed, as the supernatural-looking jellyfish expanded and contracted, their unconscious rhythm lulling him into a deep contentment.
“Hey, what’s back here?” Anna reached for his hand to lead him away, and his contentment gave way to decided pleasure. The touch of her skin, the smile in her voice—it was all just right. They stepped out of the jellyfish room into a teal-blue chamber that was only lit by the display of aquatic beauty that dominated it.
And dominated was the right word. “Oh my God,” Anna whispered. Jake just looked, barely able to nod.
A floor-to-ceiling sheet of glass opened into a world of the most exotic fish he’d ever seen. They undulated and darted, spun about madly and floated lazily, each according to its own desires. Crayola-bright purples and reds, blues and oranges, yellows and vivid greens washed through his mind, taking him to a place where only sensation mattered, and where the world of weddings and people was a distant, nearly forgotten memory.
“Isn’t this—” Anna stopped, her attention captured by an enormous blue-and-white fish drifting sinuously through the water. Her mouth dropped slowly open, her face flushing. Desire kicked through Jake with a powerful surge, and he had a vision, sudden and sure, of the two of them in that room, bathed in the light from the tank, Anna’s head back as he bent his body toward her. She would be perfect beneath his hands, her body poised and primed for him, ready to turn him inside out with just a shift of her hips, like she had last night … and again in his daydreams today, through all the long hours that they’d been apart. In her sweet blue dress and tidy curls, she didn’t look like the wanton that had filled his mind and fantasies, but Jake already knew there were many surprising sides to Anna Richardson. And he liked them all. Especially when they were naked. His gaze slid to the right of the display, taking in the Display Closed sign hanging on a velvet-rope stand. It was tucked into the corner, forgotten in the shadows—and it was exactly what he needed.
“Let’s go,” Jake said, hearing the roughness in his voice. The sound of it shattered the ethereal silence in the room and compounded the pressure building within him. He grew increasingly edgy as images of Anna’s sweet, curving body silhouetted against the exotic collection of fish rocketed through his brain.
“But it’s so gorgeous,” Anna protested, even as she allowed herself to be pulled away from the room, her eyes lingering on the case.
Leaning over to her, Jake drew her attention back sharply as he nuzzled her ear, licking the tip of it as she huskily drew breath. “Don’t worry,” he said. “We’ll see it again tonight.”
Assuming he could last that long.