“Double espresso please—no, make it a triple.”
Gwen handed her credit card to the clerk and wondered whether anyone would notice if she took a little nap in the limo. She was starting to feel like she couldn’t even remember the last time she’d had a full night of sleep. And since she didn’t plan on getting much that night either… a few z’s en route to the church hardly seemed like much to ask.
She sighed. If only.
After the rehearsal, Brody and Bret had taken off for a quiet last night of bachelorhood, and she’d gone with Claudia and a few friends to the pub. Turned out to be a great place, and more than a few of Claudia’s high-school besties had shown up to help her celebrate before the big day. It hadn’t been a long night. Gwen had been in bed by twelve, but once again, she’d been lying there, staring at her ceiling and thinking about Brody.
She should have dragged him off to the ladies’ room at the restaurant when she’d had the chance. Not very romantic, but she’d been aching to feel his mouth on hers again. She wanted the tightening of his fists at her sides and—
Who was she kidding? She wanted to feel all of him, and she wanted to feel it everywhere, and while something quick would have been a start, she wanted it for a whole night. For longer than that.
She was sugaring up her order when Janna materialized beside her.
“Just a sip. We’re T minus sixty, and the last thing we need are a bunch of bridesmaids crossing their legs during the ceremony.”
Gwen forced a chuckle, hoping the sound was at least remotely sincere. There was something off about Claudia’s maid of honor she couldn’t put her finger on. Not that it mattered. By this time tomorrow, Janna would be on her way back up to Wisconsin, and hopefully Gwen wouldn’t see her again until they had a baby shower to attend.
Gwen’s sip was more like a gulp as she started to head back toward the rest of the girls gathered by the front door. But then Janna was beside her again, reaching out to touch Gwen’s arm.
“So, you and Brody?” she asked, and if this was her idea of polite chitchat, she really needed to work on it. Because it felt forced. Uncomfortable.
Still, it was a simple question and one she didn’t mind answering. Gwen took another less greedy sip and nodded. “He’s a good guy.”
“And what about Ted?”
Gwen blinked, not following.
But the way Janna’s lips had pressed into a flat line and her eyes were all but shooting daggers said maybe she was. Did this have something to do with Ted and Janna hooking up after the shower?
“Ted and I grew up next door to each other. We’ve been friends forever, so we’re very close. But that’s all it is.”
If it was possible, Janna looked even more pissed. “Friends. But not just friends. At least not always.”
“What?” Gwen choked out, unable to believe what she was hearing.
There was no way Ted would have told Janna about their history. He wouldn’t tell anyone, least of all some one-night hookup he’d been actively dodging at the pub the night before. Unless…no. He wouldn’t.
Her gut churned.
Unless he’d been trying to brush Janna off with some tall tale about there being something between him and Gwen, just so she’d leave him alone.
“Isn’t one man enough for you? Or do you really have to keep stringing Ted along too? He’s a good guy, Gwen. And if you can’t see that, you ought to let him go once and for all.”
Looking like she was ready to break down and cry, Janna turned on her heel and stomped back to the bathroom.
Clearly, Gwen had entered some kind of parallel dimension.
She wanted to set Janna straight, but if Ted had gone to the effort to fabricate this story, the friend in her felt like maybe she ought to back him up. And then set him straight as soon as humanly possible about using her to handle his hookup problems.
* * *
Sixty minutes later, they were at the church. Every hair was in place, every lash thick and long, every bridesmaid buzzing with nervous excitement as they crowded around Claudia for one last hug. She looked beautiful, and the smile on her face was what you wanted to see from every bride on her special day. This woman was about to have her own happily ever after, and she knew it with her whole heart.
One by one, the girls lined up at the entryway, taking the arm of their assigned groomsmen. Gwen hooked her arm through Ted’s, because of course they were together again.
“You are in so much trouble, mister,” she whispered through a forced smile.
His head snapped around, alarm in his eyes. “What are you talking about?”
Like he didn’t know. “Janna?”
Ted blanched, his expression every kind of guilty. In fact, he looked almost sick.
“Relax, Ted. I forgive you,” she said, relenting. They’d both made their share of mistakes over the years. “She’s a serious nutcase. But if you’re going to make up that kind of lie, at least make up the girl you’re hung up on too.”
Ted ran a hand over his face and shook his head. “Gwen—”
“We’re up,” she whispered, starting down the aisle, her eyes locked on the far end of the church where Brody stood beside Bret.
She’d seen Brody in a suit, in jeans, in plaid pajama pants, and in Bears jerseys. The man looked good in anything he put on, but this? This was something else. Brody looked like the cover model for some Irish formal-wear magazine. The black single-notch tuxedo and crisp white shirt fit him to a T, emphasizing his build in a way that had her fingertips itching to touch—and probably half the women in the church drooling over him.
And when his eyes locked with hers, that low thrum of anticipation shifted into high gear. Because even from across the church, she could see the way his face changed, and it did something to her. Made her confident, excited.
Somehow, she managed to hold herself back from sprinting the distance and launching herself into his big, strong arms, or maybe that was Ted keeping her in time with the music. Either way, as they neared the end of the aisle, Ted gave her hand a small squeeze and angled his head closer to hers. “When this is over, we need to talk.”
She did a little double take, but then it was time for them to part. Ted stepped to the right as she stepped in line to the left. After that, the music changed, and all anyone could look at was the bride.
* * *
Brody couldn’t take his eyes off Gwen. She was gorgeous, standing there on the other side of the aisle in that scarlet gown, her hair pinned up in a twist. Tears glistened in her eyes as Claudia and Bret exchanged their vows. She was soft and sweet and such a sucker for a good happily ever after. She was his every fantasy. And from the looks she’d been getting throughout the ceremony, maybe not just his. Probably half the guys and at least some of the girls had designs on his woman. Mostly, it didn’t bother him. Gwen was breathtaking, and they’d have to be blind not to notice. But there was one set of eyes glued to his girl that was bringing out the chest-thumping caveman in him.
Fucking Ted.
Brody’s molars ground down. Sure enough, the guy was still watching her. It was just like he’d told her it would be. As soon as Ted realized he was losing that undivided focus she’d been giving him for God only knows how long, suddenly, he couldn’t take his eyes off her. He’d been all about those frequent touches and private whispers—and what the hell had that been when they were walking down the aisle? Something about the look on Gwen’s face had put Brody’s teeth on edge. Because Ted was making a play all right, but it was too fucking late. Gwen had wised up about him and, more importantly, about what her heart really wanted. Who the right man for her really was. Spoiler: Not Ted.
The pencil neck would get over it. If it had taken this long for Ted to figure out he wanted Gwen, then he didn’t really want her at all. And he sure as shit didn’t deserve her.
Brody didn’t want to think about Ted anymore, not with Gwen standing there looking so beautiful and with only a few mere hours before he could get her alone again. He wanted to hold her while they fell asleep and wake up to her still in his arms.
Next thing, the priest was inviting Bret to kiss his bride. And damn, that first kiss as husband and wife was something else—enough to knock down any thoughts about Ted, that was for sure.
Especially when halfway through the lip-lock, Bret punched his fist overhead as if he’d just brought home the gold…or the girl of his dreams.
Way to go, man.
After the recessional, Brody found his way over to Gwen.
“Some finish,” he said, stepping in close behind her where everyone had gathered by the doors leading out of the church.
She turned to him, her smile as wide as he’d ever seen, those whiskey eyes so bright, he was pretty sure they’d be burned into his mind forever.
“That was amazing.” She sighed, closing her eyes. “Did you tell Bret to do that?”
Brody laughed. “No way. That was all him. All I said was when he kissed her, he ought to really kiss her. Think about what they’d done, what it meant, how he felt about it…and put it all out there. Hell, nobody likes a limp finish.”
Gwen was laughing into her hand, her eyes darting around to see who was close. “A limp finish? Only you, Brody.”
He leaned closer, resting his hand at the small of her back and giving in to the briefest indulgence of letting his fingers play against the fabric there. “Only me, huh?” he said, conveniently ignoring the context. “Not gonna lie, Gwen. I like the sound of that a lot.”
Stepping closer, so there was barely an inch left between them, she bit her lip. “Do you?”
Yeah. And she definitely shouldn’t be looking at him like that. “Enough that I may have to put some distance between us.”
A stitch pulled between her brows. “What?”
All he wanted to do in that moment was to flatten his hand against her back and bring her flush against his body. Feel the press of her soft curves and sweet lines from his chest down to his knees. But instead, he forced himself to release her and settled for brushing that little furrow with the stroke of his thumb.
“Have you got any idea how badly I want my hands all over you? How hard I’m fighting to keep from sliding my hands into your hair? Fisting the fabric of your gown as I pull it up? Messing up all that perfect makeup with my mouth?”
He groaned, because all those things he was trying so hard not to do were even more tempting now that he’d said them aloud.
And that catch of Gwen’s breath, like all of what he’d said had as much appeal to her as it did to him? Not helping the resolve.
“That would probably be bad,” she answered a little too breathlessly. “We haven’t even had the pictures yet.” Her hand moved to his chest, her fingers playing with a button there. “So, if anything were to happen, we’d have to be very careful.”
Brodie’s mouth opened, but no sound came out.
She hadn’t just… But the way those pretty, even white teeth of hers were sinking into her bottom lip and she was peering up at him through those thick dark lashes… Oh yeah, she totally was. He gulped, feeling the blood rush from his extremities inward, all of it thundering straight to his groin.
Because, hot.
He took her hand in his and was backing her through the crowded vestibule when a solid clap on his shoulder had him stopping in his tracks and jerking around to where Sean was grinning at him, an even-more-pregnant Molly giggling by his side.
“Sean, Molly, good to see you,” he said stiffly, his mind still stuck on the thought of getting Gwen alone in that little room down the hall. He turned to Gwen, whose cheeks were burning a pretty shade to match her gown, and gave her hand a squeeze. “You guys have met Gwen.”
Molly’s eyes flashed down to where he was holding Gwen’s hand and then back up to his. Leaning in, she mock whispered, “So I’m guessing the train hadn’t left the station after all, huh?”
Molly.
Gwen arched a brow at him, but he shook his head and brought her hand to his mouth for a kiss. “Jase and Emily around?” he asked, changing the subject.
Sean rolled his eyes. “Yeah, but don’t bother looking for them. You know how they get at weddings.”
Brody straightened. Shit. He knew exactly how they got at weddings. Which meant it was just as well Sean and Molly had cut them off before they got to that little room, because he was willing to bet it was already occupied.
“How do they get at weddings?” Gwen asked, looking from one to the next of them.
Brody stared from Sean to Molly before looking back to Gwen and laughing. “Sentimental.”