Blissed (Misfit Brides #1) (39 page)

Lindsey tugged on Natalie’s other hand, toward the door. “What? Then who’s gonna watch Shrek and eat s’mores with me?”

“Good lord,” Natalie murmured. “More sugar?”

“Take it out on my kids some day,” Lindsey said with a smirk.

For the first time since they’d been swarmed, Nat looked up at CJ. But her exasperation was comforting. At least he wasn’t alone.

“I need to go,” she said to him. “I’m apparently busy right now.”

“Yeah.” He got it. She was a girl. Had to do girly things. Then make sure Noah was taken care of. CJ was temporary. They were her real life. “Anything I can do to help?”

“You can go get ready to treat her like a princess,” Lindsey said. “After nails and shopping, she has to get dressed and do her makeup. And Noah and I have an appointment with a pizza parlor right after, so we need to go. Now.”

They were busy. He’d seen his sisters prep for prom and weddings. He got it. But—

Lindsey winked at him. He glanced down at Nat’s fingers.

He’d seen enough manicures in his life to recognize a fresh manicure when he saw one, which was a skill he hadn’t fully appreciated until this moment. He was willing to bet her toes looked the same.

And since when would Natalie not have a reception dress?

This had setup written all over it.

Huh. He was starting to understand why Huck and Jeremy gave Lindsey free drinks.

CJ touched Nat’s shoulder. When she blinked up at him, he leaned down and pressed a kiss to her cheek. “I’ll pick you up in a bit.”

“Don’t be late.”

His groin tightened at the hints and promises coloring her words. “I won’t be.”

“Hot damn, getting warm in here,” Saffron said behind them. “Get a room, you two.”

Marilyn cleared her throat.

CJ resisted giving her the finger.

Natalie laughed a beautiful, rich laugh that put a little more brightness into CJ’s world. He let his sisters swallow him into their group while Nat and Lindsey and Noah walked away. For the first time in four years, he kept up with all the teasing and the jabs and inside jokes flowing around him.

His family annoyed him and irritated him and pushed him.

And he loved it.

Natalie shared a cone with Lindsey and Noah at the Milked Duck Ice Cream Shoppe around the corner from Bliss Bridal while they waited for a text from the neighbors that Dad and Marilyn had left for dinner. Noah’s sugar crash tonight would be epic, but Lindsey would deal with it.

Lindsey dealt with a lot of things. Including making sure that Natalie’s nails were done yesterday.

“Was this planned?” Natalie asked Lindsey while Noah finished off the last of the cone.

“An excuse to get you out of dinner with Dad and Marilyn? Was there any doubt?”

“Me being CJ’s partner. You and Kimmie rigged it, didn’t you?”

“Nat. Seriously?”

Natalie stared at her.

Lindsey stared back.

“God help Kimmie if Marilyn finds out,” Natalie murmured. And God bless Kimmie for stepping aside. The last day—she would remember this until the day she died.

Lindsey’s phone buzzed. “They’re gone. House is yours.” They climbed in to Lindsey’s car. When they reached Dad’s house, Lindsey shoved three condoms in Nat’s hand before pushing her out of the car. “Enjoy,” Lindsey called. She and Noah waved, and then they drove off, leaving Natalie to prepare for the rest of her night.

When she went inside, she left the front door unlocked.

But she’d barely hit the stairs when she heard the knock. With light feet, she dashed back and flung it open.

CJ stood there, devastatingly handsome in a tux, his hair styled as though his sisters had gotten hold of him.

“You alone?” he asked.

She nodded. He stepped inside, shut the door, and then his arms were around her, lifting her against the wall, his lips devouring her. He kissed her mouth, her jaw, her neck.

Natalie wrapped her legs around his hips. “I want you,” she gasped.

“I’m all yours, Nat. All yours.”

He kissed her again and carried her to the bedroom, and just for a little bit, she let herself believe in her own happily ever after.

Chapter Twenty

A
FTER THEIR OWN intimate pre-party, Natalie and CJ were fashionably late to the reception. It was in the exhibition hall of the Bliss Civic Center, and the room was packed. Tickets were sold out for the first time in ten years.

Mom would’ve been overjoyed. Of everything Natalie was grateful for today, that Mom’s final event had been such a spectacular success was near the top of her list.

All the newly wedded Knot Fest couples were being introduced on the stage where the Golden Husband Games winner would be crowned next. Linen-draped tables with elaborate floral centerpieces were scattered about the room. Waiters and waitresses circled with hors d’oeuvres. Cameras flashed, voices mingled over the string quartet playing at the opposite end of the hall. Two local news stations had crews on scene, and both had interviewed CJ already. Now, they were in the center of a group that included not only his family, but also several regular patrons from Suckers and a handful of couples from the Knot Fest committee.

“Your mom would be so proud of you,” Claudia Sweeney had whispered. She’d given Natalie’s hand a squeeze, and then let go so Vi could move in. “You did this, young lady, and don’t think we aren’t grateful.”

Elsie Sparks had stopped for an air kiss. “Thank you,” she’d said, and then moved on.

CJ had produced a tissue, proving once again how much he knew about women.

Natalie didn’t want tonight to end.

Even so, when she spotted Kimmie at one of the wedding cake tables around the ice sculpture, she squeezed CJ’s hand and excused herself.

Kimmie was in her bakery best—a floral sundress, orange sneakers, hairnet, and a white Heaven’s Bakery apron. Natalie gestured to the bandage across Kimmie’s temple. “Does it hurt?”

“Oh, no.” Kimmie’s self-deprecating snort rose above the din of the couples around them. “Not really.”

Natalie leaned closer. “Next time you want to play matchmaker, try not to cut yourself, okay?”

“I wasn’t supposed to,” she whispered. “I was just supposed to pretend to twist my ankle. Mom knows I’m bad at being a klutz, but she thought I could—”

Natalie grabbed Kimmie’s arm. “
What
? Your mom?”

Kimmie went pale. Her chin pulled in, and she took a step back. “I didn’t say that. Did I say that?”

Natalie followed, whispering fast. “I thought you and Lindsey set this up.”

“Me and—Lindsey! Yes. Me and Lindsey.” Kimmie nodded furiously. “It was me and Lindsey. Don’t tell my mom, okay? She’d fry my bacon. All that trouble with the hospital and Cake Readiness Condition Four… that puts her in a mood, you know? Did I tell you I had a dream—”

“Why?” Natalie said. “Why would she do that? Did Dad make her?” A commotion at the edge of her vision caught her attention. Josh was here. Marilyn’s secret silent partner. And he had supermodel look-alikes on each arm. “Was it him?” she whispered to Kimmie. “Did he have something to do with it? Ohmigod, she’s going to stop Dad from selling Bliss Bridal so she can buy it outright, and then move and get rid of him, isn’t she?”

“You know about him too?” Kimmie had gone past pale to ghost. “She’s gonna light my candles for this.”

“I’m not going to tell.” Natalie pointed to Kimmie’s bandage again. “After all you’ve done for me?”

“Since my candles are already lit, listen. Mom’s given up on buying Bliss Bridal. Crazy as it sounds, she values her friendship with your dad too much to keep causing problems.”

“Seriously?”

“Yeah. He’s been really good for her.”

Natalie gestured to Kimmie’s bandage again. “Did he know you were going to do that?”

“No, Mom’s too embarrassed to admit she played matchmaker after all the trouble she caused you. She won’t say that, of course, but I can tell. Nat, she knows you make CJ happy. And he makes you happy. And you being happy makes Arthur happy. Your dad says my mom’s been so invested in the economics of love that she’s forgotten the mechanics of it, and I think that made her stop and think. Don’t hold your breath for an apology or anything, but she’s trying.”

The commotion following Josh was getting closer. Kimmie’s complexion had recovered and was now in competition with the roses scattered over the cake table. “I need to go check on the stove. I think I left the water running,” she said. “Enjoy CJ, Nat. See you later.”

She scurried away.

Natalie gathered a few plates of cake, then headed back to join CJ and his family and their friends.

Their
friends.

That had a nice ring. But he was leaving. And she’d have to live with that.

She was halfway to the group when another commotion near the stage caught her attention.

Two ovens were being rolled out.

The pit of her stomach met the floor.

Ovens.

She knew exactly what ovens meant.

“Nat?” CJ stepped up next to her. “Everything okay?”

“Ohmigod,” she whispered.

Elsie Sparks took the stage and approached the microphone. “Ladies and gentlemen,” Elsie said, “Golden Husband Coronation will begin in fifteen minutes.”

That was their cue. Their cue to line up for the crowning of the Husband of the Half Century.

But this wasn’t coronation.

Coronation would come.

First, there would be one last Game.

Because ovens meant only one thing.

A first-place tiebreaker.

B
LISS LOVED TO draw out the drama, and they did it with flair. 

The screen behind the stage flashed a slideshow from the Games. The crowd was whispering and murmuring and pointing to the ovens. CJ knew Natalie knew what they were for, but she wasn’t saying.

And now CJ was parading onto stage with Natalie and their fellow Husband Games competitors while the string quartet in back played the wedding march. They were in alphabetical order, which put Arthur and Marilyn beside Natalie and CJ. The music faded out, and the flash of the screen behind them dimmed, then stopped.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” Elsie said into the microphone at center stage, “it is my distinct pleasure to present to you your award winners.”

Natalie had a death grip on CJ’s hand. She looked half-scared, half-excited.

All this would be over too soon. He’d miss her. He’d miss her more than he wanted to admit. 

Elsie started the awards with a few goofy prizes presented first to the guys who hadn’t done so well. Most creative path through the sunflower maze. Longest letter. Most wives kissed before finding his own. Fewest screws used in the doorframe. Best gag reflex over the beets.

Soon, only half the couples were left.

“And now, ladies and gentlemen,” Elsie said, “what you’ve all been waiting for. The announcement of our Golden Husband.”

The audience clapped. A few people whistled. CJ’s family took up the
Princess!
chant again.

They were lucky he loved them.

Elsie opened the envelope. CJ’s pulse kicked up like he’d been out jogging.

He’d done well in most of the events. Duke and Elsie had transcribed his non-letter and posted it on the Web site for voting, but even then, CJ didn’t expect he’d win anything.

And he was okay with that. He meant what he’d said in place of his letter. All these men were better representatives of husbands than he was.

“Second runner-up,” Elsie said, “is Mr. Wade Sweeney.”

The video screen behind them flashed. CJ glanced back, saw pictures of the Sweeneys’ wedding and their families, along with a few pictures taken the last two days during the competition. Once the crowd’s applause died down, Elsie read a bit about Wade and his family. Wade accepted his trophy, kissed his wife, and exited the stage.

Nat squeezed CJ’s hand harder.

He took a glance up and down the row of remaining husbands.

Arthur.

Arthur would win. He deserved to win. He was everything a Golden Husband should’ve been.

And one of the younger guys—the one whose wife was expecting. They’d performed great. They’d take first runner-up.

“First runner-up,” Elsie said, “is Mr. Joe Jeurgens.”

Just as CJ hoped. A relieved breath slipped from his lips.

Natalie’s hand trembled.

A little tremble, but a tremble all the same.

Arthur eyed CJ.

And while the Jeurgenses’ life played out to a Kenny Chesney song, CJ got a funny feeling in the pit of his stomach.

The Jeurgenses exited the stage.

A hush fell over the hall.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” Elsie said, “for the first time in Husband Games history, we have a first-place tie.”

The crowd gasped, then went wild.

Bliss knew how to throw a set of Games. Holy hell.

CJ’s lungs suddenly shrank to the size of a button.

Holy hell.

No. Just—no.

Natalie looked at her dad. 

Arthur looked back. His eyes went misty over a sad smile, an expression CJ couldn’t read or understand, and Natalie reached out with her free hand to grip Dad’s.

“We will have one final event for the tiebreaker.” Elsie gestured to the ovens in front of the stage. “For our final, tiebreaking challenge, each of our husbands will be required to make dinner for his partner. Final judging will be based on the partner’s reaction to the meal, and also by a taste-test done by an impartial panel of judges picked from the audience.”

Partner.

She’d said
partner
.

“Your final competitors, ladies and gentlemen,” Elsie said, “Are Mr. Arthur Castellano, and Mr. CJ Blue.”

CJ’s family—his whole family—stood near the stage, jumping and yelling and celebrating.

Fiona was crying.

Bob was too.

But Natalie—Natalie was shaking her head.

She met CJ’s eyes. Mouthed,
I’m sorry
, then pulled her hand away. She’d already dropped her father’s hand.

Before CJ could begin to understand what she was sorry for, she marched away.

Right to Elsie Sparks.