I Thee Wed (Wedding Dreams) (2 page)

How’re the
wedding
plans coming along?

It’s a message from Drew.
Can
he read my mind?

I’m really not sure how to answer
this question in a text. I decide to be succinct and reply,
Fine.

I hope that’s good enough because
I have no idea what to tell him. I don’t even know how I’m going to make this
work, and I haven’t told anybody what’s going on. My phone dings again.

Can we have
dinner 2nite? I’d love to hear what u have planned.

Shit!
Seriously?
He must want to get this wedding done soon.

Sure, where do
you want to meet?

I’ll pick u up
at the shop at 6.

It’s a command. He’s good at
that.

Ok. See you
then.

What the fuck am I going to do
now?

*
* *

Sierra returns with the delicious
paninis
and we make some
small talk while we eat. I think I’m finally ready to confide in her, when a
customer walks in the door. I jump up to help them while Sierra is finishing
her lunch.

The woman wants to look at
mother-of-the bride dresses, so I take her to our rather limited selection.
I
can expand this part of the business with Drew’s money.
I can’t believe I’m
starting to think about that now. The woman says she’ll keep looking and leaves
the shop. Normally that would upset me, but today it really doesn’t.

“No dice?” Sierra asks as the
door closes. I just shrug and look at her. She bursts into tears.

“What’s wrong, Sierra?” I have no
clue what’s gotten into my little melodramatic business partner.

“I’m NEVER going to get married,
Lily. My little sister eloped and I haven’t had a date in six months. I am so
pathetic. I plan other people’s weddings but I know I’ll never be a bride.” She
slumps down on the floor, puts her head on her knees, rocking back and forth,
while she’s crying.

I just stare for a moment. Is she
serious? She’s twenty-five, cute, fun, has tons of friends and she’s melting
into an emotional pile of crap in the middle of my wedding shop? Oh, hell no.

“Sierra, get your ass off the
floor and suck it up. You have got to be fucking kidding me with this shit. You
are not going to throw yourself a pity party because your sister got married
before you. That’s crazy!” I know I’m not being very supportive, but I have my
own shit to worry about right now and she’s really pissing me off.

Sierra looks up from the floor
with her mouth wide open. Maybe I was too harsh. As she gets up from the floor,
Sierra looks at me again, wiping the tears off her face.

“Thanks, Lil. I needed that. I’m
sorry to be such a mess. I was just surprised by the news, I guess. I’ll get it
together. Besides, I’m sure you don’t want to hear about not getting married.”

*
* *

Drew

I’m looking forward to dinner
with Lily tonight. She’s sexy and funny and I really want to spend more time
with her. My mom will want us to live together, something we’ll have to
discuss, but I still want to know more about her. I glance down at my watch and
see it’s already 5:30. I power down my computer and start to put my files away
for the day. My secretary, Kelly, comes in as I’m putting on my suit coat.

“Leaving early today, Drew? Is
someone sick? You never leave before eight.” She smiles when she speaks, it but
her look is more surprised than happy.

“Yes, Kelly, I’m leaving because
I have a date tonight.”

I’m fairly certain I see a flash
of jealousy on her face, but it’s gone quickly so I’m not sure. As an attorney,
I try to make it a point to watch people’s facial expressions to try to know
what they’re thinking. Kelly is fairly good at hiding her feelings, so she’s
difficult to read at times.

“Really?
Who’s the lucky
girl?” The questions are laced with sarcasm. I give her a look to question her
attitude. She holds my gaze and crosses her arms over her ample chest. Yes, I
notice her chest. I’m not dead.

“Well, I’m not really sure that’s
any of your business, Kelly.” I try to keep it light but she’s getting too
close to my personal life. I know she had a thing for me a while ago, but she
got over it when I slept with her best friend. I think she’s secretly hoping
I’d want her friend but I can’t think of anything worse than that.

“I hope you have a
nice
time tonight, Drew,” she says as she turns and walks out of my office. I catch
the disappointed look on her face before she leaves. I don’t have time to dwell
on that interaction, so I pick up my keys and head out the door to pick up my
future wife for dinner.

As I pull up to Wedding Dreams to
collect Lily, I feel my stomach churn with butterflies.
Am I nervous?
This
is crazy. I don’t get nervous around women. I try to shake it off as I walk
into the shop.

I don’t see anyone in the front,
so I head back behind the counter. When I round the corner past the dressing
room, I see Lily standing at the sink in the little kitchenette. Her back is to
me so I take a moment to look at her ass. She has a great ass. I really want to
squeeze it, and spank it gently. I feel my dick growing in my pants, so I clear
my throat to get her attention before I do exactly what I’m thinking.

She spins around, startled, and
her face breaks out into a beautiful smile when she sees me.

“Are you ready to go or do you
have some things you need to finish up here?”

“No, I’m ready. Let me turn off
the lights and I’ll meet you up front.” She walks over to the dressing rooms to
finish up. I patiently wait, not wanting to be too far away from her. She walks
by me to get the lights in the office, and I catch her orange scent. I don’t
know what she wears, but that scent makes me lose all rational thought.

What the hell is wrong with me?
I
don’t get this worked up over any woman.

Lily looks back and smiles, nods
toward the front, and starts walking. I follow closely behind her and put my
hand at the small of her back. When we reach the door, I can’t help myself. I
give her a quick peck on the cheek.

“What was that for?” she asks
quietly.

“I don’t know. I just wanted to
do it.” I smile quickly to try to hide my desire for her.

Lily locks the door and I escort
her to my Cadillac CTS, opening the passenger door and helping her in. Her
scent overwhelms my senses and my dick stirs.
Get a grip, Hamilton
.

I pull up to the fanciest
restaurant in the area and stop at valet parking. Jumping out of the car, I
scowl at the parking attendant as he starts to reach for the passenger door. I
open it instead and offer Lily my hand. The valet takes my keys as we enter the
restaurant. I’ve made reservations so we don’t have to wait.

Once seated, I take a moment to
look at Lily over my menu. She’s absorbed in reading the selections so I can
stare shamelessly at this beautiful woman.
Long hair, high
cheekbones, striking green eyes.
I can’t believe she isn’t married or at
least dating someone. She looks up and catches me staring. I try to play it off
with a grin.

“This is a nice place. Come here
often?” she asks with a sly smile.

“Oh, this place?
No, it’s not a
regular haunt of mine.
Just a place where I take beautiful
women so I can show them off.”

She blushes. I have seriously got
to get her to do that more often.

When the waiter comes by, I order
a bottle of wine and our entrées, hoping for minimal interruptions in our
evening. Once the Chardonnay is poured, I start the conversation.

“So, tell me who Lily Kramer is.”
I lean forward and put my hand on hers.

“Well, there’s not much to tell.
I own Wedding Dreams, I live alone, and I have a cat. That’s pretty much it.”

“Really?
That’s what
you’re going with? Okay, I’ll try
this another
way.
What did you want to be when you were growing up?” I’m trying to go for
playful, but I’m afraid I’m starting to scare her off.

“I don’t know what I wanted to
be. I’ve always liked planning parties, so weddings seemed to be a natural
path. I helped a couple of my girlfriends with their nuptials, so I decided to
do it for a living.”

“What do you do for fun in your
spare time?” I have to find out if we have anything in common besides sexual
chemistry.

“I don’t really have much free
time. I guess I like to read and watch television.”

“That’s it? You make yourself sound
like a boring, old spinster.” As soon as the words are out of my mouth I regret
saying them. I just called her boring and old. This is not going well.

Lily looks at me and I see tears
in her eyes. Not the reaction I was expecting, but not one I want, either. I
feel like a douche.

“I’m so sorry, Lily. I didn’t
mean that. I am known to speak before thinking. My mom always said I suffer
from diarrhea of the mouth. Please forgive me.”

She smiles and holds her tears
back. “No, it’s fine. I have a tendency to stick my foot in it, too.”

Thankfully, the waiter chooses
this moment to serve our salads. I’m so grateful for the interruption; I make a
mental note to give him a big tip.

The rest of the meal goes
smoothly and we’re having dessert and coffee when I try to bring up the
wedding.

“So, have you had a chance to
think about the wedding yet?” I smile as brightly as I can.

“Yes, I have, but I’m not sure
how to go with it. Do you have any ideas you want me to consider? Do you want
to help with the planning?”

I hadn’t thought about helping
with this. She’s the wedding planner. I just planned to show up when she says,
wearing what I’m told. I decide there’s a better way to phrase this after my
earlier blunder.

“I guess it depends on what you
want me to do.”
God, I hope that’s the right answer.

“Well, I don’t think I want to do
anything really big. I don’t have many friends, my dad is gone, and it’s just
my mom, so I won’t have a lot of guests. Do you have a long guest list? That
will determine where we have it.”

“No, I don’t think so. When do
you need a final number?” I start to think about who I’d want to be there, but
since I’m doing this for my mom, it really doesn’t matter.

“I’ll need to know fairly soon,
but, if you don’t have a lot of people to invite, what do you think about
having it at your house? It’s big
enough,
and that way
it can be private.”

My house?
I hadn’t really
thought about that. What a great idea. I knew she was going to be great at
planning this.

“Sure, my house is fine. We can
just have everything there. Did you decide about the legality of the whole
thing?” This is really what I want to know. Does she want to be legally
married? I plan on us living together as if we’re married, even if it isn’t
legal, but it might matter to her.

Lily doesn’t say anything right
away. She looks like she might cry and I’m not sure what to do. I know it’s not
a fair question, but it still needs to be answered.

“Lily, are you okay?” I try to
ask as gently as possible.

“Yes, Drew, I’m fine. I just
never thought I’d be negotiating the legality of my marriage. Of course, I
never thought I’d be getting married at all, so I really shouldn’t complain.”
She has a sad look on her face and I can’t help but cover her hand with mine.

“I don’t know what to say, Lily.
I know I’m asking a lot of you, and I appreciate the fact you’re willing to
consider this. Hopefully, I can find a way to make it up to you.” I squeeze her
hand lightly and smile.

She smiles back and looks down
quickly. “I don’t think I want it to be legal,” she says, still not looking at
me. I try to be reassuring.

“That’s fine, Lily.
Really.
I know what I’m asking, and not making it legal
gives us both an easy out should we need it.” I hope she doesn’t think I’m more
of an asshole than she did before.

She seems to let out a big breath
and looks up with a small smile on her face. “I’m glad you feel that way, too.”

Well, at least we’re on the same
page about that. I decide talking about living together may be too much right
now, so I keep my mouth shut.

*
* *

Lily

I can’t believe he called me an
old spinster!
I wasn’t so sure I wanted to be around him much after that. He did recover
nicely, though. I’m grateful he sees the legality of this situation the same
way I do. If we just have a ceremony, then we can walk away without any ties to
each other. No division of assets, or whatever it’s called.
A
clean break.
That’s what I’m planning once his mother passes
on,
since he’s made it pretty clear he wants to keep up
appearances for the time being.