Society Weddings (Corrigan & Co. Book 11) (4 page)

When the waiter brings us each two glasses
of beer instead of the wine we picked for dinner, I shoot Gav a
quizzical look. “I have a surprise for you.”

“Beer?”

“A special meal. Just for us. And yes,
beer.”

The plates are brought out a couple of
minutes later, and it all becomes clear to me. These glasses of
beer aren’t just any drink. They’re our fathers’ favorite drinks.
To go along with the orange duck that my father loved, and the
shepherd’s pie that Gavin’s told me was his father’s favorite.

“You…you cooked this for us, didn’t you?” I
ask, as tears fall down my face.

“Your grandfather helped. You did things to
make sure their presence was known to everyone. I wanted to do the
same, just for us.”

“It’s…thank you. I love you so much,
Gav.”

“You’re welcome, and it’s a good thing you
love me, because you’re stuck with me forever.”

“Beyond forever, my love.”

We kiss to more cheers, but I tune them out
as I think of nothing but Gavin and how he knows what I need, even
before I do. Our relationship may have started out with lies and
secrets, but now we have love, and a life together. I can’t wait to
see what comes next.

Stella

“You need to tell Kace,” Tegan says to me as
I turn from side to side in my lace, strapless, mermaid style
gown.

“Not yet.”

“He’s going to find out. You can’t keep what
you’re doing a secret from him forever.”

“Well, duh. He’ll know in two weeks.”

“As your best friend, I really need to tell
you again that this is a bad idea. I know you think it’s romantic,
and it is, but I don’t think he’ll see it that way.”

“Of course he’ll see it that way. He loves
me.”

“He does, Stell, but this may be too much.
Just tell him how you feel. What you want.”

“What if he doesn’t want it?”

“I highly doubt that, but even if it’s true,
wouldn’t it be better to find that out now?”

“No. He won’t embarrass me in front of our
friends and family, so it’s perfect to wait until then.”

“Seriously? You want him to marry you just
to avoid embarrassment? Honey, no.”

“Of course I don’t want that. He’ll marry me
because he wants to.”

My phone rings, cutting off any further
Debbie Downer sentiments from my bestie. It’ll all work out. It has
to. I pick up the phone and smile when I see Kace’s picture flash
on the screen. Or rather a picture of Kace’s abs, shark tattoo and
all.

“Hi, K.”

“Stella, why did my publicist just tell me
that there’s reports of us getting married in two weeks. And more
importantly, why did your mom practically run from the room when I
turned to ask her if she knew anything.”

He sounds pissed, and now I’m a little
scared. I still try to make the best of it. “Surprise.”

There’s silence on the line for almost a
full minute, and I sit on the edge of a chair in my office, not
sure I can stand, but not wanting to fall and ruin my dress. I
don’t think he’s going to say anything, but then I hear a sigh, and
he’s talking to me again.

“You told me not to ask you to marry me,
that you liked things the way they are, and now you’re planning a
wedding?”

“Yes.”

“You need to stop planning this; we need to
talk. There’s a flight to Vegas in two hours. I’ll be on it.”

“I’ll pick you up.”

“Don’t. You can meet me at the hotel.”

“Hotel? Kace, you’re scaring me.”

“Good, because you’ve fucking pulled the rug
right out from under me. And yes, a hotel. I can’t stay with you
right now.”

“I’m sorry. I’ll cancel everything. You
don’t have to marry me...”

“We’ll talk when I get there. I love you,
Stell.”

“I love you, too.”

I drop my phone to the floor and bury my
head in my hands. “He hates me.”

“Are you kidding? That boy loves you more
than anything. He’s just angry, and well, I hate to say ‘I told you
so,’ but I did.”

“I know. I KNOW!”

I messed up big time, and now it could cost
me everything. I have to convince Kace not to walk away from me.
There’s no other choice, and no other man, for me. He’s it, and I
need to let him know that and then cancel all of the stupid plans I
made for a surprise wedding he doesn’t want. As long as I have him,
I don’t care about the wedding. I just need him to stay.

* * *

Kace

I texted Stella with my room number when I
checked in, and now I’m waiting for her. I’m actually surprised she
wasn’t already here in the lobby. I appreciate that she’s trying to
give me some space after what she did. Which in all honestly, is
pretty romantic. Or at least it would’ve been if we were engaged.
But she didn’t want that. Or at least that’s what she told me. Now
I don’t know what the hell she wants, and that worries me more than
a surprise wedding ever could.

The knock at the door has me planting my
feet instead of running to it, like I normally would. I really am
scared to know what’s going through that beautiful mind of hers,
and why it’s so important and necessary for us to get married all
of a sudden. She knocks again, softer this time when most people
would knock harder the second time. She knows I’m in here, and I’m
pretty sure she’s scared, too. That’s what makes me move. No matter
what, I love Stella more than life itself. I have to stand up for
myself, but I won’t intentionally cause her any pain.

I open the door to see her in sweats and a
t-shirt, her hair in a messy bun. The last time I saw her like
this, she was keeping things from me. Things that tore us apart
before we fought to put ourselves back together again. We haven’t
kept things from each other since then, and I vow that tonight will
be no different. She needs to tell me what’s going on.

“Come in, love,” I say, purposely using my
nickname for her.

“I’m sorry, K. Really sorry.”

She bursts into tears, and I pull her into
the room, and into my arms. “I know. It’s going to be okay.”

“I messed up,” she says to my chest.

“You did, but it’s nothing we can’t
fix.”

She looks up at me then. “You mean it?”

“Of course I mean it. Let’s sit down, and
you can tell me why you need us to get married all of a
sudden.”

“Okay.”

I lead her to the couch, and sit us down,
pulling her onto my lap. She looks surprised, but then smiles at me
and puts her head on my shoulder. “Talk to me.”

“I’ve been helping plan everyone’s
weddings.”

“And doing an amazing job, I might add.”

“Thanks.”

“So tell me, what made you change your mind
about marriage?”

“I was at lunch last week with the girls,
and they were all talking about being Mrs. now or becoming Mrs. All
of a sudden it hit me that I wanted to be Mrs. Kace Reynolds. It
sounded so right in my head that I felt it all the way to my bones.
I didn’t even think—I just started planning our wedding. Surprising
you seemed like such a good idea. Tegan tried to tell me to call
you, but I just thought I was being romantic. Until I wasn’t.”

“You’re romantic, love. I was just shocked,
because I didn’t think you wanted to get married. You said over and
over that you didn’t.”

“And you don’t. I know.”

“No. You don’t know. I want to marry you.
Hell, I’ve probably always wanted to marry you. I just didn’t want
to push you into something you weren’t interested in.”

“You’ve let me hurt you all this time, and
didn’t say a word.”

“You weren’t hurting me. Well, except for
that time with the candle wax, but my abs and I survived that.”

“I just planned something small. I don’t
know how it got out.”

“Some idiot spilled it, but we have a
problem if you were planning small.”

“Why?”

“You once told me that if you ever did
decide to get married, you wanted the biggest wedding of all.”

“Oh yeah. Well I didn’t think I could keep
it a surprise if it was big.”

“Now that you don’t need to surprise me
anymore, go big, my beautiful bombshell. Whatever you want. Well,
except for the bouquet. I saw something online one day, and I want
to do it for you.”

“My bouquet?”

“Yep.”

“Okay. You’re sure about this? All of
it?”

“Marrying you and wanting you to have the
big wedding of your dreams? Yes, I’m sure. In fact, it’s about time
I finally gave you something.”

I sit her on the couch, and then go to my
knees in front of her as I pull the ring from my pocket. I’ve had
this ring for over a year, and I can’t even describe how happy I am
to finally put it on Stella’s finger. She yelps, and covers her
mouth with her hands.

“Stella, I think I’ve loved you since you
told me you didn’t play with little boys. I worked hard to prove to
you that age doesn’t matter, and I would do it all again. Okay,
well, not all of it, but most. Like the bowling alley. We need to
go play there again. Anyway, I would love nothing more than to
spend the rest of my life being able to call you Mrs. Reynolds.
Will you please marry me?”

“Yes.”

“Thank God.”

I open my palm to let her see the five carat
princess cut diamond surrounded by a band of smaller diamonds that
I chose for her. “It’s perfect. I love it. Oh, Kace. I love
you.”

“I love you, too,” I tell her as I slide
that ring on the finger it belongs to.

“I was sad that you didn’t want to come home
to me, but that bed looks pretty nice.”

“You wanna see if we can break it?” I ask
with a smirk as she nods.

We’ve broken more hotel beds than I can
count. And I didn’t mind paying for them one damn bit. Every single
one was worth it. Just like she’s worth it. Always.

* * *

Stella

Today is finally the day. My day. Our day.
I’m marrying Kace today, becoming Mrs. Reynolds. It’s amazing what
you can put together in two weeks when you have no budget, and a
rolodex filled with famous and influential friends. Add a few more
rolodexes to the mix, nine to be exact, and yeah, magic
happens.

I’m in my lace mermaid gown, with my hair in
an intricate updo, and a veil hanging down my back. The girls are
all in green ball gowns, neon green for nine of them, and emerald
green for Tegan. That hair of hers would’ve clashed with the
lighter color, and she wouldn’t dye it for me despite my pleas, so
I relented and had a special one created for her. They all look
like princesses with the tulle and taffeta strapless gowns, and
that’s exactly what I wanted. I’m no princess, but that doesn’t
mean my girls can’t be.

The only thing I’m nervous about now is my
bouquet. Kace said it would be delivered before the ceremony, and
I’m still waiting. Logically, I know my mom will be bringing it to
me once she’s done getting him and the other guys dressed, but I’m
still anxious. Everyone else has white roses, which I picked
because they are classic and classy, and also so they’d match
whatever I’m getting.

“I believe you need a bouquet,” she says,
gliding into the room, looking like a glamorous movie star from the
Fifties in her pale green dress. She has a box in her hand, and I
eagerly take it from her.

I practically tear off the
ribbon, and throw off the top. What I see steals my breath away.
Kace didn’t just get me a bouquet, he got me the
perfect
bouquet. It’s not
made of flowers, but rather antique diamond brooches. Some are
shaped like flowers, while others are butterflies or just swirls of
diamonds.

“Oh. My. God.”

“That boy of yours did good. He found them
all on line himself. He even tried to put them together into the
bouquet, but I had to step in.”

“Thanks, Mom. I can’t believe he did
this.”

“He loves you.”

“I love him, too. So much. I was scared I
was going to lose him when I was so stupid about this wedding.”

“You didn’t give him enough credit.”

“I know. It’s just I worry that things are
too perfect between us. I feel like we can’t really be this happy
forever.”

“Why not? You’ve found your forever, Stella.
Stop fighting it, and just embrace what you have.”

“Thanks for the pep talk.”

“That’s what you keep me around for.”

“I love you, Mom.”

“And I love you, my beautiful girl. Now
let’s go get you married.”

Because we’re having such a grand wedding, I
asked for permission to use the grounds at our apartments. We don’t
usually let anyone but our closest friends and family in, but this
is the most secure building I know of anywhere, and Ainsley and
Scott were able to block all camera, and satellite feeds. Reina got
the space over us declared a no-fly zone, and now I’m about to walk
down the aisle to my pop star without the eyes of the world on us.
Just the 300 invited guests. I won’t win the contest for grandest
since that title belongs to Reina for her televised affair. She
hated every second of it, and honestly, I’m just fine with the way
this wedding has turned out. Being Mrs. Reynolds means more to me
than any wedding ever could.

When the girls have gone before me, I stop
at the large circular window that looks out onto the grounds, and
smile. This is right. I may have thought I didn’t want marriage and
kids, but I want both. Not all at once, but soon. First, I need to
take the hand my mom has outstretched towards me, and walk down the
aisle.

I’m halfway down the aisle when I decide
that patience is definitely not a virtue I have. I give my mom a
quick kiss on the cheek, reach down for the hem of my dress, and
sprint the rest of the way. Four inch heels be damned, I want my
man. The one who’s looking oh so sexy in a black suit with a
matching vest, and no tie. I am a lucky, lucky woman.