Tell Them Lies (Three Little Words Book 3) (9 page)

N
ine days passed like one
, and somehow Liz managed to stand where she was supposed to stand at rehearsal. She had a bright green x made out of masking tape, on the step just behind Rachel's at the front of the church. Rachel wasn't on her assigned step, of course, she was in full Nazi wedding planner mode, yelling at Casey's brothers to not even think about pulling any pranks during the ceremony.

Tate had nodded dutifully, of course, given that he'd bear the brunt of it at home if Mrs. Rachel Steadman went home unhappy. Dylan, who was Liz’s partner walking down the aisle, merely grinned and winked at Rachel. It had made Liz laugh, and broke the cloud of unfettered nerves that had coursed through her body all day.

In fact, the amount of nerves felt like they'd taken over every part of her body. She didn't even have skin anymore, just this twitching, jittery pulse covering her body that never went away.

She should have had Kieran come to rehearsal too, it might feel less scary, if she could look at him and know he'd be all in with her. Which was ridiculous, really, because she was perfectly capable of functioning without him. But when Dylan had made small talk with her before they walk down the aisle, she'd almost had an aneurysm.

"So," he'd said casually, slinging an arm around her shoulder, "tell me about the boyfriend. I was surprised when Casey told me about him."

Liz arched an eyebrow at him, then stepped out from under his arm. "Surprised I can actually get one?"

"No! Hell no. You're," he stammered, gesturing at her body like it answered the question, and Liz breathed out a laugh at his discomfort, "you're very boyfriend-worthy, Peters. You just haven't dated in a while, right?"

She shook her head. "It's been a couple years. And the last one wasn't all that memorable."

"And this guy, Kieran, he is?"

Looking at Dylan's face, and a handsome face it was, she saw nothing more than genuine curiosity.

"I think so," she answered honestly.

"And how long have you guys been dating?"

And just one innocent question pushed the pulse back to the top of her skin, throbbing and horribly loud in her own ears. What if Kieran answered the question differently later? So she gestured to the front of the church.

"I think they're ready for us."

So being the gentleman he was, Dylan offered his arm and walked with her to their places.

At least once she got to the restaurant, she'd have Kieran to smooth out the places where she became a ridiculous twitchy mess at the smallest question. Clipping across the parking lot to the entrance, Liz smiled at the sign perched in front of the door.

S
he hadn't seen
Kieran's car in the parking lot, so she walked in by herself, smiling at Casey's parents chatting with the pastor. Three long rectangular tables formed a U-shape around the private room, and mason jars filled with large white peonies and short, fat white candles were placed at various intervals over the stark white tablecloth. Each chair held a name card on heavy gold paper, and she walked around until she found hers, which was right next to Kieran's.

The room started gradually filling, Casey's oldest brothers and their wives milling around, Dylan making his mom laugh about something and then smack him on the arm. Rachel walked in with her hand firmly wrapped in Tate's, then she yanked him down for a firm kiss on the mouth, pulling catcalls from onlookers.

And from her perch, standing behind her chair, Liz watched all of it wondering if they'd all be able to tell once Kieran arrived. Dylan wasn't bothered by not having a date, but Dylan wasn't her. She wanted someone to hold their hand at the small of her back when they entered the room, and slide their hand into hers. Knowing that Casey and Jake would be there any minutes, Liz reached into her small clutch to find her phone when the volume in the room dipped considerably. Looking up to see why, she saw Kieran standing in the entrance to the room, eyes firmly trained on her.

The floral print dress she was wearing wasn't anything fancy, she felt pretty in it, and it was comfortable. But through all the people staring at him, Kieran looked at her like she was wearing something infinitely sexier. Giving a polite nod to those who made eye contact with him, then throwing a tiny salute at Rachel, he skirted around the tables to walk toward Liz.

Well, Rachel would probably bump his grade up a bit from a B Minus now. He'd shaved, which gave her a tiny pang, because she did sort of enjoy the scruff, and he was wearing tailored gray pants and a black button down shirt. He'd kept the sleeves down, covering the ink on his arms. But he'd left the top button open on his shirt, showing the script going across his chest. Only one word was visible, qualis, which Liz recognized as Latin.

"Angel," he said in greeting, leaning in to brush a kiss on her cheek and slide a hand around her waist. "You look beautiful."

Scattered. She felt so scattered by him. Pulling back so she could breathe, Liz said the first thing that came to her mind. "You shaved."

That grin again. It would be the death of her. "I had to pull an A minus, at least. Can't do that looking like a lumberjack."

"Well, who has a problem with them?" Rachel said from behind them. Kieran turned to face her and Tate, keeping his arm around Liz's waist. "Kieran, this is my husband, Tate. I'm going to grab a drink while you tell him what excellent taste he has in picking a spouse."

After an unabashedly adoring look at Rachel, Tate held out a hand to Kieran, and the men introduced themselves.

Tate asked a few polite questions to Kieran, and Liz could barely pay attention to the words they swapped. Kieran's hand burned through the mint-colored fabric of her dress where it sat just above her hip.

This would make it worse, wouldn't it? When it came out that none of this was real. Because they'd never really talked about showing affection. Which was something he apparently did very easily.

Instead of feeding the beast of doubt that was growling in her head, Liz took a deep breath and joined the conversation, laughing when Rachel returned with two glasses of wine.

"Hey, I'm just saving my energy from having to walk all the way back over there."

"That's my wife," Tate said proudly, tucking her under his arm, "always thinking ahead."

Before anyone could say anything else, a shriek came from the entrance of the room, and Casey came over to them, all but skipping at the sight of Kieran.

"Oh, you are the thing I was most looking forward to about tonight," she proclaimed as she stepped right up to Kieran and hugged him. Kieran laughed and hugged her back.

"See?" he said, grinning at Liz when he pulled back. "I'm not the only person who hugs strangers."

"The stranger who just happens to be my wife," Jake interjected, stepping up next to Casey and pulling her next to him with an affectionate look at her beaming face.

"Almost," she corrected. "I can still hug all the handsome men I want until tomorrow."

The love pouring from Casey's face made Liz ache. In a good way. And in a painful way. It felt like she could reach out and touch it, let it run over her fingers. Jake gave Casey a soft kiss, then turned to Kieran, immediately losing the smile and slipping back into the intimidating mask he used to wear on a regular basis.

"So. You're the date nobody knows about."

"That would be me," Kieran replied easily, holding out his hand to Jake. "Kieran Carter."

Casey rolled her eyes when Jake didn't immediately extend his own. "I'm Casey, and this incorrigible grump is my fiancé, Jake. It's really nice to meet you, Kieran. I'm so glad you could join us tonight."

Finally, Jake held out his hand, gripping Kieran's but not coming close to looking welcoming.

"Tell me about yourself, Carter."

"Ease up, Jake," Rachel said. "I already roughed him up the other night. He's knows what's up."

"True story," Kieran agreed with a smile at Rachel. "If you can manage to scare me more than she did, I'll be impressed."

Liz smiled at the pride that covered Rachel's expression. Jake crossed his arms in front of his broad chest, cutting a look over to Rachel.

"Honestly? I won't even try to top her. She's scary as hell. Whatever she threatened? I'd believe her."

Kieran swallowed audibly, tightening his grip just above her hip. Casey's dad called for everyone's attention at the front of the room, and just before Jake turned around, he threw a tiny smile at Liz and clapped Kieran on the shoulder. Hard. "I'm just screwing with you, man. Welcome to the group."

They all found their seats after Mr. Steadman said a prayer before the staff would start serving the food, and when Kieran pushed her chair in for her, Liz looked back up at him with a grateful smile.

"You're not really scared of Rachel, are you?"

Kieran chuckled, leaning in so that his mouth came right next to her ear and it popped goose bumps along her arms. "No, I can tell she's harmless."

She raised an eyebrow, turning her head so she faced him.

"Okay. Maybe she's a little not-harmless."

Liz ducked her face down so he didn't see her grin, but he used one finger to pull her chin towards him again, holding her there until she let him see her smile.

Thankfully, dinner went smoothly. Each of Casey's brothers made a toast, flipping the emotions in the room from misty eyes to laughter and back again. Jake's Army buddy, Chris Stockton made a heartfelt, expletive filled speech that had tears streaming down Casey's face, and every other woman's in the room. And then all too soon for Liz's taste, the evening was over and Kieran was walking her to her car.

Nobody was watching them, but he casually wove his fingers through hers as they crossed the parking lot. When they reached her car, Liz leaned against her car door, drawing the edges her cardigan tighter around her, hoping he saw that as a valid excuse for the way she’d pulled her fingers away from his.

The days were nice and warm now, but the spring evenings still held a chill. Rubbing his hands against her upper arms to try and warm her, Kieran smiled over at where Tate was trying to usher a mildly tipsy Rachel into the car.

"Your friends are great."

Liz nodded, unsure of whether she should move out of his grip or not. "I'm very fortunate to have them."

"Nah, they're lucky to have you, angel."

"Kieran-"

He stepped back and held up his hands. "I know, I know. Nicknames are bad. Sorry."

Taking his sudden space as good of an opening as any to leave, Liz pulled her keys out of her clutch and unlocked the door. Rachel and Tate waved as they drove past, and Liz returned it.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Kieran."

There was no mistaking the flash of disappointment in his eyes, but it confused her. And since she was far too exhausted to figure out why he could possibly be disappointed that she was leaving, and had far too big of a day coming, she simply smiled and sank down into the driver's seat. He was still watching her car when she pulled out of the parking lot.

When she finally crawled into her bed, not even having the energy to pull the blankets up over her, her mind vaguely registered the thought that she should be thinking about Casey, about the fact that tomorrow was her wedding day. But instead, the last wispy thought in her head before sleep claimed her, was the disappointment in Kieran's dark eyes.

"
N
ervous
, Case?" Rachel asked for the thousandth time that day. And just like every other time, Casey smiled.

"Nope."

"Feet are warm?"

"Toasty. Now go fuss somewhere else. Don't you have a child to feed?"

Liz smiled into the mirror, where she gave her loosely curled up-do one more pass with the hair spray. In the reflection of the large full-length mirror, she watched Casey's mom, Marie, kiss her daughter on the cheek and walk out of the bridal suite.

And then it was just the three of them. Any pictures that could be taken beforehand were already finished, since Casey and Jake decided to stay traditional, he hadn't seen her yet. Which left full bridal party pictures for after the ceremony.

And once Jake did see Casey? Liz wouldn't be surprised if the man went to his knees. Because her friend looked like absolute perfection. The dress was simple, hugging her tall, curved frame closely, with a sweetheart neckline and a solid gold belt wrapped around her narrow waist. And what made her the most beautiful was the look of complete and utter peace in her face.

"You look so beautiful, Casey," Liz whispered, meeting her friend's eyes in the mirror. Liz's eyes filled at the same time as Casey's.

"Almost as beautiful as my bridesmaids."

Rachel stepped next to Liz by the mirror, turning to the side and nodding. "You got that right. You did good with these dresses. Tate about impregnated me again when he saw me in it."

Liz and Casey laughed, and it snapped the tears right up. But Rachel probably wasn't exaggerating. Liz's phone chimed from across the room, and when she lifted it up, she smiled.

She took a deep breath before she left the bridal suite. It'd been very easy to forget this whole aspect of the day in the busyness of getting ready, how they would interact around a couple hundred people who thought they were really together. Dylan was talking to some of Jake's Army buddies in the narthex of the church, and winked at her when she walked past. After she edged past their group, she saw Kieran standing by the doors, one hand dug into a pocket. His attention was on his phone, so Liz took an unabashed look at him.

Wearing all black, he looked handsome and dangerous. The pants had a subtle pinstripe, and the black suspenders over his black button down shirt made his chest look even broader somehow. He had the sleeves of the shirt rolled up to show his tanned forearms that were covered in ink. Rachel had once told Liz that she knew Tate was different because just looking at him made her want to explode and hide and touch him, all at the same time.