Our Little Wedding (The Spencer Brooks Diaries #3)

Ainsley

“Nikki’s dinner is in the fridge on her favourite plate. Hopefully, that will make it easier for you to get her to eat tonight. All you need to do is take it out and heat it in the microwave. Reheat it for about three minutes. She will try to tell you she can eat in the living room, but she needs to eat at the table. Spencer thinks she is getting away with too much at Brittany’s, so he is implementing stricter rules for when she is here. She’s been horrible since she returned.”

“What about drinks?”

“She can have a juice box or a glass of milk, whichever she wants. Don’t let her con you into giving her pop. It gets her crazy hyper, and lately she has been sneaky about that, too.”

“Okay, plate, no pop, and at the table. I think I got it,” Carly said, hopping up onto the counter.

“Oh, and I got out some construction paper and some new markers. She wanted to do some arts and crafts tonight. I believe she wanted to make Spencer a birthday card. She needs to do that at the table as well, since we found a minor cut on the couch the other day that we had to have repaired.”

Carly nodded and then took a sip of the pop I’d gotten for her. “No problem. I’ll help her with that. Maybe I’ll even make Spencer one.” She winked.

I laughed, imagining what Carly would put inside the card. I shook my head as I reached up into the cupboard and grabbed a box of crackers, put five on the plate, and then grabbed the cheese from the fridge and began making Nikki a snack before we left. I had just added a handful of grapes when Carly cleared her throat.

“Don’t you find this a little weird?”

“Find what weird?” I asked.

“I dunno, this. You used to be the babysitter, and now here he is, hiring a babysitter.”

I looked at Carly, who wore a smug smile on her face. “I am a former babysitter. Currently, I am a personal assistant.”

“Ooh, I forgot. You’ve moved up in the world.” Carly giggled.

“Don’t make fun of me. You know one day you too could end up not babysitting and spending time in corporate America.” I laughed.

“I don’t think so. I’ll be living the wild life, working with young kids in a school somewhere, not in corporate America under my boss’s desk!”

“You bitch!” My mouth dropped open, and we both laughed. I shoved Carly’s shoulder just as Nikki walked into the kitchen and placed a few sheets of construction paper on the table.

“Carly, if you give me two desserts, I’ll tell my dad nice things about you.” Then she turned and looked at me with a smile.

I looked back at her, trying not to laugh, and was about to say something when Carly interjected.

“If I give you two desserts, you’ll be sick, and unfortunately I don’t do puke, so…”

Nikki hung her head, and then, almost as if Carly had said nothing, she looked up at me with hope in her eyes. “Will you and Daddy be back in time for dessert?”

“Mmmm, I’m not too sure. We might be, but to be on the safe side, you should have dessert when Carly gives it to you.”

“But Mom lets me have two,” Nikki cried.

I glanced at Carly and shook my head. This was totally abnormal behaviour for Nikki, and I was glad when I heard Spencer’s voice from the hallway.

“Well then, maybe you shouldn’t have any,” he said, coming around the corner dressed in jeans and a sweater. The scent of his cologne combined with the sound of domination in his voice made my knees weak. “Ready to go?”

I nodded.

“Carly, please. Can I have two desserts?” Nikki questioned as she climbed up on the kitchen chair.

Spencer looked at me and smiled. “What did tell Carly?” Spencer questioned.

“She said maybe.”

Spencer looked over at me and then back to Nikki. “No, I don’t think she did. Now you behave yourself for Carly, and if there is mention of two desserts again, I will tell Carly you can’t have any. We’ve got to get going,” Spencer said, placing a kiss on the top of Nikki’s head.

“Awww, Daddy,” Nikki cried.

“Call us if you need anything,” I whispered to Carly, then I hugged her. “Thank you for doing this.”

“No problem. Have fun house hunting!” Carly called before sitting down beside Nikki, distracting her from us leaving while helping her cut the paper.

We had seen two houses already, and now were just pulling into the driveway of the third. Immediately, I could see us living in this one. The front of the house was beautifully landscaped, and I was already in love with the wrap-around porch. Spencer cut the engine, and we climbed out of the car just as our agent pulled in behind us.

“All right, so this one has four bedrooms, 2.5 baths, and a fully landscaped backyard complete with a pool and hot tub,” Nick said, walking with us up to the front door and unlocking it. “It’s also currently empty, so that means there is way more flexibility on the move-in date,” he said as he opened the door.

We stepped inside, and immediately I fell in love. The entire house had been renovated, and they had turned one bedroom into an office, complete with built-in shelves and a desk. We walked through the entire house, then went into the backyard, which was beautiful.

“Nick, could you leave us alone for a few minutes? Give us a chance to speak in private?” Spencer questioned, shoving his phone back into his pocket.

“Sure, of course. I’ll be in the kitchen,” Nick responded.

The back door closed, and Spencer and I stood alone in the backyard. I hadn’t been able to read Spencer’s thoughts at all as we’d walked through each of the homes. It would have been easier had I been able to. At least I would have known not to get my hopes up.

“Well?” he questioned, coming over to me. “Thoughts?”

Immediately, my stomach knotted. I didn’t know if he liked any of them, and I certainly didn’t want to be the one who decided. This was supposed to be a joint decision. This house, though, was perfect.

“Did you like any of them?” I asked.

“I did. I’d like you to share your thoughts with me. I want to know what you think!”

Spencer had done all the work. He’d contacted Nick, he’d booked the appointments, he’d chosen the houses to look at. I had no clue how much any of them even were, or what we could afford, but each of them would have fit my father’s house and Spencer’s current house inside of them at least four times. I let out a sigh and shifted my weight from one foot to the other.

“Do we need to keep looking?” he questioned.

I’d been quiet the entire afternoon, doing my best to hide my excitement in any of the houses we’d been in. “I don’t know.”

“You don’t know?” Spencer questioned. “From the look on your face walking through this place, I was sure you’d have attacked me by now and told me to get this one.” Spencer shrugged. “I guess I’ll tell Nick to keep searching.” He turned to head back inside.

“How did you know I loved this one?” I questioned, just as Spencer placed his hand on the doorknob.

Spencer walked over to me and pulled me into his arms. “There have only been a handful of times I’ve seen that look on your face. You know, the one you have when you are completely in love with something… or someone,” he said, bringing his hand to my cheek before he leaned in and met my lips with his. “The one that is on your face right this minute, actually,” he whispered, nipping at my lower lip.

“Oh, I didn’t know I had a look.” I could feel the heat rise to my cheeks.

“It’s the same look you get when I kiss my way down your body…” he murmured, running his fingers down my side to where my shirt met the waist of my jeans, his fingers grazing my bare skin.

I closed my eyes. “Stop it,” I whispered, grabbing his hand as a shiver of excitement ran through my body. “Concentrate.” I giggled.

“Oh, I am concentrating,” he whispered in my ear, the feel of his breath sending chills through me. “Shall we put an offer in?”

I pulled out of his arms and looked around the backyard. The house was perfect, and it would accommodate our family nicely. “How much is it?” I questioned.

“That is not something you need to worry about. All I need to know is a yes or a no.”

I nodded my head and smiled, excitement building inside of me. “Put an offer in,” I said, leaning in and meeting his lips.

“Okay, I’ll go talk to Nick. Call Carly and make sure everything is going okay with Nikki. Let her know that once we finish here that we are going out to celebrate.”

We stood at the hostess desk at The Porterhouse restaurant, waiting to be seated. Spencer had worked with Nick to come up with an offer on the house, and once they had finished, Nick told us we would hear from him soon.

“Was Nikki behaving when you called?” Spencer questioned as we waited.

“Yes, Carly said she only asked for double dessert three more times.” I giggled.

“That child. I’m going to have to talk to Brittany about her behaviour. However, I remember when she pulled that on you the first couple of times you watched her.”

“Yeah, only I fell for it because someone didn’t warn me. This is different though. Her attitude toward everything is bad.” I shrugged.

Spencer pulled me to his side. “I’ll talk to Nikki and Brittany. However, what can I say? Kids will be kids.” He chuckled.

“Right this way, Mr. Brooks,” the hostess said, grabbing two menus before leading the way to the table.

We’d been seated for about ten minutes when we heard a familiar voice greet us at the table. Spencer’s eyes met mine, and we both looked up at the same time to see his ex-wife, Brittany, holding an order pad.

“Well, well, if it isn’t my two most favourite people in the entire world, my ex-husband and the slutty babysitter.” She sneered.

I swallowed hard and looked at Spencer, who sat there looking at her with a straight face. I’d seen this exact face before, at the office the other day when he had a meeting with an employee who had broken company rules. It hadn’t ended pretty, and I suspected this little interaction wouldn’t end well either.

“Brittany, I’ll care for you not to allow personal issues to interfere with your job,” he said, clearing his throat.

“Who the fuck are you? My boss?” she whispered. “I’ll care for you not to allow personal issues to interfere with your job,” she mimicked.

Immediately, I saw where Nikki’s behaviour was coming from, and I glanced to Spencer to see if he recognized it too. Spencer looked at me out of the corner of his eye.

“We’ll both have the fillet, baked potato with a side of mushrooms for myself, and asparagus for . And two waters,” he said, closing the menu and grabbing mine, handing them both to Brittany.

She glared at him. “Still ordering for the woman, I see. Does she not have a mouth?”

I lowered my eyes to the table when I felt her steely stare on me.

“Oh wait, of course she does, otherwise you’d never would have fucked her.”

I could still feel her stare. I wanted to hide; her words mortified me.

“Brittany,” Spencer said through his clenched jaw.

With a smirk on her face, she marched off and across the restaurant.

“Oh God, Spencer, I can’t do this. Can we please just leave?”

Spencer shook his head. “You can do this. You’re stronger than her. She is trying to get me to cause a scene in here. I didn’t know she worked here. She probably got a job here because she knows this is where I do most of my lunch meetings with the executives. I was late one day when I dropped Nikki off and I mentioned it to her. Since she knows that, she also knows this would be the worst place for me to lose my patience.”

“I know. I just can’t do this.” I could feel the tears burning behind my eyes. “I can’t have her say things like that about me.”

He reached across the table and took my hand in his. He was about to say something when two glasses of water were dropped onto the table in front of us, and I glanced up to see Brittany once again glaring at me.

“Where is our daughter, Spencer?” she said, placing her hands on her hips.

“At home… with a sitter.” Spencer met my eyes, reassuring me with a look.

“Oh, how convenient. You know you really have a thing for babysitters, don’t you? Let me ask you, are you screwing her as well?”

I glanced over at Spencer. His jaw was tight, and I could see the vein in the side of his neck throbbing. The look on his face was one of pure anger. I’d never seen him like this. I gripped his hand a little tighter to remind him of where we were when someone called out to Brittany. She whipped around and took off over to another table.

“Are you okay?” I questioned, as I noticed he’d followed her movements.

“She is just doing this to get at me. I won’t lie, it’s working.”

“Perhaps you should speak to the manager,” I suggested, not wanting Spencer to take matters into his own hands and lose his temper.

“Oh, I plan on that,” Spencer said, gripping my hand tighter as he stopped a server walking by the table, asking to speak with the manager.

“I’m just going to use the washroom,” I mumbled as I stood up.

“It’s over there,” Spencer said, nodding in the washroom’s direction.

“I’ll be right back.”

I’d taken a few moments to gather myself before I opened the door to the stall and approached the sink. I ran my hands under the warm water and lathered the soap as I looked at myself in the mirror. I could see the tension and worry on my face. I let out a breath and grabbed a paper towel to dry my hands. I pulled my mascara from my purse and was about to apply it when the door to the washroom opened. My heart started to pound when I saw Brittany walk in.

She said nothing. I frowned as I watched her bend down and look under the stalls. Then she turned to me. Her eyes ran the length of my body before they met mine.

“You think Spencer is marrying you because he loves you, don’t you?”

I stood there, my heart racing as she waited for my response. When I said nothing, she let out a small laugh.

“I thought the same thing when I was pregnant with Nikki. Boy, was I wrong. Don’t get too comfortable, because when the next best thing comes along, Spencer will be gone.”

“That’s not true,” I said, my voice cracking.

“It’s not? Let me guess, he isn’t interested in anyone else. He only wants you to be happy and secure.”

I blinked hard. I could feel the tears burning behind my eyes as her words hit me. Words Spencer himself had said to me time and time again.

“You’ll find out. Trust me.”

I wanted to fire back at her. I wanted to ask her if she didn’t want me to have him, then why did she cheat on him? I stood there, courage growing inside me and just as I was about to, the door opened, and a woman came walking in. She stopped in her tracks and looked at both of us clearly sensing the tension between us. I looked at the woman, and that was when I dashed out the door. I made my way over to the table where Spencer stood speaking with, I assumed, the manager. I slid into my seat and wiped my eyes.

“What is it?” Spencer demanded. The gentlemen he was speaking with turned and looked at me.

“It’s nothing,” I whispered, wiping my eyes again without looking at Spencer.

“She approached you, didn’t she?” he questioned. “In the bathroom.” Anger lined Spencer’s face.

I looked up to meet Spencer’s eyes, only to see that he and the man he’d been speaking to were now looking over toward the washrooms, just in time to see Brittany step out onto the floor. She made brief eye contact with them before she cleared an empty table.

“I’ll take care of it, Spencer,” the man said, shaking his hand. “Again, I am sorry about this. Please enjoy your meal tonight. It’s on the house.”

Within seconds, the manager had pulled Brittany from the floor. Spencer looked at me, worry lining his face. “I’m sorry about this,” he said. “Now, what did she say to you?”

It took me only a few seconds before a tear escaped my eyes. I knew deep in my heart that what she said wasn’t true. I knew their past; I knew why they’d divorced, but what I didn’t know was why Brittany was doing this. I decided not to tell Spencer what she’d said. I just wished this was going to be the last time I ever laid eyes on Brittany.