Chapter 38
I could use a nap
Amelia
Promising Alex I’ll meet him downstairs in the dining room as soon as possible, I rush out the door and head for the elevator.
All I can do is hope that I don’t run into anyone on my way to my room.
My hair’s a mess because even after I got it kind of under control, Alex’s hands ended up in it again.
I’m carrying my heels and wearing one of Alex’s T-shirts as a dress.
It barely covers my ass and I’m not wearing any panties since mine were destroyed.
I’m not complaining, though. Not at all.
I already told Alex he has to replace every pair he rips, and he grinned like the fucking Cheshire Cat.
Just as I get to my room, the door across from it opens and my mom walks out. Fuck.
She takes in my appearance and smiles smugly at me. “I was going to be upset with you until I read the shirt.”
I wrinkle my eyebrows in confusion and look down. I didn’t pay attention when I grabbed it, but Delgado Technology Corp. is spelled out across my boobs. Alex’s worn a few like it this week, always looking sexy as hell in them.
“Shit,” I mutter. Huffing, I look back up at her. “And you’re not upset because…?”
“Because that man adores you, sweetheart. I don’t know why you’ve been so angry with him all week, but I was going to sit your ass down and drag it out of you tomorrow if you didn’t straighten your head out before then.”
“It’s a long story, one I don’t have time to tell you even if I was going to, which I’m not, by the way. I have to go get ready for a brunch date I’m already late for.”
“If you don’t tell me, Lizzie will at some point.”
I roll my eyes and open my door. “Go do whatever you were doing, Mom.”
“Coffee. Your dad and I need coffee,” she says with a yawn. “It was a long night.”
“Yes, it was.” I smirk and wag my eyebrows at her before running into my room.
I strip out of the shirt I now consider mine and pull on some shorts and a tank top.
I fight with my hair, working it into a loose braid.
There’s no point in doing more right now since it’s being professionally done later.
Strapping some sandals to my feet, I put my keycard and phone in my back pockets and I’m out the door.
Mom’s waiting for the elevator when I step out of it on the ground floor, a coffee in each hand.
“I liked your other outfit better.”
“Me, too. Might wear it again later.”
She chuckles as the door slides closed.
Alex is sitting alone in the dining room. I make my way over and stop next to his table. “You want me to spit in that for you?” I ask, gesturing to his coffee.
He glances up at me, his cheeks slightly pink as his lips pull up into a little smirk. But before he answers, I hear Bean’s voice coming up behind me.
“There you are, Minnie! Finally!” She hands me a large paper coffee cup and grins at me before sitting across from Alex.
“Thank you.” I inhale and smell the peppermint before taking a drink.
“Sit, sunshine.”
I try to glare at Alex, but it’s hard when he’s smiling so brightly. I sit and grab the menu in his hands.
“Hey, I was looking at that.”
“Yeah, but you’re going to order pancakes with fresh berries and bacon.” I look over the pages, trying to decide between triple chocolate waffles and strawberry cheesecake crepes.
“Min, I’ll get the triple chocolate waffles, and you get the strawberry cheesecake crepes, and we’ll split them?” Bean asks while looking over her own menu, reading my mind.
“Deal.”
“I can’t believe I missed seeing you in just Dad’s shirt.” Bean smirks at me over her coffee after the waitress leaves a few minutes later.
“Oh, good, you ran into my mother,” I say sarcastically.
“That I did. So did Haven, by the way. Your mom was waiting for her coffee, just grinning. I swear that might have been the highlight of her life.”
I groan and drop my head onto my arms on the table.
Alex chuckles, and I tilt my head to glare at him again.
He cocks an eyebrow and drinks his coffee with a smirk on his face.
I roll my head the other way and see a matching smirk on Bean’s face.
“Oh god, there’s two of you now. I did not think this through. ”
“Shut up and let yourself be happy,” my best friend tells me. “And we have mani-pedis in an hour, so be extra happy.”
Chuckling, I sit back up and sip my coffee. “I do love a good mani-pedi.” I take another look around. “Where is everyone?”
“Grandma and Grandpa already ate, with Haven and Raelynn. I think they’re taking a walk now. Everyone else is probably still sleeping. Stephanie and Rachel will be pissy that they didn’t eat anything before getting our nails done, but I tried to wake them up.” Bean shrugs.
After we’re done eating, Bean checks the time on her phone. “Oh, I have to steal Minnie early. We need to bring our dresses and shoes and whatever else to the dressing room. Actually, Dad, could you help us carry it down so we don’t have to make as many trips?”
“Of course,” Alex replies. “Give me a minute, I need to get something from the front desk first. Where are you starting? I’ll meet you there.”
“My room,” Bean says.
Alex nods and walks toward the front desk while Bean and I head for the elevator. Once we’re on the way up to the top floor, she grins at me. “I’m gonna start calling you Mama Minnie. Or something.”
“God.” I close my eyes and shake my head. “You’re a troublemaker, Bean.”
“Aw, come on, it would confuse the fuck out of strangers, and that’s always fun. Plus, it’ll piss Mom off.”
“Fuck. She’s always hated me, but she might actually try and kill me now.”
She wraps her arms around me. “Don’t worry, I won’t let her hurt you.”
We laugh until we get to her room, where we start moving stuff to the couch in the living area. A couple of minutes later, there’s a knock on the door, and she lets Alex in.
“Hey, Dad. We’re just getting everything together.”
“Sounds good.”
“Wedding dress and under stuff, robe sets for the bridesmaids, shoes, veil… Hair and make-up stuff is being brought in, everyone else has their own dresses…” I mutter, trying to remember if we’re missing anything.
Bean turns to Alex. “Dad, can you hold your arms out so I can drape my dress over them?”
He does as she asks, his eyes going wide when she transfers the dress. “Holy shit, this thing is heavier than I expected.”
“That’s all the diamonds and gold bars on it,” I joke.
“Ha ha. So funny. Let’s go get your dress and stuff.” She picks up the veil and shoes, and I grab the bag of silk robes. We take the elevator down to my room, and I pull my dress and shoes out of the closet. “Hey, nice shirt on your floor,” she says with a smirk.
“Shut up, Bean.”
Alex just stands there, looking happy as fuck.
Back on the main floor, we drop everything off in the dressing room.
“Alright, I think that’s it. I’ll remind the other girls to bring their stuff in here when we see them at the nail salon. What are you doing while we’re doing that, Dad?”
“Moving Amelia’s stuff up to my suite.”
“What?” I ask, my head swinging to look at him.
He pulls a key card out of his pocket and hands it to me. “No point having your bag in one room and you sleeping in another, sunshine.”
“Who says I’m not sleeping in my room tonight?” I rest my hands on my hips as I tease him, knowing full well I’m sleeping with him tonight.
He snakes an arm around my waist and pulls me close. “I say so.”
“You’re pretty sure of yourself, aren’t you?”
“Yes, I am, Amelia.” He drops his lips to mine and kisses me.
“Huh…” Bean says, sounding slightly confused.
We turn to look at her, and for a second I panic, worried she’s changed her mind about being okay with us being together. But then she grins.
“I think I’ll get used to you kissing my best friend faster than you calling her Amelia, Dad,” she says with a chuckle. “But keep it PG around me, will ya?”
Alex chuckles and kisses my temple. “Need your room key, baby.”
I raise an eyebrow at him, but dig it out of my pocket and hand it over.
“And maybe unblock me on your phone,” he says.
“Oh, shit, I forgot to do that.” I pull my phone out. “Fuck, I need to charge this more at some point today. Don’t think for a second you’re getting that shirt back, by the way. It’s mine now.” He grins and kisses me again, and even though it’s gentle and chaste, it has me wanting more.
“It’s yours. Just like me.”
“Okay, it’s time for us to go. Say goodbye.” Bean grabs my hand and drags me away with a smile. Once we’re out of the room, she loops her arm through mine. “Do we want coffee or drinks while we get our nails done?”
“I’m inclined to say coffee because a nap is unlikely, and then drinks later when we’re getting our hair and makeup done.”
“You’re so smart, Maminnie.”
“I wonder how Tiffany will decide to murder me…”
We meet the rest of the girls at the nail salon, and all get settled in massage chairs, including Raelynn, who looks even tinier than normal in the huge chair, but the smile on her face is almost as big as the chair.
Tiffany walks in just as we’re starting to soak our feet and sits in the last empty spot.
“Uh, Mom, this is supposed to be a bridal party only thing,” Bean says, leaning forward to look around Haven and Raelynn at Tiffany.
“Pshhhh, I’m the mother of the bride. That’s basically part of the wedding party.”
“I don’t think that’s how it works,” Haven says with a shake of her head. Tiffany glares at her before frowning at the bottles near Bean’s feet.
“Don’t tell me you’re doing French tips, Lizzie. That’s so cliché.”
Bean sits back and rolls her eyes. “I like French tips.”
Tiffany huffs and gets up to go look at the bottles of polish.
“Five bucks says she picks a green,” Bean says quietly.
“Why?” I ask.
“Because she thinks it’s Dad’s favorite color,” she replies.
I tilt my head and chuckle. “But his favorite color is blue.”
Haven snickers. I narrow my gaze at her and she grins back.
Bean’s eyes sparkle at my answer. “Well, I know that. And you know that. But for some reason, Mom’s convinced it’s green.”
“Oh, look at this green! I bet Zander will love it,” Tiffany exclaims, bringing a bottle back with her.
“It’s pretty, Mom. Minnie, you owe me five bucks.” Bean holds her hand out and wiggles her fingers.
“I didn’t take that bet!” I argue.
Half an hour later, Tiffany’s voice suddenly cuts above the chatter. “You didn’t sleep in your own room last night, Minnie.”
Every head in the room swivels her way.
It takes a second for my mouth to catch up with my brain. “Not that it’s any of your business, Tiffany, but why do you even care?”
“I just don’t think Zander would appreciate you wasting his money like that,” she says, her tone bitchy and smug.
I laugh so hard I snort. I can’t fucking help it. Bean shakes beside me as she tries to hold in her laughter, and Haven doesn’t even bother to hide a full-blown cackle.
“I doubt I’m the only one who didn’t sleep in their own room last night. And I don’t think he’ll give a shit.”
“I think he’s pretty happy about it, really,” Bean adds. Somehow, she keeps her face expressionless. And somehow, I keep from punching her in the arm.
“What?” Tiffany asks, confused.
“Nothing,” Bean waves a hand in the air. “Never mind.”
“Troublemaker,” I whisper to her.
Bean winks at me. “You know it, Double M.”