Seduction - Chapter 8
Saturday
I was pretty sure my favorite thing in the world was waking up with my limbs tangled up with his.
I smiled and opened my eyes, staring at my husband.
I was still getting used to thinking of him as my husband.
He’d barely ever been my boyfriend, but he’d been my fiancé for a long time.
And now? My husband. I loved him more than ever.
The morning light coming through the blinds made his skin almost glow.
And there were shadows from his eyelashes, dusting across his cheeks.
I didn’t care how unmasculine he thought my adjectives were.
James Hunter was gorgeous. I ran my fingers along his tattoo, tracing the heartbeats.
And then my hand wandered to his ribcage.
I felt the scar beneath my index finger.
I moved my hand lower, brushing my fingertips against the scar on his stomach.
His perfect abs marred by the raised skin.
But I didn’t see it as a flaw. Just like the tattoo he’d gotten as his wedding gift to me, these scars were proof that he’d fought his way back to me. Fought his way back to the life he’d promised me. A life filled with love and laughter and us. I ran my finger along the scar on his bicep too.
Three scars. Three chances for him to stop breathing.
But he’d kept breathing for me. I’d almost lost him.
I’d almost never known what it was like to be his wife.
And ever since then…I hadn’t taken a day for granted.
Not one. I was going to take advantage of these next few months where we were still just the two of us. Us against the world.
James slowly opened his eyes and smiled at me. “Good morning, beautiful.”
I let my hand fall from his bicep. I knew he wanted to pretend it never happened.
He didn’t want me to notice that every now and then he got out of breath.
Or had to pause in doing something. James wasn’t weak.
And I had no problem ignoring those moments, knowing that doing so was giving him more strength to keep going.
He was a fighter. And I loved him for coming back to me. “Good morning, handsome.”
He reached out, pushing a strand of hair out of my face. “What do you want to do today?” he asked with a yawn.
He was doing so much better. But I still thought he should sleep in more. Give his body more time to heal. “You should sleep in.”
“I’m not tired anymore.” He grabbed my ass, pulling me into his side.
I laughed. “But I have a million things to do today.”
He pressed his lips together. “What happened to taking weekends off?”
We’d gotten into a good rhythm over the past couple of months.
And that involved leaving work for the weekdays.
It was the one rule we had in our house.
No work on the weekends. The weekends were lazy days walking around Central Park or spent in bed.
But not sleeping. No, we never got much sleeping done when we stayed in bed all day.
I bit the inside of my lip, thinking about all the sinful things we’d already done last night.
He’d successfully gotten his hat trick. And as much as I wanted to repeat that…
“I have to call Justin,” I said. “Rob and Daphne are getting married in two weeks. It’s practically an emergency situation.”
James yawned again. “Isn’t that kind of their job to do all the planning?”
“You’re going to be his best man.” I lightly shoved his shoulder. “Which means you have to help. This planning is going to take an army to pull off. They’ll need all the help they can get.”
“Rob hasn’t asked me to be his best man,” James said.
“He will.”
“He might ask Matt.”
Was that a twinge of jealousy in his voice? “Nope. I don’t think so.”
“Technically they’re best friends,” James said.
“Brother trumps best friend. Trust me.”
James laughed. “How would you know? You don’t have any siblings.”
“You wound me, good sir.”
James smiled.
“I think of Rob as a brother. And I’m sure I won’t be Daphne’s maid of honor. But I can probably squeeze in as a bridesmaid since it’s so last minute. So I have bridesmaid duties.”
“She hasn’t asked you.”
“Pessimist.” I stuck my tongue out at him.
“The things I want that tongue to do this morning. Come back to bed.”
“Just let me give Justin a quick call. To at least set things in motion. Rob and Daphne need us. Even if they don’t realize it yet.” I climbed out of bed and grabbed my phone off the nightstand.
I clicked on Justin’s name and lifted the phone to my ear. He answered in two rings.
“Penny, my favorite redheaded goddess, please tell me you’re renewing your vows and need my help. The bigger the celebration the better. Let’s make it a night to remember.”
“I can do you one better. But don’t freak out.”
“Don’t say that. Now I am freaking out. Stop freaking me out right this instant!”
This was already escalating quickly. I shouldn’t have started with ‘don’t freak out’. “Remember James’ brother?”
“Yes, just as handsome as James. How could I forget?”
I laughed. “Well…he’s getting married. And we need your help.”
Justin squealed. “Of course! Tell me everything. Let me grab my planner. Are we talking next year or a later date? Hit me with it, and I’ll make it happen.”
Next year or later? God, he was definitely going to freak. I started pacing around the bedroom. “Um…the fall.”
“Are we thinking next October? October is a great time. Not too hot and not too cold yet.”
“September actually.” I heard him flip a page in his planner.
“Oh I can do the second weekend of September. The leaves won’t have started changing yet. Unless there’s a drought in the summer. Fingers crossed for no water next year! Drought, drought, drought!”
“Yeah, the second weekend of September is perfect.” I stopped pacing. “But we need to make it…this year. Not next year.”
Silence.
“Justin?”
“What the actual fuck are you saying right now?”
I’d never heard Justin curse before. “This September.”
“This September?!” His voice was so shrill I had to pull the phone away from my ear for a second.
James started laughing. Apparently he could hear the whole conversation from bed.
“Yes,” I said and started pacing again. “Two weeks. I know it’s short notice…”
“Short notice is a year in this town, honey. What do you expect me to do in two weeks?”
“Magic.”
He sighed.
“It would mean the world to me, Justin.”
He groaned.
“Justin, come on. We can figure it out together. I’ll help.”
“Who is this woman who wants to get married in two weeks? She must be barbaric!”
“Justin, come on. Don’t be rude.”
He huffed.
“She’s super sweet. You’re going to love her.”
He huffed again.
“Justin, please.”
“I can’t,” he said. “It’s literally impossible.” There was a long pause. “Which means I’m the only one that can do it. Fine! Damn you and your beautiful husband. I hate you.”
James laughed again.
I lifted up a pillow and tossed it at him. “You don’t mean that, Justin.”
“Of course I don’t. I love you both, you know that. But you’re testing me. God, there’s no time for dillydallying. I’m coming over right now. Make sure the barbarian woman is there so we can hash out the details.”
“Her name is Daphne.”
“I don’t care what her name is!” he screamed. “Ah! Sweet baby Jesus! I have to go!” He hung up the phone.
“He seemed calm, cool, and collected,” James said.
“It’s fine. Everything’s fine.” But…was it? Because Justin was the best wedding planner in the city. And if he couldn’t handle this, no one could. “I better call Daphne,” I said.
Her phone went straight to voicemail.
“Shit, they’re probably super hungover from last night.”
“How about you just come back to bed,” James said, pushing the covers down so I could climb back in.
That invitation was super tempting. How was I supposed to walk away from a shirtless James?
I turned away from him so I wouldn’t launch myself back in bed and molest his abs.
“Nope. Bridesmaid duties.” I walked into the closet and pulled off James’ shirt that I’d worn to bed.
If Justin said he was coming over right away, he was serious.
I quickly changed into a stretchy dress.
I had a feeling I was going to need to be comfortable today.
“You’re not a bridesmaid until she asks!” James called after me as I ran out of the bedroom.
Where were we going to find Daphne a dress that could be altered so quickly?
And bridesmaid dresses. God what if they wanted the whole thing to be parrot themed?
Justin was going to freak. He hated corny themes more than anything else in the world.
Well, not more than children ringbearers.
He seemed to really hate those with a passion. He said they always stole the show.
I pulled open the freezer door. We were going to need something quick for breakfast. I grabbed the box of frozen waffles, pulled out a few, and put them in the toaster.
I also started the coffee maker to make James a cup.
My fingers drummed along the kitchen counter while I thought about how long it had taken James and me to plan our wedding.
How each decision had seemed momentous. Could we have done it in two weeks?
No. definitely not. But…I would have eloped with him if he’d wanted to. I didn’t need a big fancy wedding. Maybe Daphne and Rob would want something simple. Did Justin do simple? I wasn’t sure.
The waffles popped out of the toaster just as the doorbell rang.
“James!” I called up the stairs. “Breakfast is ready and Justin is here!”
“I’ll be down in a second!” James called from our room.
I put the waffles on plates and then hurried to the door. I threw it open and Justin was standing there, his arms full of magazines, three-ringed binders, and clear storage boxes. Or at least, I assumed it was Justin. Because the stack was so high it was covering his face.
“Hi, Justin. Let me help you with those.”