TWELVE
“BUT PROMISE BECAUSE it’s after midnight,” Jane whimpered, slipping off her shoes. “It’s your wedding day.”
“It is!” Roxie proclaimed to her best friend just inside the latter’s bedroom.
“You’re getting married today, Rox. Married!”
Restraining the words that wanted to leap from her lips was almost impossible. It wasn’t only her wedding day, it was Jane’s too. Her friend just didn’t know it yet.
She hadn’t drunk that much herself; though her tolerance for it these days was astronomical. Too much practice maybe. Jane was over the limit, definitely teetering. Her friend liked hugs and gushed with love on the best of days, with alcohol in her system, Jane’s need for love grew.
“I am.”
“And Zairn’s incredible, amazing, I can’t believe you…” And there were the tears. “You found it, Roxie. You found it!”
“I did.” Another hug. “You found it too.”
Jane sighed as she ebbed from the embrace. “I love Knox so much and I… I can’t believe he went back to his mom’s tonight.”
It was tough to see her friend disappointed.
In other circumstances, she’d worry if Knox chose to disappear on a night like this.
Not just worry, she’d be pissed, and she’d tell him too.
Imbued with so much alcohol, Jane didn’t notice Roxie’s peace was out of place.
She and Knox had proved many times they didn’t mind calling the other out in disagreements.
Only, this time, she wasn’t mad and didn’t disagree.
Knox was doing the right, though difficult, thing.
What Jane would find out tomorrow, or, rather, later that day, was Knox wasn’t at his mom’s at all. He could’ve gone to his mom’s, but that was just an excuse to keep Jane at bay.
“Cam’s there,” she said, stroking Jane’s hair. “It means a lot to Thena to have her three boys under the same roof. It happens so rarely.”
“Do you think I should go over there?”
“No way!” she teased. “If I’m not getting any, my maid of honor isn’t either.”
Her job right then was to keep Jane corralled and prevent her joining Knox.
Without the alcohol coursing through her system, Jane would never have the gumption to rock up at the Collier mansion in the middle of the night.
Maybe they should’ve cut her off earlier, but she’d been having such a great time!
And, technically, it was Jane’s last night of freedom too, her bachelorette party.
Another bonus because that was not the kind of thing Jane would agree to if it was solely for her.
If Jane went over to the Collier place, she’d call Knox, and then what would happen? He couldn’t refuse to see her without blowing the surprise. If he did see Jane, on this day, in these small hours, it would ruin the whole rest of the day.
Yes, Jane was a hopeless romantic; wedding traditions meant something to her.
The bride couldn’t see the groom before the wedding.
That was the rule. If they let that happen, even if they could persuade Jane to go through with the ceremony, every time she and Knox hit a bump, she’d blame herself for the superstitious blunder and attribute everything to it.
Nope, wouldn’t happen, not on her watch.
“I don’t want to have sex with him.” Jane sighed. “Oh, I do, I always do, but I just… I love sex. Don’t you love sex. Sex with love. Real sex… It’s not real until… Love is so wonderful, you know?”
“Yes.” Humoring Jane was usually high on the priority list. On their secretly joint wedding day, after all Jane’s effort, turning it up to eleven was the absolute least they could do. “Get some sleep, you’ll see Knox in the morning.”
Jane’s grin beamed. “On your wedding day!”
“Yes, on my wedding day.”
She ushered Jane over to the bed and helped her friend change before tucking the covers around her. The beauty was already snoozing as she went to her phone in the bedside dock to send a quick text.
The moment it went through, she tiptoed out of the room and closed the door without disturbing Jane.
“On your wedding day…” In the living room, Toria was sitting on the couch finishing a glass of wine… or maybe the bottle. “You’re getting married today.”
“Yes, I am.”
“Is she going to kill us for this?”
“What’s the worst that happens?” she asked, going over to lay her hands on the back of the couch facing Toria’s. “If she says no and doesn’t want to do it, she doesn’t have to do it.”
“And if she wants to run out of there…?”
She shrugged. “If she wants the three of us to run away together, I’ll have Dennis on standby.”
“And Zairn…?”
“Will understand. He knows how important my girls are to me.”
And it helped that they’d already signed on their dotted line. On the very couch she was touching, as it happened. No waiting. No take backs.
“What if Jane wants you to go ahead and do it anyway? Without her? Would put a damper on the rest of the day.”
“Z and I party all the time. If it sucks, it sucks, at least there’ll be food and music.”
Toria laughed. “Which we know for sure because Jane was in charge of those.” The woman didn’t know how to let anyone down. “When are they bringing the dresses?”
“In the morning,” she said. “They wanted to do it today, but if those dresses were in the building, you know Jane would’ve wanted to go down and check them.” And that would blast apart our plans. “We did a final fitting last week but have a team of seamstresses coming with the gowns. Just in case.”
“The cakes?”
“Knox and Jane will do theirs here. Z and I at Crimson, if there’s an appetite for it. There’s a posse of photographers and videographers coming. They’ll be tightly controlled. Super tightly tight.”
“Yeah, any kind of -ographers are always easy for you to find. Don’t think you have to book them, they just show up.”
“It’s two of everything, I don’t want Jane to feel like she’s taking anything from me and Z.”
“You don’t care.”
“I know I don’t care, but this is Jane.”
“And she feels guilty for everything. Their marriage license?”
“Knox took care of that. Got her to sign it in with a bunch of paperwork for the houses, the cars, the assets. We considered doing it here, in the morning, but Knox decided against cutting it so fine. I’ve talked to that man more in the last six months than I probably will for the next six years.”
“It’s nice that you’re partners in crime. You make quite the team.”
If they could stop locking horns so often, maybe. “Tell me that tomorrow if this all goes to shit.”
“It won’t, relax. Jane’s wanted to get married since before she was even born. Now she gets to do it standing next to the man she loves and her best friend. You gave her free rein with the wedding. Told her to choose whichever she preferred, she’s made all the decisions. This is her dream wedding.”
“Yeah, but she’s not spending tonight with Knox. You didn’t notice how she got this look of worry every time he came up at the club?”
“Guy’s frazzled and what’s he supposed to do? Jane went on and on at you that you weren’t allowed to see Zairn tonight. Can you imagine how she’d react to the wedding news if she’d woken up with Knox? We want this to be perfect for her, right? That means no seeing the groom before the wedding.”
“Yes,” she said with a certain exhale. “Perfect. It will be perfect, you’re right.”
“She’ll thank us in the long run.”
Jane organized everything, the day would go off without a hitch. If they’d read their surprise loving friend correctly anyway.
“Right, Jane’s fine, she’s sleeping. You can keep an eye on her, can’t you? I’m going out.”
“Out?” Toria asked. “It’s like three in the morning.”
“I’m the Crimson Empress, this is early evening for me. I’ve hardly broken a sweat.”
“Oh, yeah? You got plans?”
“Nothing concrete.” Tossing back a sly smile, she crept toward the door. “I’ll find something to do.”
“Something? Or someone? You promised Jane you wouldn’t see Zairn tonight.”
“And I absolutely promise that I won’t.” Twirling as she moved, she crossed her heart to Toria then snagged her purse from the table by the door. “Don’t wait up!”
Out was maybe a slight misrepresentation. She was going out of the suite she shared with Toria and Jane, but not out of the building. Nope, she was going up.