42. Emily
EMILY
My phone’s back on the nightstand. I can’t believe a woman died yesterday.
Not far from where I was sitting. There’s so many pictures, not of her but of the moments before the shooting.
And it doesn’t take being a gun expert like Anders for me to realize the shot might have been intended for Sutton but it might also have been for me.
Thayer came to bed late last night, or rather, early this morning.
He’s been sleeping for an hour or two at most. The sheet’s slipped to his waist. He’s on his side, his sculpted arms on display, his long eyelashes closed.
Asleep, he’s almost harmless. It’s easy to forget that he ordered me kidnapped and brought here.
To lose sight of the fact that he was the one who kept my brother imprisoned and away from me.
To look past who his father is and what he does.
Asleep, he’s just a man. A really handsome man.
“If you’re thinking of smothering me, get it over with.”
“You’re awake.”
“Yes, I’m awake. You make a lot of noise when you’re thinking.”
“I don’t.”
“Your breathing changes.”
“It doesn’t. I’m not arguing with you on this; it doesn’t matter. I’m getting up. You should sleep more.”
His feet hit the floor before I finish my sentence. I race to the bathroom, but he beats me there. He doesn’t close the door like I would have thought. “There’s two sinks for a reason.”
“I need to shower.”
“Go ahead.”
“I’m not showering in front of you.” I grab my toothbrush and stand in front of what has become my sink.
“Fine. I’ll go first.” He drops his boxers and strides to the large walk-in shower.
I keep my eyes glued to the toothpaste tube.
He flips on the water, holding his hand under the stream, his naked, firm body not tucked behind the glass door yet. “We need to make some decisions about the wedding.”
“I thought we’d elope.”
“I thought so too. But there’s . . . chatter that we’re getting married for publicity.”
“So, better to elope.” I spit into the sink.
Mercifully, he steps into the shower. “That’s what I thought. But there’s a columnist for IT—”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa, you read IT?” I say. The magazine’s a hot online gossip site.
“Someone sent me the link; it doesn’t matter. The theory is that if a couple flies under the radar, or goes big, they’re doing it for publicity. Small and intimate means the real deal.”
“That’s absurd. Whitney had a big wedding, and no one is challenging whether they did it for the publicity.
” As the words slide from my mouth, I remember an article I read about her wedding, the week after.
They called it a publicity stunt for Whitney’s family’s company, Tritech.
As if Tritech needs publicity. But we’re not the real thing. “On second thought, this might matter.”
“Yes, I think it does. We can’t have anything planted in James’s rotting brain.”
“Okay, so an intimate wedding.” I lean against the wall beside the shower to keep from seeing him. “What does that mean?”
“Less than a hundred, more than three.”
“That’s . . .”
“Not that many if we wanted to draw from our colleges and Green Pine alumni.”
“I don’t want to get my friends tied up in this.”
“I understand. I’m not sure I could come up with that many.”
“We don’t need to listen to IT; it’s just one article.”
“But there are hundreds more. I’ve read more about weddings in the last twelve hours than I’ve ever wanted to.”
“What? Little Thayer didn’t plan his wedding out in detail? I can’t imagine why.”
“I’ve been to enough of my father’s.”
“Same. Well, one. But one more than I wish I had.”
The water turns off, and I grab his towel and hold it out without turning around.
He takes it and steps out. I pivot and pull back.
He’s drying his hair; the rest of him is there for my eyes to soak in.
His wet skin glistens over his layers of muscle.
I catch a flash of his chubbed dick before I spin, hiding my eyes from his granite body.
“Put the towel around your waist,” I shriek.
He laughs and ignores that I just saw him naked. “I’ll come up with a list. We need a date.”
I clench my eyes closed. “It needs to be soon so I don’t have to deal with pretending to be pregnant and fitting into a wedding dress.”
“Agreed. Pick a date. We’ll do it here.”
“It’s not as easy as that.”
“It can be.”
I growl at him. It’s not even a real wedding, and I know how much work it’s going to be.
“I’ve gotten us into this. You pick the date, get a dress, and I’ll handle the rest.”
I spin before I remember he’s naked. “Really?” I cover my eyes because he’s got the towel around his neck and not his waist.
“Yes.”
“You can’t pass it off to some assistant. That will get out. And you know you have to focus on your dad.”
“I can do both.”
“I don’t like it.”
“You don’t have to like it. If you want to do it, you can.”
“I . . . No, you can do it. That way, when I get married for real, it will be like the first time.”
“Good plan. Since I’m not planning on ever getting married again, I’ll have the experience. You can turn around now.”
I peek at him in the mirror, and like magic, he already has on his pants, belt, shirt, and tie.
“Let me know the date, and I’ll get on it.”
“July 18th—that gives us three weeks. Is that too soon?”
“No, that’s good.” His hazel eyes hold mine in the mirror. “Do you want updates or . . .”
“Surprise me.” I hate surprises. And I one hundred percent know why. When I was a kid, I had no control over my life. Everything was a surprise, and not in a good way.
“You’re sure?” he asks.
“Yup.” My p pops when I say it.
“Okay.” Thayer crosses the short width of the bathroom, and my breath hitches. Is he going to kiss me goodbye? But he shifts around me and grabs his sunglasses from the counter. “Have a good day, Emily.”
“Ah, you too,” I say, my chest doing weird things.
“Em?” Ryder calls.
“I’m in the bathroom.”
“Morning, beautiful.” Ryder wraps his arm around me and kisses me behind my ear.
“Morning.” I swing around in his arms and press my lips to his softly.
“It’s weird how normal it’s become to wait for my girlfriend’s fiancé to leave.”
“Right?”
“What’s the plan for today?”
“Want to go shopping for a wedding dress?”
“Strangely, yes. Where are you going to do it? City hall?”
“No, a bit larger than that. Oh, and Sutton was asking about my hen party. But I haven’t even asked Lilith to be in the wedding.”
“Can you keep from telling her the truth?”
“If I don’t ask her to be my maid of honor, there won’t be a wedding.”
“She’s violent?”
“Just a tad.”
“Have you had a shower yet?”
“Nope.”
I yank off his top; he lets my robe drop on the floor. When his pants are gone, I pull him into the already steamy shower.
Holloway’s scowling at me in the mirror from the front seat.
It’s not my fault that Lilith’s plane is an hour late.
But I had to pick her up or we’d miss the appointment at the dress salon.
She wanted to come with me. Which was fine.
It was nearly impossible to find a dress shop that had appointments available.
Everyone is too busy with clients or not willing to do a last-minute wedding.
I have no idea how Thayer’s doing with the rest of the details of the wedding.
I gave him my list. I’m hoping that, with it being so last minute and so close to the actual wedding date, most of the guests won’t be able to make it.
We’ve requested no gifts but have a list of charities both here and in the States for people to donate to if they choose to do so.
The door to the SUV opens, and Dakota helps Lilith into the car.
“Hey there, slut.” Lil slides across the seat and wraps her arms around me.
Holloway wouldn’t let me go inside the airport.
My trips to the pub have stopped too. Going anywhere without feeling like I’m the gold at Fort Knox hasn’t happened.
I tried to go to the corner store next to the pub.
Chaos erupted with Holloway and his guys. And I never got my gum.
“You look good.” I squeeze her back.
“You too. You haven’t ballooned up or anything.”
“Nope. I must take after my mother. I have photos of her right before she gave birth to Easton. She didn’t look pregnant at all.”
“That’s because Poseidon delivered your brother on the back of a dolphin.” Her eyes lift from my scone belly.
“You might be right. How was your flight?” I say, trying to get her off the topic.
“It had people, so-so food, but some good mimosas, so not bad.”
“Buckle up,” Holloway growls, his head turned to glare at Lilith.
“Yes, sir.” Lilith buckles and leans into me and whispers, “He’s cute in a daddy kind of way. All big and grizzly bear.”
I glance from Holloway in the mirror to Lilith. I’ve grown to like Holloway—sort of—and he doesn’t need the kind of mayhem Lilith brings. “How’s—”
“He’s gone. I’m bringing Troy to the wedding. He’s coming in next Friday. And I get it, no hunting in your forest.”
I smile. There’s no point in asking anything about Troy. She would have given me a last name and gushed about his positive traits if he had a chance of sticking around. I nod. If she only knew how big my forest is.
“He’s really planning the whole thing?” Lil asks.
Dakota hops into the front of the car, and Holloway takes off.
“Yup, he wants it to be a surprise.”
“That’s . . . I still find it hard to believe. But weddings are gross. My cousin spent a year planning every detail of her wedding, and when things went sideways, she flipped out.”
“Guess that won’t be an issue for me.”
“You’re awfully calm.” She lays her hand on top of mine.
“When you know, you know.” I hold her gaze, willing, praying, that she doesn’t see through my ruse. Time stands still while I’m evaluated by Lilith’s internal lie detector.
“Okay, I’ll accept that answer for now. I’ll have more questions.”
“Knew you would.”
We pull up in front of the wedding dress shop, but the lights are off and the shade’s pulled.
“Do you want me to knock on the door?” Holloway asks.
“No, I texted them earlier, and they said when they close, they close and if I didn’t make it, we were out of luck.”
“That’s not great customer service.” Lilith scowls out the window.
“It was a last-minute opening. I’ll find something else.” I lean forward toward the front seat. “Can you please take us back to Havenwood Hall?”
“Yes, Ms. Rockwell.”
“What are you going to do now?”
“I don’t know, but everything will work out.”
“Who are you, and what have you done with my best friend? You’ve been kidnapped by aliens. Blink twice if you can hear me.” She taps on my forehead.
“Lil.”
“Seriously, you can’t walk down the aisle naked. Though maybe Thayer would like it?”
There’s a cough from Dakota in the front seat. And Lilith’s smile widens. “Oh. He’s a little kinky? The security guys always know. I bet you have stories.” She leans forward.
“Lil! Don’t—”
“Fine, I won’t put you in a hard place. That’s for your boss and his fiancée.”
Holloway hits the privacy screen button, and it makes me chuckle. I need to tell Thayer to give him a raise.
I’m seriously suggesting that the man who kidnapped me gets a raise? If I didn’t know better, I’d say I have Stockholm syndrome.