Chapter 45
Forty-Five
CLARA
M y cheeks hurt from all the smiling I’d done since rejoining the wedding party. I’d watched Mum sweep from angle to angle, making sure that the lighting was always right whilst also managing to take into consideration that we all had our preferred sides and angles.
Mum had been going for nearly an hour before Dad came over and handed her a glass of wine and a selection of canapés that I didn’t even know were out yet. The moment Mum put her camera down, our faces dropped their smiles, and the five of us huddled together.
“No one prepares you for how much smiling you have to do at your own wedding,” Becky whined.
“People call it the happiest day of their lives, and you’re surprised that you have to smile?” Rachel said, from the ground where she was squatting down and stretching her lower back. “Facial muscles aren’t meant to hold that position for that long. It’s unnatural,” she said, slapping her cheeks twice.
I laughed, noticing Mum tilt her head towards me, letting me know she wanted me to join her and Dad.
“You beckoned?” I joked, in French, when I reached them.
“You look happy,” Dad said. Ever a lawyer, cutting straight to the chase.
“I am,” I replied, taking a mini Yorkshire pudding off Mum’s plate.
“I’m glad. He’s good for you.” Mum flicked her eyes over my shoulder. When I turned my head, I saw Jesse helping Rachel to her feet.
“Yeah, he is,” I said as I turned my head around. My parents were both smiling at me. “Is that all you needed me for?” They both nodded, which I took as permission to walk back over to my friends. To Jesse.
As I walked away, I was vaguely aware of the sound of a camera clicking.
“Have I told you how stunning you look today?” Jesse asked as I wrapped my arms around his waist. I smiled as I rested my head against his neck.
“You might have done, but it’s been a long day. I can’t remember a lot of it.”
He brushed his lips against mine. “Well then, let me remind you that you look stunning today. This yellow really suits you.”
“Suits really suit you. Can you become one of those people that wears them all the time so I can stare?” Jesse’s laugh was a low rumble in my ear. I felt the vibrations of it against my chest.
“Would you get anything done if I did that, though?” I could hear the smile in his voice.
“Yeah. I’m sure the novelty would wear off eventually.”
I wasn’t sure if it would. He looked really good in a suit.
“I don’t know if it would, baby. You’re forgetting I’ve read every book you’ve ever written. I think you might have a thing for a man in a suit.”
I shrugged. “I can take or leave the jacket. It’s more the fitted shirt and well-tailored trousers.”
“With the sleeves rolled up to the elbows. For the forearms.”
I pulled away from him slightly so I could see his face properly. “You could just take the compliment and not tease me.”
“I’m sorry, was there a compliment in there? I couldn’t hear it over the demand that I always be wearing a suit,” he continued teasing.
“You look good in a suit. Very sexy. There’s your compliment.”
His eyes darkened. “If you thought that was teasing, then how about this? I also happen to know the one thing that beats your suit fetish, and it happens to be something I do pretty often anyway.”
“Yeah, what’s that?” I asked warily.
“I don’t tend to wear T-shirts all that much when I’m not around other people, and given that you are now my girlfriend, I guess you can be exempt from that and witness me in my most natural state. You can either have forearms or unlimited back access. Take your pick.”
I felt myself flush, and my nails dug into him ever so slightly. A good back did always beat a man in a suit for me.
“You don’t play fair,” I whispered.
“Nor do you with your short shorts, but I’ve learned to live with it.” His voice had taken a rougher edge, which was doing nothing to make me feel less flushed. “I think your mum wants you.”
I turned around and sure enough, Mum was looking at us, her camera half raised. She beckoned me over again. I extracted myself from Jesse and walked over.
As soon as I was standing next to her, she held her camera up to me. On the screen was a photo of Jesse and me that she had just taken. The photo took my breath away.
Despite guests milling around in the background, there was no one else in the photo. Not really. It was just us.
“That is what you have always deserved. A man who looks at you like that and makes you feel safe enough to look the same,” Mum said gently.