Chapter 3
Chapter Three
Aaron
There aren’t many places to hide at a wedding as intimate as this one. When I arrive, I try my best to find a place where I would be as hidden as possible. The rest of the guests surge ahead of me toward the seating arrangements, waiting for the ceremony to begin.
It doesn’t hurt that this gives me the best vantage point in the room. Every exit, every movement, every entrance—I can see it all from the back of the ceremony in Zachary’s backyard.
The ceremony is admittedly beautiful, with paper lanterns and fresh flowers scattered around the yard. Green and luscious, you can tell that they put a lot of effort into making this feel high-end while surviving on an admittedly small firefighter’s salary.
I appreciate the invitation to the wedding, an attempt to make me feel more welcome in a tight-knit station. But this might be one of the last places I want to be.
In this particular crowd, it’s obvious that I’m a bit of a loner. That I’m the new guy in town, on the outskirts of every conversation.
I’m more of a fixture here at the wedding than I am a guest.
With a sigh, I remind myself that I knew taking this position would come with challenges. Of course, I knew that I would need to get to know a new crew of firefighters. One day, they would become like family to me, too.
The music starts, signaling the ceremony’s beginning. I make a deliberate effort to uncross my arms, but I don’t move from the tree I’m leaning against, out of the way.
My attention follows along with the crowd’s as they turn back to the end of the aisle, where the bridesmaid steps out of the house. She has a bright, jewel-toned dress on that makes her skin look like fresh cream, the kind I used to dollop on a bowl of sweetened strawberries as a kid.
The fabric hugs her in all the right places, pulling tight around her hips and dipping low to display her ample cleavage.
I don’t want to stare. Ogling a woman is rude, even if she’s meant to be the center of attention at the moment.
My eyes draw away from her curves to the hem of her dress, skimming her thighs. The smooth expanse of her exposed skin makes my skin feel hot under this ill-fitting suit jacket.
Get it together, Evans, I tell myself. She’s a bridesmaid, not a piece of meat.
I force my eyes to travel from her vibrant dress to her face—and then my heart nearly sputters to a stop.
I would recognize that face anywhere.
Paige.
It’s the face that I see in my dreams at night. The fantasies that entertain me when I can’t sleep on a long overnight shift. Her ginger hair burns bright in the sunlight, a shade I wouldn’t be able to forget if I tried.
Her brown eyes are warm and inviting. The closer she draws to the rest of the crowd and me, the clearer I can see the crinkles at the corners where her soft smile lights her up. A notable change from the frazzled and embarrassed looks I got last week.
What in the world is this woman doing at this wedding?
I’ve never been happier to have accepted an invitation that I didn’t want, to the wedding of people I barely know. The ceremony passed in a blur. I’m sure the bride looked beautiful, but she’s not the one I’m looking at.
As the bride and groom kiss, the crowd roars. Suddenly, the chairs are taken away, and the backyard transforms into a relaxed party.
For a moment, I lose track of Paige in the crowd.
“Nice ceremony,” I tell Zachary when he has a free moment. I have been searching for an opening to ask about Paige and her appearance at the wedding. “I’m glad you invited me.”
“You’re new in town.” He shrugs. “Least I could do. But you’ll have to excuse me. Summer is glaring daggers at me because I’m not dancing with her.”
I step back, and he crosses the backyard in just a few strides, taking his new wife’s hand in his own.
Paige stands just to the left of the couple, this time with a cute little boy in her arms. The toddler is wearing a tiny suit, just a little too big for his tiny body. There’s something endearing about the bow tie around his neck, a perfect match to his mother’s dress.
She mentioned she had a mom bod, and I have to agree. All softness and gentle curves. Whatever she thinks of her mom bod, I can’t forget it. This must be her little boy. I wonder if he is her only child. I wonder where the father is.
Unlike me, Paige seems to be perfectly content to be here. On this particular night, she looks confident and comfortable—like she’s home. She’s surrounded by a small group of men from the station.
Levi is parked at her right side with one hand on the little boy. He says something that makes her toss her head back and let out a peal of laughter that I can hear from here.
Jealousy spears through me, a sudden wave that I can’t control and would never have predicted.
Is it possible that Levi is the boy’s father?
She mentioned that everyone at the station knows her, but I did catch her in a compromising position. Who am I to judge if they have an open relationship? That is between the two of them, and I will steer as clear as possible of that drama if I can.
I watch her a little while longer, trying to pinpoint the dynamic among all of them. She seems to know everyone, but I look closer, trying to learn whether she knows any of them.
Maybe that’s why I notice when her gaze snaps to the edge of the party. The smile vanishes from her face, and her laughter dries up. Casually, I scan the yard for any sign of danger but find nothing.
By the time I look back, Levi has the child in his arms, and Paige has disappeared into the crowd, walking swiftly in the opposite direction.
I can’t let her get away from me.
Naturally, I follow her to see where she’s going. Maybe I can offer a helping hand and bring that smile back to her face.
* * *
Paige
This can’t be happening. Not here. Not at Summer’s wedding, with all of these people around us. This was supposed to be a happy occasion, not one where I wound up embarrassed in front of every friend I have.
If anyone has a right to be at this wedding, it’s me.
I’m in the wedding party, for the love of it all.
I spotted Alexander by the makeshift bar, conveniently taking away my access to the one exit through the garden gate. I weave through the crowd, hoping he hasn’t seen me at the reception with Noah. Still, there’s no way he missed me walking down the aisle as a bridesmaid.
What was Zachary thinking, inviting him to the wedding? We had only been on a few dates. He is hardly guest material, not for the small and intimate setting of this backyard wedding.
Zachary is the reason I know Alexander, though. Part of me knows it makes sense that he has invited him.
My failed date works at Zachary’s father’s law firm. Alexander was one of the people who helped Zachary get out from under his father’s thumb and take over once his dad died.
Zachary doesn’t know what happened. Doesn’t know that such a respectable man humiliated me and just walked away, leaving me helpless at the fire captain’s hands.
I look around, ensuring that no one is watching me. Then, I sink to my knees and crawl underneath the table where the cake sits. A white cloth skims the grass, providing ample coverage for me to sneak away. Unlike the only guest bathroom, nobody is waiting for me here.
It’s a lot easier to breathe here under the table, alone.
Eventually, I’m going to have to emerge to take Noah home and help Summer pack for her honeymoon. With any luck, Alexander will realize he isn’t wanted here and will leave early.
I hug my knees to my chest and squeeze to soothe myself, a sense of relaxation flooding my tense muscles.
Until a man’s hand dips beneath the tablecloth, revealing me as he slowly lifts the fabric.
But when I look up, it isn’t Alexander’s impartial gaze meeting my own—my worst nightmare. Maybe this is worse, though. Aaron looks at me with amusement as he crouches down until we’re eye-to-eye.
Summer just had to invite him to the wedding.
Say something, I scream at myself. Words fail me as I take in his calm presence, just as steady as it was in that hotel room.
With him kneeling down before the table like that, I can’t help but notice how well-built he is.
Muscles ripple in his shoulders, filling out the grey suit jacket such that the stitches seem to be almost ready to pop.
He has his sleeves rolled up, exposing forearms thick with muscle and ropy with veins.
Aaron knows how to command attention just by virtue of his presence, it seems.
“Do you need help getting out of here, too?” He quirks an eyebrow at me, offering a hand if I want to stand and join him. A smile tugs at the corner of his mouth.
“Oh, stop,” I finally sputter. “If I’d known you’d hold it over me forever, I would have just stayed until housekeeping came to let me out.”
“They wouldn’t have had bolt cutters.” He laughs quietly, a sound that twists my insides in an unfamiliar way. “What are you doing at a wedding if you’re just going to hide under the cake table?”
“Summer is my best friend. I wouldn’t miss her wedding.”
“And you’re here with Levi?”
Horror washes over me at the prospect of this man thinking I am here with Levi of all people. I mime gagging at the mere idea, revulsion rippling through me. Aaron’s brow furrows in confusion.
“I’m Levi’s sister,” I clarify. “That’s why I was so hesitant and embarrassed to let you in. Imagine if it had been my brother who showed up to help me when…”
A shudder wracks my body as I think about how close I came to having my brother in that hotel room.
Aaron gives me his first genuine smile. It brightens his face in an unbelievable way. Somehow, the smile makes his jaw look stronger, etches the lines on his face more clearly. I take in the curve of his lower lip, full and begging for a tender touch.
I can’t possibly be thinking this right now.
“Should I join you under there? I hate social gatherings.”
I shrug, but it’s all the invitation Aaron needs to crawl under the table with me.
The folding table is barely big enough for both of us. With his impressive shoulders, it looks like he’s been folded into origami to cram himself into the space.
Laughter bubbles to my lips. I almost forget why we’re both huddled under the table, hiding from the rest of the party.
“So, why are we hiding?”
“My loser date is here,” I sigh, the memory flooding back.
“The man who left you tied up?” Aaron tenses and seems to take up even more space beneath the tiny table.
When I nod, the subtle movement of his hands draws my gaze. They clench into fists, which he tries to hide when he sees me looking.
He takes a deep breath, relaxing a little bit.
“I never really liked him that much or anything. But it’s pretty embarrassing to have that happen to you, you know?”
Aaron flexes his fingers, a smile spreading slowly across his face like sunrise. “Do you want to embarrass him instead?”
I arch an eyebrow at him. Was it even possible to embarrass a man who left me half-naked and tied to a hotel bed for someone else to find?
“What do you have in mind?” I ask.
“Come out from under the table, and I’ll show you.”