Nothing to the Wedding (Nothing to…)

ONE

HERE’S THE THING about weddings. Not getting married, the wedding part. It’s never as straightforward as it should be. Getting married could be straightforward, she knew that from experience. Show up. Say your lines. Cake. As in a piece of cake, simple, not an actual cake.

Until now.

Her biggest responsibility?

Spoiler alert: swooping onto the stage to enact a last-minute twist.

Wait for it. The time would come.

The LA Grand Hotel’s Platinum Suite was no novelty. How many things had happened to them in that hotel? To her. To her friends. To her lover. Could he still be called that after marriage? Hmm. Hope so.

Going into her bathroom—not the master—she slid back the shower screen and turned on the water while waiting for Casanova to pick up the phone.

Ring. Ring. Ring… Zairn or Tibbs? Place your bets for—

“What did you do?”

Ah, said lover. Good.

“My ex-boyfriend just showed up,” Roxie said, her fingers retreating from the shower spray. “In LA. In my Platinum Suite. He was in my bedroom too.”

“It’s Valentine’s Day.”

Hmm, her guy was completely indifferent to Porter arriving in LA without notice.

Sexy as hell. So secure, so confident in them.

Was it weird that their relationship still aroused her?

Beyond a level that could be classed as normal?

He’d told her numerous times it would always be this way. Damn, she hoped that was true.

“I used to sleep with him, you know? Sex. Someone reminded me today that Porter and I used to do that. Him, actually, he reminded me.”

“It’s Valentine’s Day.”

“You don’t want to ask how he reminded me?”

“It’s Valentine’s Day.”

Nothing. Not a twitch. Damn, she loved this man.

“Again.” A smile slunk to her lips. “Comes around every year. Round and round again, my love.”

“You spent it with another man last year.”

Greg Hatfield, well remembered.

“And I’ll spend it with another man this year too. Tripp’s promised to dance with me all night. My ass won’t hit the couch, so he says. A promise is a promise. I’ll hold him to it. I mean, he’ll let other men hit on me, of course, your little protégé is a loyal servant.”

Again, he stayed on track. “Tell me to get my ass to your door.”

Bounced right off.

“No,” she said, boosting herself up to sit on the vanity.

“We don’t need bullshit, exploitative, capitalist carnivals to celebrate our love.

I celebrate it every day.” Nice, that was nice, even if she thought so herself.

“That’s why I send you naked pics every day, baby. Proof of love in full living color.”

“Almost every Rouge venue holds Valentine’s events.”

“And we make a mint. Capitalism rocks. We can exploit other people, just shouldn’t let ourselves be exploited.”

“We shouldn’t? We can afford to be exploited.”

“You can’t leave New York anyway because you have your legacy board to corral.”

“It’s not my legacy board; we don’t own Gramercy.” Yep, she was aware. “Reid and Kintyre bought Kinloch out. I’m surplus to requirements.”

And if that were true, he wouldn’t be so caught up in it all. “You are not. Kintyre’s wife just birthed a tiny human. You’ve met him, the squishy little wriggly thing people keep putting in your arms, remember? He’s named after you.”

“Oh, right, the baby! I forgot, that’s why I’m here.”

Talk about exploitation, that sarcasm was ripe for the picking… Resist. Resist. Should be points for staying schtoom.

“Kintyre’s priorities are elsewhere.” As they should be. “It’s sexy when you fight for your friends. Do a good job, might get you laid.”

“Reid’s got this. If need be, he can call Gauge. This is the kind of shit Gauge does in his sleep.”

“And we all know what you do in your sleep,” she teased.

“You.”

However that worked.

“He’s looking good, by the way, Gauge, Rainie’s good for him.

” Leaning back against the mirror, she tucked her feet up on the marble edge beneath her.

“I love seeing my girls tame your guys. And he gets jealous too. Gauge needs to spend more time with Tripp, Original Junior isn’t a threat to any relationship.

You ever heard of him poaching another man’s girl? ”

With Tripp’s revolving door of women, they often referred to him as Junior, to Zairn’s senior. Problem was, now they did have a little Zairn Junior in the family. Zay-Jay—as he’d come to be called colloquially—may only be two weeks old, but he was already a priority in so many lives.

“Trouble is, Lo, when a guy poaches, they’re often expected to stick with the girl.”

And Tripp was definitely a Teflon kind of guy.

She exhaled. “If only he’d get over himself.”

“Tripp?”

“Yes, Tripp. He’d be good at sticking if he just got out his own way. Why won’t he stick?”

“No idea, Lo. He’s a mystery.”

No, he wasn’t. Frustration fueled the question, it was supposed to be rhetorical. “You don’t…?” She frowned. “You know why Tripp is like he is, right?”

“Because variety is the spice of life?”

On a tsk, she shook her head. “Men! How do you miss the glaringly obvious? It’s a useless skill, yet you’re all experts.”

“Tell me.”

“No,” she said, folding her arm between her legs and body. “I won’t do your homework for you. Try studying instead of staring down my dress every chance you get, jock.”

“Can’t resist my Lola Bunny.”

One of his best qualities.

“Tripp will get there,” she said. “In his own time.”

“Happens to the best of us.”

“Don’t you think it’s funny when men react to Tripp like he’s a threat? Says more about them than it does about him. Says more about their relationships too.”

Being the guy typically making other men jealous with his presence, it probably wasn’t so funny to Zairn.

In fairness, her Casanova could be a threat to others’ relationships if he wanted to be.

Except with her, and their wedding, in his life his motivation on that score was lackluster to say the least.

“Want me to react to him spending Valentine’s with my girl?”

“How about this…” she said, curving her free hand around her bent knee. “I’ll spend tonight dancing with Tripp…”

“Yeah?”

“And in less than two weeks, I’ll marry you.”

“Slight flaw in that statement, Lo.”

With a roll of her eyes, her head bumped back on the mirror. “Well, yeah, but go with it, Skippy. How about in less than two weeks, I’ll walk down the aisle to you. Is that better? I’ll wear a floofy dress and get my hair done, may even shave my legs—I haven’t decided.”

“Nervous yet?”

She almost laughed. “It’s weird, isn’t it? People ask that all the time. I get it from my Delights, the Crimsettes, not just fans and strangers, I get it from people we know too. Real life people. Why do they ask that?”

“I don’t know. For something to say? Maybe it’s normal for other people.”

“To be nervous? Why would anyone marry someone they didn’t love and trust completely?”

“Because not all people are lucky enough to have the perfect partner.”

This time, her smile liberated the laugh. “Tripp told you about that, huh? Tattletale. He’s supposed to have a woman’s back. You really shouldn’t talk too much to my friends.”

“ Your friends? I’ve known that kid since he was a pimple-faced brat who couldn’t string two words together in front of a woman. Who do you think taught him the secrets?”

“So his perfection is Zairn-induced?”

“I was a different man before you, you know that?”

Though she sometimes played up the contradiction, she loved how her guy was always half a step away from sappy.

“Are you getting romantic on me?”

“Blame it on the alcohol.”

Yeah, ‘cause it was likely he’d hit the bottle at that time of the morning during back-to-back meetings. Regardless of the latter, if she asked him to get on a plane, he wouldn’t hesitate for a second.

“Our wedding is in twelve days.”

“Yes, it is.”

“Jane’s having kittens.”

“Yes, she is.”

“Baby on one coast, wedding on the other. It’s an embarrassment of riches,” she said. “The house isn’t ready yet.”

“I heard.”

“Turns out sometimes you can’t just throw money at a problem.”

“It will all work out.”

Some might think it was a wonder they could be calm with so many things in limbo. Yeah, okay, they didn’t have to chase the details of their wedding day because Jane, her BFF, was doing that for her. That didn’t leave them off the hook completely.

Remember the twist? It required preparation and deception, at least for now.

“We have to keep her busy,” she said. “It’s not cruel.”

“No.”

“Talk to Knox?”

“Most every day.”

“Is he nervous?”

Zairn laughed. “He’s a Collier, babe. There’s no such thing as a nervous Collier.”

“Cam’s in town.”

“He come to the club last night?”

“More to see Tripp than me.”

“Disappointed?”

“I hid it well,” she said. “I have errands today.”

“You told me.”

“Errands feel… beyond me.”

“Nothing is beyond you, Roxanna.”

“This kind of thing. Wedding errands.”

“Jane’s made all the big decisions,” he said, “just make the necessary tweaks. You’re doing it for her.”

“Ranks are still closed, right?”

“You, me, Knox, Ballard.”

“And Toria.”

“And Toria.”

“Told Tripp yet?”

“Do you know how hard it is to keep a secret from that guy?”

“Especially when you’re drinking with him every night. You’re strong, Lola. His usual tactics don’t work with you.”

“You hope they don’t work,” she teased with no sincerity. “This is the right thing. We’re doing the right thing.”

“Hey, the rest of us are too busy being astounded you and Knox agree on something.”

“We agree that Beautiful Jane gets whatever she wants.” Arching her back, her feet slipped from the vanity. “This means the world to her. It’s exciting, I can’t wait to see her face. She may just pass straight out, maybe we should push the guests’ arrival an hour. Give her time to rebound.”

“You and Knox have this. I have complete faith in both of you.”

“Says the guy who only has to show up. If you want to that is. Amount of money this thing cost, it’s happening no matter what, just so you know.

If you change your mind, don’t cancel, jilting me at the altar is completely fine.

I told Bastian we’d put names in a hat and pick some guy at random to take your spot if you don’t show up. ”

“Could land on Blayne.”

She shivered. “Don’t even joke about that. And now you know why Roman didn’t get an invite. One way or another, I’ll be getting married that day.”

“Why’d you think we settled on LA, Lo? You love getting arrested over there.”

“Least this time it wouldn’t be on you to bail me out.”

“You didn’t consider that one of the people responsible for getting me there is Ballard?”

“Ballard loves me. He has to, he’s no fool, I know where the bodies are buried. Jilt me and I’ll put everything on blast.”

“Guess I have to show up then.”

“Guess you do.”

The door opened enough to let Tripp poke his head in. “Need my phone.”

“Uh, I’m naked in here.”

She wasn’t but could be, he didn’t know.

“Uh huh,” he said without reacting. “That your guy? Tell him to buy you a damn cellphone.”

“I’m sending Astrid,” Zairn said in her ear.

“No, I don’t need Astrid, I…” Hmm, wedding errands. “Yes, send Astrid.”

“Finally you learn to follow orders,” Zairn declared. “I put her on a plane two hours ago.”

“You put her on a plane?”

“Me, Tibbs, it’s details, babe. I love how you’re falling in line. Marriage is good for us.”

She scowled at no one. “This is not compliance, it’s kindness. Astrid prefers being with me than she does you. With you oozing that charisma all over the place and looking the way you do—which is kind of rude, by the way, around such a young, impressionable woman. You should really stop that.”

“I’ll look into it. In the meantime, remember it’s her cousin’s primary mission to ensure my safety. Not likely I’ll start screwing around in the family.”

“It is not,” she said, waving Tripp away when he came in, hand outstretched. “Ballard’s primary mission is to keep me safe.” She grinned. “Tripp’s growling. I’ll call when he’s done being impolite.”

“Love you, Lo.”

“I love you too, Casanova.” Though she stretched out every word in the sentence, Tripp did let her get it out before snatching the phone. “You’re rude.”

“Says the woman who creeps into my room at night to steal my phone.”

“No one important called. You’re not as popular as you think. Though one woman did cry when I said I was your wife.”

“Could’ve been my mother.”

She shrugged. “Could have been.”

Unlikely because his mother was sitting in their suite’s living room with her best friend, but Alice Breckenridge certainly would bawl, happy tears, if her fun-loving son settled down.

He started to turn away, already typing into the phone.

“No. No. No,” Roxie said. “Stay there, I need the phone back, I have to talk to Z about Porter and Crosby.”

A subject her lover managed to erase from her mind. That was the problem with their conversations, often they went off on their own tangents. Maybe that was why they ended up talking fifty times in a day.

Still typing, Tripp gestured slightly toward the running shower. “If you’re getting in there, I’m leaving the room.”

Good point. She wouldn’t shower with her brother in the room either.

“Okay, but don’t go too far. We have wedding errands today.”

That brought his slow blink up from the phone. “Wedding errands? Yeah, that doesn’t sound like my thing. My mom is here. It’s her thing. Carolyn’s too.”

Carolyn Hunt was Alice Breckenridge’s lifelong BFF. She liked people with BFFs. Was instantly something they had in common.

“Okay, fine,” she stated, “but when it comes around to secret telling time, I’ll know who to leave out the loop.”

“Secret telling? Which secret? Secrets like that you and Z got married last summer? Or that the next wedding’s actually a twofer. Jane doesn’t know that your wedding day is her wedding day too. She’ll be up at that altar with Knox saying her vows right alongside you and Zairn.”

Uh, spoiler alert!

With a wink and a flat smile, he turned and marched on out, typing again.

“We won’t name our kids after you!” she called out. Shock became a sigh. “You know, I’m not surprised. Our Pretty, Little Priest has his ways. Hmmm…” Her eyes narrowed. “How does he do that?”