Preston was surprisingly amenable as I dragged him up to stand in the place of the groom. He was probably trying to stay on my good side, as if there was even a chance in hell, I’d soften towards him. Not after what he’d done.
Part of me still couldn’t believe Preston to be capable of that kind of thing. Of hurting someone like that. Preston and Tenor had met at baseball camp in middle school and they’d been inseparable ever since. Preston had come from a much richer family but despite their differences, they’d always been good and Preston had never treated Tenor any differently, or acted like he was better than our family.
Of course, I’d gotten a crush on him. Of course. He had been handsome, smart, popular, and always considerate towards me. Once he and Tenor had gone off to college there had been some distance and I hadn’t seen him nearly as much, but then I’d gotten into the same college and—well. One thing had led to another at the house party.
That had been an amazing night. It was still the best sex I’d ever had, and a hell of a first time. But as good as the sex might have been, it didn’t change his behavior afterwards. Things had gone south almost immediately. The next day, I’d seen what kind of person he really was.
I couldn’t reconcile the person that had always been so kind and thoughtful, both to me and my brother—and to everyone else I knew—with the person who would be so hurtful and malicious. It had felt almost unbelievable. But it had happened, and he’d hurt me, and I’d promised myself after that that I would never let a man use me the way that he had.
And I’d held to that promise. I’d had some brief flings, I’d built my business, and I’d never let anyone get close enough to my heart to hurt me—and now. Now this wedding happened. And Preston was back in my life.
Someone upstairs was seriously laughing at me.
I was literally walking down the aisle with him. My twelve-year-old self would’ve been thrilled beyond measure. This had been what I’d dreamed about as a silly kid, wedding bells and ridiculous romantic daydreams filling my head. If I’d been twenty, I wouldn’t have let the guy anywhere near me. The pain still would’ve been too fresh.
But I was twenty-five now, and I was a professional, so I could grin and bear it. And it seemed that Preston wasn’t interested in making my job difficult, so thank God for that small mercy. He was probably as annoyed with the bride and groom as I was. Preston might have turned out to be an asshole but he’d always been responsible about things. Unlike the soon-to-be-wedded Chad and Bree.
It’s just for a few days. The wedding was tomorrow, and I’d have to oversee the fallout and clean up, but then I’d be happy to return home, Preston would go his own way, and we would never have to see each other again. I’d never have to think about him again, or about how he’d only gotten more handsome in the last few years, finally finished growing and filling out… about how he still smelled the same…
Damn it, Lyric! I could’ve smacked myself. Yes, Preston was hot, there was no denying that. And he looked damn good in the light gray suit he was wearing. And I couldn’t deny, my body was responding to touching him and being so close to him. But I wasn’t going to give into those feelings. I could be hot for Preston’s body all I wanted, didn’t mean I had to act on them. And acting on them, flirting with Preston after what he’d done to me, would be the height of masochism and stupidity.
At least he’d worn a suit. The others were all dressed for the bachelor and bachelorette parties that would be happening tonight, but Preston looked like he’d just walked off a runway or an important board meeting. Someone around here, thank God, was somewhat professional.
We got up to the priest and took up our positions to let him practice the important parts. Preston still had my hands in his, and his thumb was idly stroking back and forth across my knuckles, as if he couldn’t help himself. I swallowed hard, ignoring the buzzing in my veins. It was just sense memory, that was all. The last time I’d seen him, we’d fucked. My body was remembering that. End of story. Nothing to go crazy over.
I was so distracted by Preston that it took me a couple of minutes to realize that the priest was actually going through the entire marriage ceremony. Oh my God. We really did not have time for this, especially with the bride and groom not there.
“Excuse me,” I said, “Father, I don’t mean to—”
“Now, now, don’t get too eager my dear.” The priest waved his hand at me, like I was a child that was trying to interrupt storytelling time at the local library. “Wait until the vows to speak up.”
You have got to be kidding me.
I looked over at Preston, who shrugged and gave me a small smile. It was reassuring, and I hated that it felt that way—that he was making light of this and keeping me grounded and it was working.
The priest got to the part about loving, cherishing, honoring, and all of that bit, and I waited for him to just keep rambling on—except that he didn’t. He was standing there waiting.
I stared at the priest. He stared back at me. What was going on?
“This is the part where you talk,” the priest whispered.
Preston chuckled and I glared at him. Just because I was trying to be polite through all of this didn’t mean I was going to let him laugh at my expense.
Preston looked a bit chastised by my look and then shrugged again. “I mean, I promise,” he joked, obviously playing along for the priest’s sake.
I rolled my eyes. “I promise,” I said, prompting the priest. Hopefully that would help us get through this.
The priest seemed a bit confused—probably because a lot of couples nowadays wrote their own vows and wanted to say more, and I knew that Bree had been writing some. The priest probably thought I’d be reciting Bree’s vows! This was nuts.
But he then went on and finished everything up, thank God. “I know pronounce you man and wife.” He looked at Preston. “You may kiss the bride.”
I saw the mischievous look in Preston’s eyes and I glared at him, mustering every bit of festering hatred that I had for him in my heart. Preston looked taken aback, like I’d smacked him, but then leaned in and politely kissed me on the cheek.
He winked as he pulled back. I took my hands out of his and turned away, ignoring him. I wasn’t going to be laughing with him about how crazy this all was. I was going to get my job done.
“Okay!” I announced, clapping my hands again. I had gotten good at figuring out how to get the attention of large crowds in this job. “We’re going to file out, reverse order of how you came in. So if you walked down the aisle last, you now go first. Move in time with the organ music!”
I kept directing everyone as the organ music blared and people filed out, heaving a sigh of relief once everyone was out. The weirdness of senile ninety-year-olds aside, it looked like this was going well. Hopefully that meant tomorrow would go off without a hitch. And hey, what was that saying? If you had a disastrous dress rehearsal, the performance would go perfectly? I hoped that saying would hold true for this.
The priest toddled off, Preston wisely moved away from me, and I grabbed my clipboard. Okay. Time to make sure this wedding was going to be the dream destination that Bree had dreamed about.
And I wasn’t going to let anything, especially not Preston goddamn Clark, get in the way of that.
3
Preston
I was feeling more overwhelmed by Lyric that I would’ve liked to admit, if someone had asked me about it. Lyric’s glare as I leaned in to playfully kiss her had said it all—she still hated me, as she’d so helpfully claimed in the letter she’d left me right before she’d transferred colleges.
I still regretted my actions. I couldn’t help but wonder, and had wondered over the last few years, if I’d done something different… should I have done something different? I wasn’t sure. But I’d fucked up, that much had been clear by her actions. I’d hurt her, and I hadn’t meant to, but here we were. And Lyric was even more gorgeous than before, in command of the situation while being calm in
spite of the stress she had to be under, and she clearly fucking hated me.
It was quite the combination.
The whole thing wasn’t helped by the part of my brain that was telling me that this was my second chance. I’d been focused on my law degree, and then on my career at my firm, and I’d always used those as excuses when my parents or friends had asked why I wasn’t dating anyone. But the truth had been that I hadn’t been able to get over Lyric. I’d had feelings for her even when it hadn’t been appropriate—she was too young, and she was the sister of my best friend—and once she’d been twenty and old enough and able for us to have a more equal relationship—I’d thought—
And now she was right in front of me, and that voice in the back of my brain would not stop whispering now’s your chance, now’s your chance, now’s your chance.
I forced myself to walk away and to join the other groomsmen, trying to shut up that part of my brain. Lyric’s glare had made it clear that she wasn’t all that open to the idea of me trying to woo her, so I figured I could use the distraction of the other groomsmen discussing the, quote, crazy bachelor party plans.
Ugh. They were all almost exclusively Chad’s friends from college, frat guys just like him who had grown up rich and loved to party, no responsibilities, no cares, spoiled as all hell. I was not looking forward to this party tonight, but someone had to make sure that nobody burned the house down or whatever.
I glanced over to where Lyric was still checking her clipboard and making notes, talking to various guests, answering questions, double-checking with the hired workers. Normally she’d have Chad and Bree to help her with this, or at least the maid of honor, right? Shouldn’t they be helping? Or the best man?
Guess not. I walked back over to Lyric to see if there was anything I could do. Someone had to keep their head on straight around here.
She really was beautiful. And clearly capable. I could remember the day I’d looked at her and realized that she was no longer the precocious, sometimes-annoying little sister of my best friend, but a smart and beautiful young woman. It had thrown me for a fucking loop. I’d had no idea what to do with myself.
Hell, I was twenty-nine and I had no idea what to with myself even now.
“Everyone’s eager to get the party started,” I pointed out, jerking my thumb towards the groomsmen. “Not sure how long I can keep holding them back. Anything you need help with to wrap things up?”
Lyric sighed. “I have a feeling the bride and groom will be on the same wavelength.”
“Yeah, that’s Chad for you. I can’t even believe he’s getting married.” Settling down in any way didn’t seem like Chad.
“I appreciate the help,” Lyric said. She sounded genuinely relieved, and I had to work hard to keep a triumphant smile off my face. For once, my being responsible wasn’t being a stick in the mud, it was winning Lyric over. “Can you do me one more favor?”
“Of course.” I felt like an idiot but I would’ve done just about anything in that moment to impress her.
“Can you make sure that Chad isn’t too drunk to show up to the wedding tomorrow?”
I smiled. “I’ll do everything I can.”
Not that Chad would listen to me. Chad had never listened to me for our entire lives, even when he could’ve gotten out of trouble if he’d just listened to what I was trying to tell him, so I doubted that he was going to change his ways now. But I’d do my best and if he did show up drunk, I’d corral him so Lyric wouldn’t have to deal with him.
“Excuse me.” The organ player, an old lady who seemed to be the same age as the priest, tottered over to us. “But we need to see you in the office, please? Just for a moment.”
Lyric put on a smile. “Of course.”
The moment the lady was walking away to lead us over to the office, Lyric sighed and glanced at me. “They must need something with the venue signed or whatever. The bride and groom not showing up has to be concerning them. I’ll handle it.”
“I’ll come with you. I’m a lawyer, if there’s anything legal going on I can take a look, make sure you won’t find another wedding party stealing your spot tomorrow.”
Lyric smiled, her eyes lighting up in amusement, before she put a scowl on instead. I had to once again suppress the urge to grin or punch my fist up triumphantly. I was sure that I could get her to see that however I had messed up with her beforehand, I was now ready to be the kind of man she deserved.
The organist led us to the office, where the priest was organizing papers. He handed one of the papers to Lyric. “If you could just sign this…”
“Nothing’s wrong with the scheduled time or finances?” Lyric asked.
“Oh, no, not at all dear, what would make you think that?”
Lyric shrugged, signed, then passed the paper back to the priest, who handed it to me. This was probably one of those things that Chad should’ve signed ages ago. I signed where the priest pointed—and then my eye caught the top of the page.
Oh fuck.
I was a lawyer, and the number one thing they teach you as a lawyer is to never sign anything that you haven’t thoroughly read—but I’d thought, hey, how bad could it possibly be coming from an old priest in a little church in Vail?
But I clearly should have looked, because this—this wasn’t some contract about the church. It was a marriage certificate. One that Lyric and I had both signed.
“What exactly is this?” I demanded. “Why are you making us sign a marriage certificate? We’re not getting married.”
Lyric went pale. “What!?”
She took the paper from me and looked at it, her face flushing. “What—why—why on earth would you make us sign this!?”
The priest seemed confused. “Because you just got married.”
“No!” Lyric’s voice sounded strangled. “This was a rehearsal! A rehearsal! What—what part of—my emails and scheduling and—the wedding is tomorrow, it’s not us, it’s two other people, I’m the damn wedding planner!”
The priest looked a little upset that Lyric had just used the word ‘damn’ in a church but frankly I couldn’t blame her. The stress of planning this entire wedding, the bride and groom haven’t even shown up, and now this. It would give anyone an aneurysm.
The organist’s mouth dropped open. “But—you had all the flowers and everyone.”
“Our bridesmaids and groomsmen are dressed in casual wear that doesn’t match.” Lyric’s voice was softer now but higher pitched, and I realized she was starting to have a panic attack.
“I’m afraid either way it’s too late,” the priest informed us. “I did the ceremony and you just signed the certificate. You’re legally married.”
I’d fucking known this destination wedding was going to be a disaster. Apparently just not in the way that I’d anticipated.
4
Lyric
My heart rate spiked and I felt like I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t believe that this had happened. How had this happened? Why hadn’t I looked at the certificate before I’d signed it? What was wrong with me?
To be accidentally married to anyone was annoying, but to Preston Clark? The man that I absolutely hated, the man who had used me and hurt me and made me transfer to another college? It was the worst kind of nightmare. Forget what I’d said earlier about this being my version of hell—clearly somebody upstairs had heard that thought and had taken it as a challenge.
“How could you let this happen!?” I yelled at the priest. I felt bad for yelling at an old man, but I was seriously panicking. I felt like I couldn’t draw in a full breath, the room almost felt like it was spinning. “I communicated very clearly what date the wedding was, and when we’d have the rehearsal.”
“We have weddings here all the time, we assumed you were another one,” the organist piped in.
Preston put his hand on my arm. “They’re elderly, Lyric, they can get confused,” he murmured, his voice low and soothing in my ear.
I shook him off, ignoring th
e way my spine melted at the sound of his voice. I wasn’t going to let myself be comforted by him, of all people.
“You were wearing white, he was in a suit,” the priest added.
I took several deep breaths, trying to stay calm. Okay, okay, this wasn’t a big deal. “Fine, it doesn’t matter. We’ll just rip up the certificate. We’re not married, I don’t even know this man, I’m the wedding planner, we’ll rip it up and no harm done.”
The priest looked horrified. “This is a legal document, and proof of your spiritual joining.”
He quickly took the marriage certificate back, as if he thought I’d rip it up right in front of him. Honestly? I was tempted to snatch it from his hands and do exactly that. “I have to send it to the state bureau.”
I had no idea what my face did in response to that, but Preston looked alarmed. “Could you please get her some water?” he asked the organist. He took me by the elbow and sat me down in a chair, then looked over at the priest. “She’s just the wedding planner, she’s trying to organize this whole thing for my spoiled cousin and her reward is to be married to a man she doesn’t know?”
While my statement had been more about how I didn’t know Preston after so many years and probably hadn’t ever truly known him, but it sounded like Preston was taking that and running with it, making it sound like we’d never met before to try and gain more sympathy for me.
I could see why he was a good lawyer.
“Surely we could work something out.” Preston pulled out his wallet. “Perhaps a big donation to the church…”
The priest’s face went pink. “I do not appreciate that kind of talk, sir. You are married in the eyes of the Lord and that’s final.”
“Are you shitting me!?” I blurted out. “The Lord wants me to be married to him? You can take that and—”
Accidentally Married to Brother's Best Friend Page 3
