You May Kiss the Groomsman

by Samantha Chase

  “There’s nothing wrong with that. I know I tend to go a little over the top because I am all about comfort and wanting to be surrounded by things that are pleasing to me. I know that makes me a snob, but…”

  “You’re not a snob, Josie. You’re the least snobbish person I’ve ever met.”

  She laughed softly and kissed his chest. “I don’t know about that. I definitely have my moments.”

  “I think we all do.”

  They fell into silence again for several minutes and while Daniel couldn’t imagine what she was thinking about, he couldn’t help but think about just how different they were–but not in a bad way. It was no hardship for him to be here in her home and enjoy all the comfort she provided, but how would she handle his world? She’d already slept at his place, but what about when they went out together? Would they have anything in common?

  From the looks of this place, she was definitely a girly-girl. He had a feeling that meant she would be a little prissy and afraid to get dirty. He enjoyed camping and being outdoors and playing sports. Would that work or did it make them too different?

  “So…when you’re not working,” he asked, “what kind of things do you like to do?”

  He prepared himself for her to tell him about museums and art galleries or perhaps quiet hobbies like painting or wine tastings.

  But once again, as soon as she started talking, she proved him wrong.

  “I really have eclectic taste. I used to be on a rec softball league, but I had to quit because my schedule was just too chaotic. When I go to the beach, I love to play volleyball, and there’s a place in Raleigh that does axe throwing!” She let out a laugh. “Elliott and Skye went there and told me about it, and I knew I had to check it out for myself. Now I’m kind of hooked.” She paused. “Let’s see…what else…You know my secret movie obsession, but I really do enjoy documentaries as well as action flicks. Superhero movies aren’t my thing, but I do like action ones. I’m not really big on cooking but I love to try new foods. Lea gives me my cake fix so desserts don’t do much for me anymore. I love to read–particularly fantasy and futuristic romances–but I’m also a fan of mysteries and thrillers. What about you?”

  He had no idea if his list of hobbies even came close to hers.

  “Anything outdoors,” he began. “Fishing, swimming, hiking, camping…all of it. As you witnessed for yourself, I can’t cook, but I do enjoy eating.” They both laughed. “I love to go out for a good steak dinner, but I’m just as happy going out for burgers or tacos.”

  “Ooh…tacos. I don’t do that nearly as often as I should…”

  Kissing her forehead, he went on. “I like all sports–both to play and to watch–and we are definitely going to have to go check out the axe throwing.”

  “It’s addictive,” she said before yawning.

  “Action-adventure movies and all the superhero ones are like crack to me, but when I’m home watching TV, I prefer to laugh.” He paused. “Not much of a reader, but every once in a while, I don’t mind chilling out with a good mystery.”

  “What’s your favorite sport to watch?”

  “Hockey.”

  “What’s your favorite sport to play?”

  “Hmm…it’s a toss-up. I enjoy baseball and basketball. It just depends on my mood.”

  “Music?”

  “I’m definitely a fan of rock–like classic rock–The Eagles, Queen, Aerosmith, Fleetwood Mac. But I’ll pretty much listen to anything. You?”

  “Definitely eclectic there too. I go from listening to P!nk, Beyoncé, and Taylor Swift, to Bon Jovi, Elton John, and The Beatles. And occasionally some heavy metal from the’80s is thrown in there too.”

  That made him chuckle. “That is definitely eclectic.”

  “Why be boring, right?”

  And he had to agree.

  “So…what are we going to watch?” he asked.

  Josie handed him the remote and he finally noticed the large flat-screen TV on the wall in front of them. She didn’t seem the type to have something quite that big in her bedroom, but it just made the room that much more appealing to him.

  “You choose,” she said around another yawn.

  “Jos, we don’t have to watch anything. If you’re tired, we can just go to sleep.”

  But she was shaking her head. “Nope. I’m just super relaxed and comfortable. I’m not ready to go to sleep.”

  “If you say so…” He still didn’t believe her, but he took the remote and searched through the channels and found some home renovation show that Josie said she enjoyed. It wasn’t something he found overly interesting, but he did like listening to her running commentary on what she liked and didn’t like about the house being worked on. Apparently she had an opinion on everything.

  Although, considering what her home looked like and how successful her business was, she pretty much earned the right to those opinions. He had a feeling when you went toe-to-toe with Josie Sullivan, more often than not, she was the winner.

  And he wasn’t quite sure he was up to the challenge.

  Or that he was good enough for someone like Josie.

  11

  “Relationships are always perfect in our minds, but in the real world, true love requires a lot of patience and concentrated input.”

  Unknown

  For two glorious weeks, Josie felt like she was living the life she had been chasing for months. The business was doing great, her friends were all happy and in love, she was spending every night with Daniel, and she hadn’t heard a word from Tyler.

  She counted that last one as a win.

  The last she heard from him, this case he was working on had him going to Texas for a few weeks, but she had no idea when he left or when exactly he was coming home. In their last text exchange, she told him–again–that they needed to talk when he got back so all she could do was wait.

  And enjoy the freedom of dating Daniel.

  Well…she was always able to enjoy that since nothing about her relationship with Tyler was real, but for some reason, she felt way more relaxed knowing he was gone.

  “Sorry I’m late!” Skye called out as she walked into the office carrying a large brown bag in one hand and a baby carrier in the other.

  “Um…aren’t you still on maternity leave?” Josie asked as she jumped up and took the baby from her.

  “I needed to get out of the house and even though my mom volunteered to come and watch Bella, I couldn’t do it. I’m not ready to leave her yet.” Placing the bag down on her desk, she smiled triumphantly. “So here I am!”

  Leanna walked in and stopped dead in her tracks. “Skye? What are you doing here? Aren’t you still on maternity leave?”

  “Oh my God!” Skye groaned. “I am part owner of the business and I’m allowed to come in, aren’t I?”

  “Of course you are,” Josie said patiently, even as she was lifting up Bella and making funny faces at her. “We just don’t understand why you would want to come into work when you should be home relaxing and recovering.”

  “I brought food,” she murmured. “You know, in case anyone’s interested.”

  “Always,” Lea said before hugging Skye. “What did you bring? Anything yummy?”

  “I called in an order to the deli so it’s just some sandwiches and salads, but it’s all our favorites, so…”

  “You didn’t have to do that,” Lea chided. “But I’m glad you did. I was going to call you tonight and see when we could all get together.”

  Josie settled Bella against her and frowned with concern. “Is something going on?”

  “What? Oh! Nothing bad, I just…I think I found my gown and I wanted us to go over to Enchanted Bridal together to see it,” Lea explained with a bright smile. “I already called and spoke to Angie and she’s offered to let me take the gown home to try it on if it would be easier for all of us.”

  “As awesome as it would be to try it on at home, wouldn’t it be better at the shop so you have other options? You know…jus
t in case?” Josie suggested.

  “I know, I know,” Skye said as she looked around the office. “Why don’t we set up in the tasting room? This way we can relax a little.”

  “Sounds like a plan,” Lea said before scooping up the baby seat while Josie carried Bella. Once the food was set up and they were all sitting, Josie reluctantly put her down with a small sigh. “You know you do that a lot.”

  “Do what?”

  “You get that dreamy look while you’re holding Bella and then you sigh when you have to let her go,” Lea explained. “It’s very sweet.”

  “Yeah, well…” And she had no idea where to go with that thought so she focused on the food. “So, what did you bring, Skye?”

  “Turkey and avocado club for you, chicken salad with bacon for Lea, and a turkey club for me. Then there’s some tortellini salad, fruit salad, and chips. I figured we had drinks here so I didn’t grab any.”

  “That all sounds perfect,” Lea said as she reached for the fruit salad. “I’m starving!”

  “Do you know when you want to go look at the gowns?” Josie asked. “And are you inviting your mom and sister?”

  “Is it wrong that I’m not? At least not yet?” she replied shyly. “They know this is what I do for a living so it really wouldn’t be odd for me to find my dress without going shopping.” Sighing, she added, “They just stress me out and I’d love to go and do this with just the three of us. Can we make that work?”

  “What’s the schedule like?” Skye asked. “Are there any nights where we can go?”

  “Can we do tomorrow night?” Lea asked, wide-eyed with excitement. “This is a fairly quiet week and I know I won’t be staying late to work on any cakes, so…”

  “I think that should work for me,” Skye told her. “It’ll be Elliott’s first time alone with Bella, but I’m sure he’ll be fine. What about you, Jos? You free?”

  “Um…actually, Daniel and I were going to go to dinner and then axe throwing,” she said, but she figured he would be fine with them going another night. “I’ll tell him about it tonight. No biggie.” When she looked up, her friends were both staring at her with big smirks. “What?”

  “I’m impressed,” Skye said before popping a grape into her mouth.

  “Why? What did I do?”

  Instead of answering her, Skye looked at Lea. “You’re right. She’s definitely way more relaxed. It’s amazing.”

  “I know, right? And you should see her when we come in every morning. She smiles. Smiles! And yesterday, she picked up the coffee and bagels!”

  “No!” Skye said with a laugh. “I can’t believe I missed that!”

  “Ha, ha. You’re both hysterical,” Josie deadpanned. “And I don’t see what the big deal is. I always smile and I’ve picked up breakfast before. It’s not that rare.”

  “Oh please,” Lea scolded. “Most mornings–pre-Daniel–you’d come in here all stern and serious and pissy about the traffic or the weather or something negative.”

  “That’s not true! You’re crazy!”

  “I’ve witnessed you growling at the delivery people like you were some kind of feral cat,” Skye reminded her. “We all knew to give you space.” She paused and smiled. “But this relaxed version of you is kind of delightful.”

  She was growling with frustration before she realized it and then the girls were laughing at her, so she just gave up.

  “Fine. I’m bitchy. It turns out good sex makes me less…you know…bitchy.”

  “Oh, I miss good sex,” Skye moaned. “I got the clearance for sex like two weeks ago, but we’re both so tired that we haven’t given in yet. I mean, Elliott is really good at foreplay…”

  “LALALALALA!!” Josie sang loudly, and when the girls stared at her, she looked at them like they were the crazy ones. “Ew! You are talking about my brother! I do not need to know that Elliott is good at anything related to sex! You need to keep that crap to yourself!”

  With a hearty laugh, Skye picked up her sandwich. “That never gets old. I love freaking you out.”

  Words weren’t necessary so she stuck out her tongue instead before taking a bite of her own sandwich.

  “So do we want to make the appointment and go to Enchanted or do I take Angie up on the offer and take the gown home?” Lea asked.

  “I still say go there so you have other options,” Josie commented. “Plus, we can look at bridesmaid gowns too.”

  “Perfect!”

  They ate for several minutes, talking about the wedding plans Lea and Brody had decided on and Josie’s mind was already envisioning it.

  And what she’d do differently for her wedding.

  Yeah, her mind went there.

  And not a fake wedding for convenience, but a real one to a man she was in love with and wanted to spend her life with.

  Daniel’s face immediately came to mind and that…didn’t freak her out as much as she thought it would.

  As soon as they were done eating and cleaning up, Josie went back to her desk and contemplated shooting Daniel a text. They normally did that several times a day, but she knew he was super busy today. He was going to be in meetings all day with several companies looking to work with them on their training program. So as much as she would love to call him just to hear his voice, she knew she’d have to wait until tonight.

  Josie: Hey! Hope your meetings are going well. I was just thinking of you and wanted to say hello. I’m bringing home cupcakes tonight and extra frosting that I plan on being creative with. *wink, wink* Smile and I’ll see you later. xoxo

  She put her phone down because she didn’t expect an immediate response and smiled when Skye walked in with the baby and sat down at her desk.

  “Um…what are you doing? Don’t you need to get her home?”

  Waving her off, Skye booted up her computer. She was the only one out of the three of them who still used a desktop while also utilizing a laptop and tablet. It made Josie a little crazy, but…to each their own, right?

  “I figured I’d stay while Bella’s sleeping and try to see how I can ease my way back into work. Maybe if I do a couple of hours this week, then do a few half days next week, and so on, I won’t feel quite so overwhelmed when I come back to work full-time.” Her voice was trembling a little at the end and Josie didn’t have to look up to see her friend was starting to cry.

  This was the sort of thing that used to annoy her, but…maybe she was changing. She was up and across the room in the blink of an eye and hugging her best friend and sister-in-law. “Hey,” she said softly. “You know you don’t have to come back until you’re ready. There’s no rush. Lea and I have everything under control.”

  Hugging her back, Skye sniffled. “I really thought it wouldn’t be a big deal–that I’d actually be looking forward to coming back. But now that she’s here, all I can think about is how much I hate being away from her!” Pulling back, she stared up at Josie. “And what about on event days? You know, the ones that have us working fifteen hours straight? How am I supposed to handle that?”

  Giving Skye’s hand a squeeze, “Okay, let’s talk about this. Tell me what you need. More time? An assistant? Do we need to think about hiring more people?”

  Wiping her eyes with her free hand, Skye looked up at her. “Are we ready for that? Hiring more people?”

  Josie stepped away and walked back over to her desk. “We knew it was something we were going to have to do eventually, and you have to admit, even before you had Bella, we were all starting to feel a little overwhelmed.”

  “I know, but…financially can we do it? Is it the right time?”

  She sighed. “This was why I wanted to grow the business with the connections from Tyler. Those events wouldn’t need the same level of personal attention like a wedding does.”

  “But…?”

  “But…you’re all against it,” Josie reminded her.

  “We weren’t against growing, Jos; we were against the way you were going about it.” She shook her head. “And if
you ask me, Tyler’s bosses are a bunch of a-holes for all their rules about things. I mean…who works like that?”

  “Any-way,” she said firmly, “we’re not talking about Tyler’s bosses. We’re talking about you and what you need.”

  “As much as I want to say that I’m just being hormonal, I don’t think it’s that. Lea’s going to get married and you know she wants to have kids right away. And if things keep going the way they are with Daniel, you won’t be that far behind.” She smiled. “I feel like there’s never going to be the perfect time to hire and train someone but…maybe it’s time we tried.”

  Having another person to handle the grunt work of staying until the end of events would be a dream come true. They hadn’t had too many nights like that lately, but there were plenty of weddings coming up.

  Nodding, Josie replied, “You’re right.”

  “Right about what?” Lea asked as she walked into the office, and Skye filled her in on their conversation.

  “What do you think? Josie asked.

  “Well…I’ve always had an assistant and she makes my life a thousand times easier. I know when Brody and I get married, I can leave Emilie in charge and not have to worry. But that’s all about the cakes and desserts. I’m not sure how we go about finding someone who does what we do with the planning.”

  “They wouldn’t necessarily have to be part of the planning at first,” Skye reasoned. “We would train them. Initially they’d be with us at all events and learn about what we do and once we feel they’re well-rounded and know the ins and outs of the different events, then we let them take on a small event on their own.” She looked between the two of them. “Thoughts?”

  “I think it sounds great,” Josie said, smiling. “I’ll put out some feelers and place a few ads and see what we get, and we’ll set up a day where you can come in–with Bella–and we’ll dedicate the entire day to interviewing so you don’t have to keep coming back and forth. Deal?”

  “Deal!”