by Whitney G.
“Greg is not going to be the best man at your wedding, Jonathan. I am. And if you have a problem with that—”
“I do have a problem with that.”
“Greg isn’t your best friend.”
“Greg isn’t sleeping with my little sister.”
“Neither am I.” His eyes turned to slits. “I like Hayley—a lot. Hell, I might even love her—I don’t fucking know yet because I don’t even know what that word means, but it’s different with her. She’s not like the other women I’ve been with.”
“Other women you’ve been with total or other women you’ve been with this year? You’ve fucked over fifty women in the past nine months.”
“I know that.”
“Does she?”
He didn’t answer, but the look in his eyes said it all.
“I’m not Hayley’s guardian anymore,” I said. “I can’t tell her what to do or who not to date, but you’ve known her for years. You protected her right there with me some of those years and now you...Surely you can see why I would have a problem with her entertaining the man who previously promised to A) Never commit to one woman B) Fuck as many women as possible and C) Live life with no attachments. Forever. You want me to believe that you’ve changed overnight? Because of a few heart to heart conversations with my sister? Because she didn’t hop in bed with you right away like all the other women did?”
“Jonathan...” He looked sincere. “I’ve never not told you about a woman I was with because I didn’t care. I’ve never cared about any of them or their feelings. I care about Hayley. I always have...”
A thick silence hung in the air between us, and as much as I wanted to beat him like I’d beat Ryan, I couldn't do it. I didn’t want to admit it, but I had seen a change in Hayley and she was the one that mattered most in this equation.
Sure, she was still a terrible employee—always had been, but she seemed happier now. And she wasn’t fake laughing and smiling like she usually did just to get me to leave her alone. Her happiness seemed genuine for a change.
I still can’t believe this shit...
“Corey...” I kept my voice firm. “If you break my little sister’s heart, if you are responsible for one fucking tear that comes out of her eyes, I will have you murdered. And then I’ll really go to work on you...”
He blinked. Then he smiled. “How long have you been working on that speech?”
“All week. Too strong of an emphasis on the ‘really’?”
“No, that part was good.” He sounded impressed. “It was the last clause that threw me off. Say it a little slower next time so it sounds more threatening. It was a little too fast for me.”
“I was serious about having you murdered.”
He nodded and walked over to me, shaking my hand. “I won’t hurt her. Now, where is the best man’s box for this weekend?”
“It should be at your house already. Angela had it delivered this morning.”
**
Claire and I walked around the hotel’s outdoor garden, hand in hand. It was the day before our wedding, and even though we'd been with each other all day, we’d hardly said a word.
Earlier that morning we’d sampled the final sweets selection from Stella’s, listened to a few short songs from the full orchestra we’d hired, and driven around the newly built wedding venue.
She’d wanted to go inside and take a look at the reception room—to see how they were setting it up, but I wouldn’t let her; I wanted that to be a surprise.
“Do you think they’re going to remember what I said about the flower petals? How I want them to look on the aisle?” she asked.
“I’m pretty sure they’ll remember.” I pulled her close.
“And what about the chair sashes? I specifically showed them how I wanted them to be tied, but it looked like they weren’t paying attention to me.”
“That’s probably because it was your tenth time telling them. They’re professionals.”
She sighed. “I just want it to be a perfect wedding...”
“It will be.” I bent down to kiss her lips, but she was yanked away from me.
“That’s enough.” Helen scoffed. “God, you two kill me. You’ll see each other at the wedding. And then you’ll have all eternity. It’s time for your spa treatments, Claire.”
“Right now?” She blinked.
“Yes. Now.” Helen tugged her away from me and she blew me a kiss.
I smiled and blew one back at her before turning away in the other direction—impatiently waiting for tomorrow.
Chapter 19
Claire
I couldn't sleep.
My heart was pounding out of my chest, and even though the air vents in the room were blasting heavily, I was sweating. I couldn’t stop thinking—smiling, about what lay ahead in the morning, about how my life would change when I became Mrs. Statham.
Nervous, I slipped out of bed and headed into the bathroom. I held a towel under cold water and pressed it against my face, being careful not to touch the strange white patches Bobbie Jo and Kim had placed over my eyebrows.
The spa treatments they’d put me through earlier were more extensive than the ones in Costa Rica, and they hadn’t allowed me to say a single word about any of them. They didn’t even let me see Jonathan when he showed up to my suite with flowers, claiming that seeing the groom the night before the wedding was bad luck.
I looked at myself in the mirror and exhaled. Sleeping without Jonathan by my side was never comfortable.
I decided to take a few swigs of wine to get through the night, but I heard a soft tapping at my door. I slipped into my robe and looked through the peephole.
Jonathan?
I cracked the door open, whispering, “What are you doing?”
“I need to talk to you.”
“Are you calling the wedding off?”
“No.”
“Then you shouldn’t be here. Go away.”
He smiled. “Come go for a ride with me.”
I hesitated. “You’re not supposed to see me until the wedding.”
He pulled a pair of shades and a folded baseball cap out of his pocket. “Then I won’t see you. We need to talk...”
I slid the glasses over my eyes and pulled the cap over my head before stepping out of the room.
He took my hand in his and led me down the hall and onto the elevator, keeping his gaze straight ahead. When we made it to the lobby, the valet pulled his car around and held the doors open.
“Where are we going?” I asked.
“To our wedding venue.”
“Why?”
“Because we need to see everything together before tomorrow.” He waited for me to buckle my seatbelt before speeding off into the night.
Half an hour later, he pulled his car into the cobblestoned turnaround and helped me out. Slipping an arm around my waist, he walked me inside to where Miss Corwin and her staff were busy decorating away—making last minute adjustments.
She raised her eyebrow as we stepped in front of her. “Shouldn’t you two be in bed?” She smiled. “Separately?”
Jonathan kissed my cheek. “We wanted to take one final tour together, if that’s okay?”
“Of course.” She nodded and directed us down the hall, where her other staff was fiddling with ten foot tall flower arrangements. “The ceremony lawn is right through those doors, remember? And the reception room is down two halls and to the right. Actually...” She pulled a slip of paper from her pocket. “This is a scaled down blueprint of everything. Knock yourselves out, but I’m going to have to force you to leave in forty five minutes. I don’t want the photographers to have to edit baggy eyes from your pictures.”
We laughed and made our way down the hall.
I tried to steer us toward the reception room, to get a glimpse of the changes he’d asked her to make, but he held me close. “You’ll see it tomorrow.”
As we stepped outside and into the darkness, I could see hundreds of stark white chairs
with ivory sashes, blush and pastel aisle markers, and a beautiful white gazebo that stood near the edge of the newly sodded grass.
“Come here.” Jonathan tugged me down the aisle and under the gazebo. He motioned for me to sit down on a bench. “I want you to look at this before I give it to you tomorrow—because after tomorrow, I don’t want you to ever take it off.”
He pulled out a ring box and held it out to me.
Shaking my head, I pushed it back. “It’s bad luck...Look at yours first.” I dug into my robe’s pocket and pulled out a box—placing it on his thigh.
He stared at it awhile, then he popped it open and—stopped. He pulled me close and held the ring under the light, sucking in a breath as he read the inscription aloud. “My last. My soul. My everything.”
He smiled and rolled the ring around in his hands; it was a platinum band with two thin strips of crushed diamonds, with “C” and “J” etched and entwined against a centered sea hook.
“This is beautiful, Claire...” His voice was hoarse. “I’m so sorry that I ever thought you didn’t design it...” He gently placed the ring back into the box. “Open yours.”
I flipped the box open and gasped at the stones that glittered against the night. Slowly prying it from its box, I ran my fingers along the white and blue diamonds that were shaped in a design of waves. The words “Mr. & Mrs. Statham” floated in between them, and on the inside of the band he’d etched, “Forever Yours, Always Mine.”
I felt tears falling down my face, and he slid a finger under my sunglasses to wipe them away.
“I want to read my vows to you.” He pressed a kiss against my wet cheek.
“I thought we agreed that we weren’t writing vows...”
“These are only for you to hear. They’re not appropriate to say in public...Why are you crying?”
“I’m not.”
“You’ll always be a terrible liar.” He wiped another stream of my tears away and leaned forward like he was going to kiss me, but he held back. “Claire Gracen...The first time I fucked you—”
“Seriously?”
“Of course not. I’m just making sure that you’re listening.” He smiled. “The first time I met you and you turned me down, I honestly thought you were out of your mind, that there was no way you didn’t want to go out with me. I thought you were just playing hard to get, but then you turned me down again at work....When I finally got a chance to take you out—on a short run, no less, and we barely talked...I knew that there was something special about you.”
“And the more time I spent with you—outside of the amazing sex we had, I couldn’t help but fall for you...I know you didn’t believe in having a second chance at love and that our age gap bothered you, but I want you to know that I never thought about our age gap for a single second, and I never will...If something tragic happens between now and our wedding tomorrow, please believe me when I say that I didn’t know what love was before you, and you are—without a doubt, the love of my life.”
My bottom lip was quivering and I’d given up on trying to hold back the tears.
“You are the most beautiful woman I’ve ever met and I can’t wait until you’re officially mine—forever...” He trailed his finger against my lips. “I’ll never hurt you, betray you, or allow anyone else to.”
“Jonathan...” I was crying now. He was too much.
“I’m going to continue to send you flowers every day because you deserve them, because there’s nothing I wouldn’t do for you...And I promise to love, cherish, and fuck the shit out of you for the rest of our lives.”
I sniffled and let out a laugh. “Those vows were beautiful... Especially that last line...”
“That was the hardest one to write.” He kissed my forehead. “I love you, Claire.”
“I love you, too.” I leaned in to kiss him, but he held my shoulders still and whispered. “Tomorrow.”
I sighed. “Are you going to tell me where we’re going for our honeymoon?”
He shook his head and stood up, reaching for my hand. Then he slipped his other arm around my waist and walked me around the rose gardens he’d had imported from the South.
We didn’t say a word to one another. We simply slipped into that familiar quiet that easily enveloped us so often.
We stared at the sky together, wishing on separate stars, and after he planted a kiss on my forehead he walked me through the venue again and drove me back to the hotel.
When we boarded the elevator, he smiled at me and peered beneath my sunglasses. The second the doors opened, he ushered me back to my suite.
“I’ll see you tomorrow...” I stood on my toes and brought his head down to mine. I was dying for him to kiss my lips. Just once.
“Tomorrow, future wife,” he said softly and kissed my hand. “You should probably get inside your room before I drag you into mine and forget all about the wedding.”
I laughed and kissed him on the cheek. “Goodnight, future husband.”
**
I woke up to loud knocking at my door.
“I’m coming! I’m coming!” I threw a robe on over my pajamas and opened the door.
It was Helen and Sandra.
“You’re late for your makeup.” Sandra clucked her teeth. “Bobbie Jo and Kim have been calling your phone for the past two hours. Did you stay up late?”
“No...”
“Are you having second thoughts?” Helen raised her eyebrow.
“What? Of course not.”
“Good.” She dragged me over to a chair and pushed me down. “Since you’re late, I’ll just have the girls meet us here to do everything. Sandra, could you call room service and have them bring Claire some breakfast? We don’t want her getting sick on her big day.”
Sandra nodded and disappeared into the bedroom.
The next few hours were a dizzying blur: Bobbie Jo and Kim did my hair and make-up to perfection; my eyes were layered in a soft glittering eye shadow and my hair was pulled into a beautiful chignon with loose ringlets that grazed my shoulder.
Hayley came and presented me with the garter she’d personally designed, my mother and daughters fiddled with my dress until they thought it was perfect, and a huge white bouquet of flowers was brought into the room.
I was reaching for the silver card that was attached to their stems, but Sandra snatched it away from me.
“Let’s see what Mr. Billionaire has to say to his fiancée on her wedding day.” She flipped the card open and cleared her throat as if she was going to read it aloud, but she burst into tears.
“Ugh.” Helen rolled her eyes. “Give me that...To my future wife: Today is the first day of the rest of our lives. With the exception of the first day that I met you—the day you came into my life, no other day will ever mean as much to me as today. You are the reason behind my happiness and you hold the keys to my soul. I love you, Claire...Hurry up and get here :-)”
Everyone in the room let out a collective “Awww” and wiped tears away from their eyes—even Helen. As they were passing around Kleenex, I slipped away to answer the knocking at the door.
Jonathan’s mother.
“Hi...” I eyed the dark red wine she held in her hand, hoping that she wouldn’t do what I thought she was here to do.
She noticed me staring at the glass and quickly tossed it back. “I’m sorry...It’s juice, not wine—and I would never...” She paused. “Do you have something borrowed?”
My eyes widened and I panicked. “No...No, I don’t. Oh my god—that’s really bad luck...I can’t believe I don’t have it.” I clutched my chest.
“Here.” She pulled a gorgeous pearl and ivory pin from her hair. “My mother wore it at her wedding and I wore it at mine. I thought I would...I thought I would give it to you, so you could...You know...” Her eyes were sincere but she looked as if she were bracing for me to turn her away.
“Thank you, Mrs. Statham.” I reached out to take the pin from her, but she slowly drew it back.
“
Allow me,” she said and motioned for me to stoop down. “You make my son really happy, Claire...After all he’s been through, he deserves to be happy and I’m glad you brought that out of him.”
I felt the pin sliding into my hair, and when I was sure she was done, I stood up again. I looked at her a long time, fully aware that all my friends were staring at us—ready and waiting to pounce on her should she attempt to do something crazy.
Instead of dismissing her, I smiled and wrapped my arms around her—hugging her tightly. “Thank you for the something borrowed. I look forward to us starting over in the future.”
She sniffled as she hugged me back. “Me too, Claire. I mean, Mrs. Statham.”
“Are we ready?” Sandra cleared her throat. “The limo is downstairs and the groomsmen are already at the venue according to the director. Let’s go!”
**
My heart was in my throat.
Everything about our venue was perfect. Absolutely perfect.
There wasn’t a cloud in the sky, and the ten foot archways that were made entirely of white and yellow roses stood tall and elegant on the lawn. The bridesmaids’ dresses—long and airy champagne gowns, perfectly matched the sparkling chandeliers I’d seen hanging in the hallway.
As our mothers walked down the aisle, I felt my bouquet slipping through my hands. It nearly fell to the ground as I watched Sandra and Helen walk out. Then it was Ashley and Caroline’s turn.
Miss Corwin reached into her pocket and dabbed my eyes with a Kleenex. “Don’t cry yet, Miss Gracen....Take several deep breaths.” She waited for me to follow her instructions. “It’s almost time...”
A deep voice said, “Please stand for the bride...” and I heard the rustling of chairs.
The first few notes of Robin Thicke’s “Angels” began to play and my heart nearly tumbled out of my chest.
I took one step forward and froze.
Breathe, Claire....Breathe...
I was shaking. I was way too nervous.
The song reached the middle of the first verse and I still hadn’t taken another step.
“Miss Gracen?” Miss Corwin’s eyes widened. “Miss Gracen?”
