by Aubrey Dark
“True enough,” William said, his hand resting on my shoulder. His palm was warm and comforting. “We’re going to end up with a hundred paparazzi at our wedding, I think.”
“That’s alright. Kit can throw them a tea party and distract them all.”
“Papa!”
I blinked. Kit had tottered over to us, and she was pulling on William’s pant leg.
“Papa! Papa!” she said. “Look! Hat!”
Without missing a beat, William reached down and swung Kit up onto his hip. Kit took off her tiara and placed it, lopsided, on his head.
“Do I look like a pretty princess?” he asked her, in all seriousness.
“Beautiful,” she pronounced.
Meanwhile, my heart was still trying to restart itself.
Papa.
What had I done? I’d thought that this could be a clean business transaction. I’d thought that William had stayed far enough away from Kit that nothing like this would happen. But here she was, wrapping her little arms around his neck and nuzzling into him like a cat who’d just adopted a new owner.
Papa.
“They seem to get along well,” Teresa said, in a low voice. I could only nod. “You’re lucky that you found a guy who likes kids.”
“Lucky. Yeah, I am.”
And as I watched William waltz around the table with Kit in his arms, I saw something more. It seemed like he was enjoying it—truly, not just pretending. Of course, I had no way to be sure. But there was a softness in his steel-gray eyes that I hadn’t seen before. He carried Kit like he was carrying a precious jewel. He was almost human.
Papa.
“To my future daughter,” Bobbi called out, standing up at the end of the table and coming around to hug me. “I’m so glad to have one after these three sons!”
“To Sierra,” William intoned, lifting his glass. “To the perfect bride, and her perfect princess.” He clinked his glass lightly against Kit’s juice cup.
I couldn’t even breathe as the table’s heads all turned toward me. Sanders and Dexter let out a simultaneous awwww as Kit hugged William around the neck.
This. This was what I’d always wanted. The next day, I would be walking down the aisle with a man who was only pretending to be in love with me. And even still, I felt as though this was the most real, memorable occasion I’d ever been a part of. This felt like family. This felt like love.
I smiled at William, his gorgeous blue-gray eyes sparkling pleasure back at me, and lifted my glass.
“To William—” I started to say.
“Who the hell is William?”
The whole table turned to see who it was that had spoken. And for the second time that night, my breath left my body and refused to come back. I couldn’t look over at William. Heat rushed through me, and I could feel my face turning bright red.
This couldn’t be happening. He couldn’t be here. I put down my glass and spoke, my voice shaking.
“Hi, Dad,” I said.
Chapter 25
The man standing in the doorway was short but muscled, with white scruff over his beard and fiery dark eyes. Sierra looked like a tornado had just touched down in the middle of the rehearsal dinner.
“I heard that someone was going to marry my daughter,” he said gruffly.
“You’re Sierra’s father!”
My mom jumped up and ran over to him. Before I could say a word, she’d flung her arms around him and was dragging him toward the table.
“It’s so good to finally meet you!”
For once, my mother’s ebullience saved the day. The man didn’t smile, but neither did he look so angry. As they made their way around the table with introductions, I could see him visibly begin to waver in his fury. By the time he got to me, he seemed much less implacable.
“So you’re the man,” he said, eyeing me up and down. I was easily a foot taller than him, but he wasn’t cowed one bit. With his meaty hands on his hips, he examined me critically.
“That’s right,” I said. “Which means you must be the grandfather of this little munchkin.”
Kit squealed and reached her arms out for the man. His face broke into a bit of a smile as he hugged the little girl, who chattered on and on in her babbling language about the dinner and the tea party and her hat.
“She means this,” I said, tugging the tiara off of my head and setting it back onto her braided hair.
“You’ve turned her into a damn princess.”
“Blame her grandmother.”
“Is that the one who looks like Tinkerbell, only my age?” Sierra’s father raised one bushy eyebrow. “That’s some lady.”
“Sure is.”
“Hm. I didn’t mean to interrupt your party,” he said, his voice rising to bellow loudly across the whole dinner table. “But I wasn’t invited to this wedding, and I can’t say I know why.”
He looked pointedly at Sierra, whose face was growing paler and paler.
“Dad—”
“Don’t you dad me. I wasn’t good enough for your first wedding, either, and now this?”
Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Sanders and Dexter whispering together. I hadn’t told them that Sierra had been married before, although they might have guessed it.
“Mr. Barlow—”
“Call me Skull,” the man said, hefting his belt across his thick waist. “And you’re going to have to explain why I got a call out of the blue from my daughter saying that she was getting married. I haven’t even met you.”
“Let’s talk outside,” I said, feeling the stares of my family boring into my skull. “We’re all waiting for dessert.”
“Sure,” the old man said brusquely.
Out in the evening air, the man turned his bushy eyebrows again in a frown my way.
“Mr.—I mean, Skull,” I said. “I’m sorry that this came as a surprise to you. But please don’t blame Sierra. This is my fault.”
The man crossed his arms and stood silently.
“You see,” I continued, “I was the one rushing Sierra. I know she respects your opinion and I didn’t want you to talk her out of marrying me.”
“Why would I do that?”
“Because you might not approve of my business. To be quite honest, sir, I inherited a company that had a host of problems. Not just financially, but morally. My father was an excellent businessman, but he took advantage of a lot of people with his company’s finances.”
I was spitballing here, but the truth was creeping out.
“When I met Sierra, I knew that I needed to move quickly. I couldn’t stand to be without her. And I knew if I had to wait for your approval, I’d be waiting for a while.”
I paused. Mr. Barlow’s face was an impenetrable mask. I couldn’t tell if I was helping or hurting.
“Regardless, I didn’t want to keep you away from the wedding. I just wanted her to handle it the way she needed to.”
“She was worried I would come—”
“Because she respects you so much. Because you might not approve.”
“Humph.”
He blinked hard, looking back into the restaurant through the patio doors. My mother had Kit bouncing on her knee, and Sierra was laughing as both of my brothers fought over a piece of cheesecake.
“You got a lot of fancy words to try and get my ego all juiced up,” he said.
“I don’t—”
He held up one hand and silenced me.
“Don’t try and lick my feet,” he said, although his expression had softened a bit. “I’m too old to need that kind of brown nosing. I’m only glad that she likes your family. And your mom. Sierra never had that, you know.”
“She told me.”
He nodded, looking pensive.
“If she loves you, then that’s all I can ask. She made a big mistake once with that Justin guy. I don’t want to see her running headfirst into another mistake.”
“I think she’s learned a lot since then,” I said softly.
“Does sh
e love you?”
He turned to me then, his eyes fierce on mine. My words tripped over my tongue, and I had to cough to clear the air and stall for an answer. I didn’t want to lie to this man.
“Not half as much as I love her,” I said finally.
He broke into a grin.
“Good answer,” he said.
“It’s the truth,” I said, looking inside. Sierra was beautiful, her features soft in the low light. When she smiled, my heart caught in my throat, and I thought of what Shawna had said. “She’s a better person than I am.”
Mr. Barlow clapped a hand on my shoulder.
“In that case, I give you both my blessing. Not that you need it,” he said gruffly, “but you have it anyway.”
“Thank you,” I said.
Back inside, Sierra turned a worried face to me.
“Are—are you—”
“Everything’s fine,” I said, sitting beside her. I smiled reassuringly, and her dad pulled a chair up to the table. “He just wanted to make sure that you really loved me.”
Her features relaxed, relief washing over her face.
“Thank you,” she said. Then she leaned over and kissed me softly. All of the worries I’d been holding onto fell away as the heat of her lips seared mine. My whole body flamed with desire in an instant.
Pretend. This was all pretend. As she pulled back, a soft smile on her face, I had an intense urge to pull her back in for another, longer kiss. My blood was pumping hard, and I couldn’t stop thinking about the night we had spent together. Somehow I had managed to forget all of the ideas I had about keeping my distance. I just wanted her.
“Thank you,” I said, my voice coming out hoarse and husky. “It hasn’t been smooth, but you’ve done a great job.”
“You’re the one who did everything,” she said. “I’ll be indebted to you for the rest of my life.”
“No. No debts.”
Her eyelashes fluttered and she looked away from me. I put my hand on her thigh, leaning close to her so that nobody else could hear our conversation.
“No matter what happens, this has been worth it for me. I don’t want you thinking that you owe me anything.”
“Alright. Thank you.”
She looked up at me.
“Then you don’t mind if I do this again.”
This time her kiss was deep, needy. The rest of the table applauded, and I could dimly hear my brothers laughing. Her hand cupped my head and pulled me in tightly. Every sense of mine sharpened at her touch, and I leaned into the kiss this time, claiming her with my lips.
“Is that alright?” Her eyes were sparkling, teasing.
“I’m not standing up for a while, but yes, I’d say that’s alright.”
Her eyes widened, and her cheeks flushed pink as she turned away, biting that delicious full bottom lip. I ached for more, but that would be enough to prove to Mr. Barlow that his daughter and I were really enamored of each other. And that was why we were doing this.
Wasn’t it?
“Will, we’re taking your father-in-law out tonight!”
Piers Letocci was waving his dessert fork from the other end of the table.
“We’re going to show him a good time,” Sanders said. “Make him see the real side of Denver.”
“You do that,” I said. “Just make sure you’re sober by the time you arrive at the wedding tomorrow.”
“Can do!” Piers shouted.
“Yessir!” my brothers said, saluting in unison.
“Thank you so much,” Sierra whispered again. “He won’t cause as much trouble if he’s hung over.”
“He won’t be causing any trouble at all if I can help it,” I said. “I want this wedding to be perfect for you.”
Again, Sierra’s cheeks pinked, and she reached out to take my hand on the table. Her thumb stroked the back of my hand, and the gentleness of the gesture melted me. I couldn’t look at her without aching with need. Instead, I focused my attention on the rest of the table. All the while, her fingers caressed mine. Absently, as though she didn’t know what she was doing to me. Maybe she didn’t. Maybe this was part of the act for her.
I stifled my emotions, but it was difficult. I’d been pretending to be madly in love with this woman, wanting to spend the rest of my life with her. And despite myself, all of the pretending was starting to bleed over into reality. My physical attraction for her wasn’t the only thing drawing me closer, but I needed to pull away inside, even as I kept up the facade for everyone else.
It was hard. And she wasn’t making it easier.
The whole night, I tossed and turned. I told myself that I had nothing to be nervous about, but it didn’t work.
“Wedding jitters,” Shawna said, watching as I ran my comb through my already-combed hair.
“I do not have wedding jitters,” I said. “How do I look?”
“Like a real groom,” Shawna said, looking me up and down approvingly. She’d picked out the pale green silk tie, and I’d had a new charcoal gray suit tailored. I normally didn’t care too much about my appearance, but today as I looked in the mirror, I felt surprisingly anxious.
“Thanks.”
“A real groom with real wedding jitters.”
“Too bad this isn’t a real wedding.”
Shawna only smiled.
In the middle of the forest clearing, I waited for Sierra to show up. My brothers were sitting in the front row on rough-hewn pine benches, my mom between them. Sanders looked more than a little bit hungover and Dexter kept fidgeting next to Teresa. I’d told them that they were both my best men, but when they’d started fighting over the ring, I’d handed it to Shawna and said that since it was such a small wedding, the wedding party would be seated anyway. I think I’d made the right choice.
It was close to sunset, and the sunlight filtered through the trees overhead, illuminating the orchids that were strung in garlands between the pine trees. Soft globes of white light cast an extra luminescence over the crowd. I stood next to the officiant, one of my mother’s new age friends. She was wearing a dark green silk jumpsuit that, surprisingly, didn’t look that out of place in a forest setting. A string quartet plucked out the notes of a classical song, but I could barely hear the music over the roar in my ears. The murmurs of all my family and friends washed over me, but my muscles tensed.
Why was I so nervous?
Then the music changed, and everybody turned to look toward the back of the clearing.
Kit was the flower girl. Dressed in a pale green tutu and fairy wings, she ran halfway up the aisle before remembering that she was in charge of throwing flowers. Turning, she grabbed a handful of white orchid petals and hurled them into the air. Everybody laughed, and the knot in my stomach untied a little.
Turning around, she searched the crowd and finally saw me. I waved at her and Teresa whispered from the side: “Go to the front, Kit!”
Clutching the basket that was still half-filled with flowers, she ran toward me and tackled me in the knees. I bent down and picked her up, hefting her easily onto my hip.
“Let’s throw the rest of the petals for your mom, okay?” I said. She nodded seriously and took another fistful of orchid petals, throwing them back towards the crowd.
And then, in the middle of a dozen fluttering petals, I saw her.
Sierra looked like an angel in the middle of the forest. Her dress sparkled in the low light of the sunset, curving over her figure and wisping around her knees. She seemed to float towards me in the middle of the aisle, her hand clasping her father’s arm. He was wearing a rumpled suit, but Sierra had told me to be grateful if he showed up in a suit at all. To be honest, though, I don’t think I would have noticed if he had been wearing a full scuba suit. All of my attention was on her.
My mouth was dry, and I swallowed hard as she came closer, letting her dad sit down on the empty chair in front. Her dark hair was braided back into a loose crown on top of her head, and pale green-white orchid buds were woven through. Her p
ink lips curved into a soft smile as she came up to the altar, and I realized my heart was beating much too fast. I let out a breath.
“She looks like a princess,” Kit whispered.
“She is a queen,” I said. “And you’re the princess.”
Kit grinned and kicked out to be set down. As Sierra moved next to us, she squirmed forward and took her mom’s hand. Sierra looked at me questioningly, as though to ask what I thought.
“Wow,” I whispered.
“You don’t look half bad yourself,” Sierra whispered back.
“I threw the flowers!” Kit proclaimed triumphantly.
“And you did an excellent job,” my mother’s friend said. She clapped her hands. “Dearly beloved, today we gather here…”
The rest of the words were a blur. Until we came to the vows.
“Sierra Barlow, have you written your vows?”
“I have.”
She hadn’t spoken since the beginning, but when she did, a deep silence fell over the crowd. Nobody rustled or stirred. The air seemed to darken and turn solemn. Her voice was like a caress, as silken as her dress. I tried not to gulp as we clasped hands. Her fingers clutched mine, trembling, and it was then that I realized that she was as nervous as I was.
“William, we were thrown together very quickly,” she started. “And just as quickly, I’ve fallen in love with you. More importantly, Kit has fallen in love with you. And she has very strict standards, so that’s saying a lot.”
I looked up at her in surprise. I’d read the vows that Shawna had printed up. None of that… none of that was in there. She was speaking different words.
The shock of it made me grip her hands tightly for a moment. She squeezed back, her dark eyes searching mine. In her irises, a thousand flickers of light reflected from their depths.
What was she doing?
“From the moment we met, I knew that you were a control freak. And at first I was scared to fall in love with someone like that. I’d been independent for so long, I had forgotten how to let someone into my heart. And then you waltzed into my life. Well, more like you shoved your way into my life, and upended everything I thought was true, and made me second guess myself.”
