by Lee McKenzie
“I wouldn’t joke around about something like this.”
Neither would she, and she had just said yes. Talk about getting caught up in the moment. “But…we haven’t known each other very long.”
“You should know me well enough by now to have figured out that when I want something, I go for it.”
True. He was nothing if not confident.
“You could also think of this as part of our bargain. I still owe you.” He pulled a jeweler’s box from his pocket.
“What bargain?”
“The one where you agreed to look after my family. I figure the least I can do is offer to make you part of it.”
“I thought that’s what the Whiskey Sour was for.” It was the most lavish, over-the-top thank-you gift she’d ever received.
“That’s just an investment.” He opened the box and she felt her eyes go wide. “I hope you like it. Rory and Paige helped me pick it out.”
The elegant simplicity of the ring was a perfect choice, although she’d never actually seen a diamond that big outside a jewelry-store window. Michael slipped it onto her left hand.
“I love it.” She couldn’t take her eyes off it. “But are you sure? I mean…” A warm flush raced up her throat and across her face. “We still haven’t…”
He lowered his head and laughed softly into her ear. “I don’t need to sleep with you to know I want to spend the rest of my life with you.” His breath did shivery things to her ear. “Besides, I promised to wait until you’re ready, remember?” She was so ready…and she had the underwear to prove it. She wrapped her arms around his neck. “I was thinking tonight…”
“Tonight it is.” He kissed her, and everyone cheered and applauded. Then he let her go, handed a champagne flute to her and raised his in the air.
A small crowd had gathered around them—his sister and Eric and her friends. “She said yes!” Michael announced.
Everyone cheered and raised their glasses. They had all been in on this? Her friends hugged her and gushed over her ring, and Jess floated through the rest of the evening as if she was on a cloud.
Michael slipped an arm around her shoulder. “Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For saying yes.”
She realized there was one thing she hadn’t said. “I love you.”
He put his arms around her and kissed her. “Are you ready to go home?”
“I’m ready.” And she was.
Epilogue
Six months later…
“After all your grumbling about wearing a strapless dress at my wedding and at Rory’s, I can’t believe you chose one for yourself,” Nicola said.
Jess gave the skirt a little swoosh. “This is the new me.”
“Hold still.” Maria fussed with the graceful sweep of the train.
“A new and absolutely gorgeous you,” Rory said. “I can’t believe it was the first dress you tried on.”
When Rory got married last fall, she had tried on every dress in San Francisco. Not because she was having trouble finding the dress, but because she loved trying on dresses.
“It was the only dress I tried on. Sometimes a girl just gets lucky.” She had set out to find the impossible. Something classy and modest and sexy. Something that matched her newfound appreciation for being a woman. Something that worked with her slender, subtle curves and didn’t require cleavage, since she didn’t have any. She’d known this was the dress the moment she walked into the shop, and she’d fallen in love with it before it was even off the hanger.
“What’s luck got to do with it?” Rory asked. “If it wasn’t for me, this wedding wouldn’t be happening.”
“How do you figure that?” Jess asked.
“You met Michael at my wedding, remember? And it was all thanks to that beautiful strapless dress you were wearing.”
Jess laughed. “No offense, Rory, but I think it was in spite of the dress, not because of it.”
A waiter appeared at the door with a tray of five champagne flutes. “Thank you, Simon.” She passed the glasses to her four bridesmaids and took the last one for herself. “You’ve all been wonderful and I wanted to give you all a thank-you toast before the ceremony.”
“This was so meant to be,” Paige said. “You and Michael are like our very own version of My Fair Lady.”
“That would make me Eliza Doolittle.”
“Or Audrey Hepburn,” Rory said. “You’ve got to love that.”
Maria handed Jess a bouquet of pink roses and gave an exaggerated sigh. “And you have to admit that Michael makes an especially dreamy Professor Higgins.”
True. Every day he told her she was the most beautiful woman in the world. It didn’t matter that it wasn’t true, because he believed it was, and he made her believe it, too. He was an exceptional tutor in every way imaginable and in some ways she never would have imagined. It had taken some time to accept that such an amazing man had invited her to share his life, and she was quite certain she would always feel a little like Cinderella—no, make that Eliza Doolittle—a little afraid that someone would pinch her and she’d wake up behind the bar at the Whiskey Sour, wearing a pair of old jeans and a man’s flannel shirt.
Last winter her granddad’s legacy had undergone an amazing transition, thanks to Lexi’s incredible design talent. She had taken Jess’s dream of a fifties-themed cocktail lounge and turned it into a turquoise-and-cream reality. Jess loved it and she knew her grandfather would have, too.
“To us,” she said. “Thanks for always being here for me.”
“To us.”
“To you and Michael.”
“To love and marriage.”
“To happily ever after.”
The clink of crystal and sips of champagne were followed by a group hug.
“Michael is also one very lucky man,” Maria said. “You should see what she’s wearing underneath this dress. These two are going to have quite a honeymoon.”
“I was with her when she bought that lingerie,” Rory said. “It’s going to knock Michael’s socks off.”
“You guys are hopeless.” But they were right. Who knew that dressing to please a man could give her so much…pleasure?
Paige gave her a hug. “Sorry, sweetie. We’re all just a little jealous. Have you figured out where he’s taking you on your honeymoon?”
“No, and it’s killing me, but he really wanted this to be a surprise, so I told him to go for it.”
“That would make me crazy,” Nic said. “How did you know what to pack?”
“Lexi packed for me. And you know…I’m not complaining. It’s been a busy couple of months and that was one less thing I had to do.”
“Is Eric managing the bar while you’re away?” Paige asked.
“Yes, and Ben is staying with Ginny and Paul. Ginny’s baby isn’t due for another six weeks, so that’s worked out perfectly. Then he’ll come and live with Michael and me in the city. We found a great program for him and he loves being part of it.” Ben’s increasing independence had been a slow and not always smooth transition, but in the end it had worked out.
“How is Michael’s mother handling the changes?”
“She’s getting used to the idea of being on her own, and she’s looking forward to being a grandmother.”
“You’re amazing,” Maria said. “Ben’s a lucky kid.”
“I’m the lucky one.” Ben’s self-confidence had blossomed in the past few months. He was excited at the prospect of being Michael’s best man, and he’d been thrilled to have them use “his car” for the wedding.
Maria pointed to the clock on the dresser. “We need to get downstairs. It’s time to get started.”
Jess followed her four best friends down the stairs of Michael’s family home and waited with them near the French doors. The music swelled and one by one her friends entered the courtyard, and then it was her turn. She stepped outside into the sunshine, vaguely aware of the people seated on white folding chairs but with eyes for o
nly one man. Michael’s smile widened when he saw her, and as his gaze traveled over her, his eyes let her know exactly what he was thinking.
Strapless gowns totally rule.
ISBN: 978-1-4268-7979-1
THE WEDDING BARGAIN
Copyright © 2011 by Lee McKenzie McAnally
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