THE JUNIOR BRIDESMAID

by Amy Baker

  The scratching of the metal hangers along the metal rod didn’t bother me nearly as much as it normally would.

  Screech. Red dress. Too sexy.

  Screech. Blue sequined top. Better for a night out of clubbing not an intimate dinner with the hottest man on Earth.

  Screech. Little black dress. Last resort if I can’t find anything else.

  “Urg!” I grunted. “I must have something that doesn’t look like I am heading to a business meeting or about to hang a red light outside my door.” Clearly my dating wardrobe was in serious need of attention.

  Screech. Brown gypsy skirt. Too casual.

  Screech. Hunter green button down. “Looks like I’m ready for the Outback. Bummer matey.” I sighed heavily unhappy with my options.

  One after the other, and I still couldn’t find exactly what I wanted to wear. I turned to look at my nightstand where my alarm clock sat. 6:45. I was running out of time and I needed to make a decision. I screeched the hangers back, back, back till I got to the little black dress. I sized it up again. It was going to have to do.

  I pulled it off of the hanger and laid it out on my bed. Stumbling over my heels that I had kicked off when I quickly undressed, I ran back to my bathroom to finish getting ready. I toweled off my hair and let it start to air dry while I put on some facial cream and make-up. Once I was satisfied with my face I grabbed my hairbrush and started to pull and tug and tug and pull while I scorched it under the hair dryer. The smoke billowed until my hair was flat as a pancake. Funny how it was okay to have flat hair but a flat chest was considered a drawback.

  I heard the buzzer go off on my intercom alerting me to the fact that I had a visitor. My eyes darted to my reflection in the mirror. “Shit,” I hissed knowing I was not quite ready. I ran to my front door and pressed the call button trying to slow my breathing. I took a deep breath before I spoke. “Yes?” I questioned as calmly as I could while my heart was attempting to thunder out of my chest.

  “Delilah? You have a visitor.” Davis sounded rather formal but since Hugh was essentially a new face, I figured he was doing it on purpose.

  Therefore I tried to respond in kind. “Thank you, Davis. You can send him up.” The voice that came out of my body was like nothing I had ever heard before. I sounded like a man in drag trying to impersonate a starlet from the 1930’s.

  Even Davis was confused. “Delilah?” Davis questioned. “Did I ring the wrong apartment?”

  I cleared my throat and tried again. “No, Davis. It’s me. You can send him up,” this time sounding as cool and collected as I intended fearing Davis was careless enough to have me on speaker and Hugh would be able to hear my hysteria. As soon as I lifted my finger from the intercom button my panic resumed. My breathing pattern became more harassed and I swore like my BFF, Julia, in a traffic jam when I realized I still had clothes trailing down the hall.

  “Son of a bitch!” I picked up the clothes I had peeled off on my way to the shower and ran back to my bathroom to throw them in the hamper. I ran my hand through my hair and found that it was still damp in spots. But given the tumultuous day I’d experienced, I was surprised I managed to pull myself together enough that I wasn’t a total embarrassment. I ran to the bed and shimmied into my dress. Then I heard the ding of the elevator (which sadly I could hear from my bedroom) and I knew I was out of time. My eyes slowly closed while I said a silent prayer that things would go my way.

  This was it.

  I heard the rapping on my front door. I smoothed my hands over my hips rounding them over my ass letting my fingers find the hem at the bottom of my dress. I had to make sure it was flat and not tucked in my underwear. That would be a really poor first impression after a twelve-year hiatus. I took a deep breath, slipped on my heels and padded to the door. My heart was racing so fast if I were in the Kentucky Derby I think I could pull out at least a show even up against the finest thoroughbreds in the country. I lifted my chin toward the ceiling and let out the breath I was holding simultaneously closing my eyes. Agreeing to a dinner and mustering up the courage to get through the meal were two entirely different things. “I can do this,” I breathed. I turned the handle willing a positive and upbeat expression to replace the fear and trepidation that was surely etched on my face. I swung open the door and the smile I had produced fell away.

  “Will!” I was reaching for pleasant surprise but I think that he might have figured out that his presence elicited shock with a healthy dose of disappointment.

  “Hello, Delilah,” he shuffled his feet as he drawled.

  “When you said ‘I know where you live’ I thought it was just a figure of speech,” I tried to explain away my quickly deflating enthusiasm. “What are you doing here?”

  He ignored my question and instead offered me a compliment. “You look nice,” he gestured with his hand.

  “Thank you,” I answered politely.

  I raised my eyebrows suggesting he should have a good excuse for showing up at my door inexplicably and saw him swallow hard. I didn’t invite him in because I was more than a little stunned to find him there and knew Hugh would be arriving any minute. “Going somewhere special?” he asked instead.

  I didn’t want to share too much with Will. I didn’t know him very well and polite southern boy or not, I didn’t want to encourage him in any way. “I have plans.” My right hand went to the door handle to join my left and they started to work the metal knob nervously. Then it occurred to me that he had come for his money. “Oh! I should get you your money for the coffee you paid for this morning.” I turned to go into my apartment and Will followed me in uninvited. I went straight to my ice cream table (the only size that would fit in my little one bedroom) to find some cash. “I’m sorry, Will, I should have remembered,” I added as I searched for a couple of singles. It still didn’t explain why he showed up at my apartment. It must have cost him more in subway fare just to collect his two dollars for my coffee but at that point I just wanted to get rid of him.

  I realized his voice was right behind me as in very, very close behind me when he spoke and I could feel the breath behind his words. “I’m not here for my two dollars, Delilah,” he stated with his southern comfort.

  My body froze because I was far from comfortable with Will standing on top of me. I could actually feel his emanating warmth through my dress. I’m pretty sure that he heard me swallow because the lump in my throat was the size of a cannonball. “Oh?” I didn’t turn around because there wasn’t any room for me to do so but my hands had stilled from rooting around in my purse.

  “Mnmn,” he hummed but offered no more.

  Needless to say my discomfort was growing. Will showed up at my apartment unannounced. I’d never given him my address, information he shouldn’t have had as I wasn’t listed in the phone book and he still hadn’t revealed the reason for his visit. Then I heard a light rap on the door.

  Thank God.

  My head spun in that direction at the same time as Will’s. The door slowly swung open from the knocking, as it had only marginally swung closed when Will followed me in. In my doorway, leaning into the jamb appeared the most beautiful man I had ever seen in my life. 6’ 2” and solid, Hugh was the epitome of tall, dark and handsome. He crossed his arms over his chest as he sized up the situation inside. I could see his lips and jaw press together at the sight of Will’s proximity to me. Then he spoke and he didn’t sound all that happy. “Hey, Junior. Am I interrupting something?”

  “No!” I jumped at the thought that Hugh was getting the entirely wrong impression. “Will is a…um….just leaving. He stopped by for…uh...” Then I turned in the claustrophobic space that Will reluctantly forfeited. “Why did you stop by again?” I leaned back and asked as if he had told me and I had forgotten.

  Then he finally answered and I’d wished he hadn’t. “I heard that you had a rough day at work. Had it out with someone in your office. Almost came to fisticuffs. I wanted to stop by and see if you were okay,” with his confession I sa
w Hugh’s eyes dart to me.

  “You had it out with someone and it almost came to…fisticuffs?” he asked with surprise in his tone. The word fisticuffs sounded absurd crossing Hugh’s beautiful lips.

  My mouth bobbed up and down a few times as I tried to think of something benign to say since I couldn’t tell him that he was the reason that fisticuffs were involved and my conflict was with Stacey.

  But Will got his version of the story out first. “Yeah. They were fighting over some guy.” Then he got this shit eating grin on his face like it was him that Stacey and I were fighting over. He shrugged and turned toward Hugh. “You know how it is,” his southern inflection sounding almost cocky. “So I stopped by because I want Delilah to know that there is no contest.” He took one finger and ran it down my bare arm. I think my skin was visibly crawling.

  “Will, I…” I had to stop talking because I saw Hugh straighten and then he talked over me.

  “I didn’t realize that you’d already made plans for the evening, Delilah. I’ll leave you to it.” As he turned to leave a feeling of complete despondency filled my heart and soul.

  I barely caught the tail end of his sport jacket escape my view and I heard the elevator ding. Why when I needed the elevator was it always being held up on every floor in the building but when the man of my dreams was making a hasty retreat it was waiting there for him to run?

  “Hugh!” I blurted hoping he would wait. But as I pushed passed Will to get to my door, Will caught my arm in a firm grip. Not the right thing to do when little miss Delilah was chasing down her man. I stopped because Will’s grasp was unforgiving and turned on him. “Will. So help me God. Let go of my arm,” I gritted through my teeth.

  “Let him go, Delilah. He doesn’t mean anything to you,” he said as if he believed that with every fiber of his being.

  So as much as I hated to admit it, maybe Stacey was right. There was definitely something wrong with Will.

  Cuckoo!!

  I gave my arm a good tug but Will’s grip was unrelenting. “Will you’re hurting me,” I twisted and struggled. “Let go.”

  Luckily Will did or I was going to have to use all of the self-defense moves on him that I had learned in my kickboxing class. I stepped back trying to gain some distance and backed into a very hard mass. And it was breathing. I watched Will’s eyes travel up and over my shoulder.

  Then I felt the vibration of the chest behind me when Hugh questioned Will’s credentials. “Are you a friend of Delilah’s or just a co-worker?” I heard and felt from behind. My green eyes instantly softened with relief.

  Will said ‘friend’ at the same time that I said ‘co-worker.’

  Will’s offended eyes shot back to me. “Huh,” his breath left his lungs. “And I thought you were different.” With those creepy parting words, Will pushed past me, popped Hugh shoulder-to-shoulder and headed for my door.

  As I turned to watch him leave Hugh snaked an arm around my waist pulling me closer. “He’s weird,” Hugh murmured in my ear.

  I couldn’t use my ‘he’s southern’ excuse because so was Hugh and he wasn’t weird. And the argument that Will was just trying to be polite and check on me went out the window when he freaked me out by outlining his disappointment in learning my sameness to other females. So I didn’t answer Hugh and swallowed back the paranoia that instantly took root. I never told Will where I lived, how I took my coffee or that Stacey and I had had it out over a guy. He was a little too informed for my private taste. So I nodded while I kept my eyes trained on my front door.

  Then I felt Hugh’s hand give a little tug. “Hey. You okay?” he asked with a tenderness that made his concern feel so genuine.

  Afraid that my voice would betray me, I nodded again. I turned to look up at Hugh’s face and he instantly gave me a reassuring smile. Looking into his soulful eyes I admittedly felt a lot better.

  “You sure?” he asked sweetly.

  “Yes,” I breathed still staring up at him while pressed snuggly into his side. I watched Hugh’s eyes make the slow and torturous trek to my lips. My mouth twitched in response probably out of my overly racked nerves.

  “By the way,” Hugh began, “I have a message for you,” he shifted me so we were standing toe to toe. His eyes never left my lips as his arms slowly snaked around my waist and came to rest on my lower back.

  The weight of his arms had my hips and torso pressing into him. “Oh?” I asked using my hands against his biceps so I could lean back enough to see his beautiful face while he delivered this message. Hopefully, whatever it was would distract me permanently from the freaky stalker who just left my apartment.

  “Yeah, but part of it may come as a bit of a surprise,” he informed me cautiously with a gentle voice. His head tilted slightly as he assessed my reaction to this potentially shocking news.

  “Um, okay,” I shrugged which rubbed my chest against his. “Is it a good surprise or a bad surprise?” I asked faintly. My hands, which had been resting on his biceps, flexed slightly bracing for his response. “Cause if it is a bad surprise I’m not so sure now is the best time to share it.”

  His head lowered slightly while his eyes bounced back and forth on mine. “I’m hoping you think it is a good surprise,” he murmured gently.

  My chest began to heave from our tight embrace and the anticipation of this news that could potentially be upsetting.

  He seemed somewhat hesitant to share this message, which had me questioning my ability to convert carbon dioxide into oxygen. If he didn’t hurry up I might just pass out and miss the whole thing. “Okay,” I repeated somewhat breathily in response.

  God, his lips were awfully close.

  Then instead of delivering this message, Hugh closed the tiny distance between us and touched his soft lips to mine. It didn’t take long for the touch to turn into a slow and tender kiss, his lips gently kneading and savoring mine. Then he shared his message in between kissing and suckling my lips. “Ryan says thank you.”

  I swallowed hard not so much from the mention of Ryan’s gratitude but from Hugh’s chosen method of delivery. I tried to control my breathing as a warm sensation began to radiate from my belly. “Ryan? Your brother?” I was doing my best to stay coherent. I really was. But it was ridiculously difficult. My head began to swim from Hugh’s sweet breath mingling with mine.

  “Mmhm,” he groaned his eyes fixated on my mouth.

  Before I could process what Hugh had shared, he lowered his head again resuming our kiss. His lips worked over mine so tenderly a whimper involuntarily escaped me.

  Needless to say I was officially distracted and definitely surprised in a very good way.

  Then as he peeled his lips off mine very slowly. I felt the tip of his tongue gently touch the crease of my lips.

  Good Lord.

  I swallowed again and my head fell back slightly as I licked the taste of him off of my lips. “Um,” I hesitated trying to form a sensible question, “I don’t understand. Ryan told you to kiss me and tell me thank you?” I questioned softly while my eyes fought to stay open.

  “No,” he slowly shook his head. Our faces were still so close I could feel his lips forming his words. “Ryan told me to thank you. I’ve been wanting to kiss you for twelve years and couldn’t wait another fucking second,” he clarified then he pressed his luscious lips to mine again just as a soft groan emanated from his throat. “God, that is so much better than I have been imagining,” he breathed.

  I don’t think he was looking for a response but I found myself offering one anyway. “Mmm,” I hummed. “You could say that again.”

  He must have liked my response because his mouth formed a slow satisfactory smile against mine. “Dinner reservations,” he whispered.

  “Okay,” I whispered back trying to wake from the sweetest kiss I had ever experienced in my entire life.

  Hugh unclamped the arm he had locked around my waist and took my hand in his to lead me to the door. “Keys?” He asked clearing his throat in an ef
fort to compose himself.

  “Oh, no. Just one second.” I let go of him reluctantly to make the short trek back to my all-purpose ice cream table. I snatched my keys and handbag. Then I took a deep breath exhaling slowly. I turned back toward Hugh registering the smile on his face. I walked back to him coyly resuming my position with my hand pressed in his. He didn’t make a big deal out of it he just shifted his fingers so mine were laced with his. It felt like the most natural thing in the world.

  I have to say that I had never in my entire life wanted an elevator ride to last forever and ever. Somewhere in the recesses of my mind I worried if someone religiously monitored the security cameras or if they were only utilized in case of an incident. But that fleeting thought didn’t stop or slow me. Nor did it prod me to dissuade Hugh’s hands from their northern expedition. My mouth and tongue were fairly busy working against Hugh’s but I was pretty sure that my dress was up well past my hips. Otherwise my leg that I reactively wrapped around his ass probably would have met with a lot more resistance. I felt his hand snake around my shoulder blade and his fingers press into the side of my right breast. At least I hoped it was his fingers. If it was another extremity I was in a lot more trouble than I had bargained for. But I didn’t really care about that either. All I cared about in that moment was if Hugh liked that he could palm my entire ass with one hand or if he was the kind of guy who preferred an ass that required two hands. Beyond that insecure thought I was pretty vacant. I realized this when the elevator dinged indicating our arrival to the lobby and an older gentleman holding his yapping Chihuahua exited the elevator with us. How the hell I didn’t notice that he got on somewhere between my floor and the lobby was a little disturbing. Hugh started laughing when the older gentleman winked in his direction and shook his free hand like he had just gotten burned. I just cleared my throat uncomfortably and used my finger to daintily fix the smeared lip-gloss that most likely surrounded my mouth. As we neared the front desk where Davis was waiting to bid us a good evening, I did my best to pretend that nothing whatsoever had happened on that elevator. But Davis probably surmised something had transpired because I was having the darnedest time concealing the smirk I was sporting as a result of learning something profoundly important about Hugh. And that was that Hugh Rowen was the hottest kisser in the entire world and Darcy Strong was a fucking idiot. No lie.