“Otherwise you look beautiful,” she commented in a softened tone. “Your skin is literally flawless.”
“You’re making me blush,” I said. “Go get dressed.”
Lucy’s glossy brown locks were twisted up and away from her face, not a single strand astray. Her dress was simple, with delicate, beaded cap sleeves and a fitted bodice that emphasized her small waist. I was surprised and thankful when she didn’t comment on my weight. Instead, she told us all that we looked perfect and that she was honored to have us in her bridal party. We met at the window and watched the gathering crowd from the second floor. The sprawling lawn was vibrantly green, and guests followed a walkway lined with candles to their seats.
“Are you ready?” Dani asked, touching Lucy’s shoulder. “I think it’s time.”
“Lucy,” I said, as everyone left the room.
She turned and linked her arm with mine.
“I’m sorry about what I said the other night.”
“I know,” she said, her smile genuine.
“I don’t really think you’ll be disappointed. You guys will be so happy. I’m not sure why I said what I did.”
“It’s no big deal. Andrew and I are meant for each other, and we know that. That’s all that matters.”
I nodded, but something about the confidence in her voice gave me a sinking feeling.
Downstairs we found the wedding planner that Lucy had finally broken down and hired. She led us to where our corresponding groomsmen were waiting. I’d gotten Bill into a tuxedo. The fabric hung nicely from his tall, slender frame because I’d insisted that he see a tailor. He extended his hand to me, and I slipped into place comfortably beside him.
“You look gorgeous,” he whispered in my ear as we waited behind Gretchen, whose arm was linked with Andrew’s brother.
“Thank you.” I rose up on the balls of my feet and kissed his crooked nose. “Our turn,” I whispered, stepping forward. I squeezed his hand with the intention of hanging on to it all night.
~
The ceremony was Lucy-style perfect, without any glitches or awkward pauses. We all clapped and grinned giddily when they kissed, Lucy more than anyone. After congratulations were dealt, we, as a bridal party unit, broke off from the crowd for pictures. Having kept my eyes glued forward, I hadn’t seen David during the ceremony. I hoped he had changed his mind about showing up.
I became colder with the sun’s descent. Bill was making humorless jokes with Andrew’s brothers that grated on my nerves. Once again, his touch was unwelcome; I wished for a bottomless glass of wine and an oversized sweatshirt to hide under.
We entered an enormous white tent that glowed with soft light. The guests appeared to have become thoroughly buzzed while they’d waited for us.
As I caught up with Lucy’s parents, Bill found me and handed me a glass of water even though I had only wanted wine. He put his arm around me, and I stiffened so noticeably that he removed it right away.
“Lucy tells us you’re looking for a house,” said Lucy’s mom.
“Liv’s been swamped with her promotion, so it was on the backburner,” Bill explained, “but we’ve just started up again.”
“It’s a grueling process, isn’t it?” she asked. “I would love for Lucy and Andrew to settle into somewhere more practical.”
“Hey.” Lucy’s dad tugged on his wife’s sleeve.
“What?” she asked. “I’m in the middle – ”
“Look at Danielle,” he said. She turned slightly, giving me a clear view across the tent. Dani’s adoring gaze was fixed on David as he gestured to the group around them. Even in the outdoor tent, the room lit up around him, intensifying his dark, grave features. Recognizing him instantly, my heart vaulted from my chest, clawing against the ribcage that so cruelly separated it from where it wanted to be.
As if he felt my eyes on him, he looked up and met my stare. It was just us again in that moment; the crowd was merely a conductor of our crackling energy. It was like seeing him for the first time but with the knowledge that he had felt me in a way that no one else ever had.
His expression remained as passive as mine. My senses were stolen by his presence, and I didn’t have the wherewithal to smile politely or acknowledge him in any form. I didn’t look away as I had the first night we’d made eye contact but held his gaze instead. My body responded to the memory of his touch, craving him like a drug, instructing me to reach out and consume him. To take him into my bloodstream so he could once again kill the pain and warm me from the inside.
He flinched and blinked – once, twice – before looking away and leaving me cold. My breathing was labored and ice cubes rattled in my glass, but I could barely hear them over the heartbeat in my ears.
“Don’t you agree, dear?” Lucy’s mom asked with an expectant look.
I nodded and swallowed dryly, emitting a small noise.
Bill waved me off and said something else to her. My disobedient eyes gravitated back to David. He sported a perfectly-tailored tuxedo and looked the same as I remembered: relaxed, easy and painfully, bring-me-to-my-knees handsome. Not nearly as distraught or sleepless as I felt, which wasn’t surprising since in bachelor time, our liaison was ages ago. His jet black hair was styled with precision, and I could see from where I stood the smoothness of his square jaw. It was seeing his chestnut brown eyes and the sexy cleft of his chin again that almost did me in. His hands in his pockets strained against the fabric of his expensive suit. Dani tugged on his sleeve, but he stared distractedly at something beyond her.
My legs tensed with the urge to run away, but I was loathe for him to know how he still affected me. When Dani giggled and looked at her feet in response to something he’d said, I seized Bill’s hand, causing him to freeze mid-sentence. That was when I noticed David steal a furtive look in my direction. I’d almost missed it, but it had happened.
~
I wrung the paper in my hands and then immediately smoothed it out.
“Nervous?” Bill asked.
“No.” I hadn’t been until my audience had fallen away, leaving only one person to hear my toast. If I’d been blind, I still would have seen David; he was a beacon in the sea of faces.
“You’re up,” Bill said, motioning that I should stand.
The room became silent, and I scrambled up to look out over the crowd. I touched my earlobe gently and took a deep breath.
“I’ll keep it short and sweet, like our bride here,” I started. I glanced down at the piece of paper and then back at the room. “How do you know when you’ve met ‘the one’? Do both hearts suddenly change rhythm, syncing to form their own beautiful symphony? Do you see yourself,” I paused, dropping my eyes to the champagne flute in my hand, “suddenly exquisite and irresistible through their eyes? Does love become something tangible, something that others can see but only the two of you can touch?”
I glanced down at Bill, who smiled encouragingly at me, and I set my hand on the back of his chair. “I don’t think anybody can answer that because for everyone, it’s different. Andrew and Lucy are meant to be. Period. There aren’t two people more perfect for each other. When Lucy told me one night that she wanted to spend the rest of her life with Andrew, I said, ‘Duh, tell me something I don’t know.’” A light laugh rippled through the crowd, and I raised my glass. “I love you both, and I am so honored to be a part of tonight. Cheers.”
I dropped into my chair and crumpled the paper in my hands. It wasn’t the speech I had written, but the words weren’t hard to find. They were within reach, right in front of me.
CHAPTER 5
A CURTSY FROM LUCY and a bow from Andrew signified the end of their first dance. I bolted to the house for a much-needed bathroom break. Alone for the first time, I breathed through my distress. David’s presence had thrown me so far off-kilter that I almost felt alive again. With only one glance, he had managed to stir up my emotions while simultaneously providing comfort. I felt somehow safer in his bubble, like everything wa
s better when he was near.
I exited the bathroom and skidded to a halt as I almost ran into David’s wall of a body.
“Shit, sorry,” I muttered, swerving at the last second. He leaped into my path. I cast a nervous glance around the empty foyer.
“What is this?” he asked angrily. Hard eyes scanned over my dress.
“What?”
“When was the last time you ate anything?”
“This afternoon,” I said smugly. He shot my hand a glance, and I dropped it instantly. Though no one else had ever brought it to my attention, David never seemed to miss my nervous habit of tugging on my earlobe.
“Don’t play coy with me, Olivia. Why are you so thin?”
“I’ve been busy,” I said, straightening my posture.
“That’s bullshit.” He touched my arm with obvious restraint. I bit back a gasp, because his skin on mine was like liquid sun, radiating through my body. “What is going on with you?”
I sighed. I wanted to yank my arm from him, but he was slowly warming my bones again, and I was tired of being cold. No, my body had not forgotten the feel of David Dylan. “Don’t worry about it. It’s not your problem.”
“The fuck it’s not. Why are you doing this?”
“I’m not doing it on purpose,” I said defensively. “I just can’t,” I faltered and took a breath. “I can’t eat; it makes me sick.”
“I’ve been watching you. You’re different.” His tone softened into velvet, coating my skin. “Tell me what it is, and I’ll fix it. I’ll do anything.”
Faint cologne filled the space between us, instantly transporting me to all the moments when I’d been lost and drowning in him. I flickered back to reality. “No. It’s not fixable. You can’t just swoop in and fix everything all the time.”
“What’s the problem?” he insisted, his tone heavy with warning.
I drew my lips into a line and looked away.
“Olivia.”
“You, David! You’re the problem!” I snapped. “What happened between us is eating me from the inside; it’s all I can think about. It haunts me day and night. It consumes me!” Brown, melancholy eyes searched mine until I pulled my arm from his grip. “I have to go, I can’t do this,” I said, dropping his gaze.
“I’m surprised you’re still here,” he countered.
“Don’t.” I raised my eyes to his again, and my heart wilted slightly at the way his expression had hardened and closed. “This has been harder than you could ever know. You have no idea what I’ve been through.”
A burst of air left his mouth, and he scoffed. “That’s where you’re wrong. Don’t forget that you walked out on me. You have no idea what I have been through. Me. Fuck, I shouldn’t even be talking to you,” he muttered. “I promised myself I wouldn’t.”
I blinked at him. “You promised . . . What?”
“I only came here tonight because . . . because I needed to see you, to just see that you’re all right. I promised to leave you alone, I just needed to see you, even from a distance.”
“But it’s been so long, and . . . I thought you’d be over – ”
“Everything okay, Liv?” Gretchen’s brother approached us, puffed up and obviously ruffled as he took in the scene.
“Yes, it’s fine,” I hastened to reassure him. “Thanks, John.”
David looked warily at John and then back at me before stalking away.
“Where’ve you been, you handsome devil? You owe me a dance,” I said before he could ask.
He looked after David for one short second before turning his attention to me. “I’m afraid I’ll snap you in half,” he joked.
“Oh really? You think I’m that weak?” I asked, surprising him with a punch in the upper arm.
“Ow!” he wailed.
“Don’t be a baby. Come on, escort me to the dance floor.”
I stowed my conversation with David for later and followed John from the house. We were almost to the tent when we spotted Lucy and Gretchen flailing on the dance floor.
“They must be drunk.”
“Aren’t you?” he asked, tugging me along with him. We joined them for the rest of the song, dancing and laughing carelessly. Seeing Lucy so happy made me feel lighter.
“Remind me to tell you when you’re sober what horrible dancers you are,” I called out as the song ended. I squealed when Gretchen pinched me. Andrew’s dad appeared at Lucy’s side and held out his hand to her as the next song started.
“A dance?” John asked me. I agreed and let him draw me into his arms.
“Well, you’re a shitty date,” Gretchen muttered, and we laughed as she sulked off alone.
“So, little Liv, what’s new with you? Gretchen says you’re cranky.”
I smiled a little and looked down between us. “Maybe.”
“So what’s up?”
“I’m just overloaded at work, and that’s enough to make anyone a little testy.”
He regarded me thoughtfully while we danced. “Okay. You’d tell me if something was wrong, wouldn’t you?”
I looked up at him from under my lashes. “Yes.”
“You know you’re like a sister to me. An extremely hot sister, but a sister all the same. If I were here in Chicago, I’d volunteer as your bodyguard.”
At that I laughed loudly. “Oh, John, I love you.”
“Hey, Bill,” he said suddenly. “Guess you want to cut in with your lady?”
“No, no,” Bill said, giving John a wary glance before turning to me. “I just came to tell you that I’m running up to the house to have a cigar with Andrew and the guys.”
“Okay,” I said. “I’ll save you a dance.”
“Sounds good.” He leaned over John’s arm and pecked me on the cheek.
John whirled me around dramatically and dipped me so my hair almost touched the floor. “Hi,” he said from above, grinning.
“John, damn it, let me up. Everyone can see down my dress.”
“Oh, then I’m on the wrong side,” he jested.
When he lifted me back up, my gaze locked with David’s. His smooth voice slathered over me. “May I cut in?”
“Get lost, dude,” John said. “She’s married.”
My skin prickled at the thought of those big arms around me. David shifted his focus to John, and they sized each other up. When I noticed David’s jaw set, I quickly cut in. “It’s okay, John. He’s a friend.”
John stepped back and bowed. “As you wish,” he said. “I’ll be over there if you need me.”
The first notes of panty-dropping, sex-infused “Wicked Game” came through the speakers. My legs quivered as David wrapped an arm around my waist and took my hand in his. I secretly thanked Lucy for picking a backless dress that allowed us the intimacy of skin-on-skin contact. A cologne and whiskey infusion washed over me, and I closed my eyes to remember the heady combination of him; I could taste the whiskey on my tongue now, I could feel the soft cashmere of his sweater warming me that night.
“I can’t stop thinking about you,” he whispered.
“Don’t,” I objected. He slipped the tip of one finger inside the loose dress and skimmed it lightly along my back.
“Look at me,” he urged as he had once before. I could only feel that fingertip, possessing me with its feather touch. He pulled me closer, and I opened my eyes slowly for him. His eyes were blazing, and he was unmistakably hard against my silken thigh. My teeth bit into my bottom lip. He groaned softly in response and slid his finger down the length of the dress, repositioning his hand lower. “You never finished your sentence.”
“Hmm?”
“Earlier. You said you thought I was over . . . What? Over you?”
I glanced around to find that each couple was engrossed in their own dance. It was as if Chris Isaak had cast a four-minute-long spell on the tent. I nodded fractionally.
“I’m not,” he said softly. “I’m so under you, it’s ridiculous.”
I was near mad pressed against his erec
tion, and I squeezed the hand that held mine. I drew a deep breath. I had no words, but even if I did, what could I say? I closed my eyes to take in the moment, to memorize its every detail.
“Stay,” he breathed when the song began to fade.
When my eyes opened, I saw Gretchen staring at us. She shook her head slowly so that nobody else would notice. With a great sigh, I pulled away from him.
“Not yet,” he instructed, holding me in place.
“I can’t. It’s agonizing being this close to you. And everyone I know is here . . . . I have to go.”
I didn’t give him a chance to respond, but just walked toward Gretchen, who never took her eyes off of me. Warmth receded, as though I were in a comfortably hot shower that was quickly turning cold.
“We need to talk,” she stated as I approached.
“I know. Not tonight though, k? Just not tonight.”
~
“This’s been the best night of my life,” Lucy slurred, draping a heavy arm over me.
“Well, it’s not over yet.” I pulsed my brows and jabbed my elbow at Andrew. “Time to make it official.”
“Oh, yes, official,” she repeated. “I have to wait for everyone to leave though, don’t I? I think I have to.”
“You probably should,” I agreed. We waited by the exit as the remaining guests filtered out. Bill’s hands kneaded my shoulders while Lucy dealt overexcited good-byes.
“I don’t know about you, but I’m ready to hit the sack,” Bill said into my ear.
“So glad we don’t have to drive home. I’m exhausted.”
“Daaav-idddd,” Lucy called, and every hair on my body bristled. I pinched myself in hopes of waking up from the ensuing nightmare.
“Thank you for inviting me, Lucy,” David said as he approached.
“I’m so, so glad you could make it. Did you know he flew back early from work to attend?” she asked, swinging around and looking directly at Bill.
“I did not know that,” Bill said. I didn’t have to see him to know he was smiling at her. “Bill Wilson,” he said, sticking his hand out over my shoulder. “And my wife, Olivia.” My stomach dropped as David flashed me an uneasy look.
Come Alive (The Cityscape Series) Page 4
