by M. S. Parker
And now that wasn’t going to happen because Flynn was following me.
“So because she’s his mom, you feel you can’t tell her she’s a bitch?” Flynn sounded annoyed. “Well, she’s my mom too, and I give you permission. Tell her to back the fuck off.”
“It’s not that.” My heels clicked on smooth wooden floors, polished to a high shine.
I’d wanted to wear comfortable dress sandals, but I’d seen the way Edward had looked at them, so I’d gone with heels instead. I was regretting it now. I could’ve made a quicker getaway in sandals.
When Flynn fell into place next to me, I slanted a look up at him. “She’s going to be my mother-in-law. We already get along like gasoline and fire. Why make it worse? Edward’s trying to help ease the stress by giving me a small wedding the way I want and letting her have control of the big one, but she doesn’t like it and now he’s caught in the middle. I don’t need to make things even more complicated.”
“Fuck that.” Flynn caught my arm and pulled me to a stop. His eyes locked on my face and my heart jumped up into dangerous territory, slamming against my ribs so hard it hurt to breathe. “It shouldn’t even be a question. You’re his and she shouldn’t talk to you like that. He shouldn’t let her.”
“Look...” I blew out a breath. We were at least far enough away that I could no longer hear Claire’s raised voice. “I’ve got thick skin. I have to have thick skin. Yes, she’s a bitch, but I don’t care what she thinks about me, what she says.”
“I do.” He cut me off and reached up, one hand tracing my cheek. His touch was surprisingly gentle.
I held still, mesmerized as he pushed his hand into my hair. I could barely breathe.
“If you were mine, I’d never let her talk to you like that. Never force you into a compromise like that.” His thumb swept over my skin and his eyes studied me as though he was trying to imprint my face on his memory. “If you were mine...”
Claire’s voice echoed, drifting toward us. I pulled away from Flynn, swallowing around the tight knot that had settled in my throat. I kept my head up as Claire appeared. She cast a haughty look toward us before sailing on toward the front door.
Edward trailed in her wake. A faint smile curled his lips when he saw us standing there and he turned, coming toward us as he shook his head. “Didn’t want to come join the fight?”
“Hell, it’s not my wedding.” Something unreadable danced through his blue eyes as he looked at his brother. “Not my fiancée she was trashing, either.”
Heat flooded my face as Edward caught my shoulders. “I’m sorry, darling,” he said. He bent and pressed a kiss to my cheek. “I know that was ugly, but it’s all taken care of now.”
I rested my head on his chest as he spoke to Flynn, focusing on the steady beat of his heart. Even his mother couldn’t get him riled...not even on my account. Distantly, I heard the two of them discussing something. I had no idea what and I didn’t really care.
I was too busy thinking about what Flynn had said.
If you were mine...
Seven
If you were mine...
Shit.
Four words. Apart, they didn’t really mean much. How could they echo in my head hours, even a day, later? No, that last one, it meant something. Mine. If he’d stopped before he’d gotten to that one, I would’ve been fine, because anything could follow if you were. But put all of them together and it was something I couldn’t stop thinking about, no matter how much I wanted to.
I was flying solo again, juggling wedding plans and dealing with everything on my own. Our ‘together’ wedding planning hadn’t lasted very long. I couldn’t really complain though. Edward was pretty much flipping a billion-dollar company on its end, just so he could have a few days away for our wedding at the end of the week.
The big, elaborate honeymoon would have to wait until after the big elaborate wedding, but we’d decided to take a couple of days for ourselves up at the lodge again. Even that bit of time off was taking a massive effort. Edward had gone into the office yesterday and he hadn’t left until nearly midnight. He’d been gone when I woke up and he’d already called to let me know he’d be there late tonight.
I just hoped that his working late was only because of the weddings and it wasn’t going to be a habit. I loved Edward and wanted to spend the rest of my life with him, not waiting around until he could squeeze me into his schedule.
He’d apologized for tonight, of course, told me to send anything I couldn’t handle to his administrative assistant. I knew he wanted to help as much as he could, but at the same time, I knew there were work things he had to get done if we had any chance of having anything resembling a honeymoon.
I supposed that’s what happened when you married a man the fashion world considered a powerhouse.
Blowing out a breath, I studied the list I had in front of me. The good news was that his assistant had assistants and between her assistants, we’d managed to get a local minister who could marry us. We had everything set up to get the license and all the other legalities taken care of. The big thing was notifying family and friends.
My head already pounded at the thought of it and not just because I needed to talk to Edward’s family, possibly even Claire again. I needed to talk with my family. They’d never admit it, but I wasn’t so sure they’d have the money to travel up here on such short notice, not all of them. Never mind last minute bridesmaid’s dresses for my three sisters, suits for my brothers...
“This is almost as bad as just letting Claire have her way,” I muttered, rubbing my neck. Why had I thought this would be better? Right, I hadn’t. I’d just agreed to it because it had been what Edward had suggested, a way to make peace. It hadn’t exactly worked that way, but he’d said he’d smoothed things over.
The phone rang and I grabbed it, desperate for a distraction.
“Gabriella, it’s Estelle.”
Mentally, I groaned. Not much of a distraction from stress. Out loud, I said, “Hi, Estelle. Sorry, I missed your call earlier. I was taking care of a few things.”
“I understand. I...” She hesitated and then forged on. “Well, I heard about the change in plans. I hope there wasn’t anything I did that brought this about.”
“No.” Rubbing the back of my neck, I pushed back from a desk that was suddenly way too small to hold all the crap I had thrown on it, and I moved to the window. “It’s just...I guess I wasn’t prepared for a wedding like what we’ve been planning. I’m stressing so much and...”
“Gabriella.” Estelle spoke into the silence left by my unfinished sentence. “It’s your wedding. You need to have the one that suits your needs.”
A rush of relief washed over me. She understood that it was less the wedding itself and more what the wedding was being forced to be. “Thank you.”
“Of course. There is...” She cleared her throat delicately and I assumed she was preparing to talk about the other reason for her call. “Claire’s already been over. She’s informed me that she’s taking over the rest of the plans for the October event. I assume you were made aware?”
Grimacing, I thought back to the discussion Edward and I had. His solution to the problem of me and his mom. “Yeah. That was the compromise. She finishes up, taking over everything I haven’t already arranged.”
“So if you’ve already made the plans, those plans remain in place?” Estelle asked slowly.
“That’s the way it was supposed to be. My atrocious purple, plum, orange and gold flowers remain, just like my plum dresses for the bridesmaids.”
“Very good.” If I wasn’t mistaken, there was relief in her voice. “That will simplify a few things.”
We spoke for a few more minutes as she ran over a few details she wanted to clear up and then she told me some of the ideas Claire had already run by her. Each one made me cringe, but I swallowed down my distaste and agreed. Except on one detail. “She’s suggesting we try the…ah. Well, I suppose you remember the day we did the c
ake tasting.”
I already knew where this was heading. “I’m not eating that damn cake. I already have my cake ordered. Honey is making it. Period.”
“Claire’s tried to cancel the order. Three times. Honey’s called me to clarify, so I wanted to get with you about it.”
“No.” Pinching my nose, I said, “I’m having the cake I want. I won’t force anyone to eat that other shit.”
Estelle coughed. “Of course. I’ll…handle it. Somehow.”
“I think she’s doing it to punish me. Maybe we should order one cake from Madame and make Claire and her friends eat it,” I said darkly.
Estelle surprised me by laughing. “It would be a punishment.”
A few moments later, we hung up and I had no reason to delay the next item on my list. The next big item—one that couldn’t be avoided anymore.
I had to let my family know.
“My schedule won’t be a problem.”
I’d called Catherine first, figuring she’d probably be the hardest. Suzanne was a teacher and still had a week before she had to start getting ready. Her husband, Pierce, worked with his parents at their local business, so time off wouldn’t be an issue. Duncan’s wife, Allison, stayed home with their kids and he had enough tenure at the mill to wrangle time off. Catherine had been working as a waitress during the day and picking up extra night shifts on a cleaning crew to support herself and her boys. Juggling those two schedules wouldn’t be easy.
“Okay, that’s good—”
“Well, there’s still a problem,” she said, cutting in. Her tone was sharp.
“What?” The dull headache showed the promise of becoming a bad one. I pinched the bridge of my nose and closed my eyes.
“Money, Gabs,” she snapped.
My eyes snapped opened. Out of all of my siblings, Catherine and I had always gotten along the least. After she’d had Cameron, things had gotten worse. Like she’d thought I looked down on her or something. I was getting that tone from her again.
“I’ve been saving. We all have, but I can’t swing it right now.”
I could hear her unspoken accusation that I didn’t understand, especially now.
I tamped down my temper and said the first thing that popped into my head. “What do you mean, you’ve been saving? Didn’t I tell you? Edward is flying the family in. It’s his wedding present to me.”
“But...”
“Don’t argue with me,” I said, cutting her off. I knew all of the arguments, had heard them all a million times over the years. “I know you don’t like taking things from people, but this is a wedding gift for me. He knew I was stressing about the strain it would put on all y’all to fly up here twice and he didn’t want me worrying. Also, he…well look, he didn’t want me telling anybody, either, so you can’t say anything to him. He was just planning on buying the tickets. Y’all have to come because he’s buying them today.”
It took a few more minutes to wear her down, but I got what I wanted and then worked my way through the rest of my siblings before I called my parents.
They would be both easy and hard. I knew they’d be there. Dad would have to bust his ass trying to find somebody to cover the farm for a few days, but they wouldn’t miss my wedding. Either one of them.
The bad news, though…would they let me…err…Edward pay?
The answer was yes, albeit reluctantly, and I told them I’d email the details to Mom once everything had been taken care of. I had a feeling if it hadn’t been for the fact that they knew there was no way they’d make it up here without ‘Edward’s’ help, they would’ve refused.
Once I was finished on the phone, I started searching for flights. Within minutes, the cost was making me feel a little nauseated, but as soon as I’d said it, I’d prepared myself for an outrageous price. There were eighteen tickets to buy, after all. I couldn’t let Jackson come without his fiancé.
Without letting myself think too much about it, I split it all between the three credit cards I’d almost paid off, working the flight schedules like a travel agent on crack. Some of them were flying in late Thursday, some were coming in on Friday. I’d had everybody give me the times that would work best and either God or fate was smiling on me, because I managed to get everybody in on a decent time.
Thanks to the wonders of modern technology, I emailed their flight info to them and then sent a completed schedule with gate information to Paul. He’d already promised to make sure he had people at the airport to pick them up because there was no way I could manage that part. Besides, I figured that was a novelty my family could enjoy. Once that was done, I had no choice but to face the music.
I needed a dress and fast because no way in hell was I going to wear the same dress twice or let Claire pick out a new one for me.
I needed cash and fast, because I’d just completely maxed out all of my credit cards and essentially drained my bank account. I also needed a wedding gift for Edward and the one I’d been eying wasn’t going to come cheap. I couldn’t give him something less, not after all he’d done for me.
All of that meant one thing.
Flynn.
Shit.
Clothes are armor.
Maybe I didn’t do all my shopping at Saks or Neiman Marcus, but I understood what clothing did for a woman. They did the same thing for a man, but not quite on the same level as a woman. The wrong set of clothes could totally drain morale, while the right ones could boost it. A cute skirt, kick-ass heels and a shirt that managed to hide the flaws while showcasing the assets made it possible to look even your mortal enemy in the eye and smile.
Flynn wasn’t my mortal enemy, but he was a weakness and I needed to be able to face him without letting him see anything but confidence and determination. Hence, the careful planning of what I was going to wear.
I gave myself a critical once-over. The cowboy boots paired with a mid-length denim skirt gave me the confidence. An office lace and silk tank top made me look cool and collected, professional yet casual. I’d pulled my hair back and up since I didn’t know how it would need to be styled. I’d wanted to wear at least a little bit of make-up, something to make my brown eyes look bigger, but since I didn’t know what I was going to need for the shoot, I didn’t put on anything extra.
I looked as good as I was going to get.
It was easy enough to get out of the house. Paul was out with Edward and I hadn’t told anybody I’d be leaving so all I’d needed to do was call for a cab. It wasn’t until I ducked out the front door that somebody from the staff saw me and called my name.
“Miss Gabriella, we could have called for a car…”
I waved Greta off as the yellow cab continued up the driveway. “Oh, don’t be silly. I love taking a cab. It’s an adventure.” I winked as I said it, shooting a grin at her. “I’ve just got some things to do. See you later!”
She was still stammering out a reply as I climbed inside, but I pretended not to hear. I might have been her employer’s fiancé, but she didn’t approve of me any more than Claire did.
Closing my eyes, I rested my head against the seat. When asked, I rattled off the address and then focused on calming the nerves that screamed inside me.
The drive was too short. It felt like I’d barely closed my eyes before the cab stopped and I found myself staring dumbly at the amount due without really understanding what I was seeing.
“Everything okay?”
I looked up at the cute Latino driving the cab and nodded. “Sorry. My brain is elsewhere. I’m getting married Saturday.”
“Congratulations!” A wide grin split his face and, because the smile was real and it echoed in his eyes, I gave him a fat tip. I always tried to tip well. I’d waitressed some in high school and college so I knew what it was like to make it by on tips, but I only gave good ones when they were warranted. His sincerity was worth it.
“Thank you.” Tucking my debit card back in my pocket as I slid out, I looked up at the building. I had to force myself to breathe
now. My hand shook as I swiped it over my mouth.
The blank eyes of the windows stared back at me as I stood there, remembering the full-figured, lush body of the woman Flynn had been with the last time I was here. Maybe he’d moved on from her the way he had from me. Maybe he’d gone and fallen for the last woman he’d had in front of his camera. I thought there was a book or a movie about an artist who fell in love with the women he painted. If an artist could fall for the women he painted, why couldn’t a photographer fall for the models in his photographs?
Maybe that’s all this was and I was fixating on something that wasn’t even there. Maybe that was why he was fixating, just because I’d been in front of his camera. And for me, he was a distraction, something to let my mind worry on instead of the wedding.
I seized on that and told myself to stop being stupid. The wedding would be over with soon and I could get on with my life with the man I loved. The big ceremony wouldn’t be anything more than a blip on my radar, the honeymoon a vacation.
That’s all this is, I told myself. That’s all.
It was a calming, comforting thought. Or it should have been.
But it didn’t do anything to ease the turmoil inside.
As a matter of fact, when I found myself standing in front of Flynn’s door, exactly as I had been only a few short days ago, I realized my heart was racing and I was sweating. Swiping my hands down the sides of my skirt, I went to open the door.
A memory flash stopped me.
Flynn’s strong hand sliding up a golden torso, cupping a full breast...
If he was in there with another woman…
I lifted my fist and knocked.
Eight
The door swung open and the muscles I’d held so rigidly went lax.
He was alone.
Alone and not in work mode.
He had two modes and I recognized this one almost as easily as I recognized the other one. He’d finished up a photo shoot not that long ago and he was decompressing. I tried not to think about how it was so easy for me to know something like that.
