“Everything all right?” Billie asked, arriving back after taking the girls outside.
“Yes, perfect,” I told her, smiling.
“It was rather. I love that you married exactly how you wanted, in bare feet on the beach. That’s so romantic … and that dress,” she sighed, as she cast her eyes over me again.
“Yeah, that dress,” both James and Josh said at the same time.
“Oye,” James remarked in a mock scowl toward Josh.
“I know, I know, get your own, Josh … but the sister is married already, and she’s an only child,” he threw back, nodding toward Billie.
“Lorna’s not married,” I suggested.
“No!” James exclaimed. “He’s already been warned off. Josh is one dirty player; he’d break my sister. Shit, why did I even think that, now I’m scarred for life.” Billie and I burst out laughing.
“Poor Josh,” Billie mumbled sympathetically toward him and patted his arm.
“Yeah … I also accept pity fucks,” he shot back, and James cuffed him over his head.
“That’s my sister-in-law you just hit on.”
“Right,” Josh nodded, like he’d considered James’ comment and agreed. “Sorry,” he mumbled again, with a mock sheepish look, but a glint in his eyes.
Sawyer wandered back into the room. “The band’s almost ready on the beach, are you making your way out there soon?”
“Just coming,” James called over to him and took my hand.
“See, he knows all about pre-ejaculation, he’s not even gotten you home yet.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
We were still laughing when we reached the dance floor on the beach, and I saw a girl join them I’d never seen before standing beside Lorna and Hammer.
“Who’s that with Hammer and Lorna?”
“Flick, she’s a session bassist we use sometimes in the studio. We talked her into playing with us today,” Sawyer replied.
“You’re playing all evening?” I asked, sad for Billie because I wanted her to enjoy my wedding as well.
“No, only an hour, then we have a band coming in for another couple of hours. The kids will be tired, so I figured if we pick up the first hour, and then they can take it from there until everyone heads for home.
“I hope you don’t mind, but I invited some people to join us,” James said, surprising me.
“You did?”
“Yeah.” He nodded to his left and there were a group of his friends and their wives, a guy from his office he’d introduced me to, but I couldn’t remember his name, Rhea and Gena, also from his office, and another good friend of James’, Brian, from the bar, and his wife, Emelia.
Sawyer excused himself and headed over to join Hammer and the girl, and Lorna came over toward us.
“I’ve not had much time to talk to you today, Tricia,” she informed me in her posh refined tone. “You look ah-mazing. Welcome to the family,” she gushed, pulling me in for a hug, it had felt as genuine as the one she’d given me when we’d first met. “James has to bring you to my place for the weekend. You’ve been through so much this past year. Caitlin was saying we should try to get together more as well.” She waved Caitlin over, who looked delighted when she hugged James.
“Congratulations, big brother… and Mrs. Wild,” she added, pulling me into her greeting. “I met your daughter, Erin, earlier, Marnie introduced us. She looks so much like you, and she’s really very sweet,” Caitlin said.
“Isn’t she lovely? And I agree she’s the spitting image of you, Tricia. I can’t wait to spend more time with her. Us girls have got to stick together,” Lorna stated.
My heart squeezed when I felt the warmth in her words. “Thank you, we’ve had a lot to take in,” I replied. James immediately rubbed my back and tugged me into his chest.
“Glad you have James supporting you. I think you are great for one another.” My chest tightened and I swallowed back the sudden threat of tears from her comment, because it had meant so much to me.
“Thank you, I can’t wait to know you better.”
“Ladies and gentlemen, it’s been a fabulous day watching two people so in love commit to each other for life. I’d now like to invite them to join together for one more ritual today… in public at least,” he snickered. “Please welcome Mr. and Mrs Wild to the dance floor for the first dance of the night, with a song especially chosen by my brother, James, for his bride.”
Sawyer fished a pick from his pocket, stuck it between his teeth, and slipped the mic he’d been holding in the microphone stand. Swiping a long lead off the floor, he plugged in the jack to his guitar and tapped the rig at his feet.
As Sawyer began to play “Never Gonna Be Alone” by ‘Nickleback’, I recognized the tune instantly.
“Would you do me the honor, Mrs. Wild?” James asked, holding his hands out with a soft smile on his face. My heart leapt when I saw the heat in his eyes. Taking his hand, I felt a small thrill of electricity as he led me to the center of the small wooden dance floor, which was already partially covered in sand, for my wedding dance.
“It would appear we’ve come full circle,” he remarked, and I knew instantly he meant how we’d danced that first night we’d hooked up. I nodded, a tinge of sadness in my heart that I’d behaved the way I had.
“Look,” he said, distracting me from that thought and tightening his arms around the base of my spine. He nodded toward the ocean and the sun was low and setting on the horizon. “My mom even arranged a magnificent sunset to cap off our beautiful day,” he said playfully.
The sun glowed silver against the dusky watercolor shades of blue, purple, and orange as it went down, its reflection casting a wide golden V-shape on the ocean beneath it. The music lyrics and the sunset felt completely synchronized to how contented I felt. I kissed my husband for his thoughtful gestures of love and thanked him again for my perfect wedding day.
The timing of our dance couldn’t have been better arranged, because as we shuffled around cheek to cheek with our bodies flush together, the sun sank in the sky and darkness fell moments after Sawyer struck the last chords of the song. The girls rushed onto the dance floor and hugged us, which had been instigated by Brynn. When Sawyer saw this he expertly diverted them by playing “Girls Like You” by ‘Maroon 5’. The body swerves they made in recognition of the tune were funny when they all left us alone and started to dance.
Leaving James to talk with his father, I made my way over to my family, as I hadn’t had any opportunity to talk with them since the ceremony.
“Whew, getting married is hard work,” I told them, as I plopped myself down at their large round table on the chair nearest to Erin. “Thank you for coming, it means the world to me. No Ryder?” I asked, noting I hadn’t seen him around and wondered if he’d had to work.
“He’s on a shoot somewhere,” she replied, disheartened. The clipped tone in her voice told me there was more to it than that.
“Oh, is he out of town?”
“No, he’s in the city somewhere, but …” she shrugged. “We’re not exclusive.” My heart squeezed, instantly hurt for her, because I’d seen the way she’d looked at him—the way he’d looked at her too, for that matter—and I felt disappointed for her.
“Not exclusive, but you both appeared quite smitten when we were up in Vermont.”
Erin glanced nervously toward Marnie, Franco, and my dad, and I realized I had made her feel uncomfortable discussing her love life in front of them.
“I get it, it’s new. James and I are the last ones to talk about getting serious in those first few months.” I chuckled, playing down what she’d said like it was no big deal in front of everyone, but I knew from the look in her eyes that to her it was.
I caught Billie’s eye and she immediately came over, sensing something was wrong. One glance in Erin’s direction and her perceptive nature told her she needed some privacy. “Lester, as my husband is too busy singing to dance with me and I can’t dance with the bride, you’ll
have to do me the honor,” she said, taking his beer glass away from him, setting it down, and pulling my dad to his feet. “You too, soldiers,” she prompted to my sister and her husband. Marnie looked at me and I gave her a pleading smile.
“Right, Mr. Two Left Feet, my toes have just about recovered from our wedding dance, so let’s see if you’ve gained any new moves,” my sister teased.
“If you’d wanted a dancer, you should have married John Travolta or that Patrick guy from that lame dance movie with the tiny chick with the watermelon,” he complained. Billie’s jaw dropped, and she scoffed, clearly shocked that there was anyone left on the planet who wouldn’t have known the movie’s name was Dirty Dancing.
“Stop moaning and break out the moves, lardy boy,” she teased again. Franco stood and snickered because there wasn’t an ounce of fat on her musclebound husband.
“What? I had plenty of moves last night and I didn’t complain once when you moaned,” he informed her.
“All right, TMI, people,” Billie scolded and nodded sideways in my father’s direction.
Taking the hint, they all crossed over the sand to the dancefloor and left Erin and me on our own.
“So want to tell me what’s up?” I probed.
“It’s your wedding day,” Erin replied and shook her head.
“And you’re hurt. You think I’m going to leave the conversation there?”
She shrugged. “He was coming to the wedding up until a couple of days ago. He was supposed to be picking me up, hence why I hadn’t needed a seat in the limo that was arranged from James’ parent’s place.”
“And he cut out because he got work?”
“I guess …” She shrugged helplessly, and I saw she was close to tears. Reaching out I placed my hand over hers in support and she pulled it away. Her reaction stung.
“Don’t or I’ll cry. I appreciate you wanting to comfort me, but I’m not crying here, not on your wedding day.”
I sighed and swallowed roughly. My heart ached because hers hurt. “Listen, I know we’re still new … our … what we are, but I’m here for you. I want to support you—”
“I know, Mom, and you’re not overstepping. You don’t have to walk on eggshells around me; I’m a part of you. Nothing you can say would offend me.” My chest tightened at how forgiving she was.
“What does you’re not exclusive mean?” I kept my tone even when in truth, I had wanted to find playboy Ryder and rip his voice box from his throat for using a lame term such as that toward her. She deserved better.
“Can we do this tomorrow … or better still when you get back from your honeymoon?” she pleaded, her dull eyes searching for me to agree.
I had wanted to tell her no, that I needed to know then and there, but it was her life and her issue. I never wanted to make the same mistakes my mother had with me so I respected her wish and went at her pace.
“Sure, but I want you to know I’m here for you — day or night— three sixty-five, understand?”
“I do,” she smiled softly, “and I know you mean it. You have no idea how good it feels to know that.”
“Guessing I do, sweetheart, since I feel the same about how you’ve taken to us. The relief I feel to know you forgive me has helped me to heal.”
“Can we both try to put the past behind us and look to the future, Mom? I have no one else in the world apart from you guys. I already know you love me, and I think James and his family are amazing. Marnie and Franco also want to know more about me. Look where I am right now … I’m here,” she said, gesturing around her. “If I hadn’t reached out to Marnie when I did, I could have missed all of this.” I smiled warmly, so thankful she hadn’t.
“Yes, you’re here, which means you are family and family supports one another. So, whenever you are ready, I want to know what the deal is with Ryder.”
Reaching over, Erin squeezed my hand, clearly touched by my gesture of unity and flashed me a smile in return. “Thanks, Mom.”
“For?”
“Not pushing … for letting me go at my pace. I just want to think things through in my head before I make any decisions.”
“You like him that much?”
“What’s not to like? But not enough to be his booty call or under his thumb either.”
I smiled because she had sounded like I had before I met James. “You got this, Erin, and if he can’t see what a catch you are, he’s a fool. Take your time—tell me what you want—whenever you’re ready. Sometimes another perspective can shine a fresh light on things. I may be your mom, but I have the benefit of being a friend as well, since I escaped doling out all those teenage lectures parents prescribe to their kids.”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
“Hey, Erin,” James said, moving around to her side of the table and kissing her cheek. “How’s my third favorite girl in the world?”
“Third favorite?” she and I asked at the same time.
“Yeah, my favorite by a mile has to be my beautiful wife, of course,” he replied. He left her side and kissed me on my cheek. “Then, there’s my wonderful mother … because she gave me life, and finally as you are my wife’s daughter … correct me if I’m wrong but that gives me some fatherly status, does it not?”
Erin’s eyebrows shot up in her hairline. “I suppose it does.” She grinned, looking excited at how he wanted to claim her.
“Good, but we’re not buying you a puppy for Christmas,” he replied, teasing her.
“Look who’s coming,” I mumbled, grinning.
James turned and looked over his shoulder, in time to see that Josh had broken away from their small group of friends and was headed toward us. “And as your father, I forbid you to have anything to do with my randy friend, Josh … the guy’s an animal,” he warned with a chuckle.
“May I have the pleasure of this dance?” he asked, as he made a beeline for Erin.
“You’ll have to ask my father,” Erin replied, chuckling as she fell straight into line with James’ mock warning.
“Okay, where is he at?” Josh asked, frowning and clearly three sheets to the wind drunk.
“Dad? What do you think?” Erin asked James. For a second, I saw James’ Adam’s apple rise and fall in his neck, and I knew her calling him Dad had been a direct hit on his heart. My chest tightened, leaving an ache there because no one deserved a role with that name more than he had.
Josh stared at James and his eyes widened before he frowned. “Aw come on, man, it’s a wedding.”
“Yeah and Tricia and I know better than anyone how carried away people get at weddings.”
“You can talk, look at the both of you. This all started with a wedding, did it not?”
“Exactly, Josh, and there’s no way on this Earth I am going to end up being your father-in-law.” Erin and I cracked up laughing as Erin rose to her feet. “It’s traditional for old men to dance with young pretty girls at weddings, Dad, but Josh you’ll have to remember my parents will be watching you.”
For a few seconds Josh stood in limbo, unsure whether he wanted to dance after that warning or not, but when Sawyer began singing “Call Me Senorita” by Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello, it appeared to make up his mind. Grabbing Erin’s hand, he tugged her sharply into his chest and spun her around. “This is the perfect ‘getting to know you’ dance.” James almost rose out of his chair, but I placed a hand on his forearm.
“That’s for Erin to work out, not for you. I’m not going to make the same mistakes as my mother, and our daughter …” I chuckled at the use of that term, “… is more than capable of dealing with a man like Josh on her own.”
“I meant what I said, I love him like a brother, but …” he said. I giggled like a schoolgirl because James’ face was a contortion of different emotions as he fought with the thought if Josh and Erin were ever to get together, he could be sure that James would give him hell.
“Right, I’m not staying in case this turns into a shitshow because I can’t get arrested on my wedding night
,” James began and pulled me up on my feet.
“We’re leaving, everyone,” he shouted over the music, waving his arm in the air and practically dragging me back into the tennis club.
“Wait,” Billie called out. “Tricia hasn’t thrown her bridal bouquet yet.” James cussed under his breath, glanced at me, and shook his head.
“Fine, but Erin isn’t allowed to take part,” he muttered under his breath. I chuckled at his dry wit as Billie came toward me with the flowers. All the single ladies stood behind me, a group that consisted of Flick, the bassist, Lorna, Erin, and the female children. James cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted, “Go Lorna!” to his sister.
I dug him in the ribs. “Go, Milly,” he called out again, as she was his oldest niece. Closing my eyes, I threw it over my shoulder, and immediately everyone cheered. When I turned around, I saw that Erin had indeed caught the flowers. I grinned when I saw James scowl.
Josh immediately called out to James, “Better get that checkbook dusted off, Dad. It looks like you’re gonna be paying for another wedding sooner than you think.”
James growled menacingly at Josh and shook his head, but snickered as he dipped his head. “Where the fuck is Ryder anyway?” he asked through a chuckle and slid his hand in mine. I loved that he pretended having Josh as a relative, had felt too much to bear.
“Don’t,” I warned. “That’s a discussion for another day,” I admonished. James frowned suddenly serious and raised a brow.
“Now you have to tell me,” he insisted. “Trouble in paradise?” he asked, the comment sounded flippant but when I saw the dark look in his eyes, I knew he felt the same way as I had about someone hurting Erin.
Resist Me (Unchained Attraction Book 4) Page 21
