“Jakobi doesn’t fuck around. When he sees something he wants, he goes for it.”
“That’s not helping me balance the worry with the happiness.”
With a laugh, he said, “I’ve known Jakobi a long time and Ines is only the second or third woman I’ve ever seen him pursue. He doesn’t go all in for nothing. He likes her. He made some noise about marrying her the night we moved you two in here.”
I bolted up from the mattress. I remembered then that I wasn’t wearing any pajamas. “And you’re just telling me this now?”
His gaze dropped to my bare breasts. He stroked the back of his finger over my nipple until it perked up. “Do you not remember that night? I was a little preoccupied. Coming in my pants at thirty thousand feet does that to me.”
I watched as he went to his knees, his shaft long and thick between his legs. “That’s the last time you can use that excuse.”
“Until you make me come in my pants again,” he replied, shoving the blankets and sheets away.
I followed the stretch of his muscles and the way his ink twisted as he reached into the drawer. I still needed to figure out those tattoos. There had to be more to the story. But then he popped open a bottle of lube and drizzled it over his cock and between my legs. The cool liquid met my flesh and I gasped out, “Just promise you’ll tell me if he’s going to propose.”
Ryan pulled me beneath him and settled between my thighs. “I’ll do my best. Now, enough about them. Let me put you in a good mood.”
I grewup in a lot of different places. Chicago, Miami, Vegas, and then the New Hampshire seacoast—but there were also a bunch of other cities in between those spots. Indianapolis after my parents divorced. Jacksonville after the Feds seized Gary’s assets. Los Angeles before Mom ended up with Dell.
I kept parts of all those places with me, though I’d never kept friends. Even if I’d wanted to stay in touch, there’d been no time for that. All we could worry about was getting Mom situated with someone new.
While I knew deep in my bones that Grace was a friend for life, there was still a wobbly part of me that walked into the bridal boutique with a thread of worry tying itself into a knot in my belly. It didn’t make any sense, but it was there just the same.
Grace glanced up from a rack of gowns when the door jingled behind me. “Hey,” she said, a tentative note in her voice. “How are you?”
I joined her at the rack and pulled out a dress. It wasn’t my style—or anyone’s in this century—but I studied it carefully. “I shouldn’t mix beer and martinis, but otherwise all right. What about you? How late did you guys stay out?”
Her sigh was impatient. She wanted to get to the point. “Everyone left not long after you did.”
“Hello there.” At my side, I found a cheery-faced saleswoman dressed all in black. She had that in common with Grace. “I’m Mackenzie. What can I help you find today?”
“Oh, no, I don’t need anything. I’m here for my friend’s final fitting,” I said. “We’re just waiting for a few more people to join us.”
Mackenzie’s smile brightened. She dropped a glance to my ring. “I hope this isn’t supremely awkward, but I’m a huge fan of your fiancé’s and if there’s anything I can do?—”
“Wow,” Grace huffed. “Bold strategy.”
“—it would be my complete honor.” Mackenzie went on beaming. “If you want to try on some gowns after your friend’s fitting, I can start pulling a few. I’m obsessed with your style and I think we have looks that you’d love.”
“Thank you so much,” I said, hazarding a glance at Grace only to find she’d stalked off to the other side of the store. “But I’m here for my friend today.”
“If you change your mind,” Mackenzie said as I set out after Grace, “I’ll be here!”
I caught up to Grace near the flower girl dresses. “Sorry about that. I didn’t think anyone would recognize?—”
“Can you stop being sorry for a minute? I don’t need any more apologies. I need you to tell me what the hell happened last night and why I had to find out about it from Ryan.”
“Miss Kilmeade?” came another sunny voice. Everyone was so damn happy here. “We’re ready for you.”
“Fuck,” she grumbled under her breath. With another impatient sigh, she linked her elbow with mine. “Come on.”
“I should wait out here for everyone else,” I offered as we crossed to the boutique’s alterations department. This was a small place, a freestanding building in a strip mall that looked suspiciously like an old Pizza Hut or Papa Gino’s location.
“Audrey and Jamie can handle some unstructured time,” she snapped. “And Shay’s already texted me to say she’s going to be half an hour late. Some goats went loose or something farm-ish like that.”
We followed the seamstress to a large dressing room, but instead of changing out of her clothes and into the satin robe provided, Grace told her we’d need a few minutes.
She pulled the curtain shut and crossed her arms. “Why didn’t you tell me?” she asked. “Why didn’t you tell meanything?”
