She did a little turn, her cheeks blushing and then stroked her hands down the fabric as if she was smoothing it out. There were no wrinkles in the fabric.
“Damn,” Jessie said under her breath, and I wanted to shove her out of the room so I was the only one who could look at Lea.
Right now, at this moment, I wanted to take her and shove her out the window and into the car waiting out front. I didn’t want to share her with anyone.
I’d never felt ownership over another person in my life. This was…all-consuming.
“Is it okay? You haven’t said anything,” Her hands plucked at the fabric.
“It’s perfect,” I said. “You look perfect.”
Our eyes met and I could tell she was pleased by my attention on her.
“You think?” she asked, preening a little. Let her.
“Yes. You’re…you look better than a slice of blueberry cheesecake.” I knew that would make her laugh, and it did.
“Shit, what time is it?” I asked when I heard a commotion outside the door.
“We’ve got fifteen minutes,” Jessie said, checking her phone. “Anything else you need?”
I needed her to leave, that was what I needed.
“We’re good, thank you,” I said, my tone a little colder toward her than it had been earlier.
“It was good to see you,” she said, and I gave her a reluctant hug, careful not smudge my makeup or mess with my hair.
“And it was a pleasure meeting you, Lea,” Jessie said.
Lea clasped her hands behind her back in a clear signal that she wasn’t giving Jessie anything.
“Nice to meet you too. Thank you so much.” Jessie paused to see if there was more, but then she started packing her stuff up.
I approached Lea. “We should go take our seats.”
Now I was the nervous one.
I reached for the doorknob with a trembling hand. Lea put her hand on top of mine.
“Hey,” she said, her voice low. “We don’t have to do this. We can leave. Raccoon, remember?”
Right. This was my idea in the first place.
“Raccoon,” I said, looking over at her and finding her face only a heartbeat away.
Under the hairspray and the makeup, I could just detect her natural scent and her perfume. She must have brought some with her.
“Come on, V. Let’s go fuck up a wedding.” Her grin gave me enough courage to turn the doorknob and walk out of the room.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Lea
The building was filledwith people, and I saw more than a few that I recognized. Years had passed, though, so I wasn’t sure if they’d recognize me. Fingers crossed I could get though most of this without having to make too much small talk.
Vail vibrated with tension beside me and I wanted to take her hand, but I didn’t know if that was part of the plan yet. For all the time we’d spent together, we hadn’t really talked about how exactly this day was going to go. What we’d say to people. If physical touch was part of the deal.
Why hadn’t we talked logistics? I’d been so wrapped up in thinking about kissing her, I hadn’t considered the actual wedding.
