He looked like he was about to say more, but the doors opened. They headed to their room and hung up the clothes for the wedding.
“Do I look okay?” Sorcha had been dressed in a low-cut dress that clung to every remarkable curve. Carli was only wearing a denim skirt, light sweater, and leather knee high boots.
“You look good enough to eat and perfectly fine for hanging out in the bar with friends. I guess dinner is at eight, once the bride and groom finish with the rehearsal. The wedding party is small, so they invited the four of us guys who all lived together to join in for the meal tonight.”
Carli took a minute to fix her curls and brush her teeth. Blake insisted on testing them.
“Mmm. Yep, minty fresh,” he said, once he’d kissed her deeply. “Maybe we should stay here and skip the bar. I’ll have a much better time.”
Carli thought of all the teasing he’d get for that. Teasing she’d get, too, which made her uncomfortable with people she didn’t know. Especially if they were talking too fast.
“You came here to see these friends of yours. I’ve never met them before. I wasn’t sure if you actually had any.” She made sure her tone was joking.
“Okay, okay. Just give me a sign if you want to leave at any time.”
“Which sign?”Stupid. Loser. Jerk. Or take me to bed.
“You’ll have to teach me what those mean. I’m guessing by your expression I don’t want to say them in Deaf company.”
Carli giggled. “Probably not.” She checked that her batteries were still good to go, then held out her hand for Blake.
Once in the bar, a few more couples joined them. Everyone was talking and shouting, trying to outdo each other with stories. Following along was difficult when everyone spoke at the same time. The music in the background wasn’t helping.
Blake, God bless him, tried to make sure she was included and got the main gist of what was being said. Honestly, she didn’t think he managed to hear it all either. Nowhere, though, did he mention to anyone that she was deaf or wore cochlear implants. The thought wove its way through her mind. Was it because he didn’t think of her that way? Or because he was embarrassed to be seen using sign language or admitting his date wasn’t perfect?
It didn’t really matter. Seeing him like this was great. Not that he wasn’t always fun to be around, but here he seemed to let loose and forget he had crucial responsibilities. He drank a bit more than she’d ever seen him, yet he never got to the point of being out of control. And he was so attentive, asking if she needed another drink, keeping her close, taking her hand if they had to go anywhere.
Dinner was excellent, and it was easier to follow the conversation as people remained facing in the same direction for the most part. But John talked non-stop, food or no, and half of what he said she couldn’t comprehend. By the looks the other ladies were giving him, it wasn’t anything she wanted to hear, anyway. The man seemed to have a huge opinion of himself. Why his date had chosen to come was anyone’s guess. Yes, he was extremely good looking, but his manners were a bit raunchy. Maybe in college he’d been a riot to hang around with, but Blake was over thirty. Time to grow up.
Later, they went back to the bar, and Carli was stressing big time. The lights were dim, the noise level worse than before. Most of the time she spent nodding and smiling, hoping they weren’t asking her anything important.
But when Blake took her out on the dance floor, his arms held her to his body and he nibbled on her neck, his breath tickling her. All the anxiety drained away with the swaying of their hips.
The ceremony was short but inspiring. Blake had never really thought about the wedding itself, even though he knew he wanted to get married someday. Start a family. Thinking back to how he was raised, he wanted to do things different from his parents.
His parents loved them, there was no doubt, but they hadn’t always been involved in the day to day lives of their sons. If they won academic honors or some other award, you could bet his mom and dad would be right there to take the praise everyone lavished on them. But he wanted his kids to have fun and play sports without them worrying about being the best on the team. They should enjoy the game and not simply winning. Spending time with his children would be front and center in importance.
With Carli at his side, imagining his own wedding was easier. There had never been any girlfriend who had insinuated herself into his future dreams like she had. What would she want for a wedding? Large and lavish or small and intimate? He couldn’t really see her being a bridezilla like some he’d heard about from the country club crew. And why did he even have weddings on his mind? They hadn’t been seeing each other long enough yet to think about getting married. Harrison and Annie had dated for four years before they got engaged. They’d also been much younger. Did he have time to wait four years to propose to someone?
“Did you want coffee?” Carli asked. Blake looked up to find the waitress there with a coffee pot in her hand. His mind had been elsewhere.
Turning his cup over, he said, “Yes. Thank you.”
When she moved on to the rest of the table, Carli grinned at him, pulling on his black tie with the red hearts. “What were you thinking about there? You had a dreamy expression on your face.”
Could he tell her? No, he wasn’t ready for that yet. Marriage was a serious step.
“I was thinking about the cookies we stashed in the car.”
She laughed. “Thinking about eating them all without me?”
Feigning an innocent look, he said, “Of course not. I’ll always share my cookies with you.” Then, he winked.
Music struck up, and the bride and groom made their way to the dance floor. The look in Wade’s eyes as he gazed down at Tanya confirmed how much he cared for her. So nice to see.
When others were invited to join in with the happy couple, Blake put his hand out to Carli. “Dance with me.”
Her eyes sparkled. “Are you asking or telling?”
