“If we live to be in our mideighties, I’ll get you a new one.”
She smiled. “We’re definitely living until our mideighties. Put it on me?” She turned around and lifted her fair hair from her bare shoulders.
“Do you remember the first time I helped you with a necklace?” he asked as he connected the ends and secured the fastener.
“How could I forget?”
“Your skin will always be the best thing I’ve ever felt.”
She turned, lifting her arms and wrapping them around his neck. “Will you still love me when I’m wrinkled and gray? When my skin’s no longer smooth?”
“You’ll always be the most beautiful womanin the world to me. Years won’t change that.” He leaned down and kissed her gently on the mouth. “Come on, let’s go enjoy our night.”
The cocktail portion of their rehearsal dinner had started in the bar. Later, they would move to a closed-off room where a long table had been set for dinner.
He wrapped his arm around Lisa’s shoulders as they entered the dim room. Dark wood and exposed beams paired with crystal chandeliers gave the bar a rustic elegance. Perfect for them. He was rough around the edges, and she sparkled like a thousand diamonds.
“It’s so pretty,” she said.
“Yes, you are.”
She nudged him in the rib cage with her elbow and lifted her chin to give him a flirtatious smile. “You say the sweetest things, Rafael Soto. Would you like to get married?”
“Sounds good. What’re you doing tomorrow?”
It appeared everyone had arrived other than Stone and Pepper. David, Jackson, and Maggie were deep in conversation at one of the bistro tables. From the serious looks on their faces, he guessed David was sharing the details of his parents’ morning announcement.
The Perrys were on opposite sides of the bar. Mr. Perry was perched on a barstool talking to Ria. Mrs. Perry was in the far corner with Nico and Trey.
“Do you see Mama?” he asked Lisa.
Just then, Mama appeared from behind a giant man.
“There, with Uncle Dominic,” Lisa said.
“Uncle Dominic? Why is he here?” He wasn’t in the wedding party. And he was standing way too close to Mama. She was gazing up at him with adoring eyes and laughing like a teenage girl. Whatwasthat expression on her face? He’d never seen it before now. His stomach dropped. She was looking at him like a woman in love. The way Lisa looked at him. The way Pepper looked at Stone. No. No, no, no. Not his mama.
He straightened his tie. This bar was way too warm. “And why is he touching Mama?”
Lisa wrapped her fingers around his wrist, almost like a warning. “I don’t know. Maybe my dad brought him for moral support?”
Mama laughed again and patted Dominic’s chest with the tips of her fingers.
“What the hell?” Rafael asked.
“Or he’s Mama’s date.” Lisa’s words were drawn out, as though she couldn’t believe what she was seeing.
That made two of them.
He swallowed as Stone and Pepper sidled up behind them. The ladies hugged and exclaimed over each other’s dresses. They did look beautiful. His soon-to-be bride was as angelic as ever in a blush-pink dress made of material that seemed to flow like water. Her hair was down and arranged in perfect, shiny waves down her bare back.
Pepper clung to Stone’s arm, looking feminine in a winter-white dress that hung just right on her slender frame.
“Is Lisa’s uncle hitting on Mama Soto?” Pepper asked.
Stone looked momentarily guilty. “I didn’t want to say anything, but I saw them all snuggled together on the couch when I came back from skiing. They were drinking wine.”
“Mama doesn’t drink wine,” Rafael said.
