“I sell generators, Dad. My job is not sexually friendly. Most of my clients are doomsday survivalists, and let’s just say their daughters don’t shower as often as they probablyshould.”
“But on the plus side,” Jake added, “you might survive theapocalypse.”
“Yes, this is true, but the question is… would Iwantto?”
“I give up,” Dad said, throwing his hands up in defeat before turning to my mother. “We can’t even get him a basement dweller, Linda. I think we can both agree that this one’s a lost cause. Let’s focus our hopes and dreams on CaseyandJake.”
“I’m with you,” Momagreed.
Miles madeit with a minute to spare. He stepped into the room munching on a bag of peanutM&Ms.
“You were paroled.” Luke brightened up. “Goodforyou.”
“Only after taking Riley to the lobby and making him apologize for what he’d done. The kid was bawling. Hopefully he’s learned a valuablelesson.”
“I should say the same for his daddy,” Momreprimanded.
“I already got reamed by Darcy,” Miles grumbled. “I don’t need yourinput.”
“I see you’re eating the stolencontraband.”
Miles smiled sheepishly before throwing a few more chocolates in his mouth. “Someone has to. Darcy wouldn’t let him touch the candy after what he did. It would send the wrongmessage.”
“Oh, right. Right.” Momnodded.
“Anyway, I have to be back by midnight, so let’s get this party started. I just got the text from Keith. It’s in the recreation roomdownstairs.”
Jake reluctantly unraveled his body from mine and stood up. He hadn’t wanted a bachelor party – insisted against one, even – but, after lengthy negotiations with Keith, he’d relented. In exchange for his cooperation, Jake had been promised a low-key affair. It wasn’t that he was opposed to having a good time with the guys, but when you’re a world famous musician trying to pull off a secret wedding, getting photographed stuffing dollar bills into a G-string is probably not the best way to stay under theradar.
Even though Jake had taken a hands-off approach to the wedding preparation, there was one thing he had asked for – and that was a private, laidback ceremony, away from the prying eyes of a curious world. But keeping our wedding a secret proved well beyond my skill set, so in addition to hiring Boris, Jake had assembled a team of players to coordinate the entire production, complete with a security detail that rivaled the SecretService.
Once they took over the specifics, my job had basically become picking out color swatches… and lying. Oh, so much lying. See, for security and privacy reasons, no one could know where the wedding would be taking place. Our guests were simply given a ‘save-the-date’ and nothing more. The actual venue would be revealed the day before the ceremony, and travel arrangements would be prearranged for those coming from outoftown.
My friends, my extended family, and even curious onlookers on the street pestered me endlessly for wedding details, but every word out of my mouth was a bald-faced lie. I had us marrying all over the west coast, had grossly overestimated the size of the venue, and had greatly embellished our guest list to include not only celebrities of the A-list variety but also kings and queens… of smaller countries, of course. The point was to throw everyone off our tail, especially the press, whom my lies always seemed to trickle down to. No one, and I mean no one, would predict our wedding would take place in a quaint little church in Arizona with seating for no more than one hundred and fifty of our nearest anddearest.
Jake lived his life in the spotlight, and as his significant other, so now did I. And although I’d come to accept that for the rest of my life, I’d share my man with millions of others, this ceremony – our wedding – was ours alone. We’d both agreed we wanted to take it back to where it all began because, well, Jake and I were sentimental that way. The place that had brought us together would also be the one to wed us in holymatrimony.
“Dave, last chance,” Jake said, addressing my father. “Bachelor party with the guys or mud mask with the wife? What’llitbe?”
“Neither… it’s earplugs and a pillow for me. But here’s a dollar. Please stuff it somewhere for metonight.”
“Not happening.” Jake grinned, giving it right back. “My hands will remain firmly onmylap.”
“Um, I’m thinking all our hands will be on our laps,” Luke said, winking. “To avoid, you know,embarrassment.”
“Keith wouldn’t dare hire entertainment. He knowsbetter.”
“Does he, though?” Luke’s voice went up an octave. “I don’t know your brother very well, but he strikes me as a slowlearner.”
Jake laughed, and then reached for my hands and pulled me tomyfeet.
“Give us a second,” he said to my brothers, before leading me out into the hallway and shuttingthedoor.
Still holding my hands, Jake quirked his lips into a mischievous grin and took a few steps back, guiding me along with a spicy swivel of his hips. My body moved in unison, matching him step for step in a suggestive little salsa. The flirtatious flickering of his eyes effortlessly reeled me in and kept me dangling helplessly on his line. What was he up to? This seductive show he was putting on would lead us nowhere, and we bothknewit.
“What are you doing?” I asked, the slightest quivering of my lips the only giveaway of how his animal magnetism was getting to me in the most sensualofways.
Jake jerked me forward, enveloping my body in his arms as his hands gripped my buttocks, and his heated breath prickled the skin of my sensitive neck. “Wishing,” hemurmured.
