“Thanks,” I choke out, glad to see Carrie is distracted, rummaging in her bag for something else.
Gray turns to me, his hand reaching out and folding the collar back, straightening it for me. He tucks my hair behind my ear, and his thumb brushes my cheek.
“Here, I thought these would look awesome in your hair.”
Carrie holds out a closed fist to me, and I reach out as a handful of small beads falls into my palm. There are dozens of tiny clips, each with a diamante, that sparkle beautifully in the light.
Before I can refuse and give them back, Gray has plucked them out of my palm and moved around to my back. One by one, he begins attaching them to my hair.
“Wow, I wish I had someone to do my hair for me,” Carrie says, smiling approvingly at her brother.
I don’t know what the hell to say and just stand mutely as he puts the rest of them in, smoothing his fingers through my hair at any given opportunity.
“There, now you look like a fairy princess,” he says teasingly as he finishes up.
“Go to hell, Gray,” I mutter irritably, and Carrie bursts out laughing, holding out her arm to me.
“Ready to go?” she asks.
I glance back at Gray, wondering if he’s going to kiss me goodbye. Then I promptly pull Carrie toward the elevator and away from him.
Since when does an escort get a kiss goodbye from a client?
The bachelorette is a lot better than I expected.
It’s more intimate than I had pictured, with only five other women there along with Lola and her sisters. Maddy, Carrie, and Erica spoil her with everything she could have asked for, including a cake, several bottles of champagne, and balloons.
The venue is beautiful, understated, and not what I had pictured at all.
The bachelorette parties of my friends usually involve strippers, too much vodka, vomiting, and regret. This one is neat, tidy, and sensible. I love it.
Carrie and Erica are hilarious and include me in all their conversations. I don’t feel left out, even though I don’t talk much, letting the bride-to-be have her moment.
But when the conversation moves around to Gray, I can’t help but prick up my ears.
“Is he going to be part of the wedding?” one of the other women asks Lola.
“He’s giving me away,” she says with a smile. “But he doesn’t want to.”
There is a chorus of concerned ‘oohs’, and I catch Carrie’s eye as she rolls hers dramatically.
“Why not?” the same woman asks. I think her name is Fiona.
“Because he’s a little bitfamous,” Lola mutters.“And he doesn’t want to distract from my day, apparently. But I havealready told him that if he doesn’t walk me down the aisle, I’ll disown him forever.”
“Has he been a nightmare about the budget?” Fiona asks.
Lola is in the midst of pouring herself another glass of champagne, and she pauses, giving a little quick shake of her head before she puts the bottle down.
She’s kind of drunk, her eyes becoming more unfocused.
“You know, he’s actually been awesome,” she says thickly, and Carrie rubs her shoulder gently as Lola sniffs, sitting back in her chair, her eyes glassy.
“Martin really struggled with the fact that Gray was paying for everything at first. Like, we actually had a fight about it right after we got engaged. He’s worked so hard all his life, but he doesn’t make a ton of money. I was stupid and told him all these grand plans I had for the wedding. I just didn’t consider that he would never be able to afford it. Then, when I realized, all I said was that we should roll back a bunch of stuff to make it cheaper. He got really upset and said he would make it happen, whatever it took. But I knew it would be really hard for him.”
She sniffs. “Anyway, one day he comes home, and he tells me that Gray’s invited him to lunch. I was like, great, maybe my big brother’s being a neanderthal, telling Martin to ‘look after me, or he’ll break his legs’ or whatever.”
There’s a ripple of laughter around the table. “But when Martin got home that night, he was really quiet, and I was thinking, oh shit, Gray actuallyhasthreatened him or something.” Lola starts to cry, and she has to pause for a moment before she can continue. “But then he told me that Gray said everything he had was Martin’s now. That the money didn’t matter, and it was a privilege that he wanted to join our family, and that Gray would pay for the wedding.”
