The Wedding Date, page 7
• • •
Lauren ran up to her room to retrieve her lipstick, so Alexa killed some time texting Maddie an update from inside one of the bathroom stalls. All of a sudden, her ears perked up at a conversation by the sinks.
“I thought Drew was the one to break up with Molly?”
“He was. He totally destroyed her when he did it, too.” That was Amy. “But I bet he was pissed when Josh and Molly started dating.” She laughed. “When he gets rid of that date of his, I have an idea for a place he can find someone who looks a lot like Molly.”
The conversation faded as they left the bathroom. Drew had told her Molly had broken up with him, hadn’t he? Had he lied to her, or was she remembering things wrong?
Thirty seconds later while looking in the mirror she got another hit to the psyche. One glance down at her clutch to take out her lipstick, and when she looked back up, she was flanked by thin blond women.
All three of them were in cocktail dresses shorter and tighter than anything she’d dare to wear because of her thighs and hips and butt. Their perky little breasts were obviously unencumbered by bras, and their long, thin legs looked even longer and thinner because of their sky-high heels. And there she was in between them, in the dress that her friends would say made her look “voluptuous,” which was just another word for “fat.”
She couldn’t believe Maddie had convinced her not to wear Spanx. She’d felt great in that dress just a few hours ago when she left Drew’s hotel room, but was that just beer and flattering lighting? Maddie had never steered her wrong before, but then Maddie was her friend and loved her. Maddie would give her tough love about many things in life, but she would never say something bad about her body. That was the problem with good friends: they were too damn supportive sometimes.
And she’d spent the night falling deeper and deeper in lust with Drew, with those damn tingles every time he touched her, and the whole time he was probably looking at all of those other women, wishing he was with one of them.
She needed to shake this off to get through the rest of this night. Pep-talk-in-the-hallway time.
Okay, Alexa Elizabeth Monroe, she said in her head, none of this matters, remember? You’re just here because you told Olivia and Maddie about it before you realized you should back out. You’re wearing a great dress, you’re drinking some free alcohol and eating good food, and you’re going to leave in—
She started when she felt a hand on her shoulder mid–mental pep talk. Not Drew’s. How was it that she already knew his touch? She shook off that question and turned to find Lauren behind her.
“There you are! Dan texted me that he and Drew are over at the bar. Let’s go find them.”
They found them at the bar, all right. Drew, Dan . . . and Amy. Alexa sighed. Maybe she needed another pep talk. Amy’s little dig about being too skinny for a dress like Alexa’s had already been ringing in her ears, and now she was standing there with her hands all over Drew.
The cotton candy pink did look ridiculous on her, at least.
• • •
“Hey!” Drew said as Alexa and Lauren approached. He felt like he’d been scanning the room for her for an hour. “You guys found us.” He stepped away from Amy and put his arm around Alexa’s waist.
“Now are you guys coming?” Amy asked.
Alexa turned and looked up at him with a question in her eyes. Before he could answer it, Amy grabbed his hand.
“They’re going to cut the cake, remember?” she said. Yeah, he remembered. Amy had been bugging him about it for the past five minutes. Why he had to stand around and watch two people put a fake cut into a huge cake, he’d never understand.
Plus, he’d rather stand over here in the corner with his arm around Alexa’s waist.
“In a second, Amy. We’ll meet you over there.”
Amy huffed and walked away. He turned his full attention back to Alexa. But instead of looking back up at him like he wanted her to do, she stared after Amy with a weird look on her face.
“Come on,” she said. “They’re cutting the cake. Let’s go watch.”
He reached for her hand as they walked across the ballroom and was glad when she took it. Was she upset about the allergy thing? She’d barely even glanced at him when she came back from the bathroom.
As they stood in the crowd surrounding Josh and Molly, she gripped his hand and stared fixedly ahead with that big smile from before planted firmly on her face.
“Are we cool?” he said in her ear. She jumped. Something occurred to him. “Is something wrong? Did Bill say anything to you?”
She turned to him with her eyebrows raised.
“Bill? No, why?”
He looked into her eyes, but she seemed to be genuinely confused. Okay, Bill hadn’t gotten to her, and it seemed like no one had told her what Bill had said.
“Nothing, don’t worry about it,” he said. “It wasn’t a big deal.”
Her eyes didn’t move from his face. Fine, he wouldn’t have believed himself, either.
“I’ll tell you later,” he said, wondering if that would work.
It didn’t.
Her laughter had no mirth in it. The crowd around them oohed and aahed at the stupid cake. She put her finger on his chin and tilted his head down to be level with her own.
“It was either something gross about my body or something racist. Which one?” she asked.
Around them, people toasted to Josh and Molly. Alexa let go of him and raised her glass. He lifted his by rote and drank.
“The latter,” he said, after a few long moments.
She took another sip of her drink.
“He seemed like that kind of guy,” she said.
Molly came up to them before he had a chance to apologize for Bill.
“Drew, Alexa, hi! Alexa, I didn’t get a chance to say earlier, you look so beautiful tonight!” Molly was red-cheeked and beaming, not quite drunk but definitely tipsy. Drew knew the signs.
“Oh, Molly, thank you so much, but you look stunning! That dress is incredible and this wedding has been so lovely. Thank you so much for welcoming me,” Alexa said, squeezing Molly’s hand. No one would have been able to tell from the look on her face that they’d just been having a kind of tense conversation.
“You are so kind. I’m so delighted that Drew has found you!” Molly said.
So was he, he realized.
“So am I,” he said, and slid his arm around Alexa’s waist. She relaxed against him, and he sighed in relief.
“Oh, you two are so adorable!” Molly said. Okay, maybe she was more on the drunk side of the spectrum. “Anyway, I wanted to let Alexa know that I’m about to throw my bouquet!”
A look of horror flashed over Alexa’s face before she covered it with that now-familiar big, bright smile. Big, bright, fake smile.
“Oh!” Alexa said to Molly. “Okay, great!”
Molly hugged both of them again and fluttered to the middle of the dance floor, collecting bridesmaids and female wedding guests as she went.
“I guess I should go over there.” Alexa drained her champagne glass and handed it to him but made no move toward the dance floor.
“You don’t have to sound quite so excited about it.” He pushed her in Molly’s direction. She rolled her eyes at him but walked over and joined the gaggle of women in cocktail dresses. Lauren caught her arm and said something that caused Alexa to double over in laughter. He wanted to know what had made her laugh like that and how he could duplicate it. Not only to see that glimpse of her boobs in that red bra . . . but partly to see that.
As soon as the bouquet left Molly’s hand, Alexa and Lauren took slow, steady steps backward. After a scuffle, one of the bridesmaids triumphantly raised the bouquet, but his eyes were on Alexa, by that time at the far end of the dance floor. He saw Alexa and Lauren turn to each other with identical fake pouts on their faces. This time he was the one who doubled over laughing.
Dan nudged him.
“Should we be insulted?” Dan gestured in the direction of Lauren and Alexa, clapping and pouting as the bridesmaid waved the bouquet.
Drew laughed again.
“Nah, I think we should be feeling pretty smug that we’re dating the smartest women in the room,” Drew told him. Alexa and Lauren had formed a circle with a few other women, all dancing to “Single Ladies” with their hands in the air. “Shall we join them?”
• • •
Alexa danced with Lauren, letting the movement and the laughter shake away her annoying thoughts. When she felt a hand on her waist, she turned to see Drew behind her and laughed again, at how ridiculous the evening had been and how much fun she was suddenly having. He took hold of one of her hands and swung her around to face him and laughed back down at her. Other members of the wedding party joined their group and danced with and around them, but song after song came on, and he never moved from her side.
“Water?” he said in her ear after they’d been on the dance floor for a long time.
“Yes, please.” She walked with him over to the bar.
She glanced up at the ornate clock over the bar, surprised at how late it had gotten. And how much she didn’t want this night to end. Damn it, it had been fun to be Drew’s fake girlfriend, but she knew that once the clock struck midnight, so to speak, the fairy tale would be all over.
He leaned against the bar, his jacket off, his bow tie untied, a little sweaty and disheveled from dancing. Good Lord, this guy was hot.
He rolled up his sleeves, exposing his tan forearms. She wanted to run her fingers up and down them and feel how warm and strong they were.
She needed to stop letting her imagination run away with her.
“Um,” she said. “It’s getting late, and if I want to make the last BART train back to the East Bay, I should probably leave pretty soon.”
Why had she said that? Why, when she was standing next to a hot guy, basically panting over him? If she was Maddie, hell, if she was Amy, she would have grabbed one of those hot forearms and wrapped it around her body, letting him know what she wanted without having to say anything. Sadly, she was Alexa, so she would flee instead.
He put his water bottle down and looked at her.
“Okay.”
“Okay,” she said. Olivia and Maddie would get mad at her for not throwing herself at him, but they didn’t understand that she just didn’t know how. Plus, rejection from this guy was the last thing her self-esteem needed. Talk about the opposite of getting back on the horse; that would make her avoid horses, and stables, and all farm animals for another few years. So to speak.
He stepped closer to her and put his hand on her waist. Her hand landed on his arm, and without even meaning to, she ran her fingers up and down. Oh God, touching him like this was as good as she’d thought it would be.
“Or”—he looked straight down into her eyes—“you could stay.”
A question was in his eyes, and a smile hovered over his lips. His thumb drew slow circles on her hip and then moved up her side to her ribs. His other hand moved up to her face and traced the outline of her lips with his fingers.
She shivered.
He waited.
“Or,” she said, “I could stay.”
He pulled her against him and kissed her. Their lips clung together softly at first, then with more urgency. He tasted like bourbon and chocolate cake and everything she’d ever craved. She sighed against his lips and murmured his name, and she could feel his smile. Her hands moved into his hair, that hair that she’d been wanting to touch all night, and he kissed her harder. His hand cupped her cheek, and the gentle touch on her skin as she felt the heat of his mouth had her nerve endings on fire.
It seemed like they were all alone in that crowded ballroom. The people and the noise swirled around them as his lips touched hers, his tongue slid inside her mouth, his body pressed up against hers.
They pulled apart for a moment, and he smiled down at her.
“I’ve been wanting to do that all night,” he said, his golden brown eyes staring straight into hers. He kissed her cheek, her ear, her collarbone. His tongue traced her lips before he claimed her mouth again. She moved her hand in between them so she could touch his chest, wishing there was no fabric under her fingers but just his skin.
Her touch seemed to alight something in Drew. He moved his hands to her back and tugged her against his body. His hands felt like iron against her back, and his rough touch sent a thrill up and down her spine. She bit his lip in retaliation for the bruises she’d have the next day. He laughed and sucked her lip into his mouth.
“Sorry for interrupting,” Amy said, sounding not at all sorry.
They pulled away from each other, both breathing hard.
“What is it, Amy?” Drew didn’t look away from Alexa. He looked at her like he wanted to throw her over his shoulder, take her into a dark closet, and screw her senseless. Maybe that was just what she wanted him to do.
“Molly and Josh are about to leave. You’re needed for the pictures.”
He finally looked in Amy’s direction. Alexa tried to step out of the way, but he grabbed her hand, not letting her go.
“Great, we’ll be there in a second,” he said. Amy stood there looking from Drew to Alexa for a few seconds before she sighed and stomped away.
Drew turned back to her.
“How about instead of going to take more pictures, we go upstairs right now?”
Was this really going to happen?
She squeezed his hand and let go.
“Go take the pictures. Patience is a virtue,” she said. “Stand still.” She reached up and rubbed her thumb against his lips and cheek. “We can’t have you in the wedding pictures with my lipstick all over you. Okay, now you’re ready.”
7
He grabbed his tux jacket from the chair where he’d abandoned it and walked with her, hand in hand, over to the wedding party. Drew tried to keep Alexa with him, but she pushed him toward the rest of the groomsmen and faded into the background.
He tried to take this last set of pictures, to look excited and surprised to see Josh and Molly waving at the crowd, but his eyes kept straying in Alexa’s direction. Her hair was disheveled, her lipstick had mostly rubbed off, and she looked so incredible that he wanted to push her against the wall and pull that dress off her shoulders.
Amy came up behind him.
“Can you just, for the next few minutes, pretend that you ever cared about my sister and take a few damn pictures without staring over at what’s-her-face over there?”
He sighed. As much as he hated to agree with her, Amy had a point.
“Yeah, okay, fine.” He took a deep breath and turned back to the photographer. Without looking at Amy, he said, “I did care about your sister, you know.”
She snorted.
“You had an interesting way of showing it.” She moved closer to him and waved as Josh and Molly left the room. He started to walk away, but the photographer spun in their direction and told them to do “something spontaneous.” Amy put her arm around his waist and kissed his cheek. He grinned for the camera and hoped it didn’t look too much like he was gritting his teeth. He jumped when he felt Amy’s hand on his ass.
“I put my room key in your pocket,” Amy whispered in his ear. “In case you want to escape that date of yours and compare sisters later. I can promise I’ll beat out Molly. I’ve always been the wild one.”
That was a new development. He and Alexa had joked about Amy either wanting to kill him or fuck him, but he hadn’t really believed it. Apparently, she wanted to do both?
Now he was even more grateful that Alexa was there. Because he knew himself, and he knew that if he hadn’t met Alexa in that elevator, at this point in the wedding he would be just drunk and impulsive enough to make yet another bad decision.
He stepped away from her, and her hand fell.
“No, thanks, Amy. You have a great night.” He backed away from her and the rest of the wedding party, and turned to find Alexa.
She was sitting on one of the couches in the corner with Lauren and Dan . . . and Bill. That big, fake smile was back, and her legs were crossed tightly.
“You’re in my seat,” he said to Bill with a shooing motion. When Bill didn’t get up, he wanted to punch him in the face, but Dan caught his eye. Instead, he reached out a hand for Alexa. She took it and stood up.
“I think it’s time for us to call it a night, don’t you?” he said. He pulled her close, maybe a little closer than necessary. Dan and Lauren stood up, too, and all four of them walked out of the ballroom without another word to Bill.
“Did he bother you?” he said to Alexa as soon as they were out of earshot.
She shook her head. “He was probably about to, but I had a drink in my hand, and I was not afraid to use it.”
They’d been speaking quietly, but Lauren turned around at that.
“That guy is an ASSHOLE.”
Dan waited for them to catch up, then whispered to Drew, “Did you tell her what he said?” But his “whisper” was more like a shout. Dan had never been a quiet drunk.
“No, but she figured it out,” Alexa said.
“He tried to talk to me in Japanese!” Lauren said. “I’m Korean. Come on.”
As they waited for the elevator, Drew stood behind Alexa and wrapped his arms around her. She leaned back against him and set one of her hands against his. Every time she touched him seemed like a secret message reminding him of their kiss and what was to come.
When an elevator finally came, they stood against the back wall, his arms still around her. Her hair tickled his chin when he bent down to whisper in her ear.
“I think this is our elevator.”
He kissed her softly when she turned her head toward him.
“I think so, too.” She smiled. “I hope we don’t get stuck again, no offense to Dan and Lauren.”
