The Wedding Wrecker, page 19
“And I think that’s why we’re still going to work. All I care about is that he stays open and honest with me, and I can understand why he was so scared to tell me the truth about this. Apparently, he’s been trying to find the right time to tell me for weeks."
"Are you sure you’re okay?"
"You know what's crazy?" She stopped pacing to face me. "I'm actually relieved. I knew something was wrong. He's been so stressed lately, always on his phone, having these intense conversations with his father..." She shrugged. "I was starting to wonder if he was having second thoughts about us."
"And now?"
"Now I know he was just scared. Scared I wouldn't want him if I knew his family wasn't what everyone thinks. Scared of disappointing his father." She smiled, and this time it reached her eyes. "But mostly scared of losing me."
"What did you tell him?"
"That he's an idiot," she laughed. "And that I don't care about his family's money. I care about him." She twisted her engagement ring. "I told him we'd figure it out together, but that he had to promise to always be honest with me from now on."
"And?"
"And he promised. He’s going to tell his father to stay out of my business decisions or he'd make sure the whole world knew exactly how broke they really are."
I blinked. "He’s going to say that to the Richard Wellington?”
"You should have seen him talking about it, Em. He was... magnificent." She grinned. "Also kind of hot."
"Gross." But I was smiling too. "So the wedding's still on?"
"Of course it is. If anything, I'm more sure now than ever." She hugged me tight. "I love him. The real him, not some perfect fantasy version. And he loves me enough to risk everything to be honest with me."
I held her close. As happy as I was for Lily and Marcus, I couldn’t help finding my own thoughts drifting to James—about how we both seemed to be holding our real truths locked away because we were too scared of where they might lead. Seeing how happy Lily was now that her and Marcus’ truth was out in the open made it hard not to wonder…
"I'm happy for you," I said, and meant it.
"Speaking of happiness..." Lily pulled back to study my face. "Where are you and James, exactly? It sounds like you’ve got the chemistry down. But what happens after the wedding? Do you two just go your separate ways?”
“I… don’t know,” I admitted.
She gripped my shoulders softly, expression lined with sympathy. “Em. I say this because I love you. You’re being a coward. You want to see where this thing goes with him. So see. Heartbreak is temporary. Regret is forever.”
I snorted. “I’m not sure either of those statements are objectively true.”
“Well, they’re true to me. So you had better take my advice to heart.”
“I’ll try,” I said, giving her another hug before we headed for the door.
I found James waiting in the hallway to the bathrooms, concern clear on his face. "Everything okay?"
I told him what happened—the parts about Lily and Marcus, at least—watching relief spread across his features.
"So… mission accomplished? Just like that?”
“Who knew people could fix their own mistakes?” I asked with a bratty grin.
“To be fair, our brilliant and subtle plan was what spurred this moment into existence. Sure, maybe Marcus was going to find a time to come clean before the wedding, but now we get credit. We did this,” he said, gesturing between us.
“You sound awfully concerned with taking credit. Are you sniffing out a new way to pivot your business if wedding wrecking doesn’t work out? The wedding fixer?”
He made a sour face. "Let’s just make sure this wedding goes well. I’m too invested now to see it fail.”
“That’s a plan I can agree with. Come on. We should get back before people notice we're missing."
He caught my hand as I turned to go. "Emma?"
"Hmm?"
“It… felt good to work with you on this. I’ve spent a long time looking for problems. So long, in fact, that I stopped asking myself if there was another way. I saw them all as fatal. But… it does feel nice to help a couple overcome an issue. So, sure, I’m not about to start calling myself the wedding fixer, but this was nice.”
My smile was wide, and for a moment, I wondered if maybe there really was a chance of things between us working out. “Yeah?”
“Yeah,” he said, eyes lifting to something over my shoulder. “Dick’s coming. Quick. Casual kiss.”
I didn’t question him as I let him cup my face and kiss me in a way that was anything but casual. After a few moments, I pulled away, then risked a glance over my shoulder. The hallway was empty.
I frowned up at him.
“Whoops,” he said. “Must’ve been seeing things.”
28
JAMES
The entire wedding party, even Emma’s elusive father, was scattered around the outdoor ice rink and strapping on either rental skates or fancy skates they’d brought themselves. The resort’s ice rink was set on the edge of a hill that overlooked a small, wintery town below with mountain views in every other direction. Snow gently drifted down on us as we got ready.
Emma was beside me, struggling with her skates.
“Here,” I said, kneeling in front of her to fix her laces. “Let me guess. You’re about as good at ice skating as you are on the slopes?”
Emma stuck her tongue out at me. “I’ll have you know I’m a perfectly capable ice skater. Probably. It has been… a few years.”
I raised an eyebrow. “How many, exactly?”
She thought for a few moments. “Fifteen?”
I sighed. “You’re going to be holding my hand until I’m confident you aren’t going to fall and hurt yourself.”
“Is that an order?” she asked.
I gave her laces a firm tug. “Yes. Now, come on. I want to see what we’re working with.”
She smiled up at me, but let me lead her across the rubber mats and onto the ice rink. Ahead of us, Marcus and Lilly were somehow skating and hugging at the same time. It was both nauseating and sweet.
To my satisfaction, Dick was skating like a cat with tape on his feet. He looked absolutely lost, and the idiot was trying to keep up with a blonde woman who appeared to want nothing to do with him.
Emma’s mom and dad were holding hands as they skated, which was kind of adorable.
I guided Emma onto the ice, watching as she took her time getting her ice legs back. After one or two laps around the rink, she wasn’t actually doing so bad.
“There you go,” I said.
“If I get too good at this, does it mean you’re going to stop holding my hand?”
“That’s the idea,” I said.
Emma, who had been looking perfectly proficient at that moment, suddenly stumbled and seemed unsure on her feet.
I gave her hand a tighter squeeze. “Suspicious.”
She looked up at me innocently, then nearly tripped again. “Whoops,” she said.
Just as the sun started to set and turn the sky orange, mood lights kicked on, illuminating the rink and the falling snow. Music kicked on and a DJ’s voice came over the speakers. “Alright, Wellington-Marshall wedding party! Let’s kick it up a few notches!”
“Was this your plan?” I asked Emma.
“Maybe,” she admitted. “But I wasn’t planning to be skating with a hot guy when this happened. I kind of imagined myself watching from the sidelines.”
“I’m glad you’re not,” I said, pulling her a little closer as we skated a lazy circle around the rink.
“Me too,” she said.
Upbeat music began to play, and I smiled as I took Emma’s hands and made a clumsy attempt at dancing that nearly sent us both crashing to the ice.
She laughed, letting me pull her close as the other couples on the ice enjoyed the music.
Eventually, the DJ put on some slow music, and Emma’s ankles were getting tired, so she was happy to stand near the center of the rink where we were out of everyone’s way. I took her hands in mine and held her close, wondering if it was just the snow falling through the darkening sky, the music, or something else that had me feeling so… different.
“What are you thinking about? You look like you’re somewhere far away,” she said, lifting her snow-dusted eyelashes to look up at me.
“I’m right here,” I said. “And I was thinking about how I’m tired of pretending.”
Her forehead creased. “We only have to keep up the act another two days to get to the wedding, James. I don’t want to cause drama and ruin this for Lily.”
“No,” I said. “I mean me. I’m tired of pretending I don’t want this thing between us to be real.”
She audibly gasped, breathing suddenly coming faster as her chest rose and fell against mine. “What do you mean?”
“That my feelings for you are real. Every bit of it. Fuck, Em. I spent the last three years kicking myself for screwing things up with you. Wondering. Wishing… And now you’re here. I’ll be damned if I let this thing end without coming clean this time. I want to be with you. I want to be around you. I want any bit of you that you’ll allow me to have. And that is the truth. If you don’t feel the same, it’s fine. But I wanted to—”
“I feel the same,” she said, eyes wide, almost as if she was terrified. “I feel all of that. And I’ve been terrified every time I thought about this thing ending. I didn’t want it to. I wanted it to go on—to see what we could be together.”
My heart clenched. "You should know I’m damaged goods. I have trust issues like you wouldn’t believe, and it won’t—"
She cut me off with a kiss.
The kiss was soft, sweet, almost hesitant. Like she was asking a question. I could feel flecks of cold snow on her lips melting instantly against my skin.
I answered by pulling her closer, deepening the kiss until she made that little sound in the back of her throat that drove me crazy.
When we finally broke apart, she rested her forehead against mine. "I'm sure."
"Even though I'm—"
"A wedding wrecker? Yeah." She smiled. "I’m willing to see if we can work through a few minor, totally nothing-burger obstacles.”
I brushed hair from her face, memorizing the way she looked in that moment. "You know, the wedding fixer actually doesn’t sound as bad as it did at first.”
“No?” she asked. “I could see a world where a wedding fixer and a wedding planner could form a… partnership.”
The way she said the word was more than a little loaded with meaning.
“I could get used to that idea,” I said, kissing her again.
“Gross,” Lily chided as she skated by, making us both look up from our kiss. Frankly, I’d forgotten we weren’t alone, but the scene came back into view around us—the snow, the mountains, the couples and people from the wedding party circling and casting glances our way.
But I didn’t care if they watched. Hell, I wanted them to see. For the first time since Katie betrayed my trust, I felt like I was part of something worth celebrating.
I might not know how long it was going to last, but I had Emma. For now, that was so much more than enough.
"You know,” I said, forehead pressed to hers. “You actually aren’t a half-bad skater.”
She rolled her eyes, but couldn't hide her smile. "Flattery won’t get you everywhere, Mr. Carter."
"I’m not worried about getting everywhere." I pulled her closer, nipping at her neck. "Just a few specific places on that gorgeous body of yours. Will flattery get me there, at least?"
"James..." She squirmed as I found that spot behind her ear that made her gasp. "We’re pushing P.D.A. to the limits.”
“Then let’s get the hell off this ice and back to our room.”
“People will—”
“Fuck them. I need you right now, Em. Right now.”
29
EMMA
Our kiss was hungry, desperate, like he had been holding back as long as I had. The papers James had gathered on Marcus and his family were still all over the bed, and they scattered to the floor as he laid me back. His weight pressed me into the mattress in a way that made me forget how to breathe.
"Are you sure?" he murmured against my throat. "We can stick to the rules if—"
"James?" I threaded my fingers into his hair, pulling his mouth back to mine. "I'm done with rules. I want you. All of you."
He groaned, the sound vibrating through me. "Say it again."
"I want you." I rolled my hips against his growing hardness, drawing another groan. "I've wanted you for three years."
"Fuck, Emma." His hands slid under my shirt, callused fingers leaving trails of fire on my skin. "You have no idea what you do to me."
"Then show me."
He sat back just enough to help me out of my shirt, then his own joined it on the floor. I couldn't help running my hands over his chest, tracing the hard planes of muscle I'd been dreaming about.
"Like what you see?" He caught one of my hands, pressing a kiss to my palm that was somehow both tender and erotic.
"You know I do." I arched as his mouth found that spot behind my ear again. "Though your ego hardly needs the boost."
In answer, he pulled me to him, one hand tangling in my hair as his mouth found mine.
I melted into him, papers crunching beneath us as he lowered me to the bed. His body was solid and warm against me.
"I've wanted you for so long," he breathed against my neck. "Since that first night in Ireland. Since every day after."
"Me too." I arched as his teeth grazed my pulse point. "I tried to tell myself it was just physical, but—"
"But it was never just that." His hands slid across my bare stomach, then unclasped my bra. He threw it to the ground with a satisfied smile, eyes lighting up as he studied my hardening nipples. "Was it?"
"No." I reached up again, fingertips slowly sliding down the ripples of his abs and tracing the hard lines between them. "It was always more."
“You’re so damn dangerous for me, Em.”
"Me?" I gasped as his teeth grazed my earlobe before he planted a warm, perfect kiss there. "You're the one who's dangerous."
"I can hardly hold back," He breathed between his teeth. His hands slid up my ribs, thumbs brushing the undersides of my breasts. "I've been thinking about this since that wine cellar in Ireland."
"Really?" Something warm bloomed in my chest at his admission.
He lifted his head to meet my eyes, his expression suddenly serious. "You have no idea how many times I've dreamed about you. About making you fall apart under my hands, my mouth..." He pushed his hips into me, making me gasp. "About being inside you."
"James..." I arched as his mouth found my breast, his tongue a warm jolt of ecstasy against my nipple. "Please..."
"Please what, beautiful?" He finished by kissing his way up from my breast to my neck, then lifted his eyes to meet mine. "Tell me what you want. Tell me exactly what you want, because all I want is to give it to you. Every. Fucking. Detail,” he said, punctuating each whispered word with a scorching kiss.
"You," I breathed, "just you. All of you."
His eyes darkened. "Say that again."
"I want you." I pulled him down for a kiss that was all heat and need. "I've always wanted you."
He groaned into my mouth, his hands everywhere at once. When he finally got us both naked and slid a condom on, I couldn't help staring. He was gorgeous—all hard muscle and smooth skin that I wanted to taste.
And for once, I didn’t hold back. I sat up, hooking my arms behind him as I kissed my way down his chest, scooting to my knees so I could reach everything.
His breath hitched as I moved lower. "Emma..."
"Hmm?"
"If you keep that up, this is going to be over embarrassingly fast."
I smiled against his skin. "Maybe I want to see you lose control."
He caught my chin, tilting my face up before I could take him in my mouth. "Later. Right now, I need to be inside you."
The raw honesty in his voice made me shiver. "Yes. Please, yes."
He took his time, touching and tasting until I was trembling beneath him. When he finally slid inside me, we both froze, overwhelmed by the sensation.
"Fuck," he breathed, "you feel incredible. So perfect..."
I wrapped my legs around him, pulling him deeper. "Move. Please, just—"
He sucked my lower lip between his as he began to move, setting a rhythm that had me seeing stars. Every thrust hit exactly right, drawing sounds from me I didn't know I could make.
"That's it," he murmured against my neck. "Let me hear you. Let me feel how much you want this."
"James..." I raked my nails down his back. "I'm close. I need..."
"I know what you need." His fingers found my clit, circling in perfect time as he continued to work his body against me. "Come for me, beautiful. Let me feel you."
I felt myself come apart around him, crying out his name as waves of pleasure crashed through me. He followed right after, burying his face in my neck with a groan that I felt in my bones.
For a long moment, we just lay there tangled together, trading soft kisses and softer touches. James brushed hair from my face, his expression tender.
"That was..."
"Yeah," he agreed, "it really was."
I traced patterns on his chest, feeling his heart thundering beneath my fingers. "We should have done that ages ago."
"Maybe not,” he said. “I think we had to earn that. Everything leading up to this… it made it that much sweeter. The wine cellar was enough to keep you at the front of my mind for years, sure. But this?" He kissed my temple. "This wasn't just sex, Emma. It wasn’t just chemistry or clicking with a beautiful stranger."
My heart skipped. "No? What was it to you?”
He pulled back to meet my eyes. "This was... everything. You're everything."
I blinked back the threat of tears. "When did you get so smooth?"
He laughed, pulling me closer. "Must be all that practice pretending to be your boyfriend."
