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“I have a bad feeling about this.” She exhaled shakily. “Can you imagine what your mother would say?”
“I don’t care.” I grabbed her hand, and we headed in to dinner. We’d been gone long enough. I didn’t want my mother getting fidgety, or worse, curious. I didn’t like the way she’d been talking to Audrey at the church—I shouldn’t have flaunted our togetherness last night at the Gardner like I had. I needed to protect Audrey from my mother, to shield her.
Both my mother and her mother needed to back off and leave her alone.
Leave us alone.
Audrey hung back, stopping before we went in. “I don’t want you to get hurt, James. I don’t want to drag you and your family down. I think I should just go.” She pulled away from me, like she was going to run.
“No. Stop,” I said, holding her firmly. Panic rose inside me. “I’m the one who hired you. You can’t drag me down—we’re in this together.” I pulled her to me. “We’re going to handle your mother, and then we’re going to handle mine. And once we stop panicking, we might even be able to enjoy it. I don’t want to do this without you. Please don’t go. Don’t even say it again.”
Her eyes searched my face. “Don’t you want me to, though? Think about it.” I could tell she meant it. She thought she would be sparing me.
“Are you hearing anything I’m saying?” I felt myself getting angry, and I struggled to control it. I didn’t want to hurt her any more right now. Her mother had been bad enough. I would have Kai just take her back to the apartment to free her from the rest of the evening, but I was worried she’d be gone by the time I got back.
“No, I don’t want you to go. I want you with me. And I want this to be the end of the discussion. Can you do that for me? Can you put on your game face?”
We just looked at each other for a beat.
“Of course,” she said finally, relenting. She fake-smiled at me.
“Fake-smile more. Put your back into it,” I ordered. Her smile widened, and the actress was back. “You’re good. You’re really, really good.”
She gave out one last shaky sigh. “You’re not so bad yourself,” she said, making herself grin at me.
* * *
For better or for worse, Cole and Jenny were at the rehearsal dinner.
“Dre!” Jenny whooped, coming up and giving Audrey a jiggly hug. “This place is frickin’ amazing!”
Audrey smiled at her, but the smile was laced with worry. “It’s gorgeous. Just like you—you’re looking really good, Jenny.”
Jenny tossed her curls and modeled her gold-lamé dress. “Coley bought it for me.”
“Coley?” I asked, raising my eyebrows at my friend. “For real?”
He slapped me on the shoulder hard. “For real, bro. So shut up.” He dragged me to the long table where my entire family was seated, along with Evie’s family, all sorts of cousins, and friends. My father sat at the head of the table, resplendent in a suit, my ice pick of a mother at his side. I deposited Audrey with Cole and Jenny at one end of the table and went up to where Todd and Evie sat looking happy and excited. I grabbed a glass of champagne from a passing waiter, and I raised it.
“I’d like to make a toast,” I said. All eyes turned to me except for my mother, who was watching Audrey and Jenny with a thinly veiled look of distaste on her face. But Audrey was watching me, a smile on her face now that looked real. She nodded at me in encouragement.
For once, I wanted to do something nice. I was tired of all the ugly. There’d been too much underbelly today. I had to be positive… for once.
“My baby brother is all grown up,” I said and patted him on the shoulder. “And I’m happy to announce he’s marrying the woman that he loves. Evie, I know that you love my brother. I do. Seeing you two together for the past week has been inspiring. I expect good things for you in the future.” My mother had turned to me now, most likely surprised. She was probably waiting for the other shoe to drop.
“So I’d like to toast the happy couple. Cheers to your wedding tomorrow, and for a lifetime of happiness to follow.” Everyone cheered, and I leaned down to Todd. “I mean it,” I said and gripped his shoulder. “I’m happy for you.”
He gave me a surprised smile. “Stop,” he said sheepishly.
“Don’t make him cry,” Evie said teasingly. She beamed at Todd. “He’s so alpha tonight.” They started kissing, and I took that as my cue to leave quickly. I sat down next to Audrey and pulled her face into my hands. I gave her a long, lingering kiss, for the moment not caring about all the radar in the world.
