Page 19 of Enchant Me

“You look happy,” I say, taking the drink, then tilting my head back to receive his kiss.

“I am,” he says, then shakes his head as if forestalling my next question. “None of that matters right now. Tonight is about family,” he adds, as he sits beside me. I draw a breath, lost in the pleasure of being close to my husband and surrounded by our family. And not just the people who share our blood. We’ve built something together, and it’s moments like this that such a simple fact overwhelms me. Because in the years before Damien, all I wanted was to escape my mother, the only family I had back then.

True, I had Jamie and Ollie, but pretty much no one else. We three made up a trifecta of tight friendship that had supported and nurtured me. But this…

Well, this life and family we’ve built is more than I ever hoped for or expected, and I’m feeling so sentimental tonight that I’m certain I’ll be a blubbery mess at our own ceremony next week.

“Daddy! Daddy!” Anne comes running up to us, and Damien bends forward so that he can scoop her up. “It’s the other Frank’s song! Dance with me, Daddy. Please, please?”

The song is Frank Sinatra’s Fly Me to the Moon, and it’s on the playlist that Evelyn and Frank picked out for the reception. “How could I say no?” He shoots me a grin. “Come on, Princess. Lead the way.”

I watch as they head to the dance floor where Lyle Tarpin, an Oscar-winning actor who Evelyn represents, is already swaying with his wife Laine in his arms. Their relationship had started off almost as crazy as ours after they’d found themselves pretending to be engaged after some provocative photos landed on social media. Like Damien and me, they’re now blissfully in love and very happily married.

We’ve known Lyle for years, and when Anne was young he used to play airplane with her, holding one arm and one leg and twirling her around and around. He’s one of her favorite people, and I’m not at all surprised when Damien and Lyle switch partners for the next song, and Lyle holds Anne’s hands as they sway to I Hope You Dance.

“She’s getting so big,” Jamie says, coming over to me with Bradley on her hip. “And I believe this one belongs to you.”

She passes him off to me, and I accept my sleepy hugs and kisses with pleasure. “I don’t know, Jamie,” I tease. “You and BB looked pretty cozy. And Ryan has that awed look.” I grin at her. “Danger, Will Robinson.”

“Don’t even joke about it. He’s been cuddling Mandy for the last twenty minutes, and I swear Wyatt and Kelsey are going to have to hit him over the head with a club to get their daughter back.” Mandy is six months old and she has her parents—and all the other adults in her life—wrapped around her tiny little fingers.

“He’s ready, James,” I say softly, then watch as she sighs.

“I know. He really is. And I love him so much, you know? I mean, there’s nothing I wouldn’t do for him. Hell,” she adds sardonically, “there’s nothing I haven’t done for him.”

I force myself not to laugh. I know a bit about Jamie and Ryan’s sex life, and she’s not exaggerating. “Is that the problem? You think things will become too tame?”

She opens her mouth, then closes it again, then shrugs. “Hell, Nicholas, I don’t know. Maybe? Or maybe it’s my career, you know? I’m finally starting to land decent roles.”

Finally is right. Jamie struggled for years to get on the screen, ending up as an entertainment reporter before finally getting her break into film and television. Now, her career is hopping, so it makes sense that she’s not ready to start a family. Except I know her well—and I know that she’s scared. What I don’t know is why.

“Jamie…”

“Nope. No deep talks today,” she says. “If we can’t talk about that video, then we can’t talk about my neuroses.” I roll my eyes. Jamie and Ryan had been the first to arrive, and I’d pulled her aside to tell her about the threat and the video. Then, after getting that off my chest, I told her that the topic was verboten for the day.

Now, she lifts her glass, her expression firm. “I’m drinking and celebrating and there will be no deep talks or speculation about babies or scary assholes, right?”

“Right,” I agree, amused.

“And you should be mingling anyway.”

I grimace, but agree. “You’ve hostess guilted me. Want to go make the rounds?”

“Only if we can go see Ollie first. I thought he’d bring a date, but he came totally alone.” Ollie’s dated sporadically since he broke up with his longtime girlfriend, Courtney, but he hasn’t gotten serious about anyone since things ended between them.

“I’m worried about him,” I admit.

“Me, too,” Jamie says. “I think he needs to get over you before he can move on.”

We’d been walking toward the taco stand by which Ollie is lingering, but now I stop cold. “He is. He has been for a long time.” For years, Ollie had a huge crush on me, and while I know that he will always love me as a friend, I truly believe that we’ve moved past that.

Jamie just shrugs. “Probably. Maybe. But I don’t know. I think he holds you up as the standard, you know? I mean, you’re perfect. What other woman can match perfect?”

“Hello? Have we met? I’m a hell of a long way from perfect.”

“Well, sure. I know that.” She flashes a mischievous grin. “Come on, Nik, he’s not that far off. You’re smart and you’re strong. And do not mention the cutting. You got past that, and one relapse doesn’t change anything. You know I’m right. You’d have to be strong to match a guy like Damien. And you do match him.”

My heart stutters in my chest, because she’s right. Damien and I match each other perfectly.