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Ashlee kicks at the water, her face set firm in a scowl.
I’m not sure why she’d have that reaction, but Brett only sighs and I hear him scratching at his stubble for a bit.
Wondering how Chloe’s gonna take the news there’s a stranger in her wedding party.
But I don’t care. I’m paying for it, but I mean what I say. Wherever I go, Ashlee goes from now on.
If I’m in the wedding, so is she. If I go to the mall, she’s coming with me. If she needs to go to the dentist or get new shoes, I’m there.
It’s how I roll and I’m not afraid to say so. Not to Brett or anyone else.
“Fine.” He sighs, repeating himself and sounding a little more cheerful. “I mean, that’s fine, Brandon. We’d be happy to have Ashlee as part of things. When can we meet her?”
I look over at her, knowing she can hear both sides of the call as well as I can, but she’s still looking unsure. Nervous even.
“If it can wait until later in the week? I’m gonna take a few days off here. Rest for once in thirty years.”
Brett sucks air in between his teeth. “This does sound serious, B,” he jokes, laughing quietly to himself.
“She must be a keeper,” he adds.
“Oh, she’s the one, Brett. You know how you just know?” I ask, making sure I’m looking Ashlee square in the eyes when I say that.
“Yeah, B. I know. I really do. I’m happy for ya man.”
“Soooo…? I can count on you to hold the fort for a few days?” I ask. I have to ask.
“You know you can. I was just… Before, when I...”
“I know you were, buddy. I know. And hey? I’m sorry I forgot. I really am,” I tell him.
“I know you are,” he says. Telling me to stop wasting time talking to him and go enjoy my new crush.
She’s way more than a crush, but I let Brett know I intend to do just that.
Hanging up and tossing the phone onto the pile of clothes behind me, I pull Ashlee by her ankles towards me.
Before she can say a word. Before she can start making the excuses I know she wants to, I let her know the one thing I want to do that neither of us has ever done in the bath before and thrust between her legs.
Chapter Twenty-One
Two Weeks Later…
Ashlee
“She’s right here, I’ll just grab her for you,” Brandon says cheerfully.
Living up to his word, he grabs my rear end while passing me the phone, making me stifle a squeal and priming me for what we’re doing for the next half hour or more once I’m off the phone.
His hands continue to move over me as I struggle to focus.
It’s Cynthia, from the bridal store I used to work at.
It’s only been two weeks, but after a few days at home with Brandon, it was clear to both of us I wasn’t going back to work or live at the bridal store.
Brandon made that clear to me anyway, telling me he’d only drive me back there if it was for the last time, and only to collect my things, which we did.
Cynthia and Mark were shocked when I told them over the phone, but they’re used to challenges.
It’s not like I was the backbone of their whole business or anything.
Not much anyway.
“I know I can’t tempt you to come back, but I do need a favor,” Cynthia sighs.
Once she met Brandon it all made sense, and she made me promise there and then to never look back once I left, except when she calls to ask me for custom dresses of course.
Since then, the phone’s been ringing. A lot.
And all the people who were umming and ahhing about a custom dress, they all seem to want one now.
Chloe, Brett’s wife was the first. And once I met everyone in the wedding party, and Brandon talked up my creations, showing them my website it was settled.
New dresses for the bridal party but the suits stayed the same, keeping Cynthia and Mark happy at least.
They also kept their original arrangements to organize catering and the venue, so they still came out way in front.
I finished the dresses in time for the big day.
I was a bridesmaid, but being so close to Brandon. Seeing his face and his eyes looking at me the whole time, especially when it came to the ‘I do’s’. Well. It all made sense why he wanted me to be a part of it all.
I also caught the bride’s bouquet, which has never happened and wasn’t set up for my benefit either.
Brandon made a big point of mentioning the event and hasn’t stopped bringing it up since, insisting we keep the now dried bouquet on the kitchen table.
With all the dressmaking and preparations for Brett and Chloe’s wedding, I’ve had to put off some of Cynthia's dresses by a week or two, as well as the mysterious Brenda, who doesn’t seem to mind at all.
