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He was still plying them with orange juice and seconds while Seth and Buddy began cleaning the kitchen. Then the doorbell rang.
“Right on time.” Gloria hopped off her stool, then turned to Heavenly. “Come with me, honey, and meet everyone.”
She did, and a noisy minute later, they returned with an entourage of men and women toting portable tables and suitcases out to the pool.
“What the hell?” Beck frowned. Who were all these people?
“They’re Gloria’s beauty brigade, here to get the girls ready for the wedding. You know, massages, facials, manis, pedis, makeup, and hair,” Buddy explained. “When we get finished here, we’ll get our manis done.”
“Awesome.” Seth grinned. “I haven’t had one in months.”
Beck quirked a brow at the PI. “You have your nails done?”
“Don’t judge,” Seth flung back. “If you’re too much of a caveman to get a mani, that’s your issue.”
Beck scoffed. “I’d rather embrace my inner Neanderthal than have my nails polished.”
“You’re missing out.” Buddy snickered, then hurried out to the pool.
Seth nodded and followed. “I’m a Neanderthal, too. But unlike you, I’m an evolved one.”
Beck rolled his eyes as he trailed after the gang. “What color are you going to have them paint yours? Something to match your eyes?”
“Oh, ha ha.” Seth sent him a sardonic smile. “I’m thinking red, to match your blood dripping off my fingertips if you don’t stop busting my balls.”
“No need for violence.”
“For your information, I’m not getting them painted; I’m getting them buffed,” Seth bit out. “If you’d stop beating your chest long enough to give it a try, you might like it.”
“Maybe.” Beck grinned, clapping him on the back while watching Heavenly and Gloria emerge from the pool house wearing white, fluffy robes. “But I don’t want to start color-coding my socks and underwear like a pussy.”
“Fuck off.” Seth laughed, pulling the door open and stepping outside.
The afternoon flew by like clouds on the wind.
It was past four thirty when Buddy, dressed in a classic black designer tux, paced the living room, pausing periodically to peer toward the stairs. Beck and Seth, wearing matching black suits, sat grinning at the nervous groom.
Beck imagined himself in Buddy’s shoes. In fact, he couldn’t wait to be pacing and crawling out of his skin beside Seth, anxiously waiting to exchange lifelong vows with Heavenly. She would make an exquisitely beautiful bride. That was one fantasy that couldn’t come true fast enough for him.
He cast a sidelong glance over to Seth and sighed. Sure, they’d settled back into something like normal in the past few months, but he was beginning to feel as if they were stuck in place. Beck was beyond ready to start their future. Seth was firmly mired in the past. And Heavenly stood between them, soothing both beasts with her sweetness and honeyed touch. It would work for a while…until it didn’t. Until Beck couldn’t stand waiting anymore and Seth refused to budge. Then what?
“Oh, Heavenly. You look beautiful.” A smile lit Buddy’s face as he peered up the stairs.
In tandem, Beck and Seth stood and strode across the room, then stopped dead in their tracks. Beck nearly swallowed his tongue as Heavenly paused, flashed a shy smile, then turned to model her flirty but elegant pink dress. The top, clinging to her breasts, was a scoop-neck tease of swirling pink roses. Delicate straps crisscrossed the back as feminine flowing chiffon gathered at the waist and fell just above her knees.
Heavenly’s hair was swept high on top of her head, but instead of the messy bun she often sported at home, it was artfully arranged in a delicate pile of curls with tiny coiled tendrils slipping down to tease her neck. She took his breath away—and left him no doubt she was the one.
When would Seth admit it?
“You look…amazing, little girl,” he whispered.
“Like a gorgeous angel,” Seth seconded.
“Thank you. You three look incredibly handsome yourselves.” She smiled again as she descended the stairs, regarding Buddy. “Gloria said to sit tight. She’ll be down as soon as Giorgio finishes her makeup.”
The groom nodded. But instead of sitting, he started pacing again.
Beck and Seth met their girl at the bottom of the stairs and extended their hands. After placing a palm in each, she smiled as they meshed her between them. Though Beck ached to wreck her glossy pink lips, he forced himself to wait until after the wedding. As if struggling to keep from kissing her senseless, too, Seth glided his lips up her exposed neck. Beck joined in, reveling when she shuddered between them.
