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“We’ve been talking about getting into events for how long?”
“At least a year, I know, but we were talking aboutsmallevents. Birthdays, maybe engagements. Not celebrity fucking weddings!” My voice cracked on the last word. Why did Nash have to be related to a social media darling, and one of the most successful influencers in the country? And why did she have to be marrying an actor who was on the brink of becoming the next Hemsworth? Why?
My shoulders slumped. I needed a drink.
Mack turned me so we were facing one another. “We’ve wanted to get into the event space, this is just a little nudge.”
“Ha! This is not a nudge. It is a two handed shove. Off a cliff.”
He took my face in his large hands. I ignored the way my cheeks fit perfectly in his warm, slightly scratchy palms. His eyes pinned mine, looking all the way into my soul. Or that was how it felt, anyway.
“Maureen,” he growled and a small thrill danced up my spine.What the hell was that?I hid my unsettling reaction because that was not the way to react to your best friend, whether they were holding your face or not. He continued, oblivious to my internal squirming. “We don’t need you right now. Tonight is going to be great. Take a hike.”
“Take a hike?” It sounded a tiny bit breathy.
He squashed my cheeks, pushing my lips into a delightful fish pout. “I just went where the mood took me.”
Evidently I was the only one having an emotionally confusing moment. “Are you enjoying yourself?”
“Yup.” He squashed my face a little more and grinned. “Now get your shit together, Linden, Jemma is looking for you.”
I swatted his hands off. “Me? Why?”
“She didn’t say, just some wedding related issue that only you could solve.”
Unlikely. I held his gaze, searching for the lie but couldn’t find it. Well, if Jemma was looking for me then I couldn’t hide in here forever, no matter how much I wanted to. I stood and Mack caught my hand, pulling my attention back to him.
“We’ve got this, Chase,you’vegot this.” There was something about the conviction in his voice, the fierce look in his eyes, that made me believe it.
I squared my shoulders and wound my hair up into a knot. “I’ve got this.”
“Atta girl. Now go get ‘em.” I slapped his offered hand, the crack filling the room.
I’ve got this.
We did it.We actually fucking did it.
This afternoon I would have been happy to hide under our desk until the entire thing was over, but right now I was elated, ecstatic, buzzing.
When Jemma had stormed into our bar, I’d thought she was mad for suggesting she’d be able to pull together a wedding in three weeks. Of course, she’d gone and proven me wrong. She and Nash had proven me wrong. I couldn’t quite wrap my head around the fact that it was actually done. That Dallas was now Mrs Prince. That we hosted our first event, our first wedding. We’d done it. And it was amazing. Mack was right, Maureen really was full of shit.
“What’s this?” Mack asked, nodding at the four glasses lined up along the bar. He looked ruined, eyes dark and tired, hair droopy, and there was a growing layer of scruff coating his jaw. I was sure I’d slam into that wall of exhaustion eventually as well, but right now I was too high on the night to feel it. If I got to sleep before dawn it would be a miracle.
I jumped up onto the bar, legs swinging. “A toast. Where are Nash and Jemma?” For two people who didn’t even know each other a month ago, I couldn't believe how well they worked together, like they shared brain cells or something.
“Having a moment out front,” he said with a wry smile that lightened his eyes a touch. “She’s good for him.”
“She is. Much better for him than Nadia.” I all but growled the name. Nadia had always been a long way from deserving Nash, and he’d been too blinded by his dick to see it. Not that it was an issue now, with Jemma lighting him up like I’d never seen.
“Be nice.” Mack leaned against the bar, his arm brushing my thigh.
“I don’t need to be nice, not anymore. Anyway, we’re not talking about Nadia, we’re toasting to our success.” I handed him one of the whiskeys, and held mine aloft. “We did it.”
“I told you we would.”
“Yes, yes… I think, deep down, I knew it too. I just needed a moment to freak out, that was all.” And I needed him to pull me out of it. My voice of reason.
“To us.”
