AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I’m getting married today, Mia!” Sadie’s squeal pierced my ear as she climbed onto my side of the bed and hugged me. “I’m getting married today!”
“Yay!” I tried my best, then quickly covered my head with a pillow once she’d stepped into the bathroom. Excited for my sister to be so happy, I just needed another hour of sleep to show anyone any emotion other than grump.
It took three hours for their hired makeup team to cover us with paint and style our hair. I barely recognized either of us in the mirror once they finished. Sadie squeezed my right hand as she stood next to me, bracing herself against the doorframe in front of us.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, turning to see her eyes close and stained red lips purse. She vigorously shook her head until she could open her eyes again.
“Morning sickness,” she grumbled.
Sadie flew into the bathroom and I followed, doing what I could to protect her dress and styled hair while she hovered over the toilet. Seeing her that vulnerable, throwing up and hours from her wedding, I felt like less of a grump and reminded myself my role in that moment was to be her sister. I did what I could and prayed it was enough once we left the hotel.
Amelia was trying to soothe our mom when Sadie and I arrived for the ceremony. Wads of tissue scattered around their feet, and I could tell from the doorway that Amelia reached the saintly limit of her patience with our mom. I tried to intervene once I cleared a path for the staff hired to dote on Sadie and her bridal party rushed in behind us.
“Mom,” I leaned forward, placing my hand on Amelia’s shoulder, “what’s wrong?”
Her brown eyes darted up to meet mine, outlined with expensive mascara that was, thankfully, waterproof. “What’s wrong?”
“Don’t,” Amelia muttered to me, turning her head toward my hand. She tried hiding her stifled chuckle, but her exaggerated cough barely concealed it.
Amelia walked away from us, heading toward Sadie and a tray of champagne. Our mom cried on Benji’s wedding day, but this was something else. Afraid of wrinkling my dress if I sat, I pulled it over my thighs while kneeling in the pile of tissue.
“You need to save your crying for later, like when Sadie’s not around,” I urged. Her lip rolled up into a sneer, offended that I tried protecting my sister on her wedding day. Holding my ground would need a lot of champagne, which was one thing Matthew’s family didn’t waste money on. “Look, mom. Be annoyed and blame this on me. Whatever,” I groaned. “But you have to think of Sadie and not be such a mess right now.”
“My baby is getting married,” she cried, pulling more tissue from the box. Internal eye-roll.
“You’ve known this, and she’s having a baby, and you’ll see her a few times a year,” I reminded her. “So we can deal with these emotions during all the times she isn’t around.”
Letting her snap at me a few more times about how she’d miss Sadie, I gave up and joined Amelia at the champagne tray where she filled me in on everything my mom sobbed about on their way to the ceremony.
“Mia?” One of the staff members tapped my bare shoulder, eyeing me with indifference once I turned around. “The best man would like a word with you before the ceremony.”
We hadn’t seen each other since the rehearsal dinner and, with butterflies swirling in my stomach, I think I understood how Sadie felt about seeing Matthew soon.
Blinking myself back to reality, as difficult as it was to shake the thoughts of how close Rhys held me while dancing last night, or our stolen kiss near the coatroom, I stepped through the pile of mom’s tissues and opened the door just enough to squeeze through.
I had both feet in the hall when I felt a tug on my hip. Closing my eyes as the door latched behind me, I pressed my hand over the fabric to feel for the reason Sadie would kill me.
“What’s wrong?” Rhys quietly spoke near me, but I wasn’t ready to open my eyes.
“This is all your fault,” I scolded him. “I could be in there drinking champagne and managing Sadie’s morning sickness while my mom belittles me. But now, because you wanted to have a word, my dress is torn and not only will Sadie never forgive me, but your mom will probably cut me out of any family photo.”
His hands were warm on my shoulders, the light tickle of his thumbs grazing my skin just below my collarbone. “My mom wouldn’t destroy pictures I took,” he teased. Finally opening my eyes, his grin made me feel better. “There,” he cooed. “You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever met.”
I let my gaze take him in, from the smile lines softly radiating around his eyes to the subtle twitch in his jaw as he tried to keep his smile under control. The crisp white shirt and black tie were begging to be torn off, but then Sadie would kill us both.
“Can you fix me?” I whimpered, taking my hand from the torn lace at my hip.
Rhys placed his hands on my hips and turned me slowly, squatting to study the tear a little too closely. “Yes,” he murmured, glancing around the busy hallway, “but not out here.”
Rising above me once more, Rhys placed his hand at the small of my back and guided us away from the room where I’d abandoned Amelia.
“Everyone’s outside,” he stated, opening a door. The powerful aroma of whiskey, champagne, and cologne hit us as we entered. I curled toward Rhys’s chest, breathing him in to stop the dizziness of their dressing room from catching up with me. His arms wrapped around me while we walked further into the room, Rhys opening the balcony door with me pressed against him.
“They had their fun,” he chuckled, “but they’re getting ready for photographs outside and that’s why I wanted to talk to you before the ceremony. I was hoping you might let me practice a few shots on you first. You know, make sure the lighting is right and I’m using the correct flash.”
Pulling my head from his chest, I eyed him curiously. “You’re a professional photographer who knows which lighting is right and which flash will work. You’re also a professional liar, aren’t you?”
Rhys feigned insult, his beautiful mouth wide. “I can’t believe you’d accuse me of being a liar. Let me make it up to you.”
