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Rita gave him a sympathetic glance. “Sorry, no. Only the wedding party. There are a bunch of people exploring. Just introduce yourself. Everyone here is our guest, and a lot of people don’t know each other —yet. By Sunday, we’ll all be besties.” She turned to Ariana. “See you in a few.”
“Wouldn’t miss it.” She closed the door. “I wish you could join me.”
He put his hands on her waist and kissed her neck. “We’ll be together at dinner, which shouldn’t be too long a wait at this point.”
“I hope she doesn’t plan on keeping the wedding party separate from everyone else the whole time.”
“That doesn’t sound practical. I’m sure we’ll have plenty of time together. But you’d better pick a dress, or you’re going to be late. I don’t want to find out if Rita is a bridezilla.”
She gave him a playful shove. “I’m sure she’s not. The woman hosts events for a living.”
Rita ran a local bar and grill, the most popular Mexican restaurant in town. In fact, that was how she and Grayson had met. He’d been a customer. One thing quickly led to another, and now they were getting married. They both found it poetic since Rita had originally opened the business when her now-imprisoned then-husband Boone was too busy for her, sometimes not even coming home to sleep.
Damon held up a peach tulle dress with a V-neck. “How about this one?”
“I was hoping to dance with you in that one.”
“Perfect. We’ll do that after dinner.” He wrapped his arms around her, dipped her then gave her a mind-melting kiss.
ChapterThree
Ariana was the last to arrive at the fountain. After she’d gotten dressed, Damon had accosted her with kisses and whispers of how he couldn’t wait to see her at dinner. She’d been tempted to skip the wedding party get together, but she couldn’t do that to Rita.
Maya and Olivia greeted her with warm hugs.
Grayson gave her his big smile that had made him a local TV star as an investigative journalist then he introduced her to his half of the wedding party. He put his hands on a guy who could almost be his twin. “This is Emerson, my older but not wiser brother.”
Emerson laughed, but his eyes didn’t seem amused, as he shook hands with Ariana.
Grayson rested a hand on the other two men, who also bore a resemblance to him but not as strongly as his brother. “These are my cousins, Javier and Mateo.”
She exchanged greetings with them, pausing at Javier. “You seem familiar.”
Rita leaned against him. “He works at the restaurant. That’s why Grayson started coming in. Hekeptcoming for me, though.” Her eyes sparkled.
Javier’s nose wrinkled. Was that annoyance in his expression?
“I’m sorry,” Ariana said. “How could I not recognize you? We’ve spoken so many times. I suppose it’s because of the long drive. I’m not fully here yet.”
“It’s fine,” he said. “Sometimes it’s hard to place people when they’re in different situations. Instead of me serving you, we’re in equal standing as members of the wedding party.”
Ari’s face flushed. “Right. I’m used to seeing you at the bar and grill, and now we’re in this super fancy hotel. Everything is different.”
Rita waved her arms. “Now that we’re all acquainted, let’s get to know each other over drinks. We’ll also go over the details of the wedding. The eight of us are going to be busy!”
Grayson threaded his fingers through Rita’s, then they led everyone else down a maze of hallways. Ariana wasn’t sure she’d be able to find her way back through the massive and overwhelming building.
Upon reaching a library that could’ve been for a movie set, everyone took seats at a tall mahogany table at least as old as the building itself. Ariana was almost afraid to touch it — it had to be worth a fortune.
The same man who’d helped her and Damon with their luggage arrived, setting wine flutes in front of each person before placing several bottles around the table. After placing a bottle of sparkling cider in front of Rita, he proceeded to open each bottle.
Guilt stung, and Ari looked around the table. “Maybe we should all drink cider. It isn’t fair that the bride can’t have any.”
Mateo glared at her from across the table.
Were both cousins going to be grumpy for the entire weekend? That would make for a miserable time.
“I don’t mind.” Rita flashed a wide grin. “I serve alcohol every day at work. It’s a wedding — people should celebrate!”
