Aggie supposed Eric was an attractive man. His personality was so large it completely overshadowed his physical attributes, so she tended to forget how good looking he was. When he kept his mouth shut. Which was pretty much never.
“And he’s so enthusiastic about everything,” Charity gushed. “As is his wife. What a pair. They have brought such energy to the castle since they arrived yesterday.”
Aggie was more likely to call said energy obnoxious, but she supposed Charity hadn’t been living with them in close quarters for months. Their type of energy exhausted Aggie quickly, but she’d never meet a couple more suited for each other. Except perhaps herself and Jace.
“The chapel, with the exception of the flowers, is set up for the ceremony. Those will be brought in tomorrow so they’re fresh,” Charity said.
“What kind of flowers did you get?” Mom asked, sitting up straighter in her chair.
“Black and red roses,” Aggie said.
Mom giggled like a schoolgirl. “Should have guessed.”
“I believe both the bridal party and the groom’s party have now arrived.” Charity consulted a list and added checkmarks to the top two names—Agatha Christine Martin and Jason Michael Seymour. She ran a finger down the side of the list slowly, as if calling up the faces, or characteristics, of each person. “You have some, er, interesting friends.”
Interesting? Aggie’s bridesmaids included one notorious porn star and Jace’s groomsmen were all rock stars. She supposed they would be interesting to some people. To Aggie and Jace, they were just friends.
“They’ll be well-behaved,” Jace said, looking uncertain.
Aggie rubbed his back. They would, but who cared if their entourage got a little rowdy? She liked them for who they were. And she knew none of them would go on a drug-induced rampage and destroy the castle or anything.
“I can’t believe you asked Starr Lancaster to be in your wedding party,” Mom said, craning her neck to read the list. “Isn’t she that porn star you used to hang out with?”
“Well, yeah, when she’s not stripping and not dominating her slaves,” Aggie said. “She’s a good friend of mine; I’ve known her for ages. Why wouldn’t I ask her?”
“Uh, does Jace know about her?” Mom asked.
Aggie bit her lip. She still hadn’t divulged how intimate her relationship with Starr had once been. Hadn’t thought it important. Or maybe she was afraid of Jace’s reaction.
Charity cleared her throat, the ruddiness in her cheeks increasing.
“Starr’s a sweetheart,” Jace said. “Not half as vicious as Aggie with a lash.”
Now it was Jace’s turn to go red in the face. “Uh, I mean…”
Aggie chuckled. She wondered if he’d feel awkward standing before everyone saying his vows with Starr in the wedding party. He hadn’t questioned a single person she’d asked to stand up with her, but he was very good at hiding his true feelings—except embarrassment. Aggie would have been able to tell if Jace was embarrassed by Starr. When they were choosing their supposed-to-have-been small wedding party, he had mentioned in passing that Eric would be his best man, hinting that Aggie ask Rebekah to be her maid of honor. Even though she’d only known Rebekah for a year, she’d had no qualms about asking her to head her bridal party. To prevent hurt feelings, Jace had then asked the rest of his band to be his groomsmen, which made Aggie feel obligated to ask their significant others to be her attendants. They were left with Dave—Rebekah’s brother and Sinners’ lead soundboard operator—who was easy enough to pair off with Aggie’s cousin Beth. Beth had been thrilled to walk with Dave as she hadn’t shut up about the guy since she’d met him at Sed’s wedding. Trey was walking with Aggie’s mom because his significant others, Ethan and Reagan, had been unable to attend. And then there was Dare Mills—who Jace idolized second only to Eric. As Dare was rather tightlipped about his romantic prospects, Aggie had asked Starr to walk with him. Starr hadn’t protested. More like swooned. And Starr really was her closest friend outside the Lady Sinners. She just hadn’t told Jace how close. What happened in the dungeon, stayed in the dungeon. And her sexual relationship with Starr had never left the dungeon. Not once.
Aggie glanced up when she realized Charity was explaining how the rehearsal would go. She should probably pay attention, so she didn’t make a fool of herself.
“So that about sums it up,” Charity said. “Are you ready for your practice run?”
Aggie cringed. She’d missed more than she’d assumed while daydreaming. As in, she’d missed all of it.
“Could you repeat that one more time?” Aggie asked.
“It’s easier to get instructions while you’re all in your places,” Charity said, standing and moving out from behind her desk. “Don’t worry. You’ll have it down by the time we’re through.”
The event planner followed Mom out of the office, saying how unusual it was for a mother to be a bridesmaid.
“Yeah, well, that’s my Aggie,” Mom said. “No one could ever accuse her of fitting a mold.”
Was that a hint of pride in her tone? Aggie was sure she’d imagined it.
“Distracted?” Jace asked as he climbed to his feet and offered her a hand up.
“A little,” she admitted.
“About?”
“Everything,” she said vaguely. She couldn’t very well say, One of my few long-term romantic relationships was with a woman. And she’s in our wedding party. And has seen you naked. Maybe asking Starr to be one of her bridesmaids had been a mistake. Aggie didn’t like to feel guilty, yet intentionally keeping secrets from Jace had that effect on her.
“Me too,” he admitted.
He held her hand as they followed several paces behind chatting Charity and wide-eyed Mom. At least, he held her hand until the members of his band, along with Dare Mills and Dave Blake, came out of the ballroom. As soon as the rowdy bunch of men spotted Jace, he dropped Aggie’s hand as if she’d suddenly contracted leprosy.
“You know,” she said, “you’re going to be saying some really mushy and embarrassing stuff to me in front of all these guys tomorrow. Are you sure you can handle it?”
Jace took her hand again and smiled crookedly. “Yep.”
The guys were in various states of annoyance over Eric’s rehearsal-dinner after-party.
“You don’t really expect us to wear those clothes do you?” Sed said in his deep baritone.
“You better wear them,” Eric said. “You were the most difficult person to fit. Do you know how rare it was for a human to reach your size centuries ago? You’d have been labeled a freak and had to join the circus as a giant.”
“You’re taller than I am,” Sed pointed out.
“By an inch,” Eric said. “It’s those extra-wide shoulders of yours.”
“That drive the ladies wild,” Sed said with a wink.
“I’d say it’s your ass that drives the ladies wild,” Mom said. And she was not hiding the fact that she was checking it out. With excessive appreciation.
Sed wrapped an arm around her shoulders and drew her up beside him so she couldn’t ogle what he had going on behind. “My wife gets very jealous when MILFs check out my ass,” he said.
Aggie chuckled when her mom tripped over her feet as the definition of MILF sank in.
The guys followed them outside—ribbing each other as if they were brothers—and over to the church. Aggie’s attendants were already congregated in the back of the building, surrounding the tomb of Queen Katherine.
“Did you know her third husband was Henry the Eighth and her fourth was Thomas Seymour?” Myrna asked anyone who would listen.
“So Aggie isn’t the only woman willing to marry a guy with the last name of Seymour,” Eric said.
“How did she die?” Rebekah asked and was immediately engulfed in her husband’s embrace.
“About a week after her and Thomas’s daughter was born, Katherine died of childbed fever,” Charity said.
“I bet Thomas was devast
ated,” Rebekah said.
Charity lifted a scandalized eyebrow. “So devastated that he turned to the ladies of the court to ease his broken heart. He was courting a princess within months of Katherine’s death.”
“I can understand that,” Sed said. “Nothing like copious sex with strangers to ease a broken heart.” His words earned him an elbow in the stomach from his enormously pregnant wife.
“He was an ambitious man. Incredibly charming,” Charity said. “And apparently attracted to powerful women.”
All eyes turned to Jace and Aggie. Aggie grinned. She knew for a fact that her man was attracted to powerful women.