“I won’t,” Grace said, giving her back the hug Simone would have given her if she had been there.
“You didn’t have bridesmaids?” she questioned, leaning away and wiping her tears away.
“I didn’t want to replace Avril and Simone.”
She touched Grace’s bouquet. “You picked their favorite colors.”
“I wanted them to be a part of my wedding.”
“They would have liked your husband very much, I’m thinking. He is very handsome. Are you sure he isn’t Parisian?”
“Yes.” Grace smiled.
Ice, sensing the discussion had turned to him, pulled her closer to his side.
“I bet he is good in bed.”
Grace answered as she blushed. Then the women burst out laughing, although they hushed long enough for Grace to introduce Ice to Simone’s mother. After the introductions, she invited both of them to dinner before she left to return to Paris.
“We would like that very much,” Grace accepted. They hadn’t wanted to go on a long honeymoon, unwilling to leave the dogs. They were just going away for a three-day weekend.
“What were you two laughing at?” he asked suspiciously after Mrs. Deniau went to speak to her mother.
“She said she thought you might be Parisian. Then she said she bet you were good in bed.”
“What did you tell her?”
“I told her you are okay, but there’s always room for improvement,” Grace teased.
“Keep talking in French to all your relatives and friends, and I’ll work on it in the back room,” Ice threatened with a wicked grin.
Grace saw Max and CeCe dancing.
“They’re becoming an item,” Grace murmured.
“Baby, Max isn’t exactly the settling-down type,” he cautioned. “Maybe you should give her a heads-up.”
“You weren’t the settling-down type, either; now look at you.” She raised his hand with his wedding band.
“That was different,” Ice responded.
“How?” Grace questioned, motioning to her father as the music started for the father and daughter dance to begin.
“I fell in love with a woman who gives the world’s best blowjobs. Baby, I’ll tell you a secret: a man doesn’t give a prize like that away. Besides, you know how to cook. I was getting sick of eating out all the time,” he added as an afterthought, trying not to laugh at her expression.
“I’ll tell you a secret: a woman doesn’t let a man like you walk away easily, either.”
“Was it the size of my dick or the piercing?”
“It was when you asked my mom to forgive you and promised to always love me,” she said hastily, blinking back the tears in her eyes. “I’ll be right back, I promise. I have to go; Pere is waiting.”
“I’m going to hold you to that.”
“I always keep my promises,” Grace bragged.
Ice lifted her hand, kissing the finger he had placed her wedding band on. “That’s what I’m counting on.”