“I’m not looking for a man,” she says, avoiding a direct answer. “I came prepared for you tonight.” She reaches into a little bag she has beside the bed and produces NyQuil and melatonin. “It’s a magical combination.”
I allow her to drug me and then she says, “I’m going to my room, but I’m taking the remote. Your obsession with Fixer Upper is out of control.”
She’s not joking. She grabs her bag and the remote, walks to the door, turns out the light, and leaves. I sigh, check my alarm and lay my phone on my stomach, certain I will be surfing the web any minute to keep from going crazy in the dark. Still, I shut my eyes, and silly as it sounds, I start counting sheep.
***
Savage
I’m up at five AM with Adam, in his gym working out, running a good five miles on the treadmill before a hard lift. After, Adam makes coffee, egg whites, and bacon. I spend the time he’s cooking scouring through all the research Asher and Blake did on Kirk, Max, and anyone else connected to my past. It all seems to come together on the right side of things.
Adam refills my coffee cup. “Let it go. Me and Lucifer will be along for every second of the next ten days. And Lucifer is a wicked good hacker. He’s a good add-on to this trip. Trust me. Just go get married.” He pours a crapload of creamer in my coffee.
I grab the cup and take a sip. It’s good. And today will be good.
“I’m getting married,” I say. “She said yes.”
He grins. “Yes. She did.” He laughs. “I still remember when she saw you for the first time in years. You got into a bar fight next door to Linda’s floral shop.”
“Because she told me Candace was engaged to another man.”
“And then Candace showed up and you told her you wanted to kiss her. To which she slapped you. I should have known she still loved you right then.”
I grin. “That did kind of give it away, didn’t it?”
“When she still feels so much that she has to slap you, that’s the next best thing to a kiss,” he agrees. “Go shower, you stinky bastard. It’s time to go make this last forever.” He shuts the MacBook in front of me and I let him.
It’s time to make this all about me and Candace. And only all about me and Candace.
***
Candace
Suddenly, I’m blinking awake to the sound of my alarm and gasping to realize I fell asleep. And now, it’s my wedding day. It’s here. Today is the day I marry Rick Savage. I glance at my phone and it’s almost ten, which was the plan. I wanted to sleep late and look good today. But now it’s really today, the day. I sit up, and I’m so overwhelmed with emotions that I don’t know if I want to laugh or cry. There’s a knock on the door, and Linda pokes her head in. “I brought coffee.”
“You’re a goddess,” I say. “First you drug me and now you bring me coffee.”
She grins and crosses to join me, her blonde hair sticking up all over the place. Maybe she isn’t flirting with Smith. I sip from the cup. “You ah—let Smith see you like that?”
“He did,” she says. “And he laughed. And I don’t care that he’s a hot guy who saw me look like shit. I don’t want him to want me. I don’t want to want him.”
“I see,” I say, grinning and sipping my coffee. “But you do, don’t you?”
“No,” she snips. “No. No. No.” She glances at the clock and changes the subject. “It’s ten. The wedding is at two. You’ll have a light lunch catered in here at eleven, then we leave for the church, where the stylist will meet you. There will be a one o’clock snack to ensure you don’t fall on your face walking down the aisle. Do you want to shower before or after lunch?”
“After. And you have it all under control, don’t you?”
“What’s a maid of honor for if not to take care of the bride? Especially since you declined a bachelorette party. What do you need or want to do before the food arrives?”
“Where’s the remote?”
She reaches in her pocket and sets it on the bed. I grab it and turn on Fixer Upper. She rolls her eyes. “Are you serious?”
“It calms my nerves, and besides, Rick and I are going to buy a house in the Hamptons. I love seeing the inspiration for décor.”
“Oh, the Hamptons. Fancy, my queen.” She bows and laughs. “I’m going to get coffee and then I’ll watch with you.”
I smile and my cellphone buzzes with a message. I grab it from beside me where it’s fallen to find a message from Rick: Finally. Today.