“Yes,” I gave Todd and Ken a smug smile. “They are, actually.”
“Kinda like when we were kids?” Sophia reminded me.
“Exactly like that,” I grinned, and another message beeped on my phone. Don’t tell Sophia! was the message from Todd.
“I was telling Damon how you used to protect me from them,” Sophia smiled at me. “I always wanted to come along with you on your adventures. It was always you that included me and threatened to box their ears if Ken and Todd were mean to me.”
“Carla threatened those giants?” Damon looked over to where Ken and Todd were standing watching us.
“They weren’t that big back then,” I smiled.
“They were quite little string beans, actually.” Sophia laughed. “On that note, I’m going to let you two talk.” She pushed her chair back in one graceful movement. “It was nice finally getting to know you a bit, Damon.” She turned to me. “I’ll go sort out my husband and brother.” She gave me a wink.
“Wow,” I sighed. “Who knew awkward tubby little Sophia would turn out to look like that.”
“And with a heart of gold to go with it,” Damon sighed as he watched her walk away. “Todd is one lucky man.”
“He is.” I looked at Damon. “Todd told me the two of you had a talk and worked things out.”
“Yeah,” Damon poured some wine for me. “We did. We played football together on the same team throughout college. We were friends, and then we weren’t.” He gave me a tight smile. “Did you manage to sort out things in the kitchen?”
“Mm,” I took a long swallow of my drink, “about that…” I told Damon about the video and by the end of the story, we were laughing about our cake heist. We’d thought we’d been so careful and gotten away with our crime only to have been caught on camera.
CHAPTER 24
Damon
When Carla had walked down the aisle in her bridesmaid’s dress, I nearly did a double take. She looked gorgeous in her soft pink dress with her hair pulled back and a small pink flower placed as a band over the crown of her head. When I’d pulled her close to me on the dance floor, her perfume had tickled my senses and punched me in the gut with need.
I had to stop denying it. I was incredibly attracted to Carla and probably had been since high school. She was beautiful, intelligent, competitive, and would fight to the death for those she loved, or she thought had been wronged. There were no other women quite like her.
I’d felt so empty when the handcuffs had been taken off us and then again when she’d left me at the edge of the dance floor. My heart had sped up when I saw her walking toward the table to join me and Sophia. Don’t get me wrong, Sophia was gorgeous, but it was Carla’s company that I was looking forward to.
“I heard rumors that when Hayley and Drew left, the party games were coming out,” I looked at her and smiled. “I think everyone here is looking for a rematch.” I raised an eyebrow. “What do you say, partner?” I took a sip of my wine. “Feel like getting the bestmaid team back together?”
“Of course,” Carla took a long swallow of her wine. “I’m in.” We chinked our wine glasses together.
After that, the evening seemed to drag by until Hayley and Drew were ready to leave, and we got to chuck rice at them. They stopped by myself and Carla to thank us for everything.
Carla and I wandered back to the marquee. She went to make sure everything was sorted out and ready for when they closed up. I sat and sipped on a whiskey as I watched her organize everything with Garry, the concierge. She finally emerged nearly an hour later with a deep sigh and sat next to me at the big empty main table.
“Drink?” I asked her and poured a whiskey into the glass.
“Thank you.” Carla smiled at me and took a swallow of the amber liquid. “It feels so good to sit down and relax.” She moved her neck around.
I had to stop myself from reaching out and massaging her neck for her.
“Well, relax now and let’s have some fun.” I stood up and held out my hand. “Would you have this dance with me?”
“Oh, what the hell,” Carla grinned and took my hand. “The wedding is basically over now so I’m no longer responsible for injuring guests on the dancefloor.”
“That’s the spirit,” I told her and pulled her into my arms the minute our feet touched the dance floor.
“I hate to admit this,” Carla looked up at me as said, “but you are not only an excellent dancer but a very patient teacher.”
“Why, thank you.” I gave her a little nod and swallowed hard to try to keep control over my rebellious body as she nestled her head against my chest.