“No, thanks.” A quiet breath came out of my nostrils before I smiled. “Being able to keep a straight face in hilarious situations is part of my job description. We do need to do something about this, though. If you two keep fighting like this, it’ll ruin the wedding and I refuse to let it.”
I had to make sure that didn’t happen, and the easiest way to do it was to ally with Colt to try to outvote Reece—the age-old two against one. As Teddy’s brother, he was the one out of the two to be more likely to want her to be happy, and therefore the one I would align myself with.
Personal feelings about him aside, I had a nagging feeling in my gut about the way Reece was acting. I didn’t know the guy, and I didn’t doubt that he was close to his brother, considering how many times he’d been out here to visit, but something told me that this was all about the competition to him. A pissing contest or an appendage measuring one that didn’t have anything to do with wanting the best for Teddy’s big day.
I would make sure Colt didn’t go overboard, but it seemed safer to assume that he’d put his sister’s wants above his desire to have the bigger dick. Since Teddy was all I cared about, I pulled Colt aside. It was just the two of us left in the courtyard. All I had to do was make sure that we weren’t within eyesight of any of the windows.
“Okay, here’s the deal,” I said softly but urgently, standing so close as I looked up at him that I felt his heat radiating into my chest. Pushing that aside, I squared my shoulders and fixed my gaze on his intense dark one. “I’m willing to help you against Reece, but only if you behave and don’t ruin the wedding with your own crap.”
“It’s not my fault,” he complained, but even while he was whining, he was still so damn masculine and assertive about it. “I really don’t know what’s going on with him, but I’m not about to allow whatever shit he’s going through to fuck this up for me.”
“For you?” My hands went to my hips as I searched his eyes, looking for some measure of understanding. “This isn’t about you, Colt. It’s Scott and Teddy’s big day, not yours, or Reece’s, or anyone else’s. Just theirs. You need to remember that. All I care about is what they want. I’m going to do everything I can to make sure Teddy’s wedding day is perfect. If you can’t get onboard with that, we’re going to have a problem.”
“You and I have the same goal, then,” he said, his tone now soft and sincere with the same sentiment glittering at me from his eyes. “That’s what I plan to do. To make her day as perfect as it can be. So you have a deal.”
He held his hand out toward mine to shake, and I took it. As soon as my skin made contact with his, tingles raced through me. He must’ve felt it, too, because I saw something flashing in his eyes that made me shiver.
Old feelings came flooding back, and as soon as I realized it, I released his hand and took a step back. “Alright, then. We’ll talk, but I need to get back inside.”
Fleeing like a shy schoolgirl who’d just spilled her lunch all over her crush, I turned and just about ran from him, wondering again what the heck I’d gotten myself into. And more importantly, how the heck I was going to make it through without getting my heart broken again in the process.
5
COLT
“Ican’t believe Rockdale has a local winery now,” I said to Emma as we toured the reception venue the place had on offer. “More surprisingly, I can’t believe how perfect it would be for the wedding, as long as the wine is good.”
After the fiasco at the wedding shower yesterday, Teddy and I had sat down at home and talked about what she wanted. From what I was able to tell, what it came down to was that they wanted something simple and beautiful.
The winery was that to a tee. There were sprawling green lawns outside with the vineyard stretching as far as the eye could see beyond them. Right outside the reception venue, there were fire pits with plain casual outdoor seating around them for the drinks between the ceremony and the reception.
Next to that and leading back into the venue, there was a space on the lawn designated for outdoor ceremonies with a stunning arch built out of wood and stone, but it was almost completely overgrown with greenery.
Pillars were placed strategically around the area for draping and lights to be hung, and the place had chairs with intricately carved wooden backs available for rent. All they would need was a bow or some other detail that I’d leave up to the bridesmaids, and they’d be good to go.
The reception venue itself was little more than a large rectangle built out of pale brick with a polished concrete floor inside. All four of the walls were giant glass doors that could stack open all the way to make one feel like you were outside—weather permitting, of course. Overhead, the roof beams had been left exposed, and in the corner, there was a small bar. That was it.
The rest was left open for the couple to put their own stamp on it. It was almost exactly like the park, only not at all. With a little work, one would get the same casual, outdoorsy kind of feel, but it would be a lot more tasteful, and better yet, it had an actual roof in case the worst happened and a storm passed through on the day.
“It’s way better than the park,” I said. “Murphy’s Law says that if they stick to the park, we’ll have bucketloads of rain regardless of the season, or the wind will be so bad that we won’t be able to stand up without holding on to something.”
She rolled her eyes, but even she had to admit that it was nice. “You’ve got a point and the place is beautiful. I can certainly see us being able to stay true to their vision here, but you never know. The roof might leak like a sieve or they may not have enough power outlets available. You can’t just accept that it’s perfect based on nothing but your first impression.”
Amused, I glanced at her and got a little sidetracked by how good she looked in her jeans, a fitted navy blue T-shirt, and simple gold jewelry. Emma seemed to have a way to make any outfit look sexy as fuck while still appearing to be perfectly wholesome.
Maybe it was cliché or maybe it was because I remembered hownotwholesome she could be in the heat of passion, but all I wanted to do was pull her ponytail out so her blonde waves would spill down past her shoulders. I wanted to push my hands into her hair and kiss her until she was breathless.
When she lifted her eyebrows at me in an unspoken question, I realized that she was still waiting on me to respond. “I’m not basing it on my first impression. I’ve already thought about those things and I’m basing my opinion on knowledge and experience.”
Without even thinking about it, I slung my arm over her shoulders and turned her gently before I pointed up with my free hand. “This roof doesn’t leak. It’s sloped perfectly and it’s in great condition, as are the gutters outside. There’s no evidence that the ceiling or the beams between the ceiling boards have seen a drop of water since they’ve been installed.”
Gesturing toward the floor, I moved us a few inches to the left. “The concrete is so level that you wouldn’t even need to rent a dance floor if you didn’t want to, and I can guarantee that unless there’s a freak accident, no one is going to stumble over a bump that shouldn’t be there.”
“As for the power outlets,” I said, motioning at a few of those next. “There are more than enough of them and they’re placed everywhere you might need one. Trust me when I say this place was built well and it was designed with practicality and functionality in mind.”
“What about that door?” she said, pointing at one of them and giving me a sassy look. “If you fill this place with all the tables we’ll need, it’ll be in the way and it’d just be weird if you can’t walk through it.”
She continued with her awkward observations that were clearly wrong, and I corrected her until I saw the hint of laughter in her eyes. “You’re messing with me, aren’t you?”