Chapter 19

Saturday morning, Scott was woken by an insistent knocking on his door. He grumbled as he rolled out of bed, wondering who would be bothering him so early. When he cracked the door open, he found Jean was standing on the other side carrying her bags.

"Mornin' roomie!" she chirped as she pushed her way past him.

"Huh?" Scott asked as his sleepy brain tried to process what was going on.

Jean dropped her luggage by the closet with a thump. "There's been a mix-up. Some cousins showed up who weren't going to come, so we're short a room. I volunteered mine," she explained with an impish look.

"And your mom was ok with you staying with me?" he asked, unable to keep the skepticism out of his voice. Not that he wasn't thrilled that he and Jean would be sharing a room, he just didn't want to incur the wrath of Elaine Grey.

Jean shrugged and smiled. "She wasn't overly thrilled, I don't think, but she was relieved to have the problem solved. That said, I've got to go – make-up and hair and other horrible girly stuff to be done with the rest of the bridal party. I have no idea when I'll be back, but you've got plenty of time – we need to be ready to go in just under four hours, ok?" She gave him a quick peck on the lips before scooting past him again.

Scott could do nothing more than watch Hurricane Jean blow out of his room.

"Oh, and Scott?" she called, poking her head back in before she could close the door.

"Yeah?"

"Happy Valentine's Day," she said with a dazzling smile. "I love you."

"Love you too," he told her with a bemused grin.

Jean stepped into the resort's beauty salon and entered into chaos. She'd never seen anything like it: hair being fussed with by stylists, make-up being caked on, and she could hear nothing but the inane tittering of the girls about how gorgeous Sara would look. She shook her head in disgust. How can Sara be friends with these girls? They're brain-dead socialites.

"Jean, there you are!" Elaine greeted her. "We were wondering where you'd gotten to. Come, you're next in line for hair."

"I had to get my bags out of my room so that Susan and Richard could get settled in – but you knew that," Jean reminded gently as her mother ushered her across the room and into a chair.

"Goodness, look at all that gorgeous red hair!" a woman – the hairstylist, Jean presumed – gushed as she flounced over to where Jean was sitting. "Oh, I know just what to do with you!"

Jean shuddered imperceptibly and resigned herself to her fate.

"Ok, so they didn't do as much damage as I expected," Jean admitted as Scott let her back into his room later that morning.

"You look great," Scott confirmed, smiling appreciatively. She was wearing more makeup than he was used to seeing on her, but it was done tastefully. Her hair was down, as he liked it best, and was hanging in a mass of loose ringlets down her back.

Jean rolled her eyes. "I wouldn't go that far." She grabbed her garment bag out of the closet and headed for the washroom. "The best is yet to come," she told him dryly.

Scott waited patiently for her to emerge, laughing silently at the muttered curses coming from the bathroom.

"You have to promise not to laugh," she called from behind the closed door.

"I promise."

The door opened a crack, and Jean peered out. "Do you really promise?"

"Yes, Jean, I really promise," he agreed, grinning at her.

Taking a deep breath, Jean opened the door and stepped into the room. Scott's jaw just about hit the floor, and laughing was the furthest thing from his mind.

She was simply stunning. The dress was deep red satin, sleeveless and tight through the body with a full skirt that brushed the ground. It was very low cut, revealing an impressive amount of cleavage.

Jean squirmed under his intense gaze. "I told you it was awful."

"'Awful' is probably the last word I would use," Scott admitted when he finally found his voice. "Jean, my god, I've never seen you look so incredible."

Skeptical, Jean cocked an eyebrow at him and placed her hands on her hips. "You've got to be kidding."

Scott just shook his head. "You're beautiful."

"The dress is almost obscene, Scott! I feel naked from the waist up!" she exclaimed, motioning angrily at her chest.

He approached her slowly, and took her in his arms. "Jean, please believe me when I say you look amazing. You have absolutely nothing to be self-conscious about."

The look on Jean's face told him that she wanted to believe him, but couldn't quite. She smiled softly, though, and kissed him. "Thank you," Jean whispered. "Just consider the dress your Valentine's Day gift."

"I'd rather consider the dress the wrapping, and you as my gift," he quipped with a lopsided grin.

The comment had the desired effect, and Jean started laughing.

*****

Even Jean had to admit that the ceremony was lovely, and the bride and groom seemed deliriously happy. After a painful afternoon of posing for endless photos with the wedding party, Jean was able to escape and spend some time with Scott.

"Mademoiselle Satine, you look lovely! Will the Duke be joining you tonight, or will you be retiring to the elephant with Christian?" Kyle asked with a grin as he and Darcy came up to where Jean and Scott were sitting in the banquet hall.

"Bite me, gay boy," Jean told him with a sweet smile as Scott laughed.

"Christ, you're dead on, Kyle – that's exactly who she looks like in that outfit," Darcy grinned.

"Et tu, Darcy?" Jean glared at the other girl with accusing eyes.

"Voulez-vous coucher avec moi," Kyle sang, and Darcy joined in.

"You're a dead man," Jean growled, leaping out of her chair and lunging at her cousin. Kyle hooted with laughter and ran away. Jean paused long enough to kick off her high-heeled shoes before giving chase.

"Jean! Kyle! Stop this instant!" Elaine Grey shrieked as they ran past her and out of the room. "This is neither the time, nor the place for such behavior!" They paid her no heed.

"She's gonna hurt him if she catches him, isn't she?" Darcy asked Scott.

"Yup," he replied with a smirk, leaning back in his chair.

Darcy's gaze shifted from Scott to the doorway and back to Scott. "And she's gonna catch him, isn't she?"

"Oh yeah."

Darcy absorbed that for a moment. "Should we follow them?"

"Um, no," Scott said with a laugh.

Darcy shrugged and nodded. "Sounds like a plan to me," she said with a grin and sat down next to Scott to wait.

The rest of the reception was much less eventful. As it turned out, no tampering with the seating plan had been required, as Scott and Jean had all ready been assigned to the same table as Kyle and Darcy. The Grey cousins basically behaved themselves for the rest of the evening, though the banter between the two remained lively.

Once the dancing began, Scott and Jean spent much of their time on the dance floor, more as an excuse to hold each other than out of any true desire to dance. They only stopped to take brief rests, at which point they would retreat to a dark corner and exchange some brief – and passionate – kisses before reluctantly returning to the party.

When the dance floor was cleared for the removal of the garter and the tossing of the bouquet, Scott left Jean at their table while he went to get fresh drinks. When he returned, Jean was nowhere to be seen. He scanned the room and noticed one of the French doors leading the veranda was open just a crack. Sure enough, when he went to investigate he found Jean outside, arms wrapped around herself for warmth as snow flakes gently fell around her.

"You're crazy, Jean," Scott muttered as he joined her. He slipped off his suit jacket and draped it over her shoulders, encircling her from behind with his arms for added warmth.

"Hey," she greeted, leaning her head back against his chest and melting into his warmth.

"Hey yourself," he said and kissed her neck. "What're you doing out here?"

"Just getting some air," she replied lazily, closing her eyes. "It was getting stuffy in there."

She was quiet for a moment. "I'm sorry this is how we had to spend Valentine's Day," she told him softly.

"It's fine, Jean. As long as we're spending the day together, I'm happy. Aren't you having a good time?"

"Only because you're here," she told him, turning in his arms so she could look up at him. She reached up and cupped his cheek, rubbing her thumb over his jaw and feeling the light growth of a day's worth of stubble. He leaned down and kissed her, and her arms snaked up and around his neck. The kiss went on for long minutes, snow flurries fluttering around them.

*Scott?* Jean said his name softly into his head, nibbling on his lips. When she had his attention, she continued. *Let's go up to our room.*

*You're tired?* he asked, a bit disappointed.

*No,* she replied, pulling away from his kiss and lifting her eyes to meet his. *I want us to go upstairs so we can get out of these clothes.*

Scott couldn't look away as her implication became clear. *You mean...?*

She smiled, not breaking eye contact. *Yes.*

~~

Feed me, Seymour!

Actually, FEED ME reviews and you'll SEE MORE chapters. Hee hee, aren't I clever to come up with that little play on words? Ok, I know, I know – I'm a sad, pathetic little writer.   ; )

Quick Author's note: For those of you wondering, yes, Kyle Grey is an original character.