Chapter 32
Lisa
Today was the big day.
Not mine, but Rosé and Tommy's. I was up early, running around my condo like an idiot trying to get all my stuff together. Last night, I was supposed to stay at Jennie's but she called last minute and said she had decided to spend the night at a hotel with Rosé and Jisoo. I couldn't fault her for that and normally it wouldn't bother me, but she's been so distant since the Wild Kids dinner, it just seemed like another excuse not to see me. She blamed it on the wedding and trying to get caught up with school before the new semester started, but something just didn't feel right. Regardless, I was excited to see her tonight and she did say that she was looking forward to having me stay at her place after the wedding. Maybe I was reading too far into things.
A few hours later as I pulled into the driveway at the inn, my phone chirped. I looked at the text, it was from Kendall.
K: HEY STRANGER, I'D LIKE TO TALK TO YOU. DINNER NEXT WEEK?
I deleted the message without a second thought and gathered up my things from the truck. I walked up on the front porch, surprised to see Ruby sitting on the wicker couch with her hands folded in her lap.
"Hey, kiddo. What's going on?" I went over and sat down next to her. She had on a pale yellow dress and her normally straight hair was half pulled-up in loose curls.
"I told Mom I wanted to go outside so she said I had to sit here and not move."
"Well, you look very pretty."
"Are you coming to the wedding?"
"Yep."
"Are you gonna dance with my mom?"
"Um, maybe. Would that be okay with you?"
She furrowed her little brow and thought about that for a minute.
"Yeah. My mom smiles a lot when she talks about you. I think she would be happy to dance with you."
I grinned like a fifteen-year-old kid who just got told in the lunchroom by a friend of a friend that her crush liked her back.
"Hey Ruby?"
Her innocent, deep brown eyes looked up at me and I was suddenly overcome with the urge to protect Ruby and Jane, and their mom. Call it being macho, call it possessive, but these three were mine and I would tear apart anyone who messed with them.
"Do you think I can dance with you too?" I asked her.
A giant grin lit up her entire face. It was her mom's grin, crinkled nose and all.
She didn't say yes, but she laid her head on my arm and giggled, so I was pretty sure that was the equivalent of a smiley face on a text from her mom.
"Rubyyyy! Come in here, please." We heard Jennie call a few minutes later.
We stood up together and she charged ahead of me through the front door. I rounded the corner and stopped.
Jennie was sitting at the kitchen table with her back to me, curling Jane's hair. She had on a yellow dress, a little darker than the girls and strapless. She was mesmerizing, the silhouette of her sitting at the table taking care of her children was visually overwhelming.
"Quit moving, goofball," Jennie said to Jane.
"This dress is itchy."
"Well, you look adorable in it. I'm the luckiest mommy in the world to have the two of you," she said as Ruby parked it in the chair next to her.
"Lisa said I looked pretty." Ruby announced.
"Lisa?" Jennie looked at Ruby. "She's here?" She followed Ruby's little finger that pointed in my direction.
She spun around and our eyes locked. It was there, whatever it was. God, she was stunning. She had on a little more makeup than usual and while I normally loved her natural look, she was nothing short of magnificent.
"Hi." I grinned at her.
"Hi." She repeated quietly.
"You … look fantastic," I said, as she bit her lip shyly and looked down at herself.
"Thanks. I wasn't sure what I thought of the color at first, but I guess it's okay, huh?"
My eyes inspected the length of her whole body before returning her gaze. "Way better than okay."
I strolled over and wrapped my arms around her, knowing damn well that the girls were sitting right there and most likely staring at us. I didn't care though, things between us were strained for some reason and right then, I needed to hold her against me. When she didn't resist my hug, I wanted to do a backflip, though someone would have to teach me how first.
After a minute of us just breathing together, she pulled back and gazed at me from under her long lashes.
"Why do you have to be so damn irresistible?" She sighed.
"Why are you trying to resist me?"
"Why are you answering my question with a question?"
I grinned down at her, and the urge to kiss those sassy lips was almost unbearable.
"You guys just about ready?" Sophia called out as she came into the kitchen. "Oh, hi Lisa, don't you look gorgeous."
"What about me, Gigi?" Ruby said, jumping up from the table proudly.
"Oh, my precious babies!" Sophia's voice cracked as she clapped her hands together.
Jennie grabbed her camera off the counter and handed it to her mom. "Would you mind taking a picture of the four of us?"
"It would be my pleasure."
The four of us? Score.
She called the girls over and positioned them in front of us. I put my arm around her waist and pulled her in closer as she rested her hand on my chest.
This picture, this moment … felt right.
"Everybody ready?" Sophia called out from behind the lens. "One … two … three."
"Okay," Jennie called out. "Everyone ready to go?"
I looked at my watch. "Yep, it's about that time."
"So the plan is still the same, right?" Jennie turned toward her mom. "You're going to take the girls from the church to the reception hall, stay for dinner, then bring them home?"
"You got it," Sophia responded before yelling toward the back of the house. "C'mon, you old fart."
Fred walked out of the powder room dressed like a pimp in a dark gray suit and yellow tie. Jennie let out a cat call that made everyone giggle.
"I cleaned up nice, huh?" Fred struck a pose, opening his suit jacket.
"We're gonna have to beat the ladies off you with a stick tonight, Fred. Okay, I think that's everyone, right?" I opened the front door and watched for the girls' reaction.
Their little faces lit up; their mouths dropped open when they saw the car sitting in the driveway. "A limo!!!" They squealed as they hugged each other.
"Do you like it?" I asked.
"What is this?" Jennie looked as shocked as they did.
"Why are you answering my question with a question?" I grinned and cocked an eyebrow at her.
Her eyes laughed but all her mouth did was stutter, "I don't understand … how…"
"Easy. I had a car brought to the reception hall for Fred, Sophia and the girls for when they're ready to leave. I also had a car brought there for us." I glanced at the girls who were struggling to put their shoes on and peek at the limo at the same time. "I just thought they were so thrilled with it last week, it'd be nice if they could actually go somewhere in it, not just around in circles."
Jennie looked at me adoringly. "You're something else, you know that?"
The church looked great. Jisoo and Jennie had done a fabulous job of decorating it with flowers and yellow accents earlier that morning. Rosé looked beautiful, and Tommy wept like a big baby through their vows. The whole ceremony went as smooth as could be and then … it was time to party.
The reception was at a swanky hall with more yellow accents. I was seated at a table with Derek, the girls, Sophia and Fred. During dinner, I kept the girls entertained with my artillery of amazing knock-knock jokes and chatted with Derek, who I'd never really talked to before but ended up liking a lot. Jennie and I kept exchanging glances, holding onto each other's eyes just long enough for the tension between us to boil at the surface. Whatever had been bothering her the last few days was nowhere in sight now, maybe it was wedding stress like she said. The food was amazing, but I wanted dinner to be over so I could boogie with the hot bridesmaid.
Finally, the waiters came around and started clearing the tables.
Rosé and Tommy had their first dance as husband and wife. Tommy cried … again. Who would've thought that the big, dumb jock I'd met that day before the fair was turning out to be such an emotional basket case on his wedding day? Good for him, though; good for both of them.
After the usual dances were done and people started buzzing around the outskirts of the dance floor, I noticed Sophia starting to pack up the girls' things.
"Could you wait one minute?" I asked her.
She looked confused, but nodded as I turned and hurried to the DJ booth. He leaned over to me, covering his other ear with his hand, then smiled and gave me a thumb's up.
"Attention, party guests, I have a request to fulfill a little earlier than I normally would, but two little princesses have to get going and they were promised a special dance. This song is for … The Twinkies."
I took the girls' hands and led them out onto the dance floor as "Isn't She Lovely" by Stevie Wonder started playing. I motioned for each of them to hop on one of my feet as I spun and bounced them around the dance floor, doing my best to keep to the actual beat of the music. I was dying to look over at Jennie's face, but I didn't want her to think this was about me impressing her. It wasn't, it was about my moment with the girls who I'd really grown to love. Our moment. One of hopefully many to come.
Once the song ended, the crowd cheered and I thought my legs were going to fall off, but the huge grins on their faces made it absolutely worth it. Jennie was waiting at our table for us when we got back.
"Mommy, did you see us?" Jane asked excitedly.
"I did, you guys looked beautiful. And what great dancers you are!"
"We didn't dance." Ruby giggled. "We stood on Lisa's feet the whole time."
"Wow!" Jennie slapped her cheeks with her hands, pretending to be surprised. "I think you fooled everyone."
I offered to go with Jennie to walk everyone out, but she said she needed a minute with her mom, so I took the opportunity to get myself a beer. Derek walked up behind me and clapped his hands on my shoulders.
"Make that two, please," he said to the server, leaning against the wood bar with me. "What a night, huh?"
"Absolutely." I nodded toward Tommy and Rosé who were kissing on the dance floor. "Those two seem pretty damn happy."
"Yeah, they do. So does Jennie." Derek eyed me curiously.
"Does she? Good." I sighed. "We've had a weird week or so, I thought I'd done something wrong, but all she says is she's fine."
Derek cringed. "Fine is never good."
"I know!" I handed Derek his beer and we started back to the table together.
"Jennie had a rough time after Kai ditched her; she's been a little skeptical ever since. Like she's waiting for a bomb to drop or whatever." He shook his head, staring off at the dance floor. "I don't know, women are weird."
"I'll drink to that," I said, clinking my beer with his.
"What are you two toasting?" Jisoo stood behind us with her hip cocked to the side, arms folded defensively across her chest. Jennie was just behind her with one raised eyebrow, and her lips puckered as she chewed the inside of her cheek. She looked sexy and confident … and sexy.
Derek spun around and scooped Jisoo up in his arms, kissing her neck. "How fucking hot our women are."
"True story." I pulled Jennie into my arms and started dancing at the table with her.
"No way." She pulled back, shaking her head. "If I'm gonna dance, I need to have a whole lot of liquor."
"Coming right up." I grinned, dragging her to the bar.
"These are so gooooood," Jennie slurred after her fourth green apple Martini. Her eyes were relaxed and happy, her movements were as loose as I'd ever seen.
"How are you feeling? Think you should slow down?" I asked cautiously.
"Hell no!" She tossed her arms around my neck and slithered herself up and down my body in a way that men usually pay for. "I'm just getting started, baby."
"Baby?" I laughed.
"Yeah, baby." She licked her lips and grinned up at me, wobbling from side to side. "You're my baby."
I grabbed her hips to keep her from falling over. "You got that right … baby." I reached down and covered her mouth with mine. Her cold, sweet tasting tongue darted into my mouth, kissing me deep.
"You ready to go? I'm worried you're gonna be sick tomorrow."
"I'm fine," she said in a garbled tone.
"You are?"
"Sharp as a tack!" She giggled.
"Jisoo and Derek are taking off, most of the other people have left too. You sure you don't want to go?"
Jennie straightened up with a surprised look on her face. "That Jisoo is one smart bitch, huh?"
"Um … okay?"
"No, Lisa. Really, think about it. She helped design all this." She threw her hands up in the air as she spun in a drunken circle. "And, she knows when I'm bullshitting her. She's really good at that."
"Bullshitting her?" I asked, reaching out every so often to reel her back in.
"Yeah, she said I loved you. I said no. She was right."
I stood, frozen on the dance floor in shock while she wiggled her way around me.
"You love me?" I asked after the shock wore off.
"Holy shit, yes." She giggled, opening her arms wide. "A lot!"
No words came out of my mouth, oxygen barely made its way to my brain. I didn't know how to react. No woman had ever told me they loved me before, and definitely not one I was certain I loved back like Jennie.
"Okay, I think maybe it's time to go, huh?"
"You want to get me home and take advantage of me, don't you?" she whispered in my ear. "I accept."
She wrapped her arms around my waist and held on tight as I led us out to my car, waving at a beaming Rosé and Tommy as we left.
I gently set Jennie down in the passenger seat and before I could scoot around to my side, she grabbed my face and pulled it down to hers, kissing me again.
I tore myself away from her before I lost all control and peeled her dress off right there in the parking lot. Odds are, there were security cameras and there was no doubt in my mind that footage would be in the news by morning.
"You're so hot, Lisa."
I couldn't help but laugh at her a little. I'd never seen her like this and oddly enough, it was adorable, just like everything else she did. This woman normally controlled every aspect of her life, it was nice to see her let loose for once.
She reached over and grazed her fingernails along the back of my neck while I drove us home. It was driving me crazy and making me hard.
"I meant what I said tonight … I love you, Lisa." Her head lay against the back of the seat angled toward me; her shimmering eyes barely cracked open.
"I love you, Jennie." I reached over and brushed her cheek with the back of my hand.
I sat at the stoplight long after it'd already turned green, just so I could watch her fall asleep.