JENNIE
Hours of small talk, handshaking, and the unveiling of a plaque were starting to take their toll on me. I was fidgeting with the napkin I'd picked up from one of the rotating servers when Lisa managed to make her way back to me across the room.
I was getting better at these types of events, but when they were as big as this one, it was hard to not feel overwhelmed. Thankfully, Jimin was always nearby and I could count on him to extradite me from overly enthusiastic strangers. Lisa was good about not leaving my side when it could be helped; unfortunately, it was quicker for us to split up to work the room when possible. And these were all people who donated to the FBT.
"You're looking antsy." Lisa ducked her head down to my ear. "Ready to get me back to the hotel?"
"These shoes are killing me." Even with the heels she had me by a few inches. "And it's after four in the morning back home."
"So, you're not planning on attacking me when we get back to our room?"
"I don't know. How soon can we get out of here?" I raised an eyebrow.
"Give me five minutes and I'll have you out of that dress." She put a hand on the small of my back and guided me toward the exit. I smiled, remembering how much it used to amuse me when she did the same thing and now I just felt special. She dipped her head down to my ear once more. "Have I mentioned how much I like this dress?" Her fingers caressed the fabric and I shivered. Even now, after all this time, I couldn't fight the pull she seemed to have on me.
"Just don't tear this one. I like it, too." I looked up at her and bit my lip to try and not smile. "I'm still angry about the black dress."
"Hm, that was an unfortunate casualty." Her eyes ran over my body. When we neared the door, Jimin exited ahead of us to get our car while we said our goodbyes to the mayor.
When the car pulled up to the carpet, Jimin nodded at me to let me know it was ours. Lisa and I made our move to exit, smiling for the cameras that lined the ropes. I managed to trip a little on all the fabric around my legs, but Lisa caught me before I went down. I laughed at my clumsiness and gave a small wave to the cameramen as they took pictures. No matter how much they annoyed me, I'd learned a lot about handling them since my father's death. Duvall opened the door while Lisa helped me slide in, and I fought with the skirts to keep them out from under my shoes.
When Lisa got into the car I narrowed my eyes at her. "When I agreed to your bet all those months ago, I had no idea this is how you expected me to spend my week volunteering for the FBT."
"I know." Lisa leaned back in her seat but lifted my hand to her mouth. "But I had a plan."
"Oh, like your brilliant plan for getting me to fall in love with you? Stick around until I had no choice?" I snickered.
"Exactly. I was going to make you go with me to all these events as my date." She pulled me against her side as the car drove through the streets of New York. "I was going to woo you while you couldn't run away. You'd have no choice but to succumb to my charms."
"Your ego is a scary beast. It should have its own name. We could call it something frightening like Darth Yummy." She snorted at me as I snuggled under her arm. "I thought I was going to be helping with the birds. In fact, I was looking forward to it. When did you start coming up with your elaborate schemes?"
"As soon as I realized how stubborn you were."
"So, right away?"
"Pretty much." She chuckled. "Are you ready for the wedding?"
"Ugh. Don't remind me." I shivered. "The dress, the flowers, the pictures. It's going to be torture. There's so much to do and take care of!"
"C'mon, you'll look gorgeous." She kissed my temple. "And I'll be there."
"Yes, you'll be there." I glared up at her. "Laughing at me and the brown monstrosity Somi picked out for me to wear."
"Ryujin thinks Somi missed her true calling in fashion."
"She would." I frowned. Those two had been like a monster with two heads when wedding-dress shopping for Somi.
"Think of it as practice." She ran her thumb over the ring on my left hand. It always gave me tingles when she did that, to know she was part of my future. That she wanted to be a part of my future.
"I wish. Your mother and sister have gone off the deep end. Did you see what they want me to wear?" I shuddered as I thought about the eighteen-yard train and lace sleeves. "The dress weighed four hundred pounds."
"I'm not allowed to see the sketches, remember?" she kissed my temple. "You seem to be holding your own though. Ryujin was grumbling about flowers and ribbon last week. She's horrified by your lack of concern for texture."
"Don't get me started on the ribbons. What a stupid way to spend money. I mean, what are we going to do with all of those ribbons afterward?" Technically the queen was footing a large chunk of the bill, but I didn't care. "And they're still using the whole church thing against me. I used a lot of my leverage when I insisted on getting married outside. We should've eloped."
"The wedding needs to be what you want, too." She tilted my face up to look in my eyes. "In the end, no matter our titles, this wedding is about us. No one else. We could run to Vegas right now if that's what you want."
"I know." I pressed my lips to her and sighed. I loved this woman. Loved her more than I ever thought possible. She'd become the stable point of my universe—part of my family. "But your mom might behead me."
"I wouldn't let her." She tilted her head to deepen the kiss and I shifted so I could run my hands through her hair. I breathed in her smell and reveled in her taste, the knowledge that she was mine like an aphrodisiac. Her phone beeped and she pulled away from me with a frown. She took it out of her suit pocket and turned it off without looking, her eyes focused on mine.
"Who was that?" I sighed, trying to not be frustrated.
"I don't know." She stretched her legs out in front of her and pulled me close again. "Don't care."
"Might have been important." I turned my face up so I could kiss her jaw. She never ignored something serious, but we tried to keep normal office hours as much as possible. Otherwise we would go insane trying to keep up with everything.
"The only thing important right now is what I plan on doing to you tonight." She turned her head so she could capture my mouth in a slow, teasing kiss.
When I leaned back to slide my hands under her suit jacket I smiled up at her. "We have to be up early for our flight to Minnesota. Somi will kill me if I'm late."
"That could be a problem." She slid her hand up to grip the back of my neck and ran her lips over the pulse point below my ear. "Because I don't plan on letting you get much sleep."
"Hm. I think I can cope." I leaned forward to bring my lips back to her, but the car stopped and I realized we were at the hotel. "Can you behave yourself until we make it to our room?"
Her eyes ran down my face and along my cleavage. "I can make it to the elevator, but no promises past that."
I felt my lips pull up in a grin. "I like it when you're naughty, Princess Yummy."
"Hold on to your tiara, Duchess."
THE END . . .