“They may have also worried your prospective bride would have too much time to read all the ugly gossip about you before the wedding,” I remarked.
“There is that,” he agreed with a wry smile. “I really messed up.”
I waved off his words. “Oh, please. It’s not all that bad. Plenty of rock stars have bad reputations. Besides, some of it wasn’t your fault.”
“Getting involved with Debbie was a stupid mistake. Everyone warned me to stay away from her.”
“But you fell in love,” I pointed out. “Love can make you do foolish things.”
“I wish it was that simple,” he stated. “Yes, I fell in love with Debbie. Had that not been the case, I wouldn’t have proposed. It should never have gotten to that point. I was stubborn, and I didn’t want to listen to my friends’ warnings. I was determined to prove to them that I could make my own decisions. Pretty childish, right?”
“A bit,” I agreed. “At least, you can see your mistakes now.”
“Speaking of mistakes, we should eat the rest of that cheesecake,” he stated.
“Our poor cheesecake,” I mused. “I should have put that extra egg in there. Then it wouldn’t have fallen apart.”
“It’s still really good,” he stated. “I’m going to grab some from the fridge. Do you want any?”
I shook my head. “I’ve had far too many sweets today. If I don’t stop now, I’ll be sick tomorrow. Maybe I should order something healthy from room service.”
Ben put a hand over his heart and flashed me a look of mock horror. “Don’t tell me you’re going over to Rich’s way of thinking.”
“Definitely not,” I assured him as I grabbed the room service menu. “Food needs to have flavor. I could go for a good salad after three cupcakes and a slice of cheesecake.”
Ben carried over the mound of cheesecake, looked at it, and then looked back up at me. “I’m not sure you could call what you had a slice.”
“Scoop?” I asked.
“That works,” he agreed as he put some onto a plate. “A salad does sound good.”
“Wanna share this one?” I asked as I pointed to the menu.
He made a face. “No, I hate crab.”
“I wish I’d known this before agreeing to marry you,” I teased. “That’s the kind of flaw I’m not sure I can overlook.”
“It is a pretty big one,” he agreed. “I think I’ll skip the salad.”
“Are you sure?” I asked.
“Yeah,” he replied. “I’m going to enjoy this fruit and cheese plate.”
“Fruit and cheese plate?” I asked with a quirked eyebrow.
“Strawberry cheesecake,” he explained as he pointed to his plate. “It has both fruit and cheese.”
I laughed. “Clever, but you’ll have a stomachache later if you just eat cheesecake. You may not feel well enough to eat anything but Rich’s food tomorrow.”
He made a face. “That’s a horrible thing to say, and it’s a lie. How could Rich’s food possibly help me?”
“Bland diets are good when you’re sick, right?”
“Not that bland, I’m sure,” he replied with a shudder of disgust.
“You’ll be sorry if you can’t eat any more cake,” I warned.
“Fine,” he relented. “Order me a salad with no crab. I’m still eating this pile of cheesecake.”
“Deal,” I agreed before placing the room service order.
He slipped an arm around my shoulders. “This day has been a lot of fun, but there is one thing that’s been missing.” He reached out to cup my cheek, turning my head toward his.
“What’s that?” I asked in a breathy voice.
“This,” he whispered before kissing me.
Ben’s mouth moved against mine as his tongue slid past my lips. I let out a needy whimper as he guided me down beneath him on the sofa and continued kissing me. My hands moved behind his back to slide under his shirt. I loved the feel of his warm skin and his hard muscles.
He groaned and broke the kiss when my nails lightly raked across his back. His lips traveled along my jaw and down to my neck. A shudder of lust raced through my body when he reached a particularly sensitive spot. Ben amazed me, and I couldn’t get enough of his talented mouth.
When his lips returned to mine, one of my hands moved from under his shirt to grip his hair. Ben shifted to rock against me as he continued kissing me. I felt myself coiling tighter.
I don’t know how long the person outside our door knocked before we finally came back to reality.
“Room service,” Ben rasped out after breaking the kiss.
“I suppose we should get that.” I couldn’t help it if I sounded disappointed since I was suddenly hungry for things other than food.
Ben nodded and climbed off of me. He stood beside the sofa and ran his fingers through his hair. “Yeah, I suppose we should. Sorry about things getting so carried away.”
I laughed as I got to my feet. “At least, no one saw my panties this time.”
Chapter 29
Gemma
The day before our wedding passed by in a blur between wedding preparations and my filmed date with Ben. There was no drama, and my only complaint was that I didn’t get to spend nearly as much time around Ben. Well, that and the food.
Rich continued to fight us every meal. He’d even stocked our room with snack options, telling us we didn’t need to order room service at the end of the day. He’d come just shy of pushing me too far when he’d suggested I’d already be pushing the limits of the wedding dress and that I should cut back on fatty foods. Rich reminded me a lot of my stepmother, who I’d dubbed the step hag. I had my experience with the step hag to thank for my patience in dealing with Rich. I hadn’t punched him in the junk, and I’d also kept Ben from hitting him. Rich seriously owed me.
It was already my TV wedding day. Going by the show’s history, I expected something to ruin it.
“Tell us how you’re feeling about the wedding today,” Charity prompted.
I was seated in a small room close to the chapel. Since it was a Vegas wedding on short notice, I didn’t have the full wedding gown. Instead, I wore an ivory dress that hit just above my knees. I was in clown makeup again, with my hair styled in spiral curls. The makeup wasn’t quite as bad as it had been the day of our first date, but it was still too much.
Despite my nerves, I managed to talk about the last couple of days with Ben for the cameras. I didn’t have to fake my smiles since I’d enjoyed most of my time with him. That said a lot, considering how much I hated the cameras following us around. I’d have to get used to them if I was going to be with Ben. That last thought made me frown as I made my way toward the chapel. What were the chances things would really work with Ben? He kept saying to give him a chance, and I was trying. It was just hard under the circumstances.
“Happy bride,” James called out. “If you’re going for the unhappy bride look, you need to share what’s on your mind.”
“I’m a little nervous,” I admitted. “Every bride is nervous on her wedding day, but I’m about to marry a man I met a few days ago. I hope nothing crazy happens at this wedding.”
No one reassured me that everything would be okay.
Ben was waiting for me at the front of the chapel, looking as gorgeous as always in black pants and a dark blue dress shirt. He smiled when he saw me, and when our eyes locked, my nerves melted away. This was Ben, and I could trust him. We were going to make it through this together.
Once I stood right in front of him, he leaned in to brush his lips against my cheek and whispered, “You look beautiful and nervous. Just breathe. I’ve got you.”
He took my hand, and our wedding began. Nothing out of the ordinary happened. It didn’t seem there were any exes in the chapel waiting to scratch my eyes out for marrying Ben. Still, my sense of unease grew as we neared the end of the ceremony. Ben also started to look tense, as if sensing what was coming.
Skip this part! I wanted to scream a
s my smile became more forced. They didn’t skip it.
“If any of you has a reason why these two should not be married, speak now, or forever hold your peace.”
The doors to the chapel burst open, and not one, but two people shouted, “I object!”
“Debbie?” Ben asked with disgust.
“Tucker!” Best friend or not, I was going to kick his ass later.
“Stone Morrison is my fiancé!” Debbie shrieked.
“I’ve been living with Gemma for years,” Tucker added. “Why wasn’t I invited to this wedding?”
“You have a boyfriend?” Ben asked me.
How could he ask me that? I’d told him I had a roommate, and we’d discussed Tucker being my best friend. I didn’t have to respond because Tucker laughed.
“She isn’t my type,” Tucker assured him.
“You’re more his type,” I told Ben.
“Hey!” Tucker protested. “You know our best friend rule about sharing celebrity crushes on national television.”
He wasn’t joking. Tucker had insisted on that in our best friend agreement. Why did we even have a best friend agreement? I don’t honestly know, but it had been easier to give in when Tucker insisted on making one in middle school.
Tucker had still been in London when I’d last talked to him, and it didn’t look like he’d had time to get ready for the wedding. His blond hair was a little messy, and his pale blue eyes had bags under them as if he hadn’t slept. I suspected he’d come straight from the airport. Though part of me was glad to see him, I wasn’t over being annoyed about his entrance.
“Have you forgotten our rule about not barging in on weddings for dramatic effect?” I demanded.
“That’s not in the rules,” Tucker argued, but he didn’t look sure. “I’ll check when I get home, but I’m sure I wouldn’t have put something like that in there.”
Debbie stalked toward us, obviously tired of being ignored. “Enough of this stupid argument. Who cares what you two nobodies do? I’m here to stop this sham.”
Debbie probably only had a couple of inches on me, but she looked much taller with her impossibly high-heeled shoes. She had long pale blonde hair, a narrow waist, and large breasts that were practically falling out of her skintight white mini dress. She even had a small bouquet in one hand and a veil on her head.
Oh, yeah, this was going to get uglier, and since I was still a little pissed at Ben for thinking I was dating Tucker—yuck—I wasn’t in the mood for any more ugliness.
“Ben ended things with you,” I reminded her.
“His name is Stone, you stupid bitch!” she snapped.
“Don’t you dare insult her,” Ben snarled.
“He told me to call him Ben,” I added. “You’re not welcome here.”
“This is my wedding,” she argued as she smacked me with her bouquet.
I refused to back down. Instead, I snatched the bouquet from her hand and tossed it on the ground. When she moved to launch herself at me, Tucker caught her around the waist from behind.
“Let me go!” she screeched.
“Just fucking great,” Ben muttered before giving me a helpless look.
I was still annoyed with him, but I could see how he’d gotten the wrong impression. My irritation with Ben would fade. The circus going on around me? That really pissed me off. I didn’t need to ask who was to blame for this mess. The show wanted a wedding day catfight, but I didn’t have to give it to them. I could ignore the tension and let it go. We could get security in to remove Debbie.
That’s what I would have done had Debbie not broken free of Tucker’s hold and lunged at me. Ben grabbed her arm to keep her from hitting me, and Debbie slapped him hard enough that his head snapped back.
I’ve taken enough self-defense classes to be confident I can hold my own, though I prefer to avoid violence. Debbie had pushed me to my breaking point.
“That’s it!” I shouted as I caught her arm before she could hit Ben again. I twisted it behind her back and into a wrist lock. As a future teacher, I wasn’t going to get into a brawl with the bitch, but she wasn’t going to continue hitting Ben and threatening me.
“Let go of my arm, whore!” Debbie shrieked.
I started pushing her out of the chapel while she remained in the wristlock. “This is my wedding, and I didn’t invite you. Ben didn’t invite you.”
“His name is Stone!” she shouted.
“Only to people who don’t know him well,” I snapped. “We aren’t playing this stupid game today. If you ever hit Ben again, I will make sure he presses assault charges against you. You are damn lucky you aren’t being arrested.”
She was still screaming obscenities and making threats when security finally took over, escorting her out. “About damn time,” I muttered as I glared at the security guards. I knew they had orders to let the scene play out, but that didn’t lessen my anger. What was the point of security if Ben could still be attacked?
Making my way back to Ben, I was acutely aware of the cameras on me. A lot of people were going to see me muttering to myself. Tucker hurried to my side and leaned in to ask, “Are you okay?”
“Not really,” I admitted honestly. “I will be.”
“I know you will,” he replied before giving me a one-armed hug. “Are you mad at me?”
“Oh, yes,” I replied. “You are going to need to do a lot of apologizing.”
When I met Ben’s gaze, I saw his wariness. He didn’t seem sure what to say.
“Now that I’ve finished playing bouncer at my own wedding, shall we get on with the ceremony?” I asked.
Chapter 30
Ben
I breathed a sigh of relief since Gemma seemed to be trying to make light of the situation. No one could have blamed her for wanting to back out of the wedding after that scene. Who wants to deal with a crazy ex at their wedding? Not to mention, I’d accused her of cheating on Tucker with me. Our budding relationship could have gone south fast, and I was grateful it hadn’t.
I was also incredibly turned on. Debbie’s outbursts often turned violent, but Gemma had remained surprisingly calm.
I leaned close to her ear and whispered, “Sorry about that.”
“Not your fault,” she assured me. “Not all of it, anyway. We’ll talk about the rest later.”
“Much later,” I replied.
When she looked like she didn’t understand what I was getting at, I decided to clarify. “It’s our wedding night. I hope we’ll be busy with other activities.”
We hadn’t discussed this part of our relationship. Perhaps I was being presumptuous, but considering the chemistry between us, it seemed apparent the direction this evening would take. I began to wonder if I was mistaken until she smiled and nodded.
The ceremony continued until we finally reached the best part.
“You may now kiss the bride,” the minister announced.
“My wife,” I murmured, testing the way it sounded as one of my hands went to Gemma’s lower back, and the other tangled in her hair. I leaned in and kissed her.
The show had suggested a quick kiss, a mere brush of our lips before we made our way out of the chapel. Instead, I savored her mouth, sliding my tongue past her lips when she sighed. I hadn’t thought it was possible to want her more, but I’d been mistaken. I longed to take her back to our room, strip her naked, and make her scream my name. She moaned against my lips as she gripped my shoulders and leaned into me.
Finally, a voice in the back of my head reminded me that we were being filmed. This wasn’t the time or place, but that time would come soon. Very soon.
Once I broke the kiss, there was applause as we headed out of the chapel.
“Do we have to go to a reception?” Gemma asked, her voice still breathy from our kiss.
“I can’t see any way out of it,” I replied. “We break the rules enough with them, so I think we should put in a short appearance, and then you can fake a headache or something like that.”
&nbs
p; “Why would I fake a headache?” she asked. “Won’t that make everyone think I’m going to turn you down tonight? Headaches are a common excuse for getting out of sex.”
“How about if you break a heel on your shoe?” I suggested. “Then, I can carry you off to our suite.”
Gemma giggled. “I’m tempted to use that excuse.”
Rich tried sliding into the back of the waiting car with us.
I glared at him. “I recommend you give us some space after what you pulled with Debbie. That was bullshit.”
“It’s good for ratings,” Rich said with a roll of his eyes. “Stop being so sensitive.”
“Look at all those people around the car,” Gemma mused. “I wonder how it will affect the show if they see you arguing with us rather than letting us have a few minutes alone after our wedding.”
Rich looked seriously pissed, and he bit out each word of his response. “I’ll meet you at the reception.”
I laughed when he slammed the door shut. Reaching over, I pulled Gemma against my side. “You are good at dealing with assholes.”
“I’ve had a lot of practice today,” she replied with a wry smile. “Ugh! I don’t want to go to this reception and see what new hell they have in store for us.”
“Back to our excuse for leaving early.”
“I love these shoes,” she mused.
“Are you going to back out of our plan over a pair of shoes?”
She responded with a one-shoulder shrug.
“Seriously?” I asked. She had to be joking.
“I know this may sound crazy, considering how much I want to be alone with you, but I’m hoping we can find another way to make that happen. These shoes are incredibly comfortable.”
“I can always buy you new shoes,” I pointed out.
“But what if they don’t have this color?” she asked as she pointed to her ivory shoes.
It was then that I noticed her twitching lips. “Behave, wife.”
“Or what?” she asked with a smile.
“Or I might have to smack that cute ass of yours,” I replied, my dick taking instant notice of the direction my mind was heading.
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