Collateral Damage: A Small Town Romance

by Lagomarsino, Giulia

  Sweat mingled with desire as our bodies slid across each others. I couldn’t think of anything but his touch and how badly I needed him. With every thrust, I felt my body cling to him, and with every whispered I love you, my heart mended just a little. And when he finished, he laid on top of me, his fingers brushing through my hair as he gazed into my eyes, and I knew I was home. I just had to find a way to make this work for us, to keep him and not give up everything I wanted.

  He shifted off me and laid on his side, just staring at me, his fingers brushing lightly down my cheek. I felt my cheeks warm as he stared at me, like I was everything he wanted and he would never let me go. I had spent years hating him, while also wishing I could have him back. I was always too afraid to ask about him, worried that he had moved on with life and forgotten about me. Now I knew that neither of us had been able to shake what we used to have. Time may have separated us, but the love we shared could never truly be severed. He was it for me, and always would be.

  His face turned serious. “I have to go into work tomorrow morning. It won’t be for the whole day, but I have to make sure that the board has taken care of Mosley. After that, I’m all yours for two weeks.”

  I ignored the part where he had to go into work. He would always have to go into work, and I had to get used to that. This was part of who he was. So, instead I smiled and tucked the sheet up around my chest, shaking off the chill that ran through me. “What will we do for all that time?”

  “Well, I was thinking we could stay here, ignore the rest of the world and just spend all our time in bed.”

  “Hmm, that does sound like a good plan, but I think I might end up in the hospital if we spend that much time in bed.”

  “Bad back?” he asked, quirking an eyebrow at me.

  “No,” I laughed. “I think my lady parts would take a beating.”

  “That’s not good,” he said seriously. “Do you think they would arrest me?”

  “For what?”

  “Abuse. I’ll have to check into this, see if there’s any precedence before we move forward on our plans. I don’t want to end up in jail.”

  “For screwing me so hard my lady parts are bruised?”

  “Exactly.”

  “Hmmm, I think we have other things to worry about.”

  “Such as?”

  “Christmas,” I reminded him. “You know we can’t just hide away in your apartment during Christmas. Your brothers will be expecting us, and if you’ve forgotten, your brother is getting married on Christmas Eve. And since you put me in charge of organizing your brother’s wedding, I have to make sure that everything is ready.”

  “Which means you need to head back to the country,” he surmised.

  “Sorry, but you did this to yourself,” I chuckled.

  “Well, I didn’t think at the time that I stood a chance of ever having you back.”

  “So, how are we going to spend our vacation together if I have to be in the country?”

  “How about this,” he grinned, “I’ll finish up at the office tomorrow morning and then drive us down to my brother’s house. You can go over the final wedding details with Kat.”

  “And what are you going to be doing?”

  He smiled deviously at me, making me wonder what he was up to. “I have a few things I need to take care of.”

  “Why does that make me worry?”

  He shrugged lightly and leaned forward to kiss me. “You should know, everything I do, I do for you.”

  He kissed me harder, pushing me back down into the mattress as he slid between my legs and made love to me all over again.

  Robert

  “We’ve made sure that everyone knows about Mosley,” Dawson assured me. “We’ve all agreed that we don’t need someone like him working with us.” His eyes flicked across the room to Bremmerman, another board member. “We’ve come across some information, proving this is not the first time he’s done this to someone in the company. Apparently, he had someone in HR working with him to cover up allegations. That person has been let go. We think the problem has been solved.”

  “Good,” I said, standing from the conference room table. “I have a vacation to get to. I’ll see all of you after the new year.”

  “Don’t you want to know who we’ve selected to replace him as senior partner?” Cameron asked.

  I didn’t want to hope that he was referring to me. I’d worked my ass off for a place in this firm, but I also knew that I had demanded a lot yesterday, and that didn’t leave a good taste with the senior partners.

  “Oh, don’t look so worried,” Cameron jeered. “It’s you.”

  “Really.”

  He smiled. “You’ve deserved this for a long time. We all knew that Mosley was stalling. We just didn’t know why. You’ve earned this. We all know you’re the best damn attorney here. Our top clients come here to work with you, and we all know what an asset you are. We’d be proud to have you sit at our table.”

  “Thank you,” I said, reaching out to shake his hand. “You have no idea what this means to me.”

  “Yes, we do. We’ve all been there.” He jerked his head toward the door. “Go take your vacation and be ready to close the Morrison case when you get back.”

  “Thank you.”

  I left the office with a smile on my face, but that immediately fell when I saw Rebecca stepping off the elevator. I glanced at my watch. I had promised Anna that I would be back by lunch and we would head out of the city. Depending on what Rebecca wanted, this could ruin those plans.

  “Rebecca,” I said with a smile. “It’s good to see you. Is everything okay?”

  “Yes, I’m just finishing up plans for moving after Christmas. Nearly everything is in place.”

  “That’s great. The sooner we can set up everything in New Hampshire, the sooner we can get you what you want.”

  “Perfect.”

  “So, how can I help you?”

  She hesitated for a moment and then smiled. “I have a wedding present for Anna. I’ve been keeping in touch with her and she’s really made this transition easier for me. You know, that fiancé of yours is very smart.”

  “I know,” I grinned. “She’s perfect.”

  “I was hoping to see her before the wedding. When is it again?”

  The lie slipped out before I could stop it. “December twenty-fourth.”

  “Christmas Eve,” she smiled. “That sounds perfect. Only a few days left of bachelorhood.”

  “Well, I can’t say that I’m too upset about that. When you find the right person, it doesn’t feel like you’re leaving anything behind.”

  She nodded, and I could see the sadness in her eyes. It made me feel terrible for deceiving her. I hadn’t meant to. I only wanted her trust. I would stand by my word and get her everything and make sure that rat bastard husband of hers got nothing. The part I played with Anna was only to make her trust me, but I didn’t think she would see it that way.

  “Would you give these to Anna for me?” she said, holding out a small box. I eyed her and then took the box, opening the lid to see a beautiful pair of blue earrings.

  “These are very nice,” I said warily. “Expensive.”

  She shrugged lightly. “I can afford it. Besides, every bride needs something blue on her wedding day.”

  “She won’t accept this. It’s too much.”

  She held up her hands. “I insist. You don’t know how many times I’ve called Anna to chat already. I must be driving her insane.”

  “One thing you don’t know about Anna, she never pretends to be anything she’s not. She’s the most honest person I know.”

  “Which is how I know I can talk to her. She’s the only female that knows what I’m going through. And you’re right, she’s very honest, but she’s also down to earth. I can’t remember the last time I had a female friend that talked to me just because I called. Everyone wants something from me. You’re very lucky,” she said with a sly smile. “If I were a different woman, you�
��d have competition.”

  I barked out a laugh, thinking about Anna’s reaction when I would tell her that tonight. “I have something you’ll never have.”

  “A penis, yes, I’m aware. And very grateful.”

  “No, I have her heart, and I have for the past fourteen or so years.”

  “Then don’t make the same mistakes my husband made.”

  She smiled before turning and heading to the elevator. I held the box in my hand, wondering what Anna would think about all this. I was telling the truth when I said Anna was one of the most honest people I knew. This would eat at her, knowing that Anna felt the same way and spent so much money on her all because of a lie. Hopefully, Rebecca would never know the truth.

  “So, are you all ready for the big day?” I asked Eric as he slipped into his suit jacket. He looked good, happy. And the surprise of the century, it had snowed two days ago, and it had stuck to the ground. That rarely happened at this time of year. It had to be a sign of good things to come.

  “Are you sure Anna has everything ready?”

  “Positive. She’s been running around all morning to make sure everything is perfect.”

  “It would have been perfect if the whole damn town wasn’t showing up,” he muttered.

  “Yeah,” I chuckled, gripping his shoulder. “I can’t say I’m sorry about that. It’s what we do to each other.”

  He rolled his eyes at me. “You mean it’s what you guys do to me. I haven’t done any shit like that.”

  “Give it time,” I chuckled. “I’ll be expecting payback for my tricks.”

  “You know what? It doesn’t matter. I’m marrying Kat today and nothing can ruin this day.”

  “Not even John’s chili?” I grinned.

  He adjusted his tie in the mirror and smoothed down his suit, then turned to me. “If I play my cards right, we’ll be gone before the chili is served. Then you can deal with it,” he said, slapping me on the shoulder and heading for the bedroom door.

  I laughed, pulling out my phone as it buzzed in my pocket. We only had ten minutes until the ceremony started. Who the hell would be calling me now? I checked the caller ID and almost sent it to voicemail. It was Rebecca. Sighing, I answered the call.

  “Rebecca, how are you?”

  “I’m great, but I hope you don’t mind.”

  “Mind what?”

  “I’m coming to your wedding. I had to get away from my husband and this was a great excuse. I’m in town. I just need directions to your brother’s house.”

  My eyes widened and my heart thudded out of control. This was so bad. I ran out of the room, searching for Eric.

  “Uh…you just want to take Main Street out of town and take the third left, then follow that to the stop sign and take a right.” I spotted Eric and waved him down. He looked at me funny, but came over. “And then follow that for two and a half miles. The house is on the right side of the road. It’s a two story house. You’ll see all the cars out front.”

  “Perfect. I’ll see you soon. Oh, and don’t tell Anna I’m coming. I want to surprise her.”

  “Uh…right. Sure, no problem.”

  I hung up and grabbed Eric’s arm. “Give me your suit.”

  “What?”

  “I need your suit!”

  “Why would you need my suit?”

  “Because I’m hijacking your wedding.”

  I started dragging him down the hall, but then remembered that I had to tell Anna. Fuck, this was terrible.

  “I have to find Anna. Rebecca is on her way here. She thinks we’re getting married today.”

  “Why is she coming?”

  “I don’t have time to explain. You get undressed and I’ll find Anna. Rebecca’s already in town.”

  I took off toward the front door. “Wait! Robert, you can’t just marry Anna!”

  I didn’t listen as I raced out the door and found Anna getting guests settled. I raced up to her and started pulling her away. “We have to get you changed.”

  “Why?”

  “Rebecca’s on her way. We’re getting married.”

  “What?” she asked, pulling her arm from my grasp. “Robert, you’re being crazy. We’re not getting married. The minister is marrying Eric and Kat. The guests know about the wedding. This is insane.”

  “You’re right.”

  I ran up the aisle that ended under the large tree and shouted out to get everyone’s attention. They all turned quiet and looked at me. “Uh…slight change of plans. Kat and Eric aren’t getting married today. I’ve asked Anna to marry me and we don’t want to wait another minute. So, today you’ll be watching us get married instead. No questions please. Oh, and pretend like you already knew we were getting married.”

  The minister gave me a funny look and I pulled out a wad of hundred dollar bills. “I know we don’t have a license. Just go with this and there will be a hefty donation in your office tomorrow.”

  He grinned and took the money, slipping it into his robe pockets. I snatched Anna’s hand and raced toward the house, just slipping inside as I saw Rebecca’s car pulling in the driveway.

  “Robert, we can’t pull this off. She’s going to know this isn’t real.”

  “We have to make her believe it.”

  “I don’t even have a dress!”

  “You’re about the same size as Kat.”

  “You want me to wear her wedding dress?” she screeched. “The wedding dress that she chose for herself? Do you know how mean that is?”

  “Anna, we have to do this. If we don’t, Rebecca will drop me and I’ll lose my biggest client.”

  “Kat’s going to kill me,” she said nervously. “We can’t hijack their wedding!”

  “That’s exactly what we’re going to do.”

  I pulled her up the stairs to see Kat and Eric standing at the top. “What is going on?” Eric asked, half out of his suit already.

  “We’re taking your wedding. My client is here and she thinks Anna and I are getting married.”

  “Oh thank God!” Kat exclaimed.

  “What?” Eric snapped. “You don’t want to get married?”

  “Not like this.” She grabbed his arm with a big smile on her face. “Think about it. The town is getting a wedding, but it’s not going to be ours. We can still have the wedding we want.”

  “They’re going to expect us to get married at a different time,” Eric pointed out.

  “We’ll figure that out later.”

  “Hey, guys,” Joe said, climbing the stairs. “The ceremony is about to start. Eric, dude, it’s bad luck to see the bride before the wedding.”

  “We’re not getting married. Robert and Anna are.”

  He smiled and slapped Eric on the arm. “Right, good one, Hunty.”

  “I’m serious.”

  “Oh my gosh,” Anna exclaimed. “The earrings! I need them if we’re going to pull this off.”

  I turned to Joe. “You need to haul ass to Anna’s place and grab her earrings.”

  “They’re on my dresser, still in the box. They’re blue and really expensive.”

  “Why-“

  “Don’t ask questions. Just go get them!” I shouted.

  “You know, a simple please would be appreciated.”

  “Go!” we all shouted.

  Anna

  I raced into the bedroom with Kat, quickly undoing the buttons on the back of her dress. “There’s no way this thing will fit me. My boobs are smaller than yours.”

  “We’ll make it work. We’ll stuff you.”

  “Just what I want on my wedding day,” I muttered, “to have my chest stuffed with tissues.”

  “I’m just happy I don’t have to get married in front of half the town today,” Kat said gleefully.

  “Why did you agree to it?”

  “It was Eric’s challenge to me.”

  “You guys are still doing that?”

  I pulled down her dress and helped her step out of it. She started undoing her corset while I to
ok off my dress. We switched and then she helped me get the corset laced. Then we were pulling the dress up. I tried adjusting my boobs to fill out the dress, but it wasn’t working.

  “Don’t worry, I have plenty of tissues,” Kat said, hurrying over with a box of tissues. I snatched a handful and stuffed them in the dress, but needed a second handful. After some careful adjusting, it looked like it was real.

  “I look ridiculous. My boobs don’t match my body.”

  “It’ll have to do in a pinch. Here,” she said, slipping off her necklace. “Something borrowed.”

  “You know I’m not actually getting married, right?”

  “It doesn’t matter. You need all the luck you can get today.”

  I nodded and then turned to her with wide eyes. “What about the rings? We don’t have any rings!”

  “Right. Um…” She ran over to her jewelry box and pulled out two rings. “Here, you can use these. They were my parents’ rings.”

  “Great, we’ll get married with rings from divorced people. That seems totally lucky. I need Robert to try it on and see if it’ll fit.”

  “I’ll go get him. You try on yours and put on your shoes.”

  I tried the ring on, noting it was only slightly big on me. It would have to do. I sat down on the bed and slipped on the boots that went with the dress. They were white and would keep my feet warm outside. I guessed Kat didn’t care about having nice shoes when there was snow on the ground.

  “Hey, where’s Kat?” Chrissy, Kat’s maid of honor, asked, stepping inside the room. “The wedding should have started already. I can’t put it off too much longer. Wait, why are you wearing her wedding dress?”

  “Because I’m not getting married today,” Kat said, rushing in behind her. “Long story, but just go with it.”

  “Wow,” Robert said from the doorway. I stood and took him in. He looked pretty good in that suit. It almost made me sad that none of this was real. “You look amazing.”

  “It’s the dress.”

  “It’s your boobs,” he retorted. “They’re huge.”

  “Well, I had to stuff them with tissues.”

  “Maybe I’ll get you a boob job as a wedding present.”