by Elias Taylor
Brent chuckled. “I guess we do have a pretty funny story to tell. It’s a lot more interesting than meeting at work or something.”
“Yeah.” Natalie took her phone out of her back pocket long enough to check it for messages, but found none. “I wonder where Gideon is.”
“Probably with Jasmine,” Brent pointed out with a grin. “Can you believe they’re together?”
Natalie shook her head, imagining her somewhat moody, air-headed and perpetually-single best friend dating her brother. She could do it, but only because the two had been dating for a couple months now. She had tried to set her brother up with a friend of hers once or twice in the past, but she wouldn’t have thought Jasmine and Gideon would be compatible.
That’s why I’m a mechanic and not a matchmaker, she decided, content to settle for being surprised but supportive. When Gideon told Natalie that he and Jasmine were dating, he called it payback for stealing his best friend. Honestly, though, it just meant they could all hang out and go on double dates.
“We need to get back to the hotel and get ready soon,” Brent observed, pointing at a large, lit-up clock face in the window of some sort of store.
Natalie glanced sideways at him. “You never did tell me what you’re wearing, by the way. We agreed casual, right? Because I already told the Road Warriors and everyone else to dress casual. Like smart casual, not whatever-you-want casual, but still. And I swear that I saw a suit cover bag folded up in the back on the way here.”
“Yep, you caught me. I’m wearing a tux.”
Natalie’s glance changed into a suspicious stare. “Uh huh. A tux with a baseball cap or something like that?”
“Something like that.” Brent agreed. “Don’t worry, you’ll love it. You want it to be colorful and fun, right? Just like the first ceremony? I’ve got you.”
Oh, what the hell. If Natalie could trust Brent when she thought she would never be able to trust a man, she could trust him to wear something appropriate.
“Okay, whatever you say. Let’s get back to the hotel.”
On the way to their room, they passed Gideon and Jasmine walking hand in hand and stopped for a quick chat. It ended in Gideon chasing Jasmine down the hall, both laughing as her brother let her friend stay ahead in her heels.
“Were we that gross?” Brent asked.
“We’re still that gross.”
Brent laughed and swept Natalie off her feet so he could carry her the rest of the way to their room.
Natalie changed into the bright red pantsuit she had decided to wear for the wedding, watching curiously to see what this mysterious outfit of Brent’s was going to be.
“That’s just a normal tux,” she accused him when he finished getting dressed.
“It is right now. I promise I’m not just going formal, but you have to wait until later to see the rest.”
“I thought it was bad luck for the groom to see the bride before the wedding,” Natalie argued.
“Not when the bride is wearing red.” Brent took Natalie’s hands, his eyes following the dipping neckline of her pantsuit and watching the fluted legs flutter around her heels to match. “This is one argument you won’t win. Trust me, you’ll like it.”
“Okay, okay. Let’s go check with the venue if you’re ready.”
The venue they had chosen was the perfect place to have a Vegas wedding—a casino. It wasn’t just any casino, though. The Road Warriors and everyone else had each chipped in a bit and Natalie and Brent had booked one floor of one of the biggest Vegas Strip casinos for a couple hours. They had purposefully picked one with lots of bright colors everywhere, and they had arranged for extra seating, catering and an open bar for their guests. This was their first monetary splurge since they had started dating for real, and they both agreed that it was worth it.
Bikers, friends and family began to arrive within the hour. Natalie and Brent greeted everyone and motioned them to grab a drink, mingle and enjoy the delights of the casino while they had it all to themselves. They planned to have the ceremony in about half an hour, but as the last guests trickled in, Natalie realized that someone very important was missing.
“Where is he?” she said, a trifle anxious.
“Did you tell him the right time and place?”
“Of course I did.”
“Then just give it a couple minutes. I need to go finish getting dressed, and I know he’ll be here when I come back out.”
Brent left to do just that, and a few minutes later, to Natalie’s relief, their most honored and distinguished guest showed up—Judge Ross, the grizzled, grumpy old judge who had refused to let them get a divorce right away.
“Hello, Judge,” Natalie greeted him as he stepped through the casino doors, eyeing his surroundings.
“Been ages since I’ve been in one of these. Young folk and their newfangled idea of weddings,” he sighed, sounding disappointed—but Natalie thought she caught a twinkle in his eyes.
Now that Judge Ross was here, they could proceed with the ceremony. The judge took his place on the dais—a low platform that you had to step onto to access some of the slot machines—and Natalie waited at the end of the aisle they had fashioned out of rows of chairs.
Natalie looked down at the soft red carpet under her heels. That’s probably the one thing that’s traditional about this, she thought, thrilled with this entire evening. She could look down the aisle and see the judge who had started it all waiting to seal Natalie’s happiness, and she could cast her eyes over the rows of chairs and see all her friends waiting patiently with drinks in their hands.
Only one person was missing, and he made an appearance just seconds before everything was ready. A ripple of amusement ran through the crowd, and Natalie peered over the rows of chairs, trying to see what was so funny, but she was too far back to make it out.
The music began to play, and it made Natalie smile as she started up the aisle, holding a single red rose. The song was about love as one might expect at a wedding, but it was also an inside joke for her and Brent. They had no trouble agreeing on this song to be their wedding song.
Natalie finished the short journey and the music swelled just as she stopped in front of Brent—
—and nearly burst into uncontrollable laughter. “Are you wearing that stupid fake abs T-shirt from Halloween?” she whispered under cover of the last strains of the song.
“Yep.”
Natalie poked one just to be sure, and her finger sank into soft fabric. More laughter came from the crowd.
“You have real abs!”
Brent looked at her with mournful, soft blue eyes. “The tux hides them.”
Even Judge Ross was smiling, and Natalie felt like she couldn’t breath from the effort it took to keep her giggles quiet.
She got herself under control just as the music faded away and took Brent’s hands.
Judge Ross began to speak. He kept it short, to the point and inserted more irony into the ceremony than Natalie could handle in her giggle-prone state. He would say something like, ‘We’re gathered here today to celebrate the union of Natalie Cramer and Brent Cooke... again’ and Natalie would just die with barely-controlled laughter. It was something about the dry tone he used for the word ‘again’.
Then, it came time to say her vows. Swallowing her laughter, Natalie blinked away tears of hilarity and took a moment to sober up enough to speak.
“Brent Cooke.” She said the words as a statement to stand alone, then continued, “I used to hate that name.”
A loud guffaw came from the crowd, and Natalie knew without looking that it was Gideon, who had witnessed the very rocky several-year start to their relationship.
“And then, something happened—I married you.” Now, she looked directly into Brent’s eyes, addressing him alone. “And over the course of our marriage, I learned to love you. I learned that you’re caring, kind, compassionate and thoughtful—and you know how to party,” she added. “And dance, which is pretty sexy.”
&
nbsp; More laughter, some of it Brent’s.
“What I’m saying is that this is one mistake I’m glad I’ll never fix,” Natalie proclaimed. “Brent Cooke, thank you for making that mistake with me, and I love you.”
Brent had to wipe away a grin of his own before speaking, “I’ve learned a lot being with you, Natalie Cramer, but I think the most important thing I’ve learned is to look before I sign.”
Natalie squeezed his hands.
“You bring out all the best qualities in me. You push me to try harder and chase my dreams, and every day your motivation inspires me to do better. You’re the most incredible person I know, and I don’t think I’m ever going to stop wondering how I knew you for years without falling in love with you.”
Natalie mouthed ‘Same’ to him, and Brent winked at her.
“I know that I want to spend my life with you, Natalie. I love you so much, and I’m so glad that we can be standing here today and getting married because I didn’t mail those divorce papers a year ago.”
That comment drew very inappropriate huffs of laughter from all attending, including the judge. Natalie loved inappropriate. It felt—well, appropriate for the way their relationship had begun and evolved.
Judge Ross spoke up again. Again, he kept everything short, simple and sweet, and he ended with what everyone wanted to hear—with a twist.
“You may now kiss the bride... knowing that she’s your bride.”
Hysterical laughter accompanied Natalie and Brent’s tender kiss, but Natalie wouldn’t have had it any other way.
Then it was time for something Natalie and Brent had loved doing with each other from the beginning—dancing. The bright lights dimmed and the disco lights kicked on, raining the soft casino carpets with spots of color. The guests had the chairs cleared out pronto, leaving a large open area.
Natalie and Brent jumped down from the dais together, hand in hand. They went straight for their best moves, not waiting to see if their friends and family would watch first or join in right away.
“That was amazing,” Natalie murmured, pressed against Brent’s chest as they slow-danced.
“Wasn’t it? But I have to be honest,” Brent whispered in her ear, “I almost kissed you like twice before the ceremony was over.”
Natalie giggled. “Why didn’t you?”
“I wanted to wait and make the one kiss very special.”
“Well, you did a good job.”
They danced quietly for a moment, enjoying the feel of moving together in perfect sync, just like they did during everyday life.
“Hey, Brent? I love you.” The words felt so right coming from her lips.
“I love you too. I love you so much.” Brent placed a delicate kiss on top of her head, right before giving her ass a squeeze.
“Not here!” she chuckled. “And take off those stupid abs, I can feel them through my clothes.”
“You don’t like my abs?”
“You know what I mean!”
They fell silent as they gave in to the music. The colors turned into streaks of light as they whirled faster and faster, spinning until they mirrored the craziness of Natalie and Brent’s life together.
Natalie didn’t care about the colors, though. All she cared about was her love for Brent as they prepared to dance the night away.
Book:5 Christian
An MC Romance
Chapter One: Beth
Bethany Harold stood up and surveyed her work. To the untrained eye, it might look like Beth had spent the day moving a pile of soil from one end of the yard to the other, but to Beth, it was the beginning of a lovely shade garden to be spread around a stone pool in the backyard of her client’s home.
Mel Brown, Beth’s co-worker, rounded the corner with the last wheelbarrow of dirt.
“I swear,” Mel grunted. “If I don’t have a six-pack after today, I’m suing.”
Beth smiled as she picked up her notebook to re-examine her sketches for the design. Beth helped with the dirty work, but ever since she and Mel teamed up on projects, Beth did most of the design, and Mel took care of the manual labor. The two friends had talked about starting their own business almost since the day they met six years ago. For now, they both worked for a larger landscaping company that spread across several counties surrounding New London, California.
Beth sighed. Like that would happen soon. Running a business was notoriously risky.
“You’ve been exercising your core, not your abs. And who would you sue?”
“My old gym teacher, yoga instructors, God.” Mel dumped the soil and threw her arms out with her characteristic melodrama. “Whoever.”
Beth chuckled. She had long since learned not to argue with Mel’s logic. She always had answers, and she didn’t seem to care how ridiculous they were. “Well, I think we’re about done for today.”
Beth snapped her notebook shut. Mel let out a whoop of joy and pumped her fist in the air for good measure. At barely five feet tall, Mel was much shorter than Beth, but she made up for her petite size by always being in motion.
The current project was a good one. Sometimes they were assigned less exciting jobs by the company, but this one was a bigger space, and it gave Beth the opportunity to exercise her creativity. She wanted all her projects to be like this.
“All right, I definitely need a shower,” Mel said.
“Same.”
“Then, you wanna go out?” Mel asked. “There’s a karaoke night at Mack’s Bar.”
“I’m not really feeling it.” Beth adjusted her long, dark ponytail. “I’m tired, plus there’s the biker barbecue tomorrow.”
“Since when can you only socialize once per weekend?” Mel asked.
“Since I turned twenty-seven.” Beth straightened her back and pointed her nose in the air for effect. “You’ll understand once you’re as old and wise as me, young child.”
Mel snorted and tossed her auburn hair over her shoulder as she began to pack up her tools. Beth was only a few months older, but Beth often played the Old Lady Card.
Beth felt older, anyway. Mel wanted to go into business with Beth, but she still acted like they had all the time in the world. Mel was spirited and carefree, which meant if anyone was going to make the business happen, it was going to have to be Beth. Give Mel a project, and no one would work harder than she, but Mel wasn’t well-suited for meeting with banks and trying to recruit clients. Neither was Beth, but she was willing to step up and make it happen.
Because twenty-seven was basically thirty, and if Beth turned thirty without having accomplished anything big, she would feel awful. She would be letting herself down. Worse, she would be letting her father down. He had been dead for almost fifteen years, but Beth knew he would want her to pursue her artistry and career goals.
“Okay, I propose we go to that BYOB Thai place.” Mel smiled and had a bounce in her step. “We could bring some cheap wine and dig into pad thai. Nothing too crazy.”
Beth grinned at her friend’s sun-tanned face. Mel always knew the exact remedy. “That sounds amazing.”
Fifteen minutes later, the girls piled into Mel’s old jeep and headed toward the restaurant. Mel jabbered about one of the guys in the Road Warriors the whole ride.
Mel wasn’t a member like Beth was, but Mel tagged along with her to some events. Beth had first met Mel six years ago when they had both been new hires at the landscaping company. At first, Beth hadn’t trusted Mel’s eager smile and joking ways. Beth wasn’t a big talker herself, so she was intimidated by Mel’s motor mouth, but over time, they had become good friends. Mel had taken a genuine interest in Beth’s life, so Beth had started inviting Mel to Road Warrior parties.
Beth had inherited her membership and jacket. Her father had been a dedicated and lifelong member before the car crash took him away. Beth fiddled with the small gold charm bracelet on her wrist that held one tiny heart. She never took the bracelet off. Her father had given it to her for her twelfth birthday, just a few months before he
passed. The loss of her father didn’t hurt anymore. Or rather, it was a dull ache that only reminded Beth of how much she had loved him instead of the piercing agony thinking about him had once brought on.
Beth wasn’t super active in the Road Warriors community, but she did enjoy going on occasional rides on her dad’s bike. She attended the barbecues and mixers when she could, but her entire life didn’t revolve around them.
Mel’s didn’t either, but it just so happened that Mel was crushing on a member of the club. Mel was like that. Every month, she was pursuing a new guy, swearing that he could be the one. Beth didn’t understand Mel’s belief. Beth went on dates every now and then, but she had never been able to throw herself into a serious relationship. It felt too risky. Plus, if she ever did meet the one, it wouldn’t be cause for celebration. Because what if she found her soul-mate and then lost him? The thought was terrifying.
Mel’s optimism could be entertaining, but Beth often worried about her friend’s heart getting broken.
When they reached the restaurant, the girls ducked into the grocery next door to grab some red wine. They both smiled as they settled into their seats and opened the menus. Nothing was better than a big meal after a long day of working in the sun.
“Okay, are we feeling more noodles or fried rice?” Mel asked.
“Whatever.” Beth studied the menu. “Both?”
Beth looked up as the waitress approached but tensed when she saw a figure up near the counter. Christian Crown. Beth would know his tall frame and dark hair anywhere. He was not going to be happy to see her. Beth hated awkward situations, even ones she hadn’t caused.
She looked down, pretending to be engrossed in the menu. Maybe he wouldn’t see her. Maybe he would see her but not recognize her. It had been years since they had actually had any reason to see each other.
Then again, they had once had one very big thing in common.
Mel, oblivious to Beth’s tension, started rattling off her order.
In slow motion, Christian turned around. Beth froze when his eyes locked on her. The look on his face was cold enough to freeze water. And yet, somehow, he was still handsome in that angsty way of his. His hair was just as thick and wavy as it had been in high school, and his shoulders were still broad. Blushing from her head to her toes, Beth raised her hand in a small wave.