“Who needs food? I’m living on love, my friend,” Steve said, laughing at having embarrassed Will again.
“Well, I don’t want to hear any more about your love life, so let’s go get some food for my sake,” Will ordered, grabbing Steve’s arm to steer him to the table.
“You know, I really like you, Larson. Because of you I don’t have to feel guilty anymore about being so freaking happy with Susan. You going to love Jessica forever?” he asked.
“Yes, Lipton. I love her. You can quit worrying Jessica’s going to end up a shriveled-up old maid. She dated twenty guys between the two of us. Now man up and go be a groom,” Will said, laughing. “You’re as bad as my sons.”
“I’m forty-four, not that much younger than you,” Steve said, protesting.
“You handle your drink like a kid,” Will told him, picking up several crackers and pressing them into Steve’s hand. “Eat these and don’t talk until the alcohol wears off some.”
“Yes—Daddy,” Steve teased, popping the crackers into his mouth one at a time.
“Can we go home now?” Will whined the question to Jessica as she came back to his side, making the bride and groom both laugh.
Jessica patted his cheek and sighed. “No—they have to toss the bouquet and the garter, and then they have to cut the cake. Another hour, honey.”
Will sighed in resignation. “Oh, alright.”
“Man up, Larson. You have to do this in a few weeks yourself,” Steve told him, highly entertained by the big man’s irritation.
“Yes, but we’re doing the wedding-lite version,” Will said. “All the commitment ceremony, but with half the traditions that take forever. We’ll be in and out of the church in under an hour.”
Susan giggled and walked over to fiercely hug a surprised Will. “You are funny. No wonder Jessica likes you so much.” She pressed her woozy, happy face into Will’s chest, causing him to sigh heavily again and her to giggle more.
“Uh, Lipton. . .I think your bride needs a hug,” he said to Steve over Susan’s head.
When she leaned even more intimately into him, Will ended up holding Susan more firmly as he tried to restrain her champagne enthusiastic embrace.
Shaking his head and grinning, Steve popped a piece of cheese into his mouth and gently unwound a very tipsy Susan from Will. He pulled his wife into his own arms, kissing her temple and murmuring how much he loved her into her ear. Her hands rubbed his back, and slid to his backside to squeeze. When Steve could trust himself to speak over his giddiness, he raised his head and mock glared at an even more embarrassed Will.
“Go get your own wife,” Steve ordered harshly, fighting not to laugh as he grinned harder at Will’s instant glare back.
Will rolled his eyes, and turned his glare on Jessica. “We need new friends. If I wanted this kind of grief, I’d hang out with my sons.”
Jessica smiled at the frustration on Will’s face, but also knew he wasn’t really mad.
“Sweetie, we are making new friends. That’s why we’re having dinner with Ellen and Luke tonight,” she said dryly, watching Will’s chin drop to his chest. She bit her lip to keep from giving in to her amusement.
“You just had to remind me, didn’t you?” Will protested.
Jessica let herself laugh then, and held out a cracker to Will. “If you eat, you don’t have to talk to happy drunks.”
Will took the cracker and popped it into his mouth, not saying another word.
Jessica stepped into him and hugged hard. But standing there looking at the beaming bride and groom, Jessica ended up battling the now familiar butterflies she got every time she thought about committing herself forever to the man in her arms.
When the guilt came, she chastised herself for being afraid. On the plus side, she knew Will would always be there for her. The man would absolutely love her until the day she died—probably even after that. But on the negative side, she’d have to divorce Will to get rid of him. She couldn’t just get fed up with his macho nonsense and look for another man.
Not that Will would ever let her do such a thing. Just the thought that he had that much control over her future sent the butterflies into a mad dance as they tried to escape.
Oh God, Jessica thought, this whole marriage thing is getting way too real.
“I definitely need more champagne,” she said firmly, looking for the fastest way to calm the butterflies before she passed out.
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Contemporary books by this author
Dating A Cougar
Book One of the Never Too Late Series
Dating Dr. Notorious
Book Two of the Never Too Late Series
Dating A Saint
Book Three of the Never Too Late Series
Dating A Metro Man
Book Four of the Never Too Late Series
Dating A Silver Fox
Book Five of the Never Too Late Series
***
Carved In Stone
Book One of the Art of Love Series
Created In Fire
Book Two of Art of Love Series
Captured In Ink
Book Three of Art of Love Series
Commissioned In White
Book Four of Art of Love Series (novella)
***
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Paranormal/SciFi books by this author
The Demon of Synar
Book One of the Forced To Serve Series
The Demon Master’s Wife
Book Two of the Forced To Serve Series
The Siren’s Call
Book Three of the Forced To Serve Series
The Healer’s Kiss
Book Four of the Forced To Serve Series
Captured In Ink (Art of Love Series) Page 30