He stared at my back and rested his warm hands on my bare shoulders. There was something enticing and pleasurable about his touch now. Stirred by that wedding kiss, my body had decided to react to him, while I fought to hide it.
He squeezed my shoulders. "There are a dozen tiny hooks."
"Once you get the first one or two, the rest come easy."
"I like things that come easy." He ran his hands down the length of my corset, resting them at my waist while I fought to hide the effect he was having on me.
"Start at the top and work your way down." I blew out a breath to give him a little room to work.
His hands were warm. He didn't fumble.
I watched him in the mirror out of the side of my eye. His dark head was bent, his expression serious. I used to be able to read him so easily, but he was a closed book to me now.
I held the front of my corset to me as he unlatched the last of the hooks. "My bra should be hung over the dress hanger. Hand it to me?" It was a light, airy affair in bridal white to match my panties and garter.
He reached around me, brushing my breast as he retrieved the bra and handed it to me. Accidental breast graze or not, I liked it. I pulled the corset loose and handed it to Noah, baring my breasts just as the overhead vent blew cold air again.
Noah didn't close his eyes. He didn't look away. He watched me in the mirror with that same unreadable expression as my breasts budded beneath the cold air and his steady gaze.
I could have slid my bra on and fastened it practically and quickly. But I didn't. I drew it out, slid it on seductively, giving him a show. Watching him watching me. Maybe it had always been this way between us, each watching the other to see how deeply the friendship went and how close it flirted with something more.
I wanted Noah to see what he was getting. To see me as a sexual being. It was exciting watching him watching me. Foreplay in a cramped courthouse bathroom. Stranger things, I guess. I hooked my bra and slipped into my dress. I switched out of my white shoes into a pair of heels that were slightly shorter and more practical, giving him a bigger height advantage.
"Done?" His eyes were round and dark.
I checked myself in the mirror and nodded. "Time to face the firing squad. Noah, we really have to sell this to Mom." I wanted her blessing.
"Selling it won't be hard, Gray. Trust me. We have allies." He winked and opened the door to let us out.
Mr. Thorne was waiting. He took the clothes bags from us. "I'll see you on the flight tomorrow morning, duke," he said to Noah. "We have plenty to discuss about the estate on the trip." He smiled at me. "Duchess. Best wishes. You were the most beautiful courthouse bride I have ever seen."
"That raises the question of how many courthouse brides you've seen," I said.
"Three, at least, your grace." His humor was very dry.
I laughed.
"I'll see you in a few weeks, duchess, once we have the castle readied for her new mistress."
Something about his small smile and stiff-upper-lip British attitude was reassuring and calming.
Our parents took separate cars to the waterfront restaurant where our reception dinner was being held. The wedding and reception were usually the bride's family's responsibility. But with Mom's attitude toward my marriage, Noah had taken the reins and made reservations.
He drove us from the courthouse to the restaurant in silence. We were both deep in our thoughts. At least, I was deep in mine. The enormity of what we'd just done was hitting me. My emotions were complicated—part elation and anticipation for this new adventure, part satisfaction for getting my life on track, and part trepidation. Was it possible to fall in love with your best friend?
Noah turned the car over to valet parking. The valet opened my door and handed me out while Noah came around from the driver's side. He took my hand. "All right. Let's do it. Let's sell this thing, this marriage, Gray."
We'd discussed this throughout the week. Our moms had been friends years ago when Noah and I were in daycare together. They'd lost touch but reconnected when Noah and I met again in college, and had stayed casually friendly since. It would be perfect for us if they remained that way. We didn't want our marriage separating them. We dreamed of it uniting us all as a family.
"Let's do it," I whispered.
And just like that, Noah flipped a switch. He became Noah again, the Noah I loved as a best friend. The Noah I imagined he'd be on his wedding day. His face lit up in a full-face smile. His eyes danced. He squeezed my hand and led me into the restaurant with a boyish spring in his step. This was a guy who was about to float away on his happiness. A guy whose expression clearly said he couldn't believe his good fortune. I hoped Mom saw it. Damn, he was a good actor.
Mom, Carol, and Bruce had arrived ahead of us and were seated at a table next to the waterfront windows, waiting for us. They already had water and beverages. A bottle of wine was on the table. A bouquet, a smaller version of my bridal one, was on the table. Noah waved to them as we approached, appearing buoyant with happiness.
I laughed and waved with him.
"Behold my beautiful bride!" He held our clutched hands in the air. "Luckiest guy in the world."
Bruce popped to his feet. Noah kissed his mom on the cheek, gave Bruce a back-patting hug, nodded to Mom, and pulled out one of the side-by-side empty chairs facing the window for me. His smile and enthusiasm were infectious. I hoped Mom caught them. Everyone else had.
"I'm the lucky one." I kissed Noah lightly and carelessly, just a quick brush of lips. But I felt the zing to my toes.
Noah caught me behind the head before I could pull away and kissed me in that expert way before letting me go. I blushed and laughed. Blushing bride. Never thought that would apply to me.
Carol was trying to hide a smile. She was pleased, and it was obvious. "That's a lovely going-away dress. Noah's favorite color, too."
"Thank you." I slid into my chair. "I was lucky to find it on short notice." It was the one piece I'd bought just for this wedding. It was also a style I knew Noah liked and thought I looked good in. I wanted Noah to see that I'd put some thought and attention into marrying him. I wanted Mom to see it, too.
Bruce poured wine all around. "I believe it's traditional for the best man to toast the new couple. Since your best man appears to have had a prior engagement, I guess it's up to me. To Noah and Grace and many happy years together."
"Short and to the point," Noah said. "I like it."
Everyone laughed.
"My turn," Carol said. "It's not traditional for the groom's mother to make a toast, but I insist on saying a few words. Noah has been in love with Grace since he was two, or maybe before—"
"Mom." Noah gave her a warning look.
Carol swatted at him playfully.
He ducked his head, at least pretending to be embarrassed.
"Deny it all you want, my son, but the truth can't be buried. You've been holding Grace's hand since you were toddlers. Missing her when you were apart. Since you were a baby, I always hoped you'd end up with little Gracie." Her voice broke.
She dabbed her eyes with a napkin. "Both Linda and I used to joke and dream about the fact that if you two ended up together, no one would be able to doubt it was true love. And we'd be the happiest women—our babies married, and we'd share grandbabies. And here you are! To my darling little boy—you've grown into a man I'm immensely proud of. And to the little girl I always dreamed he'd grow up to marry—you've become a beautiful woman, inside and out. I'm happy to call you daughter."
I got a lump in my throat. Nice job, Carol. Even my mom's expression and stiff posture softened somewhat. But she didn't move to toast us.
"Linda?" Bruce said. "Your turn, I believe. Now that the rest of us are done hogging the spotlight."
Mom looked panicked. "No." She shook her head meekly. "I'm no good at this kind of thing—"
"Just say what's in your heart." Bruce smiled at her. It was obvious he wasn't going to let her off the hook.
I silently applauded him. Allies, Noah had said. His parents were on our side. I relaxed a little.
Noah had ordered for everyone ahead of time. A selection of appetizers arrived. Our group broke into conversation. Mom and Carol hadn't seen each other during the years I'd dated Christopher. Carol was a talker, and a charmer like Noah.
"Grace, Linda, have I ever told you how Bruce and I met?" She had a devilish twinkle in her eyes.
"I don't believe you have," I said. "I'd love to hear it now."
Carol smiled at Bruce. "First grade." She patted Bruce's hand. "He was in third grade. Some bigger boy pushed me on the asphalt four-square court during first recess. I was skinny, but pretty good at four square. I had a powerful serve. I served to the bigger boy. He missed and he was out. In retaliation for humiliating him, the bully shoved me, knocking me roughly to the ground.
"I was wearing a dress. I went down hard, got a goose egg on my knee, and bruised and skinned it pretty bad. Even got some loose gravel in it. Bruce came to my aid like a knight in shining armor. In my mind's eye, it's as clear as if it happened yesterday. Bruce shoved the bully out of the way, picked me up, and carried me to the nurse's office. Where he insisted on holding my hand while I endured a probing pair of tweezers to get the gravel out. Got a dose of pink Merthiolate on my knee—it's outlawed now. They used to think it killed germs. It's mercury, basically. The nurse bandaged me up with a thick piece of gauze and a lot of medical tape."
She beamed at Bruce. "We were best friends from then through high school. We lost touch for a while after Bruce graduated. During that time, I made the biggest mistake of my life and married Noah's dad. I was a countess isolated on a farm in Calgary with a husband who, well…"
Carol took a moment to compose herself. "When I couldn't take life as the wicked earl's countess a moment longer, I called Bruce." She looked far away for a minute. "Bruce helped me escape. He and his late wife, Patty, who were newlyweds themselves at the time. Bruce has never stopped rescuing me. He's always been there for me." She took his hand and squeezed it. "After Patty passed away and Noah was in high school and on his way to becoming a man, I married my best friend. And never once regretted it."
Her husband squeezed her hand and kissed her. "Nor have I. Best friends make the best companions through life."
Chapter 7
Grace
"So your parents were your ace in the hole, our secret allies?" I said as the valet brought our car around after dinner. I was holding the flowers from the table. "What did you have to do to convince them?"
"There was no convincing to it. Mom meant what she said." Noah opened the car door for me. "She's always loved you, always thought us getting married would be the perfect fairytale ending to our daycare romance and college friendship."
I slid in. Noah went around to the driver's side and slid in the boxed remains of the single-tier wedding cake we'd had delivered to the restaurant. It was one of the few things we'd picked together—tuxedo, naturally. I could never get enough of it.
Noah pulled out of valet parking and headed up the hill into the heart of the city.
"So are you going to tell me where we're going now? You know I would have been fine spending our first night in either your place or mine."
He'd been tight-lipped about what he'd booked for our wedding night. "You'll see when we get there."
I leaned back against the headrest and took a deep breath. Not more than ten minutes later, we were again turning his car over to valet parking. This time hotel valet parking.
The concierge greeted us at the front door with our room keys. "Welcome, duke and duchess. May I extend our warmest congratulations on behalf of the hotel. Your honeymoon suite is ready. If you need anything, we're at your disposal."
"Personal greeting at the door," I whispered to Noah on the elevator ride up to the top floor. "A suite. You've gone all out."
"It's our wedding night, Gray," he said. "We need to start this marriage off right." He took my hand, led me down a hall, and let me into our suite.
My breath caught when I stepped inside. It was like something out of a beautiful dream. It was a corner room with walls of glass on two sides that showed off a view of the sound, the mountains, and the city sparkling at night. It was romantically lit with soft lights and candles and gently perfumed with something sensual and floral.
Our suitcases were already in the room and on racks. The sumptuous bed was turned down and sprinkled with rose petals. A single red rose lay over one pillow. Another bouquet sat on a round table, along with a bottle of what looked like wine chilling in an ice bucket. There was a basket full of chocolates, candied rose and violets, crackers, and romantic snacks. And tucked in the corner of the walls of windows, a sunken, heart-shaped tub.
I put my hand to my mouth and started to laugh. "Noah." I shook my head. "I can't believe you listened to all my girlish fantasies about what the perfect wedding-night hotel room would have. I've described a room like this a dozen times or more, at least."
I set my purse down and wandered to the windows to look at the view, stopping by to see what kind of wine was chilling. If it was our cheap college favorite, I was going to tease him. I pulled the bottle out of the ice bucket. "Hard cider?"
"Yeah. From a nearby competing cidery. Nice bottle. It's kind of crap, if you ask me. But I'm not a supertaster with a trained palate like you are."
"We're working on our wedding night?" I studied the bottle. "The branding could use some work, too."
"I prefer to call it taking the edge off."
I set the bottle back down and went to the windows to admire the view. "Wow. Look at the view. We're high above everything else."
"As we should be." Noah came up behind me and wrapped his arms around me, resting his chin on my head. "We did it, Gray."
"Yes, we did." I paused, trying to frame what I wanted to say. "I'm impressed. I didn't know you're such a good actor. You put on a convincing show today."
"It wasn't all show, Gray. I'm happy, very happy, to have you by my side on this adventure. We're going to kill it together."
"Yes," I said. "And I'm grateful to you for making me a duchess and swooping me away from all this humiliation and gossip." A laugh bubbled up. "Maybe I should have trashed Christopher and told people the reason I was dumping him. I'm not sure it was the right decision to keep my reasons private. I didn't feel like explaining. And it didn't seem like other people's business." I sighed. "And I felt so foolish. But now I look like a bitch dumping him so close to the wedding, especially without an explanation. I'm sure people are imagining all kinds of reasons. And Christopher is lying and playing the victim to his side."
"But who gives a fuck about them, Gray?"
"Exactly," I said. "For my side, people's reactions, when I told them I was marrying you just two weeks after dumping Christopher, were so comical and amusing. Most of them were speechless. They didn't know whether to caution me about a rebound marriage or give me best wishes. One of my grandmas told me she was glad I came to my senses in time and was marrying a man worthy of me."
"Worthy of you, am I?"
"According to Grandma, who's sworn for years that you've been in love with me forever."
"Let me guess—she saw us holding hands in daycare?"
"Probably." I leaned back against him. "She says she's never seen too children so close and so compatible."
"I have to agree with her there."
"We've certainly given people something to talk about. Including Grandma." I looked up at him.
He was staring at the view with a faraway look on his face. Wistful, maybe. It wasn't like him. But he never liked it when I talked about Christopher.
I changed the subject. "Your parents were brilliant tonight. Was all that true about the way Carol met Bru
ce?"
"I hope so," Noah said with a hint of amusement. "Either that or she's been lying to me all these years."
I continued staring up at him, trying to read him. "Do they love each other now? More than as friends?" I had my own opinion, but I wanted to hear what Noah thought.
He didn't hesitate. "Absolutely. I think they've always been in love. I've always thought they would have married sooner if Bruce hadn't been married to Patty. He was loyal to her. And so was Mom. Mom always felt she owed Patty a debt for helping rescue her from my father. Mom has never been the kind of woman to mess around with a married man."
"Poor Patty. I feel sorry for her. If Bruce was in love with Carol, what did that leave for her?"
"Bruce had a deep affection for Patty. He was good at hiding what he felt for Mom. I don't think Patty ever knew he was in love with Mom. I think she believed they were just good friends. Maybe that's what she wanted to see. Or maybe that's what Bruce wanted her to see."
"Carol and Bruce certainly had willpower." I paused. "So you think best friends can fall in love? You believe in the friends-to-lovers trope?"
He continued looking straight ahead, ostensibly at the view. But it seemed to me he was examining something inside himself. "Anything's possible." His tone was neutral. "It happens in romcoms all the time."
I felt his guard go up again. The cynical Noah was trying to return.
I tried to joke. "A heart-shaped bathtub, even an elegant, beautiful tub, is a bit ridiculous and overly romantic, don't you think?"
Noah frowned. "I thought it's what you wanted. Do you know how many top-end hotels I had to call to find one—"
I spun around in his arms and put a finger to his lips. "You do know me. I do want it. I never said I don't have a ridiculously romantic side."
He relaxed. "Good to know all that effort wasn't in vain."
I turned serious. "So how do we do this, Noah? Go from just friends to friends with benefits? We know so much about each other in every other way, but this is virgin territory."
Castled: Duke Society Series Page 5