The older man spoke quietly. “You need to forgive your mom. She is what she is and you can’t change that. This is your family now. And I’m not just talking Campbells. I’m talking Ethan, Zach, Marcus, Ben, Nick. All of us are your family.” Those were the guys they hung around with from the Police Athletic League. They were over at the house all the time.
Park nodded.
“Your mom will always be a part of you, but she doesn’t have to be everything. She doesn’t have to rule you.”
“Yeah!” a pip-squeak voice chimed in. They both turned to see Mad peeking through the railing at the top of the stairs, where she must’ve been listening. Her dark brown hair was in a crooked ponytail, her brown eyes large in her face like a baby deer. Innocent. Fragile. “Your mom sucks!”
Honest.
“Madison Campbell,” Mr. Campbell barked, “we’ll be having a talk as soon as I’m done here with Park.”
Mad stood, leaning over the railing from the top of the stairs, making Park’s heart pound hard. It was nearly a ten-foot drop. He had to keep her alive.
“Get off the railing!” Park hollered.
She leaned even further over, grinning with a big gap of missing front teeth. Fearless as ever. “My mom sucks too. Don’t worry, Park, you got us.” Her s’s lisped from the gap in her teeth, reminding him how little she was. She raised a small clenched fist in solidarity.
He raised a fist back.
She hitched one denim-clad leg over the railing, and his heart stopped and then lurched painfully on as she slid down the railing in a blur. She crossed to him and made their fists bump.
“Go outside with your brothers,” Mr. Campbell snapped. “You’re in trouble, young lady.”
Mad strolled toward the front door, all sass and attitude.
“Coat,” Mr. Campbell ordered.
Mad snagged her red coat off the hook in the hall closet and carried it outside, not bothering to put it on even though it was February. Before the door shut behind her, they heard her holler to her brothers, “Dad says you have to let me play.”
Park fought back a grin. Her brothers hated having her on their team for anything because she was little and slow (compared to them). Park was the one who made sure she was included. He knew it sucked to feel like you were all alone, watching everyone else have fun.
Mr. Campbell took a deep breath and turned back to Park. “Do you understand what I’m trying to say? I want you to dig deep for that inner strength I know is in there and choose a different path. No more fistfights.”
“Yes, sir.” He wanted to be strong like Mr. Campbell. His own dad was weak, an alcoholic who split when Park’s baby sister died.
Mr. Campbell smiled, laugh lines forming around his eyes. “When’re you going to call me Dad? You’ve lived here two years. I told you you’re one of us.”
“Yes, sir, Dad.”
Mr. Campbell, his honorary dad, stood, held out a hand and pulled Park to his feet. His dad hugged him in a big bear hug. Park could count on one hand the number of times he’d been hugged. He felt surrounded by strength and love. Most of his previous hugs had been the quick kind from the very physical older brother Ty Campbell hugging him and pounding him on the back for scoring a goal or a basket. This felt different. Important.
His dad pulled back and ruffled Park’s hair. “All right, go outside and shoot hoops with the guys while I have a talk with Miss Sassy Pants.”
“Lotta beauties at this party,” Ty commented, jolting Park out of his memories.
“I guess,” Park muttered.
“Weddings are a great place for a pickup,” Ty said. “They’re feeling all romantic and lonely. Then you just swoop in.”
Park snorted. “Yeah? Which one you think you’re gonna just swoop in on?”
“I like the looks of the one in the yellow dress.”
Park shifted, surreptitiously checking her out under half-hooded eyes. “She’s all right.”
“All right? You need to get your eyes checked. I think she’s a personal trainer. Or maybe she just has a personal trainer. Who cares? Look at those legs.”
“Look at her face,” Park said. “That face says I don’t tolerate fools.”
Ty socked his shoulder. “Watch and learn, my friend.”
Their drinks arrived, two ice-cold beers, and they wandered over to where his brothers were congratulating Jake and Claire, who’d just arrived after pictures. Hailey stepped away from the pack and headed for her book club posse.
“Hailey,” Ty called.
She stopped and turned on her heel. “Yes?”
“Who’s the girl in the yellow dress?”
She glanced over at her friends and then headed over to Ty. “Charlotte. You want me to introduce you?”
Ty’s eyes traveled over Charlotte again from head to toe. “Nah. Just curious.”
She cocked her head. “Sure?”
“Not everyone appreciates a matchmaking wedding planner, princess,” Josh drawled, appearing at Hailey’s side. He gave her a devious smile like he couldn’t wait to mess with her.
Hailey huffed. “I am a happy ending facilitator. This wedding is proof!”
Josh leered. “Well, now, I don’t have any problem with a happy ending.”
Hailey flushed bright pink. “It’s not that kind of happy ending.”
Josh leaned close, but they could still hear him loud and clear. “Maybe it should be. Maybe you’d have more men interested in your singles book club instead of all those women.”
Hailey’s hand fluttered in the air. “I have no problem getting a man interested.”
Josh barked out a laugh. Ty and Park exchanged an amused look. These two were a riot.
“Su-u-re,” Josh said with a slow nod. “That’s why you had to pay me for wedding dates.”
Hailey threw her hands up. “That was business! Not a date!”
Josh smirked.
“Shut up!” Hailey stalked away.
Ty shoved Josh by the shoulder. “Why don’t you just hook up and get it over with?”
“Fuck you,” Josh said casually, his gaze following Hailey’s curvy ass.
“She paid for wedding dates?” Park asked. He couldn’t imagine why. The woman was the kind of beautiful that you normally only saw in the movies or on TV.
“Yup,” Ty said. “Paid Joshy here as part of her business plan. That ended well, as you can see.”
Park shook his head. Josh grinned.
Their dad came over, the hard lines in his face easily breaking into a smile. “It was a beautiful wedding, wasn’t it?”
His dad, despite being single for so many years, was still a bit of a romantic. His wife had left when Mad was only one, yet he still spoke of her fondly. He even kept their wedding picture on the bedroom wall. It kept him stuck, Park thought. But his dad seemed content, happy being a dad to so many, so they never spoke of it.
“Yeah,” Ty said. “Jake’s a lucky bastard. Coulda been Josh if they hadn’t pulled a twin switcheroo on that blind date.”
Josh shook his head. “Nah. Claire got the right twin. I would hate having all those reporters nosing around and the paparazzi with their cameras.” He shuddered.
“I didn’t see any at the wedding,” Park said.
“That’s because Claire kept everything secret and it’s just a small group,” his dad said. “Her bodyguard arranged security for the reception. They’re posted outside of the room and around the resort. Even if they do have a leak somewhere, it’ll be contained.”
Park could see how that would get old. Always feeling like you were being watched.
A short while later, they all went to the round tables for a sit-down meal. The book club women sat together. The brothers sat at another table, with some of them also sitting with Claire’s family and some of Jake’s friends. It was a pretty large room for such a small party, but the view was spectacular. The ballroom was on a cliff with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the Atlantic Ocean.
After the
meal of filet mignon and lobster, a live band played a slow ballad and the newlyweds were called onto the dance floor.
Park watched Claire and Jake looking so happy and in love. Their bodies pressed close, their gazes locked. It was the first time Park had been at a wedding of someone close to him and, just like at the ceremony, his chest ached. He knew it wasn’t just him. Even Mad had gotten weepy at the ceremony. He would’ve hugged her if they’d been in the same row. It pained him to watch her cry without offering comfort. He’d done what he could.
The band leader spoke into the mike with a deep smooth voice. “Next dance is for the wedding party.”
Jake and Claire went to the head table to watch. Josh crooked his finger at Hailey, and she strode over to him, head held high. Josh offered his arm and she took it, walking with him to the center of the dance floor. Once there, Josh took her hand, the other resting on her back, leaving plenty of space between them as he led them in a slow waltz. He didn’t know Josh knew how to dance like that. The pair practically glided around the dance floor, seeming surprisingly in synch for all the hostility between them.
“Ask Charlotte to dance on the next one,” Ty told Park.
Park cocked his head. “Why? I thought you wanted her.”
“I do. I’m going to ask Hailey.”
“What? Why?”
“Just do it.”
“I don’t want to dance.”
“You have to,” Ty said. “There’s a ton of women here. You gotta do your part.”
“There’s other guys here,” he said, gesturing around the table. “There’s more guys than girls anyway.”
“I thought you’d be my wingman,” Ty said.
“Get Alex.” Ty and Alex had spent a lot of time together as teens picking up girls.
“He’s too busy with Viv.”
Park glanced over to where Alex was carrying a crying Viv out of the ballroom.
“She’s tired,” Ty said by way of explanation. “She missed her afternoon nap.”
“Is he coming back?”
“Probably. He’ll carry her around a bit and, after she falls asleep, he’ll bring her back. She’ll probably sleep through the noise. She’s used to it.”
“No babysitter?”
Ty shifted to watch Charlotte. “Babysitter quit when Viv proved to be too much of a handful. She’s fine. Plenty of family around to help out.”
But Park didn’t see anyone helping out. Just Alex on his own.
When the next song started, everyone was invited to join the wedding party. One by one, his brothers stood, going to ask a woman to dance. Park stayed put and pulled out his cell phone to take some pictures.
Someone tapped him on the shoulder. He turned, his heart thumping a little harder at the sight of Mad up close in that tight black dress. The black lace cover-up shifted off one shoulder, exposing smooth skin. His gaze drifted over her shoulder to her delicate collarbone, and then lower to the soft swell of—he stopped and swallowed. The dark line of a tattoo peeked out of the dress right over her heart. He wanted to trace it, wanted to see all of it.
“Hey, PMS,” she said. Her old nickname for him when he got moody and broody.
“You got a tattoo,” he said, unable to take his eyes off it.
She peeked down and hiked up the front of her dress to cover it. Then she adjusted the lacy cover-up over both her shoulders. He wanted to peel that lacy thing off her, desperately wanted to peel that dress down. He needed to see—
“You just gonna sit here all night?” she demanded.
He stood automatically, in a weird place between shocked at her stunning beauty and wary. Like a distant siren call of danger was trying to get through his hazy brain. Seeing her across the room was one thing. Up close and personal, something else entirely. She smelled like flowers. Mad never smelled like flowers.
“Take a picture, it lasts longer,” she snapped.
He aimed his cell at her and did exactly that. She looked a little pouty. He brushed his thumb across her full lower lip before he realized what he was doing. The roar of his heartbeat pounded in his ears. He pressed his thumb against it, right in the center. So soft. Her lips parted.
His voice came out husky. “You look so different.”
Her deep brown eyes went soft.
He dropped his hand.
“Thanks,” she said softly before taking off the lace cover-up and draping it over the back of his chair. Her curvy little body in a tight black dress, exposed to his eyes and hands, made everything in him stand at full attention. The siren call of danger rang loud and clear in his mind. She was too close.
He elbowed her, making a little space between them. “What the hell did those women do to you?” He figured her friends had something to do with her new look. He’d never seen her like this, all made-up and sexy. Thankfully.
Her eyes flashed hurt. “Excuse me for wearing a dress to a wedding.”
He hadn’t meant to hurt her feelings. He was just bowled over at the change in her.
She crossed her arms, making her cleavage lift. He risked another look at her tattoo, but couldn’t see it. He forced his gaze back to her face.
Her lip curled belligerently. “Since we’re both dressed up, we should dance or something.”
“I can’t dance,” he said, but what he meant was I can’t dance with you. He couldn’t hold her close, couldn’t have those petite curves pressed against him. The fact that she was the off-limits Campbell girl was rapidly fading in his mind as everything in him urged him to touch, to taste, to claim. His heart pounded out the message danger, danger, danger.
“Like I give a shit,” she said, grabbing his hand and yanking him toward the dance floor. “I’m not dancing with my brothers.”
“Ask Claire’s brother,” he said lamely, digging his heels in on the edge of the dance floor.
“You’re dumber than you look,” she said, putting her arms around his neck and pressing close.
His hands automatically went to her narrow waist, spanning his fingers wide to touch more of her. The room dimmed around them, the music distant, nothing but the sweet scent of flowers, the heat of her, his head swimming in a strange cocktail of lust and danger.
She swayed against him, and he realized he should be moving. He swayed back and forth a bit with her, and she somehow managed to settle in even closer to him. There was no part of him that wasn’t aware of her. Her breasts pressed into his chest, her belly against his aching groin, her upper thighs against his. His hand found the satiny skin of her bare back.
“Hey, shortstack,” Ty said from nearby where he was dancing with Hailey.
“Hi, guys!” Hailey said with a big smile.
Park lifted his chin in acknowledgment and tried to put some space between him and Mad, but Mad had a good hold on him and it was impossible.
“Hi,” Mad said, shifting them away from Ty and Hailey.
Park tried not to focus on Mad in his arms. He craned his neck, looking around for the girl in the yellow dress. She was dancing with Ethan. Great plan, Ty. Ethan was smooth with women and could easily move in on her.
Mad went up on tiptoe, brushing against him and gaining his undivided attention. Then she whispered in his ear, her voice a sexy purr, “You look hot in that suit.”
He swallowed hard because he now knew without a doubt the attraction went both ways. She’d desired him once, when she was too young, and he’d hoped that when he returned, she’d have moved on. He was damaged goods.
“Thanks,” he managed.
She brushed against him a second time as she stood flat on her feet again. His cock throbbed with need, his brain screaming at him to pull away. Danger. Off-limits. Not her.
She met his eyes, a small smile playing over her lips like maybe she’d noticed the effect she had on him. “It was like the beauty shop of horror with my friends before the wedding.”
“Horror?”
“You don’t want to know what women do behind closed doors.” Her breasts brush
ed across his chest as she swayed right to his sway left. Was she wearing a bra? Don’t look.
She went on. “But hopefully it’s all worth it.” She swayed left to his sway right, brushing her breasts against him again. He took the lead, a hand on her lower back, making sure she swayed with him to prevent any further brushing. “With pain comes beauty, least that’s what Hailey says. I’m not sure I buy it.”
He met her eyes, wanting to tell her how beautiful she looked. How jaw-dropping sexy. But it was Mad. His little pip-squeak to protect at all costs. Even if that meant protecting her from himself.
She sure as hell didn’t feel like a little pip-squeak right now.
She felt hot and sweet and right in his arms. She could never be his, he reminded himself. She deserved so much more than he could give. He just wasn’t made that way.
“You don’t have to say it,” she said like she could read his freaking mind.
“Say what?” he asked cautiously.
She gave him a smirky knowing look. “You dig the dress.” She clearly felt the proof during their dance and he saw no reason to deny it now.
He leaned down to her ear and whispered, “I nearly swallowed my tongue when I saw you.”
She pulled back to look at him, eyes wide.
He returned her gaze, letting her see it was true, yet knowing it had to end right here on the dance floor. He didn’t know how much time passed, the two of them just standing there, staring at each other. He suddenly realized people were leaving the dance floor. The song had ended.
He pulled away. “Thanks for the dance, little bit.”
And then he turned and walked straight out the door, through the hotel’s long lobby and outside, desperately needing to cool off in the winter air.
Chapter Nine
Mad strode as quickly as she could in her clunky heels over to her friends the moment Park left her standing on the dance floor like an idiot.
Hailey elbowed her. “So, how’d it go?”
“He practically ran away from me the moment the song ended,” Mad said with a scowl.
“He was holding you pretty close,” Hailey said.
“No, he wasn’t,” Mad said. “That was me pressing against him.”
Inviting Trouble (Happy Endings Book Club, Book 2) Page 9