Christmas With the Best Man

by Ari Thatcher

  Christmas

  with

  the Best Man

  Ari Thatcher

  Christmas with the Best Man

  Copyright © 2015 Ari Thatcher

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. With the exception of quotes used in reviews, this book may not be reproduced or used in whole or in part by any means existing without written permission from Ari Thatcher.

  Published by Aspendawn Press

  United States of America

  Electronic Edition: November, 2015

  This book is a work of fiction and all characters exist solely in the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. Any references to places, events or locales are used in a fictitious manner.

  Prologue

  The sun poured through the stained glass windows in the charming, tiny church outside Kilmore Quay, Ireland. The colors gave the room a magical glow, as though magical leprechauns might appear at any moment.

  Rather than awaiting leprechauns, Jasmine Wright stood at the altar waiting for her friend Kenzi Packard to marry her first love, rock star Chaz Marino. Wondering what the delay was, Jasmine glanced at the best man, Joey Hughes, who stood on the opposite side of the red-haired minister.

  As usual, Joey had his cell phone out and tapped busily on the screen.

  “Can’t you put that thing down for even a minute?” Her voice echoed in the empty chapel.

  Joey didn’t even look up from his typing. “I’ll put it away when Chaz and Kenzi walk up the aisle.”

  Of all the members of Chaz’s band, Marino, Joey alone thrived on irritating Jasmine nerves. He was all business 24/7. Always on his phone planning schedules, staying on top of their manager and their accountant. She realized Joey was Chaz’s best friend, but she would have preferred the drummer, Travis, had been the one who traveled to Ireland with them for the wedding.

  Travis was so shy, though, he wouldn’t give her much conversation. Joey talked with her once in a while, even if he didn’t look at her while doing so.

  To be honest, Joey could be carved from the same stone as she was. Well, in her case it was a diamond and his was still coal, but they were both planners, detail oriented, and up to date on everything going on in the world. That was probably the reason they clashed so often, too. Neither wanted to give up control.

  The longer she watched him ignore her, the more she noticed how much hotter he was than Travis. Joey had style, a signature look with his close-cropped black hair, that fedora he never went without, and his preference for tank tops that showed off his biceps and tats. Seeing him without the hat, and wearing a white button-down shirt, gray sports coat, and jeans, Jasmine remembered that up until she met the band in person, he’d been the one she had crushed on.

  Damn, why couldn’t he be better company?

  Or why couldn’t Travis be here instead?

  They’d spent a week in Ireland with Chaz and Kenzi, hiding from the paparazzi in a bed and breakfast inn, and occasionally venturing out to see some of the landmarks. Privacy and relaxation were what the guys were looking for after finishing up a world tour. Jasmine would have preferred a non-stop road trip to see the entire island. But this trip wasn’t about her. This was Kenzi’s dream wedding.

  Hearing footsteps near the entry, Jasmine saw Chaz and Kenzi enter, arm-in-arm. She gasped at the beauty of her friend. She’d helped Kenzi dress in her ivory silk and lace gown, and had added the baby’s breath flowers to the low bun with loose tendrils, but standing beside Chaz brought such joy to Kenzi’s features, she was truly a breathtaking bride.

  Suddenly remembering Joey’s promise to pocket his phone, she glanced at him. He held out his empty hands and he raised his right brow in a blatant I told you so look. She smirked back at him and watched the bride and groom walk up the aisle.

  As Jasmine slipped into daydream mode, the minister’s words went fuzzy. A year ago, Jasmine hadn’t even known Kenzi knew Chaz Marino. Chaz-freakin’-Marino! The way Kenzi and Chaz reunited wasn’t quite a romantic scene from a movie—at least it didn’t start like that—but they’d been together ever since.

  When would Jasmine’s turn come?

  She realized Kenzi and Chaz were kissing, so the ceremony must have been over. Jasmine hugged each of them, then automatically turn to hug Joey, too. He opened his arms to her, but the move was awkward. Almost like hugging a stranger. She turned back to the beautiful couple. “You look so perfect together. I hope you’re always this happy.”

  Not to be outdone, Joey added, “Let the good times outweigh the bad.”

  “Let’s go back to the B&B and open the champagne,” Chaz said before leading Kenzi back down the aisle.

  “I’m always up for champagne.” Joey’s phone was already in his hands.

  Walking beside him, Jasmine whispered, “You are such a romantic.”

  “I do my best.”

  Chapter One

  Two days later, thunder exploded above the Quay House Bed and Breakfast, rattling the windows. Jasmine jolted so hard she fell against Joey on the edge of his bed.

  “Hey, watch it. You almost made me drop my phone.” Joey leaned into her, pushing her upright.

  “As if I did it on purpose!”

  Thunder crashed again and the lights flickered. She walked to the window, holding out her phone. “Come on, there has to be a signal somewhere. Do you have service?”

  “No. Not on my phone or my tablet.”

  “Perfect. How do we check in for our flight?” Jasmine had enjoyed the last week, but she was ready to go home. “We should have left yesterday with Chaz and Kenzi.”

  “That would have defeated the purpose of Chaz and me not being seen together, to cut down on the paparazzi.”

  “Seriously, who doesn’t recognize him?”

  Joey raised one of those dark, expressive eyebrows at her. His deep brown eyes hinted at laughter behind that deadpan face.

  She realized what she’d implied by leaving Joey out of her question. “Sorry. Who doesn’t recognize either of you?”

  He laughed like he’d been teasing her. “I don’t have half the problems he does when traveling. Thank God.”

  Sitting beside him on the bed again, she checked her phone once more for a signal. “So what do we do? Just go to the airport and check in there?”

  “You crack me up.” Joey stretched and then rubbed his neck. “I never know if you’re for real or not. Yes, people who don’t have Internet have to check in in person.”

  “We’ll have to leave early.” She looked at the time. “In an hour? We’ll need to add extra time for traffic in the rain, plus checking in.”

  “Sounds about right. I’m all packed, so we can go whenever you’re ready.”

  She gave him a blank look. “Of course you are. And you’re probably expecting me to run back to my room in a panic and throw everything in my suitcases. I’ll have you know I’m ready, too.”

  “Then let’s hit the road.”

  Walking out of his room as casually as she could, she shut the door behind her and rushed to her room. She was mostly packed. She hadn’t decided which pair of shoes she’d rather sacrifice to puddle jumping. Her runners would have to do.

  Most of her makeup was already in the makeup case. Rolling the cord of the flat iron, she tossed it in, too. After a quick scan of the room, she grabbed her purse and suitcases and went downstairs.

  Joey waited at the foot of the steps.

  Marny O’Neal, the owner, joined them in the entry. “So you’ll be leaving, now?”

  “Yes. We’re getting a head start because of the weather.” Joey shouldered the strap of his carry-on bag.

  “You take care. The roads will be bad.”
r />   “Thanks, we will.” Before following Joey out the door, Jasmine pulled up her hood.

  The front of the B&B sparkled with colorful Christmas lights, and garlands of greenery draped the porch railing. If it weren’t for the downpour, she might be in the Christmas spirit.

  Joey threw his bag in the trunk and left it open for her while he climbed behind the driver’s seat. After slamming the trunk closed, she jumped into the passenger side. “I hope the car rental company doesn’t charge us extra for water damage on the seats.”

  Joey grunted. He drove silently, only the swishing of the wiper blades filling the car.

  She pulled her phone from her pocket and tried again to get a signal. No luck. She had two or three hours ahead of her on the road with a guy sitting in his cone of silence, and no service on the phone to keep her entertained. Good thing she kept a good selection of books downloaded. Leaning back, she opened that app.

  ~*~

  Joey followed the arrows around the airport to the rental car return. Once they’d turned in the key, he led the way to their gate.

  “Oh, damn.” Jasmine stopped in her tracks.

  Following her gaze, he saw the flight status display. All flights were delayed or canceled. “What the hell?”

  The crowd grew thicker the closer they got to the counter. In front of him, travelers asked the same questions repeatedly.

  “What do you mean, there are no alternate flights?”

  “What are we supposed to do now?”

  “You people can’t fly in a little rain?”

  That one made Joey chuckle. If they were smart, they’d all be building arks.

  Jasmine set down her bags and stood beside him in the line that wasn’t moving. “What do we do now?”

  “I guess we pray there are a couple of chairs free while we wait.”

  Of course, the seats were all taken, as was much of the wall space. They squeezed into a small spot. Jasmine had her phone out. She always had it in her hand, like it was permanently attached. At least he put his away once in awhile.

  Now wasn’t one of those times.

  He sat way too close to Jasmine. Her thick black hair kept brushing against the side of his face. It smelled like mai tais, like coconuts. All she needed was a little pink umbrella tucked in her hair. His silent laugh shook his body.

  “What?”

  “What what?” No way would he admit he’d been thinking about how good her hair smelled.

  “Fine.” She went back to her phone. “I feel trapped.”

  “Feel free to get up and move around.” He wouldn’t mind the extra space.

  “No, I mean not being able to use my apps. If we could get a signal, we could find alternate transportation. Maybe we can fly out of Cork or Shannon.”

  “This island is only so big. From what I saw on the weather map before my service disappeared, we’re going to be stuck for days.”

  “We can’t. I want to spend Christmas with my family, not with…”

  He cleared his throat, knowing where her sentence was headed. “An airport full of strangers?”

  “Um, yeah, that’s what I was going to say. I think we should see if the train will take us to Shannon.”

  “So we can sit in a different airport? I’m all for a change of scenery, but that seems like a waste of time.”

  Instead, they wasted a good part of the afternoon sitting against the wall. Feeling his right foot tingling, Joey stood to get his circulation going. “We should get another rental car and go back to the B&B. It’ll be easier than trying to find a room around here. They’re probably all booked by now.”

  “That doesn’t get us closer to home.”

  “I think you need to face the fact we’re stuck here until after Christmas.” He didn’t like the idea any more than she did, but at least no one was waiting for him back in the States.

  “Let’s go, then.” No whining or moaning. She surprised him.

  The line at the rental car place was as bad as the airline counter. The customers were no more pleased than Joey was to hear the cars were all taken.

  “How does that happen?” Jasmine’s voice was now on the verge of a whine.

  “Let’s take the shuttle to the train. There might be a long line, but at least another train will be coming shortly.”

  The porter told them there wasn’t a shuttle. Taxi or bus were the choices. “But I doubt you can get a cab today. You can wait and try, but I’d take the Airlink, myself.” He directed them where to board one.

  Thankfully they arrived at the train station without much hassle, even if they did have to wait forever for the Airlink bus to show up. After another long wait at the train station in Dublin and at the bus station in Wexford, they were finally back in Kilmore Quay.

  And it was still raining.

  “Now what?” Jasmine stood beside him looking at the waterfall pouring off the roof of the bus station.

  “The pub isn’t far. We can use the phone there to call Mrs. O’Neal and get our rooms back. Besides, it’s not like we aren’t wet already.” Joey grabbed the handle on his bag and shouldered his carry-on. “Ready?”

  She grinned and shrugged. “Why not?”

  He looked down at the suitcases at her feet. “I suppose I should do the gentlemanly thing, huh?”

  “Don’t strain yourself. Why change now?” Her lips tilted in a wry grin.

  He picked up the suitcase without wheels and ducked through the waterfall. They ran across the street and down the block, practically diving into the pub when they reached it. They were soaked to the skin, breathing hard, and laughing.

  After shaking much of the water off their coats, they hung them on the hooks by the door, dropped their bags near a table and crossed the dim room to the bar. Ned, the bartender, came down to their end. “What’ll it be? A tall ale, or a warm toddy?”

  “We’d prefer a flight home.” Jasmine sighed and sat on a stool.

  “Sorry. I used up all the magic the leprechaun gave me when I found his pot o’ gold. I can do fish and chips along with that drink.”

  Joey sat beside Jasmine. “A phone would be great. Our cell phones have no service.”

  “Phone’s against the wall.” He tilted his head to the right.

  As Joey walked to the phone, he heard Jasmine order a coffee. Well, she ordered a latte and Ned offered to load a mug of coffee with fresh cream and sugar.

  “Quay House,” came the voice on the other end of the phone line.

  “Hi, this is Joey Hughes. We checked out this morning. We can’t get a flight. Do you still have our rooms available?”

  “Sorry, but we close down for the holiday weekend. You’ll have to try somewhere else.”

  He hung up and returned to the bar. “Our bad luck continues. There’s no room at the inn.”

  Jasmine’s face remained blank. “How many years have you been waiting to use that line?”

  “Hey, I thought it was funny.” He sat down again, fighting a grin. “Ned, where can I find the numbers for the local hotels?”

  Ned set a phone book on the counter. “It’s two days before Christmas, lad. I doubt you’ll be finding a place to stay tonight.”

  The man was right. No rooms available anywhere since no one could leave Ireland. Joey hung up after the last call. “I’ll take that ale after all,” he said as he walked back to his stool.

  “Where are we staying?” Jasmine held her mug with two hands as if keeping them warm.

  “On the curb, I guess. Or we can sleep in the bus station if they don’t kick us out.”

  Her eyes glistened with tears for the first time in all this chaos. “Seriously?”

  He didn’t bother to answer.

  Handing Joey a glass of ale, Ned said, “Did I hear you have no place to stay?”

  “No rooms available,” Joey confirmed.

  “Boys,” Ned called to a table where three old men sat. “This couple is needin’ a room until the storm passes. Who’s got a room to spare?”

&nb
sp; “Not me.”

  “The wife would kill me if I brought home a pretty young thing.”

  The three men chuckled.

  “What about that flat over Gilmore’s shop? It’s been empty since Kieran went off to uni.”

  “Aye, give ol’ Gilmore a ring.”

  Ned made the call and came back smiling. “You’d be in luck. It might be a bit dusty, but the room is available. Their shop is at the end of the block.”

  Joey clenched his teeth. Please let room be Irish for apartment.

  “Thank you so much!” Jasmine jumped up. “Come on, Joey. I want to put on dry clothes.”

  He and Jasmine ran through the downpour to the last building, a small storefront with a second floor above. He slid to a stop when he saw the name on the door. Gilmore’s Fresh Fish.

  Beggars couldn’t be choosers.

  “Fáilte.” A round-faced older woman wearing an apron over her sweater and jeans greeted them. “You’ll be the couple Ned called about.”

  “Yes,” Jasmine said. They introduced themselves.

  Joey bit his tongue. All this use of the word couple where he and Jasmine were concerned made him itch.

  “You’re lucky, we were just about to lock up.” Mrs. Gilmore pulled a key ring from her pocket. “Come ‘round to the back and I’ll show you the place.”

  The door behind the fish shop opened to a tiny entry and a staircase leading to the second floor. Mrs. Gilmore unlocked the door at the top of the stairs. “Here we are. It’s been closed up tight for a few months, but it’s dry. There’s wood in the fireplace, and I’ll have my daughter bring more ‘round. That’s the only heat.”

  She pointed to the door in a corner. “The water closet’s there. There’s a tub, too. No stove or refrigerator, but you’ll find a hot plate in the cupboard.”

  “It’s perfect, thank you.” He hadn’t even thought about where to buy food. The light through the windows was fading, so stores would likely be closing soon. If they hurried, they could at least hit the pub for fish and chips. He took the key from Mrs. Gilmore and he closed the door behind her when she left.