by Emma James
Me: No playing, just picking up a suit
Slade: Everybody safe?
Me: I’ve got it covered
Slade: You wanna tell me what is going on?
Me: You trust me?
Slade: Playing hardball now?
Me: Yup
Trust in me and we will all get the bride to Edge in one piece
Just not on time.
Girl-code trumps everything else on this special day of hers
I have my maid of honor um honor to up hold
I do what the bride asks of me
Slade: You know I will spank your ass HARD if you are lying to me
Me: That’s not a threat
Slade: Damn woman
Me: Damn behemoth
Disconnect.
I do love that man.
Inhale.
Exhale.
Remaining calm.
I walk casually over to where. Tucker accompanies Raine on acoustic guitar, sitting close to Theodore and Annie.
I lean in and discreetly whisper, “Tucker, you’re going solo once this song finishes for one song so I can have a chat to Raine. I need some background noise. We have a situation and whatever you do, don’t look at Edge. Stay cool. The man can sniff out drama from twenty paces.”
“Okay, you’re the man, Juan.” Tucker talks with a silly grin on his face like he’s a ventriloquist doll I’ve got my hand stuffed up.
“Yes, yes, I am. Now stop looking weird.” The times I’ve met the guy, I’m never sure if he’s cocky or sincere half the time, but I know he can be counted on.
“Sounds like Torque’s not holding down the fort very well. Is the bride okay?”
“I think so.” Hell, I don’t know, and that is not good.
“Really?” Tucker goes to look at Edge.
“Do. Not. Make. Eye contact with Edge!” I whisper-hiss at Tucker, “I’m now casually going to stroll over to Raine and have my pow-wow, so be cool.”
“I got you covered, dude. Now if you had let me and Raine have one of those fancy headsets, then you could have been in communication with us that way. Now we look suss. Edge is going to sniff you out, buddy.”
“Tucker…” I growl.
“You’re too easy, Juan.” And then he winks at me. “See now, if Edge is getting suss, it looks like I am flirting with you, and he will just roll his eyes and forget you are even over here chatting with us.”
“I’m not even sure if you have a point.” I move away from him.
The song they are playing together finishes and then Tucker nods and doesn’t hesitate a second longer to slip into playing his solo, getting a raised eyebrow from Raine who hasn’t got the memo yet.
I try to act like I’m incognito and glide down onto the piano bench seat and murmur, “Raine, be cool, I don’t need Edge sniffing out there is a problem, but you are going to have to pull out all the songs until I signal you to stop. There’s been a delay with Whisper arriving on time, and I’m not sure when the estimated time of arrival will be.”
“Everything okay?” Raine whispers back. He is one of the nicest men I have had the pleasure of meeting. He loves Hope (Keanu’s wife) like a sister, and he does cool things for her friends—like this wedding gig.
Tucker moves closer still plucking at strings, playing flawlessly. “Psst... what’s going on?”
“Move away, Tucker. Edge will be onto us,” I murmur, but all he does is keep playing and sits down on the other side of Raine at the bench seat, his head cocked at an angle to listen in.
I know he’s not going to go away unless he hears something more detailed, not that I know anything, but Tucker has to listen in and hear for himself.
“Phoenix made contact just now to pass on that the bride got unavoidably detained, which means Edge won’t like why his bride is late. The wedding is going to be held up for a while longer, but the show will go on. It sounds like Boxer is hurt.”
“Okay, I’ll keep the guests entertained until you signal me to switch to the bridal procession songs.” Hudson Raine is ever the professional.
“Oh, this is gonna be a good story,” Tucker murmurs as he moves back over to where I had him seated initially.
I can’t help a sneak peek in Edge’s direction.
He’s caught my look, and his eyes narrow suspiciously at me.
I turn my whole body away from him.
‘Guilty as charged’ blinks like an invisible neon sign.
I have to make myself look busy, and not like I am hiding information from Edge. I decide to make a beeline to grab an umbrella to hide discreetly behind so I can whisper in Theodore’s ear of the delay.
Wedding days—never a dull moment.
I fidget from side to side as I check my watch and inwardly groan at the time. Whisper definitely should’ve been here by now.
It’s a bride’s right to keep the groom waiting, but her last message said she was on her way.
There are no evil fuckers out to get her—or me—so we’ve got that covered. I would have heard by now if there was a problem.
Torque, Boxer, and Phoenix are more than capable of looking after a group of beautiful women and three kids. None of them have pulled an S.O.S., and Zayne and Devil haven’t called anything in, so I trust that everything is okay.
I subtly check the time on my watch, again.
I look sideways at my best man and blood brother, Mathias, as though he should be able to give me an answer as to why my bride has not arrived.
He’s no help, giving me a little shrug and a silly grin over my silent question. I roll my eyes back at him. My brother thinks my anxiety over where-the-hell-is-my-bride is hilarious because he knows there’s no way she is gonna stand me up. I know that too, but then my mind is drawn to all the dangerous shit that could be playing out right now, and that’s why she ain’t here.
I lean forward a little and look at Hazard who’s standing next to Mathias, looking sharp in the dark navy suit that all the men are wearing. His hair is tied back, much neater than he would typically do for himself after sitting without complaint while Faith’s friend, Jewel, the hairstylist attended to grooming the groomsmen. I noted Hazard couldn’t keep his eyes off the woman and didn’t once grumble about getting his locks trimmed and styled.
Hazard’s no help shrugging the same silent answer, and then I look onto Slade who does the same but adds a cocked head. I don’t bother looking any farther down the line. I’m sure Lethal, Blueblood, and Drill are all gonna give me the same copy-and-paste response.
I quit fidgeting and take a deep calming breath.
There’s no way Whisper would have stood me up.
And this is what worries me.
But then I manage to catch Juan, trying his hardest not to look at me as he puts his phone away and wanders over for a chitchat with Tucker.
I pull out my phone and check it again, but there are no messages I have missed and pocket it.
And then a symphony of phones in one row goes off with a variety of message received sounds. And look at that! The bridesmaids’ men are all bowing their heads to read.
Now they are whispering to each other.
Phones slide back into their pockets.
Faces all look up and whatdoyaknow?
Nobody’s making direct eye contact with me until Harley Madden swings me a casual wave and a nod.
Aannd that’s supposed to do what?
Then Harley’s nudging Keanu Lee, who gives me a double-thumbs-up.
Who then nudges Levi Donovan, who gives me a smile and a nod.
Who then nudges Jase Madden, who just looks cranky at Levi for touching him, then looks to Retro Cooper and he shrugs and smiles at me like nothing just happened.
I lean forward and look at Slade, who is watching the peanut gallery, not overly concerned at their behavior—more amused.
“Got somethin’ I need to know, Slade?”
“Don’t look at me. I’m not in”—he points to the MOOB crew—”their little club toda
y.”
I check my phone… again.
Nothing.
Fuck!
It appears I’m not in the club either.
“Whisper, you need to sit down so I can take a look at your hands.” Evelyn isn’t mucking about as she starts setting up a sterile work area in my kitchen with what she is going to need.
“Please see to Boxer’s head first while I drop a message to Edge.
“Love, I can wait—”
“No, you can’t. Have you seen the back of your head?” I try not to look at his blood-matted hair.
“Whisper, honey, resistance is futile. I know my husband. He will always put a female before his needs. So let’s not waste anymore of your precious time. And Reid Scott, please at least sit your lovely ass down before you fall down. Doctors orders!”
He sighs. “I’m sitting, love.”
“I can’t believe I’ve got three patients to see to on my day off,” she jokes. “I’m just so glad it isn’t four. You know you are my hero, Reid. Thank you for saving Bowie.” She leans forward and kisses him gently on the forehead.
“In that case because I lightened your load by one patient today, you can repay me tonight.” He waggles his eyebrows at his wife.
“I’ll just move out of here so you two can have some privacy.” I laugh. “I can concentrate on messaging better.”
“No!” they both holler at me.
“You stay put and message Edge,” Evelyn says quietly.
My palms hiss at me as I type.
Me: Hey husband-to-be ☺
I figure a happy face emoticon is sending the right vibe.
Me: Love of my life, we are going to be about half an hour or so
Just a little kid issue we need to sort out
Nothing to worry about
Love you xx
Yep, that’s me in and out, because less is always more in this case.
I turn and walk off without a backward glance, determined to get behind the sanctuary of my front door.
With every step I take, I’m inwardly shadowboxing with myself, fighting the urge to look over my shoulder to see if Torque has eyes on me. I keep putting one foot in front of the other willing myself not to turn around and give in to the pull I’m feeling.
Leaning up against the back of my closed door inside my home, I take in a deep breath and blow it out slowly.
Talk about a jumble of mixed signals my body is going through. My mind is feeling guilt and horror for three people getting hurt while my traitorous va-jay-jay picks now, after all these years to let me know it is no longer in hibernation. And when my breasts got onboard with the jitterbug my va-jay-jay was jiving to, hardening my nipples right in front of Torque—I know he noticed. If they had a voice, they would have been begging to be touched by his large hands, and that just makes me downright ashamed for feeling like that when he had come over to enlighten me on what my son had set in motion.
I tried to hide my body’s reaction to him by crossing my arms over my chest, which in turn hoisted my boobs up. All I could do was try to pretend my motor wasn’t purring under my hood.
Torque woke my body up from its dormant state and made my girlie bits realize there was more to life than a cheap date with BOB and that “more” he spoke about was standing in front of me.
I need a minute to process everything that just happened before I find my son.
When I saw the ruggedly, handsome man with Bowie as they approached me, my heart jackhammered in my chest in fear, which then converted to confusion when I realized Bowie didn’t look scared. He looked unaffected by the guy’s hand clamped down on his shoulder.
I knew he had to be a friend of Whisper and Edge’s. I understood from Whisper the MC club members Edge had over at his home and around his children were all good men and the clubs were not into illegal trade. She was very upfront about that when Bowie started playing with her children.
It was hard to miss the rumbling snarls of motorbikes roaring up the road toward Edge and Whisper’s home when they came to visit a few times a year, but I had never laid eyes on Torque—until now.
Whisper took the three children for their wedding attire fittings and I didn’t attend the wedding rehearsal. I was busy ensuring all the rental pieces Juan and Birdie ordered from my warehouse for the wedding were checked and rechecked and loaded into the truck so they could both enjoy the rehearsal and dinner.
I will do something soon for Whisper and Edge to express my deepest regret for what has happened, due to my son’s antics. I can’t even fathom what I could possibly do to make amends, but for now, I need to let the bride have her day and save my apologies for tomorrow.
I close my eyes and take a moment to center myself and try to get this thing I’m feeling under control.
I need to get through the rest of today, which includes the reception party at Whisper and Edge’s home tonight without my va-jay-jay catching on fire.
The man is messing with my equilibrium.
I start to bite my nails. It’s a nervous thing I do and quickly fling my hand away from my mouth. I’m not going to ruin my nails over this thing I’m feeling.
Apparently, I only have to say the word. It would be that easy to end my nine year reign of Queen of Celibacy. The man can talk dirty so casually in front of me without any embarrassment whatsoever.
Good. Lawd!
I take several slow, deep, calming breaths and try not to think about Torque—and sex.
And sex with Torque.
And drop-all-my-inhibitions-filthy-open-the-flood-gates sex with Torque.
All night… sex with Torque.
And his dirty mouth, saying dirty things… while having all night sex.
Down. Girl!
I let out a sexually frustrated growl.
Who am I?
Why Torque?
Why now?
What is happening to me?
How did I get talked into becoming a plus one even though I am already going to the wedding?
This turns us into a first date.
Why didn’t I say no?
I have rules about men and dating set in place.
What is it about this man who wears his thick mane of ash-blond hair to just above his shoulders as proudly as any lion king?
What is it about this man who is built like a warrior with broad, strong shoulders that sit on a tall, lean frame that tapers down to a tight ass?
What is it about this man that has me agreeing to his requests?
Does he even know how good he smells?
I wanted to lean in and sniff the guy’s neck while purring. I can’t place the scent, but it is pure catnip masculinity.
I am powerless to understand why I want that scent all over me. I’m a female in heat all of a sudden and I don’t understand any of it.
This is not how I behave around men.
I just threw the rule book out the window. It no longer holds any meaning.
A little white flag is waving about in my mind telling me it would be okay to surrender to a man like him. Just for a night. Go on. Get it out of your system.
But is that a risk worth taking for my son’s sake?
Bowie is fiercely protective of me when it comes to men—yet Torque doesn’t seem to bother him.
My son allowed Torque to place his hand on his shoulder. He listened to Torque when he guided him to spill the beans on what had gone down.
Bowie didn’t try to get rid of him for talking to me, not like he would put men off who came into my shop and flirted with me when Bowie was helping me after school, not realizing I was not interested and could handle myself.
Once Bowie turned seven-years-old, he seemed to wise up overnight to certain men who came into the shop who were by themselves, always there to buy a gift for their wife or girlfriend. Every so often a man with a wedding ring on would flirt with me. Bowie had a code he used: Code 43. I don’t even think he knew why he chose that number, but all the staff would let out a quiet giggle if he announc
ed a ‘Code 43’ and I openly agreed it was indeed a Code 43 and another staff member would take over, because that’s how Bowie handled respecting his father without admitting how badly he wished he was alive.
A father was precious to Bowie. He knew what Presley and Harper had, and he didn’t have one of his own.
I wouldn’t settle for any man in his life because Bowie deserves the real deal—we both do. The man I hopefully settle down with one day will be a man who will stick around when the going gets tough and a role model Bowie deserves to hero worship and everything I need.
I’m not sure if I can trust my rejoicing heart after it’s been in hibernation for so long. My body and mind are reacting like a giddy teenager’s.
There are plenty of attractive men around, but no man has incited this attraction I am feeling.
I’ve heard of love at first sight, which is rubbish. Isn’t it?
I’ve heard when lust is at the wheel people do stupid things.
I’ve heard of hearts that pound when eyes connect for the first time, but this isn’t a chapter from a romance novel.
Why then do I have a heart that won’t stop singing and dancing about like the backup singers in the Wham “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go” video clip?
Torque helped to save Bowie from getting hurt like some action hero. He is in pain because he saved my son from harm. I owe him a lot.
Oh, my gosh. Torque wants me to save a seat for him.
I’m his plus one!
None of this can be right.
The mere prospect of enjoying the company of a man for one afternoon/evening is so foreign to me.
Oh, my gosh. I’m trying not to freak out.
Maybe I’ve been too afraid to let myself be with another man for fear of more profound reasons than I care to admit to myself.
Bowie became my ironclad excuse to throw away the key to my chastity belt and steer clear of any relationship with a man.
Is that why Bowie acted out, today? Having witnessed my reactions to men in the past, he decides to do something daring to be noticed by a little girl; he shouldn’t at his age have enough ‘future wife’ interest in to want to go out on a crazy limb and impress.
I thump the back of my head against the door and growl at myself for possibly, messing my kid up.