Sizzle

by Sarah O'Rourke

  She’d thought it was bullshit sentimental crap.

  Until now.

  Now, she understood. Completely and totally.

  Nothing was going to spoil this day.

  Chapter Fifty-Seven

  Fate was conspiring to ruin her perfect day.

  Molly longingly eyed the window in the basement of the church where she’d been raised and wondered if she should just make a run for it.

  Nobody could really blame her if she escaped. Like tiny escalating omens intent on signifying doom and despair, today’s events had almost convinced her that she wasn’t supposed to marry Devil Delancy.

  And the last disaster had topped them all. This one almost had her believing that if she married Devil, locusts would descend from the heavens and fire would rain down on all their heads.

  Singed was not a good look on her. Of this, she was certain.

  “I know that look,” Samantha murmured behind her. “She’s getting ready to bolt, Viv. And she’s gonna ask us to give her the boost,” she added darkly, gesturing at the rectangular window above their heads.

  “Chica,” Mannie implored from beside her, “You can not ditch your day. That delicious hombre of yours would be muy pissed,” he warned, planting his hands on his hips as he followed Samantha’s gaze toward the window.

  “Mannie is right,” Vivian agreed, taking a step forward and straightening the seams of her form-fitting lavender bridesmaid dress. She leaned forward to grab Molly’s wrist when it looked like her friend would try to crawl up the wall to pitch herself out the window. “There have been some small issues, but it isn’t anything we can’t handle,” she consoled the tiny bride calmly.

  Turning sharply on her pointy high heel, Molly glared at her friends. “You’re kidding, right? Small issues? You call these small issues?” she screeched, the sound echoing sharply off of the cinder-block walls.

  “Uh oh,” Mannie murmured, taking a step backward as the normally calm Molly morphed into a tiny tornado, “I think she’s gonna huff and puff and blow us alllllll down.”

  “Molly, stay calm,” Sami ordered, holding out her hands as her redheaded bestie vibrated with barely contained rage. “It’s all going to work out.”

  “The caterers screwed up on the date and have no food ready – they aren’t even showing up! The wedding cake was dropped - TWICE, the minister has food poisoning and now – after all that – we find out that half the guest list – including my parents and my brother who happens to be Devil’s best man - is trapped on the interstate behind about three thousand oranges rolling all over the place from an overturned Florida Produce semi!” Molly shrieked, stomping toward the trio of alarmed friends facing her. “Add that to the fact that nobody can get my boobs shoved into this fucking couture wedding gown,” she yelled, grabbing her exposed breasts and shaking them for emphasis, “And I think we can all safely say that these are not SMALL ISSUES!”

  “I think we’ve officially reached Molly’s Wedding Defcon One,” Sami noted under her breath.

  “Is there a nuclear bunker I can dive into anywhere close, mi hermanas?” Mannie asked in a hushed voice.

  “Cancel it!” Molly exclaimed loudly, waving her arms in the air as her breasts heaved against the ivory corset she wore beneath her wedding gown. “I surrender to the Fates! The wedding is off!”

  Nobody in the room had time to refute Molly’s statement. The pounding on the closed door of the Sunday School room where they stood would have drowned out anything anyone tried to say, anyway.

  “I heard that!” an irate Devil Delancy shouted from outside the room. “Open the door, Molly,” he demanded, pounding his fist against the plywood door with a force that shook it on its hinges. “We are NOT canceling our wedding! Unlock the door,” he demanded, rattling the doorknob.

  “Hmmm, listen to Rambo roar,” Mannie breathed, eyeing the door with wide eyes as he smoothed the lapels of his lavender tux jacket. “He’s like a big growly bear out there! Ghrrr!!” He curled his fingers into a claw and batted the air. Eyes drifting toward Molly, he smiled as he wriggled his dark eyebrows. “That’s just muy caliente, bambina. All that fire…all that fury… that is one beast in need of a serious taming.”

  Watching his makeshift paw stroke his jacket, Molly wasn’t sure how Armando made that look work for him, but there was no doubting that it did. With his swarthy skin and dark eyes, the light purple color just popped on his body. She rolled her eyes at his statement, however. “Beasts like him can’t be tamed, Mannie,” she muttered, ignoring Devil’s furious curses outside the closed door. “My wedding is being ruined and you’re impersonating a bear in heat,” she groaned, running her fingers through her hair restlessly as Devil’s banging on the door intensified. “Somebody shoot me. Or, better yet, hoist me out that window!” she yelled, jabbing a finger toward the ceiling again.

  “Anybody that helps her out that window will answer to me,” Devil shouted back through the door. “Personally!”

  “Okay,” Vivian declared with a sigh, “I think things may be getting a little out of control here.”

  “A little?” Molly echoed with a weak laugh. “Look around you, Vivian. This is a bona fide disaster. Even my freaking wedding bouquet has wilted from the stress,” she moaned, gesturing toward the limp roses resting on the low table in the center of the room.

  Vivian turned to exchange a look with Mannie and Samantha. “I hate to say this, but I think we’re going to need to break with tradition again.”

  Lifting a curious eyebrow, Sami simply met Vivian’s eyes.

  “Drastic times call for drastic measures,” Vivian muttered, stomping toward Armando. “Mannie, give me your bow tie,” she ordered, holding out her hand.

  “Como?” Mannie asked, tilting his head as he looked at Vivian’s outstretched palm.

  “Your tie, Armando,” Vivian rapped out impatiently as Molly continued to rant behind her and Devil continued to batter the door to the room. “Now.”

  “I’d listen to her,” Sami murmured, “She only sounds like that when she cross-examines a reluctant witness. That’s the badass bitch voice.”

  “We are in the Lord’s house, Samantha,” Vivian chastised her friend as she watched Armando’s hands tug at the silk around his neck.

  “Yeah, and the Lord is aware that that’s the badass bitch voice, too,” Sami returned, unconcerned by Vivian’s admonishment since the Lord and Savior she believed in didn’t take offense to honesty. Nope, she was much more worried about the sassy wannabe runaway bride pulling a chair beneath the window. “You might wanna hurry,” she warned Mannie, keeping one eye on Molly as she stacked another chair on top of the first, building her makeshift ladder to freedom with the supplies she had at her disposal. They should all feel blessed she wasn’t stacking Bibles to climb her way out of here.

  Snagging the now loose tie from around Armando’s neck, Vivian leveled Sami with a glare before stomping toward the rattling door. “Step back, Devil Delancy and close your eyes,” she ordered. Waiting a moment, she yelled, “Are they closed?”

  “Mother of…yeah, they’re closed,” Devil’s voice growled back and Vivian opened the door and stepped into the hallway.

  Meeting the brunette’s fierce eyes, Devil sighed. “Vivian, I admire you for the strong, capable woman you are, but if you don’t let me in there to calm Molly down, I swear, I’m going to move you myself.”

  Rolling her eyes in the face of his threat, Vivian snorted. “I’ve dealt with cops and criminals, Devil. You don’t scare me. Turn around and hush for a second.”

  “Why?” Devil asked, but he was already turning, automatically obeying the determined woman as she looped a piece of silk around his head and shielded his eyes.

  “Because,” Vivian stated with exaggerated patience, “Even I’m not fool enough to think we can talk Molly off the ledge without your assistance. Now, tradition says that you can’t see her,” she explained, tying the makeshift blindfold around his head. “It doesn’t say you c
an’t talk to her.” Taking his elbow, she guided him through the doorway and into the room with Molly.

  “Thank you, Christ. And Vivian,” Devil replied gratefully, holding his hand out in front of him and searching for Molly. Touching a cool cheek, he smiled. “Honey, you are not jilting me at the altar now,” he said firmly.

  “Stud, I hadn’t planned on it,” Sami’s voice returned with an amused smirk in her voice. “But then, I don’t think you’re looking for me. Your bride-to-be is about six steps to the left and standing on a chair teetering precariously on a pair of kickass Manalo Blaniks.”

  “What?” Devil yelped, stiffening as he reached up to shove the blindfold from his eyes. Ripping the silk off his head, he shoved it against Armando’s chest before leaping across the room to snag Molly’s hips in his hands. “What in the name of God are you doing?” he growled when she tottered precariously in his grip.

  “Leaving,” Molly snarled, struggling to push open the stubborn window.

  “Obviously, he’s never seen Runaway Bride,” Mannie murmured to Sami as Vivian fumed.

  “Devil, there was a blindfold over your eyes for a reason! You just wanna invite more bad luck in and offer it a drink?” Viv hissed, stomping one heel shod foot against the floor angrily.

  Wrapping his arms around his squirming escape artist’s satin-shrouded hips, Devil roared over his shoulder, “Everybody get OUT of here! NOW!! Molly and I need to talk. Molly, stop wrig- ….Ouch!” Staring down at where his future wife had her teeth clamped around his forearm, Devil’s jaw dropped. “You bit me!”

  “Well, I’d like to knee you, but I’m facing the wrong way,” Molly hissed, releasing his flesh to glare over her shoulder at him while she continued to struggle. “Let me go, Devil! Our wedding is wrecked!”

  “Not in this lifetime,” Devil retorted, tightening his arms as he met Samantha’s eyes. “I need a minute.”

  “Absolutely not,” Vivian denied sternly, crossing her arms over her chest.

  “Viv,” Sami interrupted, giving Devil a slight nod. “Devil Delancy is never gonna be a traditional guy, honey, but he’s what Molly needs right now. We certainly aren’t getting the job done in here. Let’s give them a few minutes alone,” she said, urging the other woman toward the door as Mannie followed behind them.

  “Si! Si! And maybe you could figure out how to take the knots outta my tie,” Mannie added, dangling the destroyed silk in front of her face. “It looks like a noose, chica. I cannot wear a noose to the wedding.”

  Devil sighed as the door closed behind the terrible trio and turned Molly in his arms to face him. “Now, darlin’, maybe you can tell me why you’re trying to climb out a window and leave me high and dry at the altar.”

  Chapter Fifty-Eight

  “I wasn’t going to leave you high and dry,” Molly grumbled unhappily, shoving a hand through her hair as she gazed longingly up at the window again. “I was going to call you. It’s just… this isn’t going to happen, Dev. Not the way I wanted it to happen. I hoped that it would, but maybe this was doomed from the start. I mean, what we had must have been the definition of an unusual engagement. Why would I expect to have an easy wedding?” she asked with a sniffle, her voice breaking on the question.

  Damn it, she could feel the water works priming behind her eyes again. She wasn’t a freaking crier. She was a strong, self-assured young woman capable of handling anything life threw her way. She’d just hoped that she could have one day without drama. One day where she could live out her little-girl fairytale of the perfect wedding. One freaking day! Was that too much to ask?

  “Molly,” Devil whispered as he stared down at her bent head. She looked incredibly pale, and he’d have to be an idiot not to know that she was fighting a wave of tears with everything she had. Wrapping one hand around the nape of her neck, he pulled her against his chest and wrapped his other arm around her waist. Backing her toward the table in the center of the room, he gently pushed her down to sit before crouching in front of her. “We’ve had some unforeseen obstacles, honey. That’s all.”

  Squeezing her eyes shut, Molly shook her head furiously. “They’re signs, Devil. A single blip, I could have handled. Maybe two. But I can’t even get in my wedding dress,” she wept, tugging at the open bodice of her gown, once again cursing the seamstress who had confused her alterations with another bride. “My parents and brother are stuck on a freeway somewhere in Atlanta. The caterers bailed. The minister is currently hurling his guts up. And the wedding cake is more like wedding mush after being dropped twice. These are not obstacles. They aren’t even hurdles. They’re more like portents of the oncoming Apocalypse. The Lord took out a man of God to make sure this day wouldn’t happen, for crying out loud!”

  “Sweetheart, Pastor Martin ate bad sushi. He doesn’t have the plague. He’s not at death’s door; he’s hanging over a toilet. There’s a big difference. I’ve already talked to Pastor Davis, and he’s agreed to perform the ceremony,” Devil assured her, trying desperately to soothe her ragged, tangled nerves.

  Molly lifted her head to stare at him in complete shock. “Travis? You hate Travis!”

  “I hate the fact that he was hung up on my bride; I don’t hate him personally. Besides, at this point, I don’t care if Mannie gets ordained online to marry us. Nothing is going to stop me from putting a gold band on your finger.”

  “Devil…”

  “I’ve already handled the catering disaster. Their company subcontracted to another and is already in the process of delivering food to the reception hall. A new cake is being delivered, too. I’ve dispatched employees to get your family here. And I will be more than delighted to help tuck your lovely breasts into your dress because while I love looking at them, there’s no way in heaven or hell that I want anybody else to ogle them – especially the pastor presiding over our wedding. Yes, this is a wedding redo, but it will work. I know how important this day is to you. It’s important to me, too, but it’s not the most important thing. In the scope of things, this is just a day, babe. It’s one day. I want the marriage. I want all the days. This wedding is window dressing, honey.”

  Oh sweet Jesus in heaven, he was going to make her cry again! And more than that, he made sense. When looking at a lifetime of days together, this really was a blip on the radar. Somehow, he’d taken a situation that was totally out of control and ordered the chaos. Resting her forehead against his shoulder, she mumbled, “Is it too late for Vegas? Elvis or Liberace could marry us in five minutes in one of those tacky little chapels on the strip. Then we could just move on to the honeymoon lickety split.”

  “If I really believed that’s what you wanted, I’d have you on a private plane in the next hour, Molly,” he whispered against her temple. “I just want you today, however I get you. You want your church, your family, and your friends, though. I want you to have what you want. Therefore, we’re gonna get you tucked into this dress,” he murmured, carefully pulling up the beaded satin bodice of her gown and tucking her breasts into the material.

  “Only you would figure out a way to cop a legitimate feel in a church on our wedding day,” Molly giggled as his fingers stroked her breasts one last time.

  “What can I say? I’m a creative guy,” he chuckled, palming her shoulders before drawing back to look in her eyes. “Okay, all your lady parts are successfully covered now, babe. You good?”

  Sliding her fingers against the lapel of his tuxedo, Molly smiled weakly as she let out a tired sigh. “I’m good.”

  “Not gonna leave me hanging at the front of the church? No more trying to climb out the window?” he questioned suspiciously, stroking his fingers against her smooth cheek.

  “Nope. I’ll be there. I want the marriage more than the wedding, too,” she whispered. “I just forgot that for a minute and turned into Bridezilla.”

  Cupping her cheeks, Devil pulled Molly toward him and kissed her gently. “I can handle Bridezilla. What I can’t handle is the thought of losing you.”

&n
bsp; “I love you, Devil,” Molly whispered tremulously before he kissed her again, deeper this time.

  Devil groaned as someone pounded against the closed door. “What?” he barked, tightening his grip on Molly as she leaned against him.

  “ETA for the rest of the wedding party is 15 minutes,” Sami called through the closed door. “This wedding is a go, people! Vivian says that everyone needs to assume their positions. Get out here before I cram her damn wedding checklist down her throat.”

  Molly and Devil laughed and exchanged a look between them. “I think this wedding might have affected us all a little in ways we couldn’t expect.”

  “Like turning the meek, mild corporate attorney gal pal into a fire breathing, man-eating, clipboard waving bit- …” Devil’s diatribe was interrupted by Molly slamming her palm against his mouth.

  “She wants me to be happy. In the midst of chaos, she does that by exerting order over the details. Today has been one massive cluster of details…. she’s stressed. Vivian is very traditional, and you’re determined to break all the rules. Be nice.”

  Pulling her hand away from his mouth, Devil grinned. “You realize that you were willing to crawl out a window to escape those details, right? And there’s no rule that I wouldn’t break if it meant keeping you here with me. I don’t care if I did see you before the wedding. Bad luck be damned. You and I make our own luck.”

  “I was panicked,” Molly grumbled, wrinkling her nose pertly. “Brides are allowed to panic. I think even Emily Post would agree with me.”

  “You’re right. They are, but this groom is never going to let somebody stand in the way of him calming his panicked bride. I don’t care if they are scary attorneys carrying a clipboard around like a loaded weapon,” Devil declared, rolling his eyes as someone else knocked on the door.

  “Seriously, mi amigos, the dark headed vixen is going to blow the vein in her forehead if you don’t come out of there. This little scene is better than a telenovela, but I can smell violence is now in the air,” Armando warned outside the door. “It is turning ugly out here in the hallway. I think the hermanas are going to throw down out here! Now, I adore a good catfight as much as any gay man, but I do not think God would approve of His house being the location of a bridesmaid royal rumble.”