by Talia Hunter
I’d watched her because I’d admired the way she’d kept going, seemingly unfazed even when she was at the back of the pack. And okay, I’d also been mesmerized by the way her body moved. What? I was a teenager.
“My sister was a handful.” I gave Willow a rueful grin. “Maybe I thought if I put on a uniform she might actually listen to me for a change.”
“Did it work?” Her gaze flicked down to my uniform and she ran the tip of her tongue along her bottom lip.
Was she a fan of the uniform?
If so, the feeling was mutual. I had become a very big fan of her elf costume, especially the back view of her striped leggings.
“My sister never listened to me no matter what I wore,” I said. “Like you, she left town the first chance she got.”
My sister’s departure had been a punch to the gut. Sure, the job she’d been offered in Australia was so good, I understood why she’d snapped up the opportunity. I wanted nothing but the best for her. But the time difference made it hard for us to connect, and I couldn’t help dwelling on the fact that Australia was about as far away as she could get.
I pulled my car up outside Willow’s mother’s house. “I’ll wait here while you get changed.”
“You don’t need to do that. I can drive…” She groaned, closing her eyes for a moment. “No wait. My car’s still outside Edward Lennox’s house. This day just keeps getting better.”
“I’ll take you to the rehearsal, and Holly can drop you at Ed’s house afterward, so you can pick up your car.”
“But don’t you have to work?”
“Rudy and I used to be roommates. I’m one of his groomsmen.”
“You are?” She looked surprised. “Then you’re supposed to be at the rehearsal too?”
“Only fifteen minutes late so far.” I gave her a smile so it wouldn’t seem like an accusation. She’d had a bad enough day as it was.
“I’ll be as quick as I can.”
I forced myself not to watch her butt as she hurried inside. When the door closed behind her, I got a change of clothes from the trunk, and pulled on faded jeans and a dark T-shirt, bumping my elbow on the dash in the process and cursing at the tightness of the space. I’d planned to stop at home for a shower before I changed, but Holly was the type of person who ran her life by stopwatch and if she got angry with us for being late, Rudy would too. He was so besotted with his fiancée, he’d do anything to keep her happy.
Just a couple of minutes after I was dressed, the front door opened and Willow hurried back out. She was wearing jeans and a blue top with a scooped neck. Clothes that would have been unremarkable on anybody else. But I’d only seen her in an elf costume, so I hadn’t fully appreciated the beauty of her figure.
Willow moved in the same mesmerizing way as when she’d run with the track team. I credited her springy steps for the hypnotic bouncing of her perfect breasts. Her long, unruly curls danced around her shoulders, accentuating the movement, and her hips had a very appealing sway.
As she hurried to the car, I licked my dry lips and cleared my throat, checking I could still form words. She was even more captivating now than when she’d stood me up all those years ago.
Shame she couldn’t wait to leave town again.
Chapter Five
Willow
Rudolph had a red nose, bright enough to light the way for Santa’s sleigh.
Actually, it wasn’t just his nose, his cheeks were flushed too. But it was the color of his nose that made me want to laugh.
Until I looked from his red face to my sister’s, and all traces of laughter died in my throat.
“Where have you two been?” Holly demanded, her frown as dark as a winter thunderstorm. “We’ve already run through the whole wedding twice!”
I stepped onto the gazebo first, only because Luke had given me a gentlemanly wave, inviting me to go up the steps before him. But when he stepped next to me and opened his mouth to reply, I beat him to it.
“I was arrested again,” I announced, sending a defiant look around everyone who was there.
The gazebo in the middle of San Dante Park was a historic building, erected a hundred years ago. It had columns to hold up its peaked roof. An ornate handrail ran around its open sides and a decorative lattice ceiling was fixed underneath the exposed roof beams. These days, it was mainly used for brass band performances. And apparently, my sister’s wedding ceremony.
Holly and Rudy were in the center of the gazebo. Mason Lennox was next to Rudy, his wide shoulders taking up an extraordinary amount of room. Beside Holly were her two best friends who would be her chief bridesmaids, and Rudy’s best man. And standing with them all was Mom, looking even angrier than my sister.
“Arrested again?” Mom’s voice rose with loud disapproval. She turned her frown onto Luke, and my eyes went to him too.
He looked ridiculously sexy in faded jeans, but he’d also looked just as good in his cop uniform. Seriously, how did the women of San Dante resist the urge to commit crimes all day?
“Willow Buchanan!” Mom snapped my name like it was a curse. “Why on earth did you bother to come back to San Dante if all you’re going to do is—?”
“Mom.” Holly stepped in front of her, cutting her off. “Let me handle this, okay?” She put her hands on her hips, glaring at Luke.
“Tell me you’re not planning to lock my sister up, Luke. I don’t care what she’s done, I forbid you to send her to jail until after my wedding ceremony.”
Luke waved his hand in a ‘calm down’ gesture. “Don’t worry, Willow won’t do jail time. She’ll likely just pay a fine. At worst, she may have to do a little community service.”
Mom let out a loud groan. “Willow, what did I say about not getting into trouble?”
“Don’t worry, I’m going back to Vegas right after the wedding. The voters here will never find out about my misdeeds.” I strode up to my sister and her red-faced fiancé, determined not to care about meeting my mother’s low expectations. She’d make me feel like a disappointment no matter what, so why should I let it bother me?
“You’re ready for another practice, right?” I met my sister’s gaze. “What do you want me to do?”
Luke moved up beside me, standing so close that his arm rested against my shoulder. “The arrest wasn’t Willow’s fault.” He used what I could only describe as his cop voice, his tone so deliciously firm it made me want to get arrested again. Then he turned to Mason. “Your father’s been up to his tricks again. I don’t care what he and Trixie do, as long as they don’t drag other people into their feud.”
As crazy as it sounded, seeing Luke use his cop voice on a big, intimidating guy like Mason gave me a tingly feeling. Let alone when Mason gave him a deferential nod, his square jaw as hard as a block of concrete.
“I’ll speak to him,” Mason promised.
So. Many. Tingles.
Holly puffed out an impatient breath. “Now you two are here, we’ll practice the procession again,” she ordered. “Willow, as third bridesmaid, you’ll walk up the aisle with Luke.”
I blinked. “With Luke?”
“He’s partnering you.” My sister swept past me, dragging Rudy along with her. “Come on, this way.”
The rest of us trailed along behind them while my sister barked instructions. There were going to be chairs arranged all around the gazebo, rows and rows of them, and Holly wanted us to parade around the entire structure, making our way past all the chairs before going up the steps. It was going to be a drawn-out marathon walk down the longest wedding aisle I’d ever seen.
“There’ll be Christmas trees over here.” Holly indicated the position with her hands. “Fairy lights around the gazebo. Giant streamers, and golden stars hung there.”
Huh. Though I’d known her wedding would be Christmas-themed, she hadn’t mentioned she was planning to dump cubic yards of sparkly Santa vomit over everything.
Why hadn’t she asked me to decorate for her? She knew I ran a Christmas event
s business.
Asking myself the question brought a hard lump to my throat because the answer was obvious. Holly hadn’t asked me to decorate because she didn’t trust me to do it right.
Her opinion of me was every bit as low as Mom’s.
“Are you okay?” murmured Luke quietly, giving me a worried frown. He must have seen the hurt in my expression.
I gave my head a shake, pulling myself together. So what if Holly didn’t trust me?
“I’m just sick of Christmas,” I muttered back.
His brow creased even more. “Then why did you start a Christmas business?”
I shrugged. “It was almost an accident. But now it’s doing well, and I really like the idea of helping other people become successful. I don’t have to love Christmas to help others set up their own mobile businesses.”
“Willow, are you paying attention?” Holly wagged her finger at me. “You and Luke will be going down the aisle first, so you need to know what you’re doing. If you walk the wrong way, you could ruin the entire ceremony.”
“Sorry,” I said. “This way, right?”
“Start from the beginning. You’ll arrive over there, in the bridal car.” She pointed to some trees at the far end of the park. “Go to the road and do the entire procession. Take Luke’s arm, Willow, and walk slowly. Do it properly.”
Luke offered his elbow and I tucked my hand into it.
He was a lot taller than me, and the crook of his arm was warm. His skin was soft but his forearms consisted of hard slabs of defined muscle. And I couldn’t even look at his biceps without getting weak-kneed.
“Can I ask you something?” he said as we made our way to the trees Holly had indicated. “Why’d you go along with Edward’s prank and agree to plant speakers on Trixie’s porch?”
“Actually, it was my prank. At least, it was my idea. I wanted to do it because Mrs. Watson set me up. She got me arrested and didn’t even try to save me.”
“She got you arrested?” He angled a stern look at me. If it was supposed to make me feel chastened, he hadn’t factored in the sex-appeal factor. Funny thing about tingles, they apparently cancelled out any kind of reprimanding effect.
“Don’t do the crime and you won’t do the time,” he added, probably because I didn’t look contrite.
“Wow.” I rolled my lips between my teeth until the urge to laugh had subsided. “That was inspirational. Did you make that slogan up? You should be on TV.”
His lips tugged to the side in a rueful half-grin. “You have to admit you can be reckless.”
“At least I’m not boring,” I said, stung by his accusation. I wasn’t reckless. Just accident-prone. And weird, at least according to all the people who’d seen my Kermit-themed pubic hair.
We reached the trees. The road that cut through the park was on the other side of them. That had to be where the wedding cars would stop to let us out when we arrived. We’d be hidden by the trees, so Holly could make a dramatic entrance in her wedding gown.
I tugged Luke to the other side of the trees where the cars would stop. It meant we were hidden from the others, but Holly had said to do it properly, after all.
“You think I’m boring?” Luke asked with a frown.
With a face and body like his, he was the opposite of boring, at least as far as my lady bits were concerned. But I nodded.
“If you think I’m reckless, then you must be a yawn.” I shot a challenging stare at him. For some reason my heart had taken up a hard beat, like it had decided to learn how to tango.
In fact, my heart tango had started when I realized the two of us were alone with my hand tucked into Luke’s elbow, my shoulder against his arm, and his head angled down to give me a lingering smile while his beautiful mis-matched eyes traced the curve of my lips.
“Then you must be the kind of bad influence mothers warn their children about,” he challenged me back. “Don’t think you can goad me into a life of crime, Dark Phoenix.”
“Dark Phoenix?” I frowned. “Wasn’t she the one threatening to go supernova and destroy the world?”
“You know your X-Men?” Luke put a hand on his chest and let out an exaggerated sigh, like a teenager in love.
I had to admit, when tough cop Luke acted goofy, he was sexy in a whole new way.
Still, I pretended to scowl at him. “Which X-man are you? Professor X-tremely dull?”
“I’m Wolverine, of course.”
“More like Snoozerine.”
“Or maybe I’m an Avenger. I could be Thor.”
“Bore?”
His eyebrows crashed together. “Captain America.”
“Captain Am-I-Still-Awake?”
“Careful,” he growled. “Keep this up and I’ll be forced to show you my Iron Man.”
I swallowed, leaning into him. I could officially no longer be mad about him calling me reckless, seeing as I was about to throw all caution to the wind.
“Don’t bother trying to change your boring ways, Officer Ordinary.” My hand was still in the crook of his arm, and I used it to pull myself up onto tiptoe so our lips were closer. “A mundane life suits your personality. Honestly, for a moment I’d forgotten you were still here.”
“Is that so?” His cop voice was back, all steel and handcuffs, making me want to melt. Then his arms went around my waist and he pulled me into his chest. His lips brushed mine for the briefest of tantalizing nano-seconds, stealing all the air from my lungs.
“Still bored?”
I was so breathless, my voice came out a husky, sex-starved whisper. “What did you say? I must have dozed off.”
His lips came down on mine. They were hard, sure, and commanding.
Luke Penn kissed me with complete concentration, and a quantity of wild, animal passion usually accompanied by the simultaneous shedding of clothing.
He kissed me with furious energy. A kiss that would have buckled me at the knees if his arms hadn’t been lifting me. A kiss that made me whimper against his lips, while I attempted to regain enough strength to be able to climb him to get more of what he was giving me.
Until Holly’s voice rang out.
“Willow Rose Buchanan, what the hell do you think you’re doing?”
Chapter Six
Willow
Honestly? I had no idea what I was doing.
Shortly after I was busted kissing Luke, the Drill Sergeant accused me of sabotaging her rehearsal and made me practice on my own.
Luke said he had to leave pretty soon after that, and I was left to stare after him, wondering if he felt as weak and dreamy after our kiss as I did.
Maybe he had reservations because I’d skipped out on our senior prom without telling him. And I had to admit, it had been a crappy thing to do.
Alternatively, he might not want to kiss me again because I was leaving the morning after Holly’s wedding to go back to my busy work schedule in Vegas.
This was San Dante after all, and I was fairly sure some sort of localized curse had been cast on me so nothing good could happen to me here. Something would surely stand in the way of more kissing fun.
Anyway, Holly was angry enough that I didn’t want to ask her for a ride home after the rehearsal. Instead I asked Mason for a lift back to his father’s place to pick up my SUV and snow machine, and he was nice enough to agree.
He also guarded me from being ambushed by either his father or Mrs. Watson, enabling me to make a clean getaway from outside Edward’s house without being talked into any more pranks.
Mason made a good guard. Probably something to do with all those bulging muscles. As an added bonus, he was the strong, silent, protective type, which meant he didn’t grill me about kissing Luke like my sister would have.
Once back at Holly’s with my SUV and expensive equipment parked safely off the road, I snuck in the house by way of a back window, avoiding both family members and flowers.
I figured it’d probably take a few hours for Holly to calm down. Just to be safe, I gave her the e
ntire night. And the next day, I apologized again for indulging in unauthorized kissing during her rehearsal, in the lead-up to what was supposed to be her special day.
I even volunteered to go with her to help with some last minute errands.
Which is how I found myself at the gazebo that evening, arguing with the Drill Sergeant over the merits of using fairy lights.
Holly’s decorator had just left, and the gazebo was supposedly ready for the wedding. He’d wound lights around the gazebo’s columns and ornate handrail, and strung Christmas decorations along the endless aisle Luke and I would have to walk down in the morning.
“But the fairy lights are pointless,” I told Holly. “At ten o’clock tomorrow morning, it’ll be too sunny to see them.”
“The lights will still sparkle,” she insisted. “The decorator promised it was shaded enough under the gazebo to make them light up.”
I let out a snort to convey my opinion of her decorator. His name had to be Jon Snow, because he knew nothing.
“He couldn’t be more wrong, but I guess it’s too late to change anything now,” I muttered. “Only sixteen hours until the ceremony.”
Still, I was shocked the Drill Sergeant hadn’t already conducted a fairy light experiment on a bright morning. Then she would have realized her decorator was an imbecile.
Holly gazed at the grassed area around the gazebo, where chairs had been set up for the spectators to watch the ceremony. Hundreds of chairs. It didn’t fill me with delight to think about having to walk past them all in my bridesmaid’s dress, especially since The Incident had traumatized me, and crowds now freaked me out.
“Some of those Christmas trees aren’t in the right place,” said Holly. “But they’re too heavy for us to move. I’ll call Rudy.” She tugged her phone out of her pocket and stepped to the rail to make the call. While she gave Rudy his orders, I wandered around the gazebo, shaking my head at the pointless lights.