Boss in the Bedsheets - Kate Canterbary Page 0,108

don't do that."

I couldn't have that from him. I couldn't let him look at me with sad, searching eyes. I couldn't be his damaged little woman in need of rescue because that wasn't the way it worked around here.

He paused, exhaled, and said, "Okay. I won't. What else?" His phone buzzed—then it buzzed again, and again. He yanked the phone from his pocket and tapped the settings to silent without consulting the messages. "Sorry about that. Please tell me."

"It can wait," I said with a tight laugh. "The bride, however, cannot."

"We don't have to stay long," he said, giving my hand a final squeeze before opening the door. "Actually, I tried to get out of this thing. My mother offered to disown me."

"We'll stay as long as we should." I reached into the back for my weekend bag. "I'm sure it will be a really nice time and I'm not surprised in the least you wanted to avoid such a thing. You have a troubling aversion to enjoying yourself."

"False," he barked, plucking the bag from my hand and swinging it over his good shoulder. "Factually incorrect. Just because my idea of entertainment is reading the newest edition of Publication Sixteen from the Internal Revenue Service doesn't mean I am any less fun than you, love."

And there it was, our quippy little equilibrium. More than any serious conversation, any painful realizations, any storm of emotions, this was what I needed tonight. The way we always were together—banter and bullshitting and picking at each other as we had from the start, when we knew nothing of sore spots and over-the-line exes. I needed a hug from Diana too and some Santillian family noise to drown out all the breathtakingly overwhelming moments I'd lived through today.

And the tender way Ash called me love. I needed that the most.

Once we checked into the hotel, dropped our belongings, and changed into attire befitting a rehearsal dinner, we were out the door again. I was thankful for the snug schedule and the hectic evening of meeting Magnolia and Rob's friends and family, rehearsing the ceremony, and then retiring to a local restaurant for dinner with the wedding party and guests traveling to the wedding from out-of-town. It saved me from accepting any of the concern Ash desperately wanted to dole out.

Another thing saving me was the train wreck of a rehearsal. This beast went off the rails within the first five minutes.

Magnolia's heel snapped off when she stepped out of the mansion and onto the garden path leading toward her aisle, resulting in a twisted ankle and several scraped toes. Her pedicure was trashed.

The officiant referred to Rob as Raymond multiple times, once insisting to Magnolia it was, in fact, Raymond when she attempted to correct him.

Linden wandered away in the middle of the rehearsal to inspect a tree.

The redheaded bridesmaid stepped away to vomit in the bushes. The rumor mill was betting on morning sickness with that one.

And then a crack of lightning lit the skies and an almighty downpour soaked us all before we could take cover. Not that the mansion's staff allowed us inside dripping wet and muddied but they did open up a covered porch area for us to congregate while the storm blew through.

We were still soggy when we arrived at the restaurant but that only amped up this group's excitement. I was thankful for that as much as I was thankful for the hellish rehearsal. It felt good to laugh, to get back to myself.

There were toasts upon toasts, bottomless bottles of wine, and servings of tiramisu larger than my head. Diana fussed over the funky way my hair dried from the rain and the mud splatters on the hem of my sundress after wrapping me up in the best hug of my life. I got everything I needed plus several more hugs from Ash's aunts, each of whom chastised him for not calling or visiting enough. They left the party with promises he'd do better—and a promise from me to hold him to it.

I hadn't known it but I needed that too. I wanted to be more than the friend parents loved to have around, the tag-along kid they didn't mind setting an extra place for at the table. I wanted to belong somewhere and to someone, and it had to be more than temporary.

After the final toasts were made and most of the guests were on their way back to the hotel, Ash looped his arm over the