All Consuming (Brotherhood by Fire #3) -Jaci Burton Page 0,34
right?”
Oh, wow. Now that was a question. “Yes, baby. If I get married again, you’ll definitely be there.”
“Okay.” He went back to doing the puzzle.
Hannah looked over at her mom, who smiled and shrugged.
Sometimes her son would ask her things that she thought would require a long explanation, when in fact it ended up being nothing at all. At least nothing to him, anyway.
The doorbell rang, so she went to answer it.
Whoa. Kal in a tux. Now that was something to behold. They’d gone to prom together, and he’d looked amazing. But they’d been kids then. Now? Now he was a full-grown man who looked like a secret agent she wanted to undress. He made her heart beat faster.
“You look incredible,” he said.
“Thank you. So do you.” She itched to run her hands over all that muscle. But since her family was right there, she resisted.
Barely.
She held the door while he stepped inside.
“Hi, Paige.”
“Hi yourself, Kal.”
“Hey, Kal.” Oliver put on a big grin. “You’re all dressed up, just like Momma.”
“Yup. Doing the fancy thing tonight. How about you?”
“I’m not fancy. I’m workin’ puzzles with Grandma.”
“Puzzles, huh?” He took a seat next to Oliver and spent a few minutes putting some pieces in. Since he didn’t seem to be in a hurry to shuffle them out of there, Hannah sat and also helped Oliver with the puzzles, while appreciating that Kal took some time with her son. Finally, Kal stood.
“Hey, Oliver. I gotta go, but next time I see you we’ll have to do something together, okay?”
“Yeah. See you, Kal.”
“See you, buddy.”
He got up and hugged her mom goodbye.
“Don’t be home too early, you two,” her mother said. “I’ve got this covered.”
Hannah rolled her eyes. “Mom.”
Kal slanted a smile at her mother. “Thanks, Paige.”
When she walked outside, she was surprised to see a sleek black Lexus instead of his truck.
“What’s this?”
He opened the door for her. “I can’t have you climbing into my truck in that outfit. I rented this for tonight.”
She slid inside, her butt cupped by the smooth leather.
When he got in, she smiled at him. “Wow. Impressive.”
“Well, it’s not as cool as my truck, but it’ll do.” He put the car in gear, and they drove off.
“How have the wedding activities gone this week?”
He let out a soft laugh. “It’s been good. We had the rehearsal dinner last night. Rafe is nervous as hell.”
“Aww. I’m sure he is. I’m sure Carmen is, too.”
“Actually, Becks said she’s cool as could be.”
“Rafe will probably calm down after the ceremony.”
“He’s been walking a tightrope for a couple of weeks now. I think he’s nervous that something will go wrong at the wedding, and he wants everything perfect for Carmen.”
Hannah smiled. “Weddings rarely go off without some small issue or another. No one seems to care because it’s all about the bride and groom. As long as they’re happy and in love, nothing else matters.”
“I guess that makes sense.”
She noticed him flexing his fingers on the steering wheel as they drove down the highway.
“And what about you?” she asked. “Are you nervous?”
“Me?” He gave her a quick glance before turning his attention back on the highway. “No. Why should I be nervous?”
“Best man, right?”
“Sort of. Jackson and I are sharing best man duties. But I’m mostly giving them up to Jackson since he’s the oldest brother.”
“Uh-huh. But still, you have things you’re responsible for.”
“I guess, yeah.”
“Are you in charge of the rings?”
He blew out a breath. “No, thank God. That’s Jackson’s job.”
She laughed. “So you didn’t want the responsibility for the hardware?”
“Not at all. I mean, not that I couldn’t handle it. I could. But, you know, Jackson’s got that covered. Or at least Becks does.”
She heard the nervousness in his voice. So despite him saying he didn’t, he most definitely had a case of the jitters. Which was sweet. “Of course. So what’s your job?”
“Making sure that Carmen’s grandfather’s wife is seated comfortably in the front of the church before the service. Carmen’s parents aren’t around, so her grandpa is going to walk her down the aisle. I offered to pick them up, but Jimmy—her grandpa—said he and his wife, Felice, would get themselves there, that way they could leave when they got tired.”
“Independence is important when you’re older.”
“He’s very independent. We also offered to get them a car service. He turned that down, too. Said they could still drive just fine.”
Hannah smiled at that. Her grandparents had been the same way. Fiercely independent for as long as they were able