Blackstone Ranger Charmer - Alicia Montgomery Page 0,54
stuff,” Anna Victoria said sheepishly. “I hope you don’t mind that I invited J.D., too.”
“I wanted to meet this genius who came up with that plan for Vegas,” J.D. said with a chortle. “I can’t believe you’ve been keeping her from us all this time.”
“I wasn’t,” he said defensively. “But Temperance is shy and self-conscious.” Actually, he was glad J.D. was here, too, at least he could explain everything to all of them in one go. So, he told them briefly about Temperance’s scars without giving too much detail about her past. He’d just finished as Temperance walked through the door. “Here she is,” he beamed as he strode to the door and put an arm around her. “Temperance, this is Damon and Anna Victoria. J.D. decided to join us as well.”
“Hello,” she said shyly, keeping the right side of her face turned away from them. Though it hurt to see her have to hide, he knew he couldn’t just push her to stop feeling self-conscious.
“It’s nice to finally meet you,” Damon said.
“Same here. And thank you,” Anna Victoria added. “For thinking up that plan to have me come to the bachelor party.”
J.D., in her usual brash manner, grabbed her left hand and tugged her away from Gabriel, and linked their arms together. “You’re sitting next to me, Temperance. Gabriel’s been hogging you for too long, and I haven’t had any chance to tell you embarrassing stories about him.”
“Hey!” Gabriel protested. “We’re bonded, you can’t scare her away anymore.”
J.D. let out a laugh that sounded like a challenge. “Yeah, whatever. C’mon, I’m starving.”
As dinner progressed, Temperance seemed to relax more which made Gabriel less tense. All of them accepted his mate, asking genuine questions about her and ensuring she was never left out when they told stories about the past or inside jokes.
“I’m glad to finally have someone else who’s new to Blackstone,” Anna Victoria said.
“Oh, did you just move here too?” Temperance asked as she took a sip of wine. “Why did you decide to move here?”
Anna Victoria went bright red. “Er, I didn’t exactly decide,” she said. “I just kind of … arrived here.”
“In a wedding dress,” Gabriel added, unable to help himself. “After she jilted her previous groom.”
“After what?” Temperance looked up at him for clarification.
“Don’t make it sound so bad,” Anna Victoria protested and then she told them the story of how she escaped her nasty fiancé from her arranged marriage, drove all the way to Blackstone, then walked into The Den in her wedding gown where she met Damon.
“Don’t worry, buddy,” Gabriel said. “I’ll make sure she doesn’t escape this Saturday.”
“Yeah, you better, pretty boy,” Damon warned jokingly.
“Speaking of which,” Anna Victoria began. “Temperance, you’ll come to our wedding this Saturday, right? I mean, Gabriel’s asked you to be his date?”
“Er …” She looked up at him, her light hazel eyes going wide.
“I haven’t, actually,” he said. “And that’s my mistake. Will you be my date, Temperance?”
“I don’t know,” she whispered.
“But you have to come, Temperance,” J.D. whined.
“I don’t have anything to wear,” she said.
“It’s not a formal dress type of affair,” Anna Victoria said. “After the church, we’re having a barbecue at the Blackstone Castle grounds. I didn’t want anything fussy or fancy.”
“I’ll lend you something to wear,” J.D. offered. “No wait, scratch that. I only own one dress, and I’ll be wearing it as maid of honor. But I’ll go shopping with you.”
“Me too,” Anna Victoria said.
“It’ll be great, Temperance,” he assured her. “And I’d really like it if you were there.” He could already picture it in his mind. Sitting next to her at the ceremony. Holding her hand while they walked into reception. Dancing with her under the stars. “Please?”
Four pairs of eyes looked at her hopefully. “I …” She nodded. “All right.”
“Yes!” J.D. exclaimed and grabbed her phone from her pocket. “Give me your number, and we’ll go shopping this week.”
“Wow, you should be honored. J.D. hates shopping for clothes,” Damon joked.
“Only when I’m shopping for myself,” she shot back.
“Thank you,” Gabriel whispered into her ear. “I promise, if you don’t feel comfortable at all, we can leave anytime.”
“It’s fine,” she said, looking up at him with a smile on her face. “And you can’t leave, you’re the best man.”
“And you’re my mate.” He kissed her on the tip of her nose. “You’re always going to be my priority.”
A pretty blush spread over her face. “Thank you.”
Most of the week was uneventful, and soon, Saturday rolled around. They had the