“So, I think I messed up big time and I need some help. I…” I force my smile wider. “I might have lost the wedding rings.”
Her eyebrows fly up in shock as she gasps, then that pleasant and bland mask falls back on her face. “And why am I not surprised by this?” The judgmental undertone in her voice digs at me. I don’t want to care what this uptight girl thinks of me. And I don’t, because it doesn’t matter. I’m comfortable in my own skin.
“You can stand there and tell me what an ass I am, or you can help me fix this and be the hero of the wedding,” I tell her smoothly. “But we have to figure it out now, because the ceremony is in an hour and a half.”
“Nothing like a ticking time bomb to kick off a major life event,” she says. I can see the disdain for me clear in her face; this girl doesn’t like me. At all.
She doesn’t like me, but I didn’t just imagine her reaction to me last night—her fevered blush as she saw my jeans almost falling down my hips. She doesn’t like me, but she wants me.
Brooklyn sighs and turns around to grab her purse, closing the door behind her as she comes into the hall. From the glimpse I saw, her room is pristine, the bed made. Shocker.
“So walk me through everything you can remember about what you did with the rings,” she says, all business now.
I explain it to the best of my ability.
When I mention waking up and the rings being gone, Brooklyn’s eyebrow arches.
“What?” I say, feeling annoyed already, and she hasn’t even really told me what she thinks yet.
“The girl you were with last night obviously took the rings.”
“Who Patty—Patsy? She wouldn’t do that,” I say.
Brooklyn laughs in disbelief. “You don’t even know her name, but you’re so sure of her moral fiber? Okay, then.”
Shit. She has a point.
I vaguely remember getting the girl’s number and putting it into my cell. I pull out my phone and find her name in my contacts list—Patty. I knew it was Patty.
I send her off a quick text asking if she remembers seeing the rings.
Brooklyn’s arms are crossed, watching me the whole time, and I can feel the judgment radiating off her, but I ignore it for now.
When Patty texts back and says she didn’t see anything but she’s happy to come and help me look, with a little winky smiling face emoji, I sigh and shake my head.
“She doesn’t have them, she didn’t see them,” I tell Brooklyn.
There’s a long silence as Brooklyn considers all of this. Her expression is thoughtful, her lips pursed. I once again feel the sudden urge to taste them, and then remind myself that I’m in the middle of a full-blown crisis, and besides, this girl has an attitude on her and is way too uptight.
Not my style at all.
“Okay, so we’re just going to go buy two more rings to replace them.” She digs into her purse and pulls out her phone, scrolling through her photo album. “Ah-ha! Success.” With a triumphant smile, she shows me a picture of a wedding ring set. “Aubrey sent this to me last month after they chose their rings.”
The smile on her face totally changes her look. She’s no longer prissy and condescending. No, she looks like a breath of fresh air, like innocence and happiness, and I find myself drawn to her, shocked by the personality change. Wanting to see her smile like that again.
“You’re a genius,” I tell her with a genuine smile of her own. Damn, I have the best ideas—I knew seeking her out would work. And yet…shit. Two problems. One, where the hell do we find these rings…and two, where do we get the money for them?
I grab her by her small hand and lead her down the hall. We’ll sort those details out in the car. Right now, we have to get the fuck on the road and be back before anyone else knows what happened. My brain whirs with ideas on where to get money immediately as Brooklyn stumbles to keep up with me.
“You’re walking really fast,” she says in a breathless tone.
“Do more cardio, darling. I have a lot of stamina.”
I can almost hear her rolling her eyes, and I laugh. She’s so predictable—any comments about bedroom activities totally set her on edge, draw out a reaction. I like that. “You don’t know a