The Proposal - Kitty Thomas Page 0,88

about the passion between us. With that kiss at the altar that brought shocked gasps from some of our guests, with this dance, I know they imagine we heat up the sheets with the ferocity of lightning splitting an ancient oak.

Everyone assumes we're already sleeping together. They have no idea just how traditional this wedding really is in that way. The song ends, and everyone claps. Three tables full of fraternity brothers offer loud wolf whistles. Patrice announces that everyone is invited now to join us out on the dance floor.

Soren smoothly passes me off to Griffin who has appeared out of nowhere to take his place. And I realize not only is this song another love song that could easily pass for a first wedding dance song, but it's one of the songs that played on my first date with Griffin on the riverboat.

I glance around to see if any of our guests find it odd that the best man is dancing with me right after Soren. Will Dayne be next? How will that look? The dances with the parents haven't even happened yet.

I haven't been to that many weddings, but I'm sure this isn't normal. Still, everyone seems so caught up in the day and the party and drinking that no one seems to be paying much attention.

“What about the dances with the parents?” I ask Griffin as he pulls me in probably closer than he should in public, even for a slow dance.

He leans closer to my ear. “Patrice scheduled it this way. She set it up so you have the first dance with Soren, then all the guests can dance, and then the band will take a break. When they come back, the parents dances will be announced.”

“Oh. Okay.” I wonder who told Patrice to schedule it this way, and it makes me even more suspicious that the wedding planner from hell—someone who somehow knows Soren—is probably privy to far more details of our arrangement than I would like. Though maybe it's only my imagination. After all, Soren can be persuasive without offering any details or explanations.

“But what about the parents? Surely they think they've been skipped over?”

“Patrice told them about the schedule and how we're doing things. She made up an excuse that it allows the guests to get out on the dance floor sooner and get the party rolling and that right after the band break is the perfect time for the other formal dances.”

Does the bride dance with the members of the groom's wedding party? I don't know. I feel like it's something I should know. Macy would know.

I wonder if Griffin got me next because of some hierarchy the men have fought out amongst themselves or if it's so Macy doesn't get to him first.

I glance over to find Macy dancing with Soren. So maybe it doesn't look too weird. He's dancing with the maid of honor. I'm dancing with the best man.

Griffin notices my nervousness about this and leans close to my ear to whisper, “It's perfectly normal for the bride to dance with the best man and the groom to dance with the maid of honor. Relax. And Dayne is next with you. Soren will dance with Cheryl while he's with you. No one will notice anything. No one will think anything we don't want them to think.”

But we know why the dances are happening in this odd order, because all three of my men take precedence over any of the other dances, and it's been smoothly organized to make it so. All the guests are crowding the dance floor so no one can take too strong of a notice of the chemistry between me and Griffin or me and Dayne for that matter.

“Why wasn't I told about this?” I ask. At no point during the wedding planning was any of this mentioned.

“We didn't want you to be more stressed out than you were,” Griffin said. “Anyway, you knew you'd be dancing with us at the reception.”

That's true, but it didn't occur to me that they would get me first right after Soren. But I agree it's best I wasn't told. I would have been a nervous wreck worrying someone would notice or figure something out. But everyone is too distracted and in their own worlds. No one seems troubled by the way this is organized, so I settle and relax into Griffin's arms.

When the song ends, Dayne cuts in. Griffin goes to dance with Macy, and Cheryl dances with