Resonance of Stars (Greenstone Security #5) - Anne Malcom Page 0,119
latte.
Duke didn’t agree.
And usually I’d argue with Duke tooth and nail, but I couldn’t exactly win this one since it was about the health of our unborn child.
“I am eighty-one years old, honey,” Harriet said. “I am entitled to use any kind of blackmail, emotional and otherwise, to get what I want.”
I smiled again. I was already going through a roller coaster of fucking emotions with this pregnancy, but naturally, Harriet had to add to it.
“How about this? I’ll fly us all to Tahiti for your eighty-sixth birthday?” I offered.
A pause. “Now you’re blackmailing me to stay alive.”
“Of course I am. I’m pregnant, I’m allowed to do such things.”
So it was decided. We had the small wedding on the ranch.
Well.
It was meant to be small.
Then Rosie heard about it. She, of course, called Gwen. Who, of course, called the rest of the motorcycle babes. I was still wrapping on a movie. Duke was still following me around as if he thought Kitsch might come back from the dead. Well, that and the fact the media attention had not yet died down since the story had broken. Whatever the reason, both of us were delayed and didn’t end up making it to the ranch until the day before we’d planned the wedding.
And I’d been blown away. The entire place was transformed. There were people everywhere. The car hadn’t even come to a complete stop before Rosie all but yanked me out—earning a growl from Duke to which she responded, “Dude, Viking women were giving birth on the battlefield. She’ll survive this.” She then dragged me off to our cabin.
Which Duke was banned from.
Again, there was some growling, scowling, and a macho-man mini tantrum, which might’ve worked if there was just me here. As it was, it did nothing but amuse Rosie, Gwen, Amy, Mia, Lexie, Lauren, Lily, and Bex. Harriet was front and center, blending in with the beautiful, stylish women effortlessly.
Duke was a man who knew when the battle was lost, so he threatened death and dismemberment if anything happened to me, kissed me hard and long enough to gather catcalls from the women, told me he loved me, and walked off.
I sighed and watched him leave, thinking about how nice his ass looked in those jeans.
“Okay, as nice of an ass that he has, we’ve got too many things to do to have you leering at your man,” Amy declared, dragging me inside.
So commenced the night of pampering, with face masks and cheese boards—although I was banned from soft cheese. Most of the women were drinking Harriet’s margaritas, and I surmised that they were powerful witches since every single one of them was still standing by the end of the night.
The women I didn’t know well, I got to know.
Mia was crazy. Like batshit crazy. And funny, hilarious. Her daughter, Lexie, also known as the lead singer to one of the most famous bands on the planet, was sweet. We’d met at various Hollywood gatherings and played the game. But it was so much better to do it without the mask. And me. And I actually knew who I was now.
Bex swore like a trucker—though most of the women did and I fucking loved it. She had sadness in her eyes, a hardness to her that was a mask for the soft, and a pregnant belly only slightly larger than mine.
Lily was soft-spoken, shy, drop-dead gorgeous, and had a beautiful calming presence.
Lauren, as it turned out, was the artist of the painting from the infamous night at the B&B in Amber. I’d pulled her aside to tell her how much her paintings meant to me and how I’d tried to buy as many as I could, but it turned out even a movie star had to wait.
Then, she’d informed me with a smile that there was a surprise for me, which was when she unveiled the painting. But it was more than a painting. There were no words to describe what was on the canvas. It was the ranch, at night time, under a thousand stars. It made no sense, but looking at that painting, I could hear them. Those stars. I could feel Duke’s arms around me on that cold night when I realized I’d fallen in love with him.
Duke had had the painting commissioned—the fucking night of the stars—before he’d known what was going to happen with us, before the job was over.
“I’ve got to go,” I said, wiping my eyes after I’d hugged Lauren.