because she could. It was on her second downward stroke that she brushed something at the top left of his butt.
Frowning, she nudged down the sheet to reveal a gauze adhesive pad. “Abe.”
“It’s a freaking daisy,” he muttered, his head still under the pillow. “Noah decided we should all have daisies tattooed on our asses.”
Sarah fought valiantly against her laughter. “You were supposed to be the sober influence.”
“We were all in such a good mood. I didn’t want to be the party pooper.” He finally pulled away the pillow. “How bad is it?”
Peeling away the bandage, Sarah pressed a kiss close to the edge of the reddened skin. “You clearly had a tattooist who liked you. It’s teeny, maybe half an inch. But it’s definitely a daisy.” She patted the bandage gently back in place. “Did you all get it in the same place?”
“I’m pretty sure David’s is actually on his butt cheek. At least it’s not yellow,” he muttered. “Fucker wouldn’t shut up about wanting it to be yellow-as-the-sun, and Noah was egging him on, telling him orange would be a better choice. Whatever the hell was in those drinks, it turned all three of them into lunatics.”
Sarah gave up trying not to laugh. Snorting with it, she was still giggling hard when her phone buzzed with an incoming message. It was from Thea: Abe had ONE job. ONE job!
Crying because she was laughing so hard, she showed Abe the message. He groaned and said, “Tell her I saved it from being in Technicolor,” and hid his head under the pillow again. But he couldn’t hide forever since they were due at Thea’s family home for lunch.
When they arrived, it was to find three very hungover men nursing black coffees strong enough to strip paint. They groaned at seeing Abe.
“Don’t tell us,” Fox begged. “I don’t even want to know how I ended up with a goddamn daisy on my ass.”
Abe’s grin was evil. “You actually wanted a bunny rabbit.”
Fox banged his head on the table. “Never again. Never, ever again.”
Leaving the men to commiserate over their misspent night, Sarah went to find Thea and the other women. It turned out the bride-to-be had spent the morning laughing too. “My poor David. He looked so befuddled when I pointed out his new ink.” Eyes dancing, she shook her head. “Thank God Abe sent David’s younger brothers home early though.”
Thea’s mother came bustling in right then, with Thea’s sisters in her wake.
Sarah adored Thea’s family. They just enfolded everyone in love until it was impossible to do anything but smile. After seeing Sarah’s belly the first day, Thea’s mom plied her with food anytime she was in the vicinity, to give her a “fat, happy baby.” She also buried her in childrearing advice. It was wonderful. Especially since Abe’s mom and David’s were also present, having flown in a few days earlier to relax. All three of them treated Sarah with maternal affection, but it was with Diane that she had the strongest bond; she knew she could ask Abe’s mom anything.
By the time the wedding rolled around the next day, Sarah felt as if she’d been talking and laughing nonstop for twenty-four hours and counting. If Molly and Fox’s rock-and-roll backyard wedding had been them, Thea and David’s traditional and family-oriented fusion wedding was just as perfect for the drummer and the publicist.
The small wedding pavilion had been raised slightly and set up on lush green lawn beside a lake, fine gold curtains tied to the four sturdy poles that held up the white-painted structure, and the carpet a haunting blue. Guests sat in chairs that allowed a direct view of the pavilion, the decorations along the aisle and around the pavilion simple white splashed with color from hundreds of fresh flowers.
Their scents filled the air.
David stood waiting outside the pavilion, his suit a sharp black with a pristine white shirt and a tie of deep gold. His groomsmen—Fox, Abe, and Noah, plus David’s two handsome younger brothers—were wearing identical suits except their shirts and ties were black.
Sarah ran her eye over Abe. She’d fixed his jacket for him a little earlier, before she came to take her seat between Kit and Diane. Beautiful man.
“We got lucky, didn’t we, Sarah?”
Sarah turned at Kit’s comment to see that the actress’s distinctive amber eyes were on a certain blond guitarist who stood beside Fox. “Yes,” she said, just as lyrical music began to play.
She saw David’s entire face light up as