Take A Number - Amy Daws Page 0,86
sure I have much choice in the matter. I have to hope I can prove to him I’m more than a fake girlfriend. That what we have is far from fake.
I can’t help but laugh as Kate attempts to stuff her layers upon layers of tulle wedding dress through the hoop of a tire swing.
“Sam, Dean…little help here,” Miles pleads as he awkwardly attempts to shove his fiancée through the ring of rubber.
Sam and I give each other a wary look before going over to help manhandle the bride. The tire swing is hanging from a dilapidated rope on a tree in a wooded area near where the ceremony is set to start soon. The ceremony and the reception are both at this outdoor wedding venue tucked inside Boulder Canyon. It’s rustic with scenic mountain views that Kate couldn’t care less about because…there’s a tire swing in our midst.
“I hope someone is recording this,” Miles’s sister, Maggie, deadpans to Lynsey, and the two burst into giggles.
“The picture will be worth it,” Kate bellows just as I get hold of the back of her dress and tug it through the hole. “I’m in!” She drops her strappy-heeled feet into the grass and twirls herself to the photographer with a satisfied sigh. “Okay…Miles…give the man your sexy smolder.”
“I can’t just smolder on demand,” Miles mumbles with a pout while moving to stand behind Kate.
Kate huffs out a noise and tips her head up. “Fine, give me a kiss then.”
The two of them press their lips together while the rest of us stand back and let the photographer do his thing. We’ve been taking pictures out in the woods for nearly three hours now, and I have no idea how Kate isn’t exhausted.
She looks beautiful, though. I was surprised to see she went with a traditional wedding dress—big, poofy skirt and all. Her red hair is pinned up on top of her head, and she looks like a Disney princess. For the romance author who writes erotic novels in a tire shop, I expected something very different.
Although, if you look at the bridal party, I guess that’s Kate’s version of flair. We’re all a mismatch, wearing different dresses and suits in various fall colors. The groom looks sharp in his fitted navy-blue tux with a black bow tie while his best man, Sam, is wearing a tan trim suit with a blue Windsor. Miles’s sister, Maggie, is in a flowy burgundy dress, and I ended up finding a dark plum-colored velvet tux jacket I paired with a slim black tie and trousers.
Lynsey sidles up next to me in her olive-green bridesmaid dress and nudges my shoulder. “You having fun, Dean?”
“Oh yeah, a blast. I love weird wedding pictures.” I shoot Lynsey a playful wink.
She smiles as we watch the two for a moment. “They look happy.”
“That they do,” I reply, tilting my head as Miles begins to push Kate in the swing.
“I’m really happy you’re with Norah,” Lynsey says, turning her focus back to me.
“Oh?” I remove my glasses to clean them with my pocket square, trying to play it cool.
Lynsey tsks softly. “Yeah, I worried that today would be hard for you after you professed your feelings to Kate not that long ago.”
“Um, it was like two years ago,” I correct, feeling my shoulders tense with discomfort. “And I think we all knew I wasn’t serious. I dated you too, if you recall. Boundary issues, I think you like to say I have?”
Lynsey shrugs and hits me with a somber expression. “I know…but the truth is, I worried that you were hooking up with all those random girls this past year because you were still hung up on Kate or maybe too scared to put yourself out there again. I mean, to be best friends with two girls who couldn’t love you the way you wanted to be loved has to mess with a guy’s head.”
“What the hell are you babbling about?” My entire body tenses at her pointed words. I put my glasses back on and shoot her a murderous look. “Don’t psychoanalyze me, Lynsey. I’m not paying for a session here.”
“Chill out.” She holds her hands up. “I’m just saying I’m glad you put yourself out there with Norah. She’s awesome.”
“I know she’s awesome.” I clench my jaw, annoyance prickling my spine.
She touches my arm and adds, “And I totally saw it coming. The way you talked about Norah when I was pregnant with Julianna…I could tell there were real