Another hesitation, then Logan’s hands pressed against her back. “Where do you…Oh. Down here.” He untied the knot she’d made by tugging on the bow too hard, but the carefully laced up back didn’t give.
She wiggled a bit, and one of his hands landed on her hip.
“Stop moving,” he said, his voice strained.
She closed her eyes. “Sorry,” she whispered.
Stupid girl clothes. Stupid wedding.
Stupid Tori for thinking any of this was something she deserved.
Logan finally figured it out, his fingers tugging at the ribbon, loosening it up her back until the bodice finally gave way. She held the front of the dress against her breasts and nodded. “Thank you.”
“What about…the…um…underneath stuff?”
She smiled despite herself at the awkward hitch in his voice. The things he did for her. She owed him big time. “The lingerie is pretty easy to get out of. I can manage that myself, don’t worry.”
“Great. I’ll just…wait outside.”
* * *
In the living room of the suite, Logan found Tori’s sisters, Elspeth and Caroline, waiting nervously. He should have come to look for them before he agreed to undress the bride. If he wasn’t so damn upset for Tori right now, he’d be sporting an embarrassing erection. Even thinking about the slices of creamy skin he’d felt as he tucked his fingers behind the white ribbon and loosened her confining dress…
Damn it.
He crossed to the bar and poured himself a drink.
The wordless twins followed.
“Well?” he asked after tossing back an ounce of generic scotch. Bridal suites should be better outfitted than that. Jesus. He winced at the aftertaste.
“The hotel staff are on it. They’ll arrange for the gifts that people want to leave for Tori to be stored until she’s ready to collect them, and the food will be redirected to a local shelter,” Elspeth said, hurriedly.
“And everyone knows that it was Stephen’s fault,” Caroline added.
Like that fucking mattered. Logan shook his head. “And is everyone gone? Can Tori go home without running into anyone?”
“Maybe give it another hour.” Elspeth licked her lips. “What should we do about the honeymoon tickets?”
“See if they’re refundable or transferable.”
Logan stripped off his jacket as Caroline called the travel agency. Then he loosened his tie and unbuttoned his shirt. Tori wasn’t the only one who felt confined in formal wear.
Hell, he could wear a hundred pounds of cam-patterned kit and carry a machine gun and feel more comfortable than he did in a tux.
On the phone, Caroline was getting more and more agitated. “But there has to be some exception for beingleft at the altar.”
The bedroom door opened just in time for Tori to hear the last few words, and Logan wanted to howl at the casual slight. As inappropriate as it would be, he wanted to whip open the main door to the suite, escort her sisters out, and then lock the door behind them.
“It’s fine,” Tori said, her voice pinched and controlled. She glanced around the room, managing not to make eye contact with any of them. In his t-shirt and knee-length yoga pants, she looked tiny and fragile. “Caro, tell them I’ll go.”
Caroline covered the telephone mouthpiece with her hand. “The trip can’t be canceled, but the names on the tickets can be changed.”
“Are you volunteering to go?” Logan growled.
Three female heads swiveled his way. Caroline blanched, and he felt like a shit, but the thought of someone just assuming what Tori wanted galled him.
He cleared his throat. “Sorry.”
