“Nothing.” She wipes away the dampness on her face. “Thanks for coming, but you can go home. I tried calling you. As you can see, I’m bailing on this whole wedding thing.”
“Why?”
Her gaze narrows and draws back to me with a heavy sigh. “My mom mostly. She doesn’t know about the divorce. I can’t face everybody today. I mean, what do I say? I feel like such a failure.”
“You’re not a failure. You’re strong as fuck. You’re out here raising two girls on your own. Besides, does your mom really have a leg to stand on? She’s getting remarried herself. Is your dad still alive?”
She nods. “But you don’t understand. My mother is a saint because she stayed in an unhappy marriage while we were growing up. She’s one of thosesuper judgers,you know? The ones that think they’re doing you a favor bytelling you like it is.”
I tip my head back slowly and help her up from the porch step. “What time does this thing start?”
“In an hour.”
“So, we have time.”
She shakes her head and twists a strand of hair behind her ear. “I just told you, I’m not going.”
“I’m right here next to you. I promise I won’t let her hurt you. But you’ll be disappointed if you miss out on today. You should go, for the girls’ sake at least.”
She meters her head back and forth as though she’s gauging how correct my response is. Then finally, she lowers her shoulders. “Or… my mother is toxic and I should remove myself and the girls from her life for good.”
“That’s most likely true, but maybe you should start tomorrow when your head is clearer.”
She narrows her eyes before she rolls them. “Why are you right about everything?”
I grin and wrap her in my arms, kissing the top of her head. “Thank you for noticing.”
Chapter Seven
Bree
My dress is too tight, my hair won’t curl with all the humidity in the air, and the man waiting in the kitchen is both too hot and too nice for me. He must not realize all my emo isn’t a phase.
“You look great.” He ushers to my side immediately as though he’s been trained his entire life to know how to treat a woman. His big hand lands under my jaw and he lifts my gaze to his. “I promise to take care of you today. I know this is hard on multiple levels.”
I squint my eyes toward him. “Are you for real?”
“What does that mean?” His shoulders widen.
“You’re sexy as hell and that suit and those boots are doing things to me I didn’t think were possible. You’re persistent, despite my complete lack of emotional control. And you say everything right like a man from a romance novel. It’s almost scary.”
“I like all those compliments. Keep ‘em coming. But I don’t think knowing that a recently divorced woman would have a hard time at a wedding is that special. Do you want to talk about it on the way?”
I stare at him, unblinking as my clit throbs against the thin silk panties that used to be bone dry. “What’s your bad thing? I mean, what’s the thing that keeps women away from you?”
“Are you kidding? If you don’t see it already, I’m not going to point it out.” He laughs and tightens his grip on me. “I’m going to hold you closer and hope you never catch on.”
“Is that right?”
He nods and kisses my lips slow and soft, which takes me back to the forest last night. I’ve replayed that moment a million and one times since yesterday. The moment when I was grinding against his face and sucking his dick until we both came.
A chill runs down my spine as though it just happened. God, he felt so good.
He takes my hand and drags me out the door as I whine playfully. We only stop long enough for me to slide on a pair of heels and lock up behind us.
I hate to keep comparing him to Tucker, but he’s so different. Every little thing about him is like night and day. The way he talks to me, the way he touches me, the way he processes me, the way he holds me like he genuinely cares. I never want to let Wilder go… and that scares me to death.
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