Jake placed Char back onto her feet and turned. A young woman with curly blond hair was running toward them, arms flailing. It was Beth, Char’s sister.
Char squealed and clapped her hands as Beth flung herself into Char’s arms and cried. “I can’t believe it! I can’t believe you’re married. When Grandma called me a few days ago—”
“A few days ago?” Jake asked, and then turned to his guilty grandmother. “That confident, huh?”
She merely lifted her shoulder. “What can I say? I know my boys.”
“Good guess.”
Beth pinched Char in the arm. “How dare you not invite me!”
“It was…” Char looked to Jake for help.
“Sudden.” He put his arm around Char. “Very, very sudden, you could almost say we didn’t even know it was going to happen.”
At that point Grandma had meandered closer and was now looping her arm with Beth’s. “Now dear, let’s get you a drink. I heard you’re single…”
Beth threw back her head and laughed. “I’m married to my job.”
“Oh dear, your job can’t do what a man can, believe me.” She steered Beth closer to the bar, where Jace was sitting, and held up two fingers to the bartender.
“Is she—” Char folded her arms.
“She’s not happy unless she’s meddling.” Jake held Char closer. “Case in point.” He nodded in Grandma’s direction as she left both Jace and Beth alone with their drinks. Hopefully they were both Benadryl-free. But it was hard to tell with Grandma. She did favor over the counter drugs.
“You’re so damn beautiful,” Jake whispered in Char’s ear. “What do you say we go back upstairs and—”
Char stepped out of his reach. “I’m under strict instructions to make you suffer until after the wedding. So there.”
“By who?”
“Grandma.” Char giggled. “I think I owe her, all things considered.”
Jake frowned.
“Just think of all the hidden things you can look forward to…” And then Char whispered into his ear exactly what she was wearing, piece by piece, ending the little erotic conversation with a tug on his ear.
Knees week, he almost collapsed.
Damn Grandma, she never was happy unless someone was suffering.
Chapter Fifty-nine
In two hours she was going to be married. Cocktail hour had gone great, but now it was time. Kacey had chosen an eggshell dress with a plunging neck and back. It was a bit racy for her taste, which was exactly why she’d picked it. It made her feel daring and beautiful. Plus she’d worked hard doing that stupid wedding workout; she deserved to wear a sexy dress on her wedding day.
Tiny beaded straps formed a halter around her neck before trailing down the back and connecting to the dress. It was form fitting all the way to her hips and then slowly flowed out in fluffy chiffon layers. The lace and crystal overlay that went from her breasts all the way down the dress was her favorite part. She turned and smiled in the mirror. The three-foot train was perfectly pooled around her. She sighed.
She was perfect.
So how was it possible that she was still nervous? Her hands clenched the sides of her dress, then she remembered that would make it wrinkle, so she let go and began to pace in front of the mirror.
“Nervous, dear?” a soft feminine voice said.
Kacey looked up. Petunia was standing in the doorway, wringing her hands.
“Uh, a bit.” Kacey admitted.
Petunia nodded. “I can understand. After all, it’s only natural to worry about what goes on in the marriage bed.”
“Oh.” Kacey swallowed. “It’s not—”
“Oh, I know. It’s terribly fragile talk, bedroom talk. And I’m not the one to have such a discussion with. I’d probably bring a bat or some sort of other object just in case he got too frisky. Give him a good beating; that’ll teach him.”
“A bat?” Kacey pressed her lips together. “I don’t think that will be necessary and it’s not that I’m nervous about the marriage bed.”
“Oh.” Petunia waved at Kacey and laughed. “It’s okay to be nervous, my dear. Tell you what. You just give your Aunt Petunia a call if that nephew of mine gets too…” Petunia blushed and looked away. “Oh, you know what I mean. If he, if he…” Petunia pressed her hands together. “If he hurts you, you just tell him no.”
“I don’t think Travis would hurt me.” Kacey said in a calm voice, though she was trying desperately not to burst out laughing. “After all, he’s a gentle… man.”
“Ah, a gentle lover.” Petunia nodded. “I see, and you know this, how?”
Kacey hoped her face didn’t look guilty.
Petunia’s eyes widened.
And then Grandma burst through the door. “Petunia! You aren’t supposed to be in here.”
“I was giving much needed advice.”
“About staying a virgin, no doubt.” Grandma snorted. “Now go change into your wedding attire.”