She must've grown bored sitting at the bar by herself, or maybe she had to use the bathroom. When she slid off her stool, I freaked. What the hell? Where was she going?
But she merely moved to the old-time jukebox against the wall, and I relaxed.
A table full of drunk girls kept me busy for a couple minutes. One was bemoaning the fact that she'd just caught her boyfriend cheating on her.
"He's an ass," I chimed in, agreeing with her friends. "You deserve so much better than any douche who can't hold it in his pants until he sees you again."
Suddenly, I became the main attraction at that table. In the middle of telling the poor girl what kind of qualities she should look for in her next guy, the first song Tinker Bell had chosen on the jukebox started to play.
I lifted my face to the nearest speaker, my breath catching in my throat. Then I whirled away from the man-bashing table. Eva still stood at the jukebox, flipping through song choices, her back to the crowd.
"Excuse me," I murmured, distracted. Tucking the round serving plate under my arm, I wound my way through too many people until I reached her.
"How the hell did you know this was our song?" I demanded from directly behind her.
She let out a startled squeak and whirled around. When her big blue eyes blinked up at me, my chest tightened. It took everything I had to keep from cupping her face in my hands and kissing her senseless.
Setting a hand on her hip, she arched an eyebrow. "Our song?"
I pointed to the jukebox where the Supremes were bellowing out Baby Love. "Hell, yes, our song. We're going to dance together to this at our wedding reception."
I didn't mean to blurt that out, but I was just so discombobulated that she'd chosen this song on the jukebox. Out of all the fucking songs listed, she'd chosen this one. The words had just tumbled out of my mouth.
I didn't panic, though. No way would she think I'd actually foreseen anything. She'd assume I was flirting and teasing.
Good. Great. That was perfect. Let her think I was a tease.
But then I pictured her in the sleeveless wedding gown, the pearls glimmering in her hair, the ecstatic sheen on her face. It all sucked to the forefront of my head until I fell into a surreal state of déjà vu. The room seemed to spin around the two of us, and the two scenes—the here and now in Forbidden, and ten years ago in my glimpses—melded into one.
Oh, shit. I realized in that moment that our wedding reception would take place here, inside Forbidden. How had I not recognized that the first moment I'd walked into this place? I guess I'd always been so focused on her in my glimpses I hadn't paid that much attention to where we were. But why would our reception be here? Forbidden never hosted that kind of event.
I shook my head and blinked again until the here-and-now returned.
A fully pregnant Eva frowned up at me as if I was insane. "Did you just say our wedding reception?"
I grinned and nodded.
“But you’re already married.”
“Pff. Details.”
Deciding to just roll with it, I set the serving tray on top of the jukebox and captured her waist with one hand. Then I took her fingers with my other. When I spun her out onto the floor for a dance, she gaped in surprise.
I think she caught a hold of my shoulder more to balance herself than she did to actually dance with me, but that didn't matter to me. We were in the perfect position for a waltz, so I started a bizarre kind of two-step with her.
She didn't shove me away, which was promising, since she was watching me as if I was completely mental. Tucking her in close until her protruding belly was nestled against me, I swayed us back and forth just as the song hit an intense part.
"All of my whole life through," I sang along with Diana Ross, pitching my voice high and putting my gut into it. "I never loved no one but you. Why you do me like you do?"
Shaking her head, Eva laughed. "Oh my God. You're crazy." But she kept dancing with me as I spun her around and bumped her back to me. Laughing again, she wrapped her fingers around my shoulder. "Seriously, do you flirt like this with every woman?"
I pretended to think about her question before shrugging. "Pretty much, yeah. Though to be fair, that eighty-year-old bun-head I helped carry groceries to her car last week might've been the love of my life. I mean, she had a cart full of fruit. I love fruit. We could've been meant for each other. Who was I to risk letting her go without testing the waters a little with a couple winks and a pinch to her ass?"
Tinker Bell laughed again. I really liked making her laugh. "Please tell me you did not pinch her ass. Did you?"
"Hey, she pinched mine first." When she laughed again, I winked and leaned in to whisper into her ear. "It was surprisingly firm."
"Oh my God." She had to cover her mouth with her next round of chuckles. "You really are an uncontrollable flirt. You must have one confident wife if she doesn't mind your teasing ways."
With a proud lift of my chin, I preened. "She claims it's my best quality."
Eva opened her mouth to respond, but a little bump nudged me in the stomach, interrupting her.