Can’t wait for the reception. This time, I won’t make the same mistake twice—I’ll make sure I get her number, and name.
I head back to my seat next to Henry and watch as the two dogs are bound in holy mutt-rimony.
I survey the nice little crowd here today, wondering who Henry's fiancée is. Maybe one of the girls from earlier.
Knowing Henry, it’s the blonde. He always did have a thing for blondes with blue eyes. He used to call them the best kind of eye-candy growing up.
As Ace sniffs his new bride’s butt, I make a beeline straight for the girl, forgetting all about meeting Henry’s fiancée.
He’ll understand.
“I didn’t see them kiss,” I tell the hot little temptress who I still don’t have a name for.
“You’re still here?” She looks flustered, like she’s trying to keep control over some sort of a chaotic event I’m unaware of. “And speaking of kissing,” she turns on me, her finger waving in my face, “why did you kiss me anyway?”
“There you are,” Henry belts from a few feet away. Only he’s not talking about me though. To my horror, he wraps his arm around the girl I kissed and kisses her on the cheek. “I see you found your surprise.”
Surprise?
“I finally found a best man.” He’s all smiles and cheers and winks and cheers again. Fuck. He’s the exact opposite of how I’m feeling right now.
No, no. Say it isn’t so. This gorgeous woman can not be his fiancée.
I mean, sure Henry’s a good-looking dude, I guess. I’m sure he could score someone as hot as her, but she doesn’t seem like his type...at all.
And I’m not being biased about that.
“This is Ellis,” he says, and I try to force the muscles in my face to smile back.
“Nice to meet you.” I hold out my hand, somehow keeping my cool together. “Where’s your ring?” Rude question to blurt out, I know, but she did not have a ring on the other day in the parking lot. I would have noticed. And I would have never kissed a woman sporting a rock on her finger. I’m not that kind of guy.
She glances at her left hand, like she too forgot she isn’t wearing one. “I’m waiting on a goat to...never mind.” She waves off the question and shakes my outstretched hand. “It’s so nice to meet you...uh...Ellis.”
Henry squeezes her tighter with a laugh, puffing out his chest with pride. “This is my Kiki. The affianced. She planned this crazy thing.” He raises a brow at me. “Thinks it’ll take off.”
For some reason, I’m not liking the condescending vibe coming from Henry’s eyebrow about the wedding she put together.
“You did a great job,” I tell her, not letting go of her soft hand. I’m very aware that I need to because we’re just standing here with our hands connected. “I think Georgia and Ace will live a long and happy life together.”
Henry laughs. “She gets a lot of crazy ideas. Just the other day she was looking into llamas.”
“Llamas?” Let go of her hand. Dude. “That sounds interesting.”
She’s not pulling away her hand either. “It was goats.”
A blonde with a little white furball in her hands joins our awkward conversation.
“We have an issue,” she says to Kiki, and then glances at our hands still joined together and eyes me up and down.
This is the moment I should definitely let go of her hand, but I swear it’s like there’s superglue keeping them together.
Finally, Kiki let’s go, and I slide both my hands in my pockets. Don’t want that happening again.
Kiki and the blonde leave, and I’m left standing here with Henry. Lucky, lucky Henry. Lucky fucking Henry. The affianced.
So, that was Kiki.
He smiles, like he’s the happiest man in the world. And why wouldn’t he be? He’s got the girl. And she’s a phenomenal kisser. I’d never tell him that, though.
Oh god, I’ve kissed his soon-to-be wife. This isn’t good.
Well, I’m not telling him. And I’m pretty sure Kiki hasn’t said anything to him either.
That’s best. It’ll just be our own little secret. Not that it was anything major. It was just a kiss. A scorchingly hot, meaningless kiss.
My phone dings in my pocket and I pull it out, reading the text from my brother that he’s ready to meet. “Sorry, man. I gotta go. We’ll catch up soon. Just let me know if you need anything.”
Henry shakes my hand. “Thank you for being my best man. It’ll make Kiki happy.”
Near the altar, I get a glimpse of Kiki trying to stop Ace from humping his new bride. “It’s all about making the bride happy on her big day.”
Time to forget that kiss. Like I said, I’m only here to save the brewery and then get my ass back to Atlanta.
SIX
Kiki
Never trust a feeling...
Silence is not always a good thing. It’s eerily quiet in my office after the wedding ends and the guests have gone home. Everything has been packed away and now I’m going over the end-of-day reports on the computer.
And it’s too damn quiet. That means my thoughts are too damn loud. My face is hot, because what are the odds Ellis is Henry’s friend? How did this happen?
“Woohoo,” Lola says, entering with a champagne bottle and three plastic glasses. “Congratulations on your first successful wedding.”
She pours the bubbly as Poppi walks in and perches on my desk. “Who was that guy Henry had with him?” she asks.
“Nobody,” I grunt out. “I mean, his name is Ellis.”
“Doesn’t sound like nobody.” They sip their champagne, eyeing me over the rim.
I take in a deep breath. “Fine, he’s Henry’s best man.” I drain what’s in my glass. “And he’s kind of the same man who kissed me in the parking lot.”
“Trellis guy?” Lola asks, completely surprised. “Ellis is the trellis guy?”
“Oh my god,” Poppi joins in. “Ellis the trellis guy. Trellis Ellis.”
Ugh. “Yeah.”
I push back from my desk, and move my head from side to side, cracking my neck and trying my best to loosen these tense muscles.
“What are you going to do?” Lola asks.
“What do you mean? I’m going to do nothing and pretend it never happened.”
“Damn, and I was going to ask you if he was single.” Lola fake frowns.
“Well, what do you mean was? You can date him. I don’t care.” Think they believe me?
“I’m not dating him after you’ve had your lips all over him.”
“I haven’t had my lips all over him.” I think back to our kiss. “Just slightly on him.”
“You totally have a crush on him, don’t you?” Poppi’s face dares me to deny it.
“I do not.” I cross my arms. “I’m getting married to Henry, remember? And he’s perfect for me.” He really is. I’m trying to remember all the ways he’s just so perfect for me, but I can’t think of any right now. These girls have me all flustered. I turn away from them and shut down the computer.