“I’m not stopping you,” she purred, a seductive smile on her face.
Max’s eyes rounded as her words sunk in and he realized she was giving him permission to haul her away. He stopped dancing and grabbed her hand, prepared to cart her to the nearest room.
“You may not be stopping him, but I am. Do you know how many hours I’ve spent planning the perfect wedding for you? Joseph and I have worked night and day, and there’s no flippin’ way you’re sneaking off,” Kinsey said in a stern voice. The smile she was trying to hide was showing though, taking any bite out of the words.
“I’ll make it up to you, Kins,” Cassie pleaded with her.
“No way. Don’t you dare give me those doe in the headlight eyes. I’ve known you too many years for that to work. We have a cake to cut, toasts to make, and a bouquet to throw,” Kinsey insisted.
“Fine, but when you’re trying to sneak off with some hunk of a man, I promise you that I’ll be there to run interference,” Cassie threatened.
“Don’t worry, I can’t see that happening in the near future. I think I’m safe.”
“Yeah, you never know…”
“Hey, trust me. I really want a niece, but you have plenty of baby-making time on your month long honeymoon. I can’t believe how spoiled you are. I really can’t believe your job is willing to wait that long for you,” Kinsey pouted.
“I guess I’m just worth the wait,” Cassie said with a chuckle.
“You are, Cass. You really are,” Kinsey said, all joking aside.
“Thanks for making this day perfect, Kins. You know I love you to death,” Cass said, no longer pouting about not getting to run off with her husband.
“I love you, too. Let’s go cut the cake before you make me cry and ruin this expertly applied makeup,” Kinsey said.
“Fine, but you owe me. You owe me big time,” Cassie pouted as she followed her best friend.
The night flew by in a whirl of dancing, laughing, eating, and visiting. The Anderson family certainly knew how to throw a huge event. Yes, Kinsey had spent hours with Joseph planning, but she knew he was really the one in control.
She’d insisted on certain things for the wedding, those special little touches she knew would matter to Cassie, but for the most part, she’d tried to just stay out of Joseph’s way. The man was a force to be reckoned with. She found it quite funny that the giant of a man liked planning weddings so much. Maybe he’d gone into the wrong business.
“My feet are killing me. I’m thinking right now I should’ve opted for the flats instead of the three inch heels. I just like to pretend I’m taller than I really am, but that always ends up biting me in the butt,” Kinsey said to another bridesmaid as they stood on the edge of the dance floor.
“I know what you mean. I refuse to take them off because, well, look at them. They’re stunning, but I won’t be able to walk for a week. It’s worth it though, or at least that’s what I keep telling myself,” Shelby said.
“How many times have you been hit on tonight?” Kinsey asked with a smile.
“About seven. I think Cassie picked out the, um, how do I say it nicely? Ah, most revealing dresses she could, for her bridesmaids. I keep double checking to make sure everything’s still covered.”
“I know. I don’t remember the dresses being this short or low cut when we tried them on. I think she had them modified,” Kinsey said with a laugh.
“How about you? Any offers to see the historic hotel? Come on, does a pickup line get any cheesier than that?”
“Oh yes, yes it does. One guy came up and asked me if I was going to be in line to catch the wedding bouquet? I thought he was doing a count or something, so I told him I would. You know Cassie would kill me if I wasn’t there. Worse than that, she’d stop the proceedings and have me paged over the loudspeaker. So then he says, Is it just me, or are we destined to be married, as he holds up a garter belt. I don’t know where he got it because Max hasn’t even thrown Kinsey’s yet. I just walked away. Really! What else was I supposed to do?” Kinsey said as she started laughing.
“Oh my gosh. Okay, you win. That’s freaking fantastic,” Shelby said between fits of laughter.
They shared more lines they’d received at various weddings through the years. Kinsey didn’t understand how men ever got dates with some of the things they said.
“Excuse me, but I noticed you looked thirsty,” a man said, interrupting the two women.
Kinsey looked up, her body vibrating as she recognized Austin Anderson. He was gorgeous, melt-in-your-mouth good looking.
And he knew it.
She also knew from Cassie that he liked to date – a lot. There was no way Kinsey was getting involved with a guy like him.
She shared a knowing look with Shelby before giving him a cool glance.
“How nice of you, but no thanks,” she said, then turned and walked away. She was grateful she didn’t fall on her face as weak as her knees were feeling.
She made it across the dance floor in one piece, then quickly downed the first drink handed to her. She had a few hours to go and a bit of liquid courage wouldn’t hurt.
The rest of the men she’d turned down that night had been quite easy to walk away from. For some reason, Austin Anderson was like a magnet, trying to pull her in.
Kinsey realized her stomach was growling. She’d been so busy trying to ensure the day was perfect in every single way for Cassie that she’d forgotten to eat.
She found an empty table, suddenly too tired to visit with strangers, and sat down.
“How are you doing tonight?” one of the waiters asked as he showed up almost instantly. Kinsey smiled at the young boy, thinking again about how Joseph went over the top.
She’d been to some spectacular weddings, but none of them compared to her best friend’s.
“I’m great, thank you.”
“Go ahead and look at the menu in front of you to make your selection. While you’re doing that, I can get your drink and appetizers,” he offered.
“That would be wonderful. I’ll have a Manhattan, please.”
“I’ll be right back.”
She looked at her choices, smiling at the five-star menu. She knew most of the people attending wouldn’t bother to eat, not when there was an open bar.