So he repeated, “Yeah. This means I escaped the vicinity of her phone so I wouldn’t lose my goddamned mind, and I’m downstairs in what could double as a museum or a mausoleum, not sure which. It’s so big, it could be both.”
He took a breath.
And kept going.
“So we leave at noon on Sunday. That’s eighty-eight hours from now. But I’m not sure I’ll make it through the next ten minutes without committing a felony.” He pulled in another breath and finished, “The dad’s got some good art. Feeling it’ll look better after it sails through a window.”
“Blow them off, do your thing, enjoy New York,” Judge advised.
“That’s precisely my plan. But first, I got this cocktail shit to get through.”
“Okay then, I was going to let it be a surprise, but now I’m going to tell you. Good news on that. Dad and Dru were invited to all this shit. They declined at first, except for the wedding. They’ve since sent word they’ll be attending.”
“Thank fuck,” he muttered.
“Thank fuck, what?” Alex asked.
Rix turned.
And stopped dead.
Because from the time he escaped her phone ringing in their room, to now, his woman had become another woman.
A sleeveless dress with full skirt that hit her knees. It was made of, fuck, he didn’t know what it was. He just knew it was gorgeous. Embroidery or something, blue flowers and little birds, hints of red, all this edged in black on a netting over nude fabric. That stuff covered her over her breasts, then it was sheer at her chest, with just a couple of little birds floating around, a thin line of flowers at the throat, which was prettier than any necklace. A slim, black satin ribbon for a belt.
Her hair was pulled back, up, but soft.
Her makeup was full, most he’d ever seen her wear, but still subdued and perfect.
Her cheeks were shiny.
There were diamond earrings dropping from her ears, made up of tiers of big flowers and leaves that nearly brushed her shoulders and probably cost more than his house.
And high heeled sandals that looked like they were made of thin, black satin ribbons that included a sexy-as-fuck ankle strap.
He could smell her and…
His whole body felt the sight of the fact she was wearing his ring.
First time he’d seen it since he bought it.
And it was on her left finger.
“Alex is here,” he grunted to Judge. “She’s ready. Gotta go.”
“You got this.”
“Yeah,” he forced out.
“You got her, Rix.”
That cleared it.
“Yeah,” he said firmly.
“Call me, try to have fun. Later.”
“Later.”
She was in front of him.
“Thank fuck what?” she repeated.
He didn’t answer.
He reached down and nabbed her left hand.
He pulled it between them, the back of it facing up.
And thumbed the ring.
It did fit.
Perfect.
“Honey,” she whispered.
His eyes went to hers. “That was Judge. Jamie and Dru are gonna be there tonight.”
She smiled. “That’s good. Friends. People you know.”
“You look beautiful.”
Her face got soft, she swished her hips, but she said, “Camouflage.”
His attention went to the side of her neck. “You bringing Brooke with us tonight?”
She lifted her free hand, touched her earring. “She’d want to know what’s going on.”
“I don’t know the woman, but I can confirm she really wanted you the fuck out of here, baby. Those earrings could buy a fleet of cars. Maybe a fleet of planes.”
“Blake will know they’re Grandmother’s, and she’ll be furious.”
“Awesome.”
Her lips tipped up.
“Ready?” he asked.
Her fingers caught tight hold of his, and her eyes didn’t leave his own, a message he did not miss in the slightest, as she replied, “Absolutely.”
It was October in New York.
It was fucking cold.
And this cocktail party was outside on a roof terrace.
But no worries, they had space heaters.
Everywhere.
It felt like July.
They hit it, and Alex immediately said, “Okay, be cool.”
“New plan. I’m not gonna throw some art in the outdoor fireplace that’s burning even though there’s no one there to keep warm. I’m gonna kidnap the man, take him north, and drown him in an area of the ocean that used to be an ice cap.”
She laughed softly.
He looked down at her. “I’m being serious.”
She looked up at him, laughing less softly and with more hilarity.
His vision exploded.
So did hers, he knew, because after he recovered, he saw her hand up over her brow and she was blinking.
He scowled at the photographer.
“One more, maybe two,” the man asked eagerly. “Sister of the bride and her handsome fiancé.”
Rix opened his mouth to tell the guy to fuck off.
Alex pressed to his side, sliding her arm around his waist, and said, “Of course.”
He wrapped his arm around her, got rid of the scowl, but on principal, refused to smile.
The guy didn’t take two shots, he took maybe seven.
Then he lowered his camera from his face and stared at the back, cooing. “These are wonderful.”
“I need a drink,” Rix muttered.
Alex laughed again.
He spotted a bar, they made it a step in that direction, then in a cultured English accent…
“There you are.”
A slim woman in a pale pink dress with black lace at the shoulders and waist, lustrous dark hair cut to hit the middle of her swan-like neck, hair that was arranged to be off the face and behind one ear so you could see the black diamonds dripping from it, was in their space.
Her eyes were a deep blue.
Her skin was perfect pale.
She looked a little like Elizabeth Taylor in her later years, without the curves.
Alex’s mother, Helena.
“We’ve been waiting for you,” she snapped at Alex. “Family pictures were to happen at seven-thirty sharp.”
Um…no.
But yeah.
He was totally going to fuck this up.
Not even a hello for her daughter?
One she hadn’t seen since last Christmas?
“Hey, hi, nice to meet you,” Rix butted in, lifting his hand to her.
She jerked back, her eyes came up, they were peeved, they got a good look of him, and her face went slack.
For a moment.
Then she rearranged it and smiled, lifting her hand, not to his, but so he’d take hers.
“You must be John,” she drawled.
“No, Rix,” he said, not taking her fingers, grabbing her hand and giving it a firm shake.
He then let her go.
She looked like she’d been mauled.
He glanced at Alex, who had her head turned away.
“Babe,” he called.
She turned back, but hadn’t yet put away the dimple.
Fuck.
She found this funny.
Guess that was a good thing.
“Yes, right, hello, Mum.” She leaned in and they both did this shit where they swayed side to side, not getting even close to hugging or planting kisses on each other’s cheeks or even touching at all, then she was back. “Family pictures? I didn’t know there were family pictures.”