26
Nora
I stifled a yawn.
The Locke-King wedding had been my biggest wedding of the year. Even bigger than Morgan Wright’s wedding last year. The Lockes were a wealthy New York City–based powerhouse, and the Kings were one-half of an oil conglomerate. Together, it was the equivalent of marrying a Spanish princess to the King of England.
We’d booked out the entire weekend for this wedding, and Tessi had come with me to shoulder some of the burden. And it was even more beautiful and exhausting than I’d figured.
I watched from the sidelines as Merritt Locke took Margaret King’s hand and strode down the aisle of sparklers, arranged perfectly by their guests. They looked happy. Though I was confused by the marriage. They didn’t act like besotted lovers. It seemed more…arranged. But they sure knew how to fake it for the cameras. Not that I’d voice any of that out loud. They’d paid me, and that was all that mattered.
Merritt hoisted Margaret’s lithe frame up into his enormous arms. I tilted my head slightly to the side, wondering what the Olympic archer’s arms really looked like underneath that suit.
Tessi nudged me and giggled. “He’s huge,” she whispered.
I shushed her and pretended I hadn’t been ogling him. Then, they drove away in an old-timey car. Margaret waved like a princess as she was taken away.
“And that’s the exit, boss,” Tessi said with a bright smile.
I watched until the car disappeared on the horizon. The magic had left, and now, it was herding cats out of the venue and cleanup. I pinched the bridge of my nose. At least it had gone off without a hitch.
“Need some Tylenol?”
“No. I’m okay. Thanks, Tessi. Could you speak to the DJ?”
She nodded. “On it.”
I couldn’t hold back my next yawn. I needed some coffee or something to survive the rest of this night. Why hadn’t I gotten a hotel room in Midland?
Oh, right. Because I had my own handsome man to get home to. I’d rather spend one more night in his arms than alone in a hotel room.
I pulled out my phone to give West an ETA but found I already had a text from him.
Campbell came back today. We’re going to Flips. Join us when you get into town.
I blinked. He wanted me to come out after I got back from Midland? I’d left Lubbock at five thirty in the morning. I wouldn’t get back until nearly midnight. The last thing I wanted was to go out and pretend I didn’t want to kiss his face off in front of my brother.
It’s going to be late.
That’s fine. We’ll be here.
I groaned. Great. Well, I guess I’d go for one drink and then make an excuse to get away.
I’d just put my phone away when I heard my name called.
“Nora!”
And to my surprise, Gavin King strode toward me. I’d seen him in the midst of his family earlier but not wanted to interfere. Wedding planners weren’t seen unless things got out of hand. My goal was to be invisible for nearly everything.
“Gavin, hi,” I said with a smile.
His burnished hair was gelled to perfection and his green eyes wide with mischief. There was something in the water here in Midland to create an entire brood of King men this gorgeous.
“How can I help you?”
“Help me?” Gavin asked with a laugh. “Nah, you helped enough.”
I arched an eyebrow. “How so?”
“You helped with my date.”
“I did?”
I’d seen the blonde on his arm. She was stunning with lush, shoulder-length waves and a liquid-blue silk dress that made me green with envy. She must have been a New Yorker because she seemed to come from another world.
“I invited Whitley,” he explained, casually pointing the blonde out again.
I did a double take. “Wait, that’s the lavender-haired girl I saw when I was in town?”
“Yeah.”
“And you two are…”
He shrugged. “Nah. She’s stubborn as hell, and we have…history.” He deflated slightly at that, but his eyes were keen when they looked at the beautiful woman who fit in perfectly with his gregarious family. “But keep your fingers crossed for me.”
“I’ll do just that,” I told him.
He winked at me. “Good to see you again.”
“You too.”
He tipped his head at me and then went after the blonde. I hoped that worked out for him. He didn’t seem like the kind of guy who gave up easily. I liked that about him.
It was an hour and a half later before all the guests left and the venue was tidied up to my satisfaction. Tessi had driven into town with me, and we got into my SUV and headed north to Lubbock. We were both too exhausted to even speak much. I dropped her off at her house, and instead of going straight home like I wanted to, I headed drowsily toward Flips.
I hadn’t been there since my first lesson with West. That felt like a lifetime ago.
Still, I was surprised they’d picked this for the band. It wasn’t exactly under the radar. Not by any stretch of the imagination.
To my horror, I realized precisely why they’d picked it when I stepped inside. It was karaoke night.
“What is happening?” I whispered.
My brother—my rockstar brother—was onstage, singing a rendition of “Pour Some Sugar on Me” with Viv and Santi.
Yorke stood off to the side with West. Both looked disturbed by the display. Not because they were bad. No, they were excellent. Campbell had a killer voice. Viv and Santi were both good, too. Though not quite as smooth and dreamy. But it was the ridiculousness of the entire situation.
Within the hour, this would be all over social media. Flips would have a surge in patrons, hoping to catch rockstars making fools of themselves more often.
I barreled through the crowd to West’s side. I nudged him. “What the hell is going on?”
I could tell at once that he was a little drunk. Not falling-over drunk, but they’d clearly been here for hours.
“Nora!” he cried, sliding his arms around my waist.
I sure hoped that Campbell wasn’t paying attention. I hastily pulled out of his grasp. Despite the butterflies going off in my stomach.
“Why are you doing karaoke?”
He shrugged. “Can you contain Campbell?”
No. No one could. Except maybe Blaire, who I noticed was on the other side of the stage with Hollin and Piper. They were all laughing. I waved at them. Hollin waved back. Blaire pointed at Campbell and cackled. Oh, she was enjoying this. Well, good for them.
“It’s late,” I said around a yawn. “I’ve had, like, a seventeen-hour day. I’m going to bow out of…whatever this is.”
“Wait, wait, wait,” West said quickly. “I asked you here for a reason.”
“And that is?”
“I was invited to join the band.”
The butterflies’ wings snapped off and plummeted to their death in my stomach. Everything crashed to a halt. The music drowned out my own thoughts. This was…it was really happening.
Despite my own distress, I knew that I had to be happy for him. No. I was happy for him. I wanted him to have the band. I wanted him to have all his dreams come true. This was the best thing that had ever happened to him.