She laughed. “You picked up on that quick.”
He didn’t answer as they headed out onto the deck. All the guests were still in the process of being ushered down to the patio around the pool. Her mother led Megan and Josh to the railing that overlooked the yard. Her father stood to the side, looking embarrassed and totally out of his element.
Megan’s mother cleared her throat, a delicate sound that garnered everyone’s attention anyway. “We’d like to thank you all—our dearest friends—for coming to celebrate the engagement of our only daughter, Megan Nicole Vandemeer.” She paused and gave Megan her best fake smile, a look convincing enough to fool ninety-nine percent of the people she met, but not her own daughter. Then she turned back to the crowd. “Bart would like to say a few words.”
Megan looked down at the sixty or seventy faces of her mother’s dearest friends, who stood around the pool and spilled into the edges of the yard. She’d only seen three of those faces before tonight. Libby, a hopeless romantic who was currently glowing with excitement. Her grandmother, who looked like she was privy to some private joke. And Kevin, still manning his position at the bar while he shot daggers of contempt at the man standing next to her.
If she could ignore the fact that her mother had set this up—and, of course, all the blatant Disney references—the view in front of her was breathtaking. The sky had darkened, and the floating candles on the water and the candle chandelier hanging from the tent emitted a magical golden glow. If she were a woman prone to falling for romance, this display would have swept her away. No wonder Libby looked so orgasmic.
She heard her father talking, so she tuned into his words. “Our daughter and our soon-to-be son-in-law . . .”
Suddenly the beauty of the scene hit her in a different way. Her mother had created this mostly for herself, but it had been intended as a celebration of her upcoming nuptials. The whole thing was a farce. Everything about it was a lie. She felt incredibly alone and panicked and messed up and . . . Josh squeezed her hand. She looked up at him and smiled, surprised by what she saw in his face. He was either an incredibly good actor, or the lust in his eyes was real.
“. . . Megan and Josh.”
Her mother clapped next to her, then announced, “And now we’ll perform the handfasting ceremony.”
That caught her attention. Megan whipped her head around. “What?”
Her mother was already moving behind them, a long strip of wide pink ribbon in her hand.
“Mom,” Megan whispered loudly. “What are you doing?”
“I won’t be outdone by that snotty Barbara Decker,” her mother whispered as she reached for Josh’s right hand. “They did this at her daughter’s wedding, and everyone loved it.” She picked up Megan’s hand and placed it palm-down on Josh’s forearm.
“News flash, Mom,” Megan hissed. “That was at her wedding.”
Her mother gave her an exasperated huff. “Reverend Snyder refuses to allow it as part of the ceremony. We’ll just do it here.” She looped the ribbon around Josh’s wrist.
“Mother!”
Josh grinned and gave her a shrug.
There was no way she could get out of it now.
Her mother wound the ribbon around their arms and hands, weaving it in and out and making knots in various places as she spoke to the crowd about the commitment of marriage and how it would bind them together forever, trailing off when she got to a difficult part of the binding.
“Can you hold this?” she finally asked Josh, handing him one end of the ribbon.
He looked like he was about to break into a fit of laughter, but he pressed his lips together as Megan’s mother fumbled with the other end. After two minutes, Megan and Josh’s arms were hopelessly tied and knotted together. Her mother beamed, holding her arms out as if she’d pulled off some great accomplishment, like curing cancer or creating the world in seven days. Instead, she had manufactured a mess that Megan was certain nothing less than divine intervention or a pair of sharp scissors could undo.
The partygoers graced the bizarre performance with a weak round of applause, but if Nicole was disappointed, she didn’t let on. Megan’s mother started to pick at the knots—a hopeless task—but stopped when a woman approached her.
“Nicole, we have to go, but thank you so much for inviting us to such a beautiful party.” She glanced at Megan and Josh, her gaze dropping to their arms, which were trussed up like an unwanted Christmas present, before returning to their faces. “Congratulations to you both.”
“Let me walk you out,” her mother called after the woman.
“Mom!” When her mother didn’t so much as glance at them, Megan released a heavy sigh and gave Josh a sidelong glance.
An ornery grin spread across his face. “It may be a little late for this question, but how do you feel about bondage?”
Megan was grateful that the darkness hid the blush that rushed to her cheeks. “We need to find a pair of scissors.”
“We need to find someone else to use them,” he added. “We’re both right-handed.” He gave a tiny shake of their joined hands.
She wondered how he knew that for sure, then realized he must have noticed. What else had he noticed about her? “I’m sorry about this.”
“I think that may have honestly been one of the top five oddest experiences in my life.”
Jay might have said the same thing, but it would have been dripping with derision. She could tell that Josh was genuinely amused.
Despite her suggestion to find scissors, Megan tried to pick at one of the knots with her left hand. “Stick around a couple of days,” she said dryly. “I’m sure we’ll be able to trump your entire top ten list.”
“This is a good look for you, Megan.” Libby joined them, giggling. “You’re usually so straitlaced. Oh, wait. You are laced.”
Megan shot her a glare.
“But usually when a couple does the bondage thing, the woman’s mother isn’t the one tying them up.”
Josh burst out laughing.
“Shut up, Libby.” Megan chuckled in spite of her mortification. “Find some scissors.”
“I’m tempted to—”
“Scissors. Now.”
Libby took off for the kitchen, still laughing.
Megan looked around for her father, but she realized he’d taken off while her mother was busy hog-tying her to Josh. Gram was nowhere to be seen, but Kevin was making his way toward them with two glasses.
Still grinning, Josh took several steps backward to move them to the lower, currently unoccupied deck, then swept his left hand toward an outdoor loveseat and a coffee table tucked into a dark corner. “Would you care to sit down? I suspect this might take a few minutes.”
“Sure.”
He sat on the coffee table, holding her elbow to steady her as she sat on the seat in front of him.
“I’m so sorry,” she said again. “I had no idea she would do something like that.”
Kevin finally reached them and handed them each a glass. “This is for fortification. Good show, by the way. Do you do a matinee?”
“Oh, God. I’m so glad I don’t know any of those people.” Megan took a big gulp from her drink. Josh watched her, then sipped from his own.