She ducked her head away and pressed a finger to my lips. “Not yet, Mister. As the official photographer for this wedding, I cannot show up with my dress all rumpled and my lipstick smeared.”
I took the opportunity to check out her dress. It was teal blue and gauzy, and it hugged her body in all the right ways. “I like this dress.” I lifted the corner. “It looks exactly like something I’d like to take off of you later tonight.”
She grabbed my hand and pulled it toward her mouth, pressing her lips to my palm. “I can’t wait,” she said.
Fuck. Now I was hard inside the suit pants. But they were so damn tight that maybe it wouldn’t even show.
“Eek.” She started grabbing camera parts. “We have to go.”
I grabbed the rest of her equipment, and we took off toward the spot where the wedding party was going to rehearse.
While Loren worked, there wasn’t much for me to do, other than stand around. Just like Loren had predicted, her family was fascinated with me. I met her cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents, and friends. Every single one overstayed his or her welcome, and every single one asked way too many questions. I was not a fan of small talk, but these people sure were.
And then came the heads of state and the military family members. I felt ill at ease speaking to them. This wasn’t a military ball, which is something I knew how to handle, but it was a family wedding, and I wasn’t part of the family. I wasn’t even a friend. I was the fake boyfriend.
Now why had I agreed to play the boyfriend?
Just then Loren climbed up on a chair to aim her camera at the bride. Oh yeah. I’d agreed to play the boyfriend because of the gorgeous woman who kept coming back to my bed. I was doing this to make her happy. And as annoying as this wedding was, I didn’t regret it because it meant extra time fucking her, and extra time spent with her, which I was already starting to look forward to each day.
Jesus, thirty-six years old and you’re turning into a sap already.
When the last family member finally wandered off to take his place in the rehearsal, I drifted to the back of the lawn, where I could keep an eye on things. While the minister used a microphone to walk the wedding party though each part of the ceremony, I kept watch on the perimeter.
Beyond the wedding area, a movement caught my eye. I wished for my binoculars, but my 20/20 vision would have to do. It could have been a rabbit, or even a deer, but I wasn’t convinced.
I stepped to the side, where Loren had her camera aimed at the bridesmaids as they practiced their walk down the aisle.
“I saw something,” I said to her in a low voice.
“Like what?”
“I don’t know. I’m going to check it out.”
“Jackson. You can’t go traipsing off through the woods.”
“I can, and I will.” I stepped closer. “I want you to be careful.”
“Jackson. I’m working.”
“Do I need to remind you of what happened at the car rental garage?”
She set her mouth in a straight line. “That isn’t fair.”
“Put the camera away,” I said. “Listen to me.”
She gritted her teeth, but she did it. “What?”
“I’m going to check out the perimeter. I want you to be aware of what’s going on around you.”
“What the hell do you think’s going to happen at my cousin’s wedding rehearsal?”
“I don’t know. That’s the point. But I don’t want your head so far up that camera’s ass that if I yell ‘duck,’ or ‘run,’ you just keep on taking pictures.”
She finally seemed to pay attention to what I was saying and looked directly into my eyes. “Something’s got you spooked,” she said.
“Everything has me spooked.” I brushed my hand over her arm. “Just be careful.”
Her irritation seemed to fade away. “I’m going to be right here,” she said.
I nodded, and I headed straight toward the woods. If someone had a problem with me leaving during the practice wedding, they could kiss my ass. When I reached the tree line, I heard a stick break, and rustling. The hair on my arms stood up. My gut told me something was off; I’d felt it when I first saw the movement. I was glad I’d brought my gun with me.
I crept forward, making no sound. And fuck. I was right.
In this instance, with Loren’s family, I’d have preferred to be wrong. But no such luck, because huddled on the other side of a tree, pecking away at his phone, was a man.
He had on an actual black ski mask. I rolled my eyes. He might as well write ‘incompetent thug’ right on his forehead. I stepped forward, pointing my gun at his head. “Don’t move,” I said. “Hands in the air.”
He dropped his phone, and his hands went straight up.
“Now, lie down on your stomach.”
He scrambled to the ground, and I frisked him for any weapons. He didn’t have a single one, so I kept him there, lying face down while I tried to figure this out. He had a bag with him, and I opened that. Inside was a listening device, like a small bug that could be planted, a map of the hotel, duct tape, and a knife. None of that looked good for him.
“What are you doing out here?” I asked.
I was going to have to get this asshole apprehended without causing a scene. I didn’t have the usual supplies I carried with me, like zip ties or a rope, because these pants were so freaking tight. I was lucky the gun holster had fit under my jacket.
If I drug this loser back out in front of the bride, she was going to panic and freak the fuck out. I wouldn’t even blame her.
In my head, I assessed the security team. Who was the most competent, and the least likely to be corrupt? Not the staff at the inn, unless they were part owners. Maybe the staff that worked for Loren’s mother and her father. Both of her parents had been flanked by their bodyguards. And both of those guards moved like they were former secret service agents. That was who I was going to trust.
It was a gamble, but I had no choice.
I edged my way back to the wedding party, who were now dispersing. Apparently it was time for the group rehearsal dinner. I didn’t have time to explain to Loren. I called her phone, knowing she had her watch set up to send her alerts.
“Jackson?” she answered.
“Get your mother. Tell her to send her security out here.”
“What?”
“Just do it.”
I waited for several minutes and then I heard a few scuffling sounds, and then Loren’s mother’s bodyguard, the man I’d pegged as ex-secret service, came running through the trees, with his weapon drawn.
“He’s not armed,” I said, kicking the man’s shoe.
The guard nodded, and then gestured to my weapon. “You mind putting yours away? No offense, but I don’t know you.”
I nodded. “I’d do the same if I were you.” I lowered my gun, but didn’t reholster it. The guard flipped the handcuffs out of his jacket, and snapped them around the perp’s wrists. Then he hauled him to his feet. “Not one word,” he said to the perp. To me he said, “I’m taking him directly to my SUV. I’ll call the authorities from there.”
“I’ll play escort,” I said. Loren’s mom might trust her security, but I didn’t, not yet.