Granted, I have a thing for weddings. It started when my dad and Soraya got married. It was a fairytale experience for me. Seeing Soraya holding my baby brother, Lorenzo, in one arm and my dad holding my hand in his, we became a family.
Their wedding was at the courthouse, so it wasn’t as fancy as my mom and stepdad’s nuptials. When my mom married Todd, it was stunning. The flowers and dresses were fit for princesses. And the wedding cake? It was enormous.
Ever since those experiences, when I’d been surrounded by love, romance, beautiful gowns, and feeling like royalty, I’d wanted to be swept off my feet by my own Prince Charming.
As Damon walks toward me, he winks, and my heart dives to my feet. Damn it. I want that. This weekend started out as an escape to forget a crappy boyfriend, and it’s turning into a beautiful nightmare.
I’m thousands of miles away from where I’m supposed to be, pretending to be someone I’m not, and falling in love with a man I can’t develop feelings for. He’s not the type to forgive someone for lying to him. He’s like my dad in that sense. Well, in more ways than that. They are similar in appearance and wear suits like they’ve been poured into them.
Even if he can deal with me pretending to be Dalilah, can I break past his years of bachelorhood and have a real relationship with him? We come from two different worlds, and I’m not who he thinks I am. I’m not the carefree, party girl he’s infatuated with.
He slides into the pew next to me and places a hand on my knee. Leaning near my head, he whispers, “You’re gorgeous. I love the dress.”
“Thank you.” Tears sting my eyes as I stare at the bridal party. This is going to go up in epic flames. Should I tell him the truth? Would it even matter?
His fingers stroke in a circle along my flesh, leaving a trail of goosebumps. I focus on the minister as he goes through the wedding passages. Well, I try to focus. Running on repeat through my head is the phrase, ‘Everything is a lie.’
I sniff back the tears and wish the ground would open and swallow me whole. I’ve put myself in a worse position than I was when I arrived at Tahoe. I didn’t love Randy. I’d only been humiliated and embarrassed – no woman wants to be treated like trash. But I’ll get over that.
Within a day or two, Randy and Bridgette will be nothing but a blip on my radar. I’ve got more important things to do. I’ve got school. In less than two months, I’ll be graduating with a bachelor’s degree in business. I’ve got my job at the café. The one I so brilliantly described as Damon and I’s meet-cute location. The one right next door to the damn pet store. My shoulders sag. And I have an internship with my dad. He’ll be devastated if he ever finds out I left town without telling him.
Damon places his arm around my shoulders and draws me against his side. Lord, he feels so good. Perfect. When I’m with him, I feel complete. A complete phony.
“Are you okay?”
His breath fans the hairs at the nape of my neck. No, I’m not fucking okay. I’m lost and alone. “Yes, I’m fine,” I murmur and nod.
“Good.” He leans over and places a tiny kiss on my ear.
The desire to jump up and run down the aisle is intense. When did I turn into such a liar that I’m telling lies to everyone I care about? The knot in the pit of my stomach continues to tighten with each vow that Karissa and Decker profess to uphold.
Once the newlyweds kiss and greet the guests as husband and wife, I question my sanity. I’ll be standing, for hours, next to Damon as we pretend to be a loving couple. I’m not sure why I thought this was a good idea when I suggested it, because now, I feel like vomiting.
This is not a low-key affair. Decker’s a professional football player, and his side of the aisle is filled with muscle-bound men who look like they can bench press three hundred pounds while reading a book. He also has a horde of cousins, aunts, and uncles.
Karissa’s and Damon’s side of the room is not as full, but there are plenty of family members left for me to meet. I’m not going to remember anyone’s name.
Why would I need to? Next week, Damon will tell them some sob story about how I broke his heart and go about his life in the Midwest. We stand and walk out behind Karissa and Decker toward the reception line.
After a few minutes, my mind is already fried. I have no idea who anyone is, and it only gets worse from there. Thirty minutes later, my feet are screaming in my heels, and I can’t wait to leave.
Not that Damon has been anything but attentive and complimentary to me, because he has been. He’s the perfect gentleman. But the looks that come from the other men are repulsive. It’s like he’s either won the MVP of the Super Bowl or pulled me out of the claw machine at Chuck E. Cheese. Some men are pure pigs.
Damon
After two hours of non-stop greeting and chatting with friends and family, my head is pounding, and I’ve discovered while my immediate family is great, some of the outliers are total cocksuckers.
Dalilah has held her own with them. However, more than one person has treated her like a piece of meat, which must have bothered her.
I put my arm around her shoulders and rub her upper arm. “Thank you for not losing your shit.”
“What gave you the first clue I was struggling?”
I wrinkle my nose and scan through the crowd until my gaze settles on the culprit I almost jerked outside and beat the shit out of. For fuck’s sake, the guy is a relative, but he’s a total prick. Why Karissa invited some of these people, I will never understand. “When my cousin’s son grabbed your ass.”
She rolls her eyes. “That was the last straw. He’s lucky his nuts are still intact.”
I curl my upper lip. “I didn’t anticipate he’d drink that much alcohol before the wedding.”
“Well, we are at a resort.”
“True.” I give her a weak smile. “I’m sure this is not exactly how you wanted to spend your weekend.”
“No. You’re right about that. When I came up with my brilliant idea, this…” She waves her hand around the room. “Was not what I had envisioned. The rehearsal dinner was so calm.”
“Yeah. Those are the people I have direct contact with. The rest of the guests are all long-lost relatives.”
“They should have stayed long-lost.”
I chuckle and give her a slight squeeze. As awkward as the night has been, she still has her sense of humor.
“Dad?”
“Hey.” I turn and smile at my son. “Hey, Logan. How’s it going?”
He shrugs. “Fine, but these people are starting to get on my nerves.”
“You and me both,” Dalilah sighs.
“Don’t think we’re all like that. Decker’s friends are all cool, and you already met our immediate family last night.”
“Yeah, it’s crazy, a bunch of jocks are less judgmental and creepy than your cousins are.” She gasps and slaps her hand over her mouth.
“It’s fine.” Logan rolls his eyes. “I can’t believe Karissa invited some of these jokers.”
“You know your sister. She always thinks the best of everyone and wants to mend fences.”
“Yeah, but all these fools saw was a free trip to Tahoe. One mention of a destination wedding and they started crawling out of the woodwork. I haven’t seen some of them in ten years.” Logan shakes his head and shoves his hands into his dress pants.