Page 48 of Cloud Nine Love

“Darlin’, you’re too smart to play dumb. It ain’t none of my business, but when a man like Remi, looks at a woman like he’s lookin’ at you, he’s not playin’ games; he’s playin’ for keeps.”

“We don’t even know each other.” Even as I heard the defense leave my mouth, I knew it was weak.

“Right.” He chuckled as he repeated, “So that’s your story, and you’re stickin’ to it.”

I didn’t argue with Otto because I didn’t see the point. He clearly saw something between us, and from the looks on Kane and Ruby’s faces earlier when I snapped about us having to take photos, he wasn’t the only one. But the whole thing would blow over when Remi left tomorrow.

After the dance, Otto and I went back to our seats. The rest of the reception was blessedly uneventful. Dinner was served. Everyone ate, talked and laughed. Remi stayed safely across the room at the table with Kenna and my aunt and uncle.

I was counting down the minutes until the cake cutting, so I could take my leave. I had a good reason to cut out early. My first shift at the hospital was tomorrow morning at six. Harper was spending the night at Lilah’s, and Kenna was going to pick her up tomorrow evening. My cousin was going to help me out by watching her while Kane and Ruby were on their mini-moon in Mexico on their.

As the dinner wound down, the DJ announced, “And now, it’s time for toasts. First up, the Man of Honor would like to say something.”

Shit. The toasts. I’d written mine on my way back from overseas but hadn’t looked at it since landing back in the States.

How had I forgotten about my biggest responsibility?

Remi’s voice came over the speaker, and I got my answer. The man had driven me to complete and total distraction.

As he started talking about Ruby, and how special she was, and Kane and their relationship growing up, I pulled out my phone and opened my notes app. I was only half-listening as I scanned my speech and made corrections and adjustments. I was in full-revisal mode when Remi said something that caught my attention.

“About a week ago, I met a very special woman at the airport.”

When I heard the keywords ‘special woman’ and ‘airport’, my head popped up like a meerkat. My eyes widened to the size of cantaloupes as I stared at Remi, willing him to shut the fuck up. Surely, he wouldn’t talk about me, even if it was anonymous, in front of the entire town.

He held my eye contact as his mouth curled into his bad-boy half-grin. “She had been married for sixty-eight years.”

I exhaled. Thank God. He was talking about Ruth. He had to be. He’d done that on purpose to mess with me. I had to give credit where credit was due. All week, he’d been walking the tightrope of my boundaries, never actually crossing the line, but getting close enough that I wanted to puke. Remi respected my wishes while at the same time challenging them. It was a skill I doubted most people possessed, and it only made him that much more attractive.

“Her name was Ruth, and I asked her how she knew Chester, her husband, was the one. Actually, she knew what I was going to ask before I had the chance, but that’s a longer story. Anyway, as she answered me, she reached up and touched her necklace, which was a cloud-shaped pearl that her husband had given her on their first anniversary. She said he told her, because whenever he’s with her, he’s floating on cloud nine.

She explained that’s when you know you found your person, when it doesn’t matter what you do—grocery shopping, DMV, a doctor’s appointment—if you’re together, then you’re happy. You’re on cloud nine.” Remi lifted his champagne flute in the air. “So, Kane and Ruby, I wish you love, happiness, laughter, and joy as you float through life together on your cloud nine love.”

Everyone’s glasses clinked before they took sips, and there was a round of applause for Remi before he introduced me. “And now, the Best Woman would like to say a few words.”

There was more clapping as I stood, phone in hand. As I walked to the front of the room, I noticed people wiping tears from their eyes, smiling, and even chuckling. The entire room was clearly touched and amused by the man who had single-handedly sabotaged me with words, which I’d only been half paying attention to.

Great. How am I supposed to follow that?

21

REMI

“Human sweat contains pheromones responsible for attraction and has been used for centuries in perfumes and love potions.” ~ Tim Rhodes

My palms were damp as I climbed the steps of Taylor’s front porch. Once the wedding was over, I’d dropped Kenna off and taken my mom home. She’d been tired and gone straight to bed. I finished packing and told myself to take a shower and just go to bed. Taylor clearly didn’t want anything to do with me. She’d made that more than clear at the wedding and the reception.

But instead of heeding my internal instructions, grabbing my toiletries, and heading to the bathroom, I’d grabbed the keys to my mom’s truck instead. Five minutes later, I was pulling up in front of Taylor’s house. At the reception, Kenna mentioned that Harper was spending the night at her best friend Lilah’s house because Taylor had her first shift early the next morning at six.

I glanced at my watch and saw that it was after midnight. Valley Memorial was in Parrish Creek, about a thirty-minute drive. It was irresponsible for me to be here. Taylor needed her sleep. Her job was literally life and death.

Technically, I shouldn’t even know where she lived. It’s not like Taylor had given me that information. Ruby had been the one to point out the house the other day as we passed by it when I took Ruby to run some errands for the wedding.

Turn around and leave, my inner voice told me.

That was the right thing to do. For whatever reason, Taylor clearly didn’t want to continue to explore what we had. She’d told her cousin to ask me to go as her date to the wedding.

Apparently, I didn’t give a shit about what the right thing to do was because I lifted my hand and my fist made contact with the wood. The knock wasn’t exactly light, but it also wasn’t open-up-this-is-the-police strength. It was somewhere in between. If Taylor was asleep, she wouldn’t hear it. If she was awake, she probably would.

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