Page 24 of One Night Valentine

“Do you want to go to the dinner?”

I screw up my nose. I wish I could skip it. “I have to, and I hate to do this to you, but I really want you to go with me.”

He smiles and brushes a hair that came out of my clip, “Oh you’re stuck with me. I’m not leaving you alone with these people again.”

I giggle. “You going to walk down the aisle with me tomorrow?”

As soon as I say it, I realize how it sounds. “I mean, ya know, like when I walk out as a bridesmaid… you said you weren’t going to leave me alone.”

He nods, and his voice is gruff. “I’d walk down the aisle with you. What did they say to you? I knew as soon as you came out, they said something.”

I try to wave him off, but he’s insistent. “My mom thinks I’m trying to upstage my sister by bringing you here. I’m sure she knows this is all fake. She’d never believe you would want to be with me.”

He leans down. “She’d be wrong.” Before that can sink in, he says, “Come on, let me get you a drink.”

I instantly reach for his hand, and we walk from the room with the sound of my sister complaining behind us. The wedding planner is ushering everyone into the dining room, and Cruz and I go straight to the bar.

He has his hand low on my waist, barely above my ass, and he’s smiling at me like he could eat me up. “What do you want to drink?”

“Peachy keen, please?”

He orders an old fashioned for himself and a peachy keen for me. As we’re waiting, he has his hand on me the whole time. When the order comes, he holds both drinks and puts his arm out for me to hold on to.

He leads me through the room, and luckily everyone can sit wherever they want, so we sit at a table that no one else is at.

A few people from the wedding party come over and say hello to Cruz. My sister’s friends have never paid any attention to me before, so it’s surprising that they are tonight. Now her friends’ husbands are another story. They come and sit around the table instead of sitting with their wives and talk to Cruz.

He answers their questions, but somehow he remains focused on me the whole time.

One of the groomsmen comes over, and it looks like he’s already had too much to drink. He sits down in the only vacant chair that happens to be next to me. He nudges me and leans into whisper even though it’s nowhere near a whisper because I’m sure the whole table hears him. “Hey, kid, just a warning. Grant is losing his shit. He’s saying he messed up and picked the wrong sister.”

I try to ignore him because I don’t even know how you respond to that, but he doesn’t give up. “Hey Tara, what do you think? What should I tell Grant?”

I finally look at him. “Hell would freeze over before I would ever go back to him.”

I barely get the words out, and he is pulled out of his chair. I gasp as I see Cruz holding him up like he weighs nothing, “Hey buddy, I think you’ve had a little too much to drink. Find somewhere else to sit.”

A few of the groomsmen grab their friend, pulling him away and apologizing to Cruz and me. When Cruz sits back down, his hand goes to my thigh, and he leans toward me. “Hell would have to freeze over, huh?”

I nod as his fingers grip my thigh. “Yes,” I practically moan.

“That’s good,” he announces.

Breathless, I ask him, “Why is that good?”

He leans over and whispers, “Because I don’t share.”

I look around the table, and all eyes are on us, but I don’t think they can hear Cruz. Why is he saying he doesn’t share? Is this fake? Is this real? The back and forth and up and down is driving me crazy, and I don’t know where to go from here.

Dinner is served, and while we eat, Cruz keeps his hand on my leg.

I start to relax the longer we sit here. Cruz is attentive, and no matter how many people come over to talk to him, he never leaves my side.

When I need another drink, he has someone bring them to us. He takes pictures with people, and by the end of the night,everyone has fallen in love with him. Well, everyone except for my mom, Grant, and Brynn.

“How you holding up, pumpkin?”

I look up at my dad and try not to tense up. I’ve always felt bad for him. He’s a nice man, but he has no backbone. My mom has bossed him around my whole life, and he never stands up to her.

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