Page 36 of The Wedding Wrecker

"Which is why you hired a wedding wrecker to investigate the man Lily wants to marry," I said softly, the words tasting bitter.

My mom winced, her shoulders curling inward. "I know, Em. This isn't like me, but what am I supposed to do? Just sit by andignore the feeling in my gut? And trust me, I talked to former clients of his. I read as much about him as I could. If he finds nothing, he just enjoys the ceremony and goes home. Nobody is the wiser. So we should be happy he's here. If there's something to expose, he'll expose it. And if not, then nothing changes."

"And what if it's something Lily wants to be able to work through with Marcus? It's not natural, Mom. Relationships are about compromise, forgiveness, and trust. This whole wedding wrecking thing just... sidesteps all that."

She took another long sip of her fresh drink. "Maybe you're right. But he's already here. And if I'm wrong for doing this, then I'll ask God for forgiveness when it's all through. And I'll know I did everything in my power to protect one of my daughters. Just like I always will." She cupped my cheek with a trembling hand and gave me a sad smile. "So be careful, because your momma is prepared to do crazy things for you."

I smiled back, reaching over to hug her. "I love you, even if this is batshit insane, and I wish you hadn't called him."

I opened my eyes as I was hugging her and spotted James across the lobby. He was... wearing pristine white ski gear and holding up a bright pink suit that had matching patterns of yellow crisscrossing lines to match his.

Really?

Giving me the best sex of my life the night before destroying my career and then returning like a ghost three years later to haunt me wasn’t enough? Now he had to try to kill me with embarrassment… those?

He wiggled his eyebrows and pointed at the matching suits like he thought I was going to jump for joy.

My mom followed my eyes, then laughed softly. “Those are cute.”

Oh dear God.He wasn’t serious, was he?

13

JAMES

The bus bounced beneath us, rattling me and bouncing me into Emma for the tenth time since we’d boarded.

“Come on,” I said. “You know it’ll be fun.”

Emma shifted in the bright pink snow suit, looking anywhere but in my direction. “I only agreed to this because I happen to love the idea of skiing. I’ve always wanted to learn.”

“Wait…” I said. “Theideaof skiing? You’ve never done it?”

“Not yet. But how hard could it be? I’ve seen it in movies. It’s just like… falling on purpose, right?”

“Uh… no. I don’t think so. And the general consensus is it’s harder than you’d think.”

“I’ll figure it out,” she said, glaring at me.

“You look cute, by the way. Like a big pink marshmallow.” I poked her stomach, but the suit was so thick I wasn’t sure she even felt it.

Emma slapped my hand away. “Rule number one. Poking is absolutely not necessary touching.”

“Right. I keep remembering when you straddled me and moaned my name, and it makes me forget rule number one is a thing. That’s my mistake.”

Emma scooted further away on the bus seat, only for us to hit a bump a moment later that practically bounced her into my lap.

“You just can’t keep yourself off me, can you?” I asked.

Emma hopped off me like she’d been burned, then whacked my arm. My matching snowsuit protected me from the blow.

“Where the hell did you find these, anyway? And why does mine fit? How did you know my size?”

“I have an impeccable memory. You could say I memorized every one of your curves that night in… rule number three,” I said, stopping myself with a grin. “But you also left a suitcase full of clothes in the room we’re sharing. I just read the tags and then hit one of the resort shops.”

“You went through my clothes?” she snapped, eyes suddenly fearful.

“Yep. What’s the deal with the lingerie? Two sets? Were you planning to meet somebody special here? Or maybe two somebodies?”

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