Page 45 of The Wedding Wrecker

"People knew," I continued. "They all knew. I think some of them even tried to tell me in their own ways, but I wasn’t hearing it. The truth didn’t stick for me until I was confronted with it at my own wedding. Only I found out after we said our vows, so I was dumb enough to try to stick with her to make it work. I was dumb enough to think the fact that we’d sealed the deal changed anything. I believed her promises to change, right up until I found out she was still cheating a few months later."

"James… I’m sorry. Nobody should have to experience that."

"Exactly,” I said, voice charged with meaning. “Maybe my methods are debatable. Maybe you still disagree. But I can promise you this much—I’m genuinely trying to help people. I don’t want anyone to feel what I felt, and that’s what gets me out of bed every morning. Well, assuming a beautiful woman isn’t dry humping me in her sleep and moaning my name already, that is.”

Emma glared, but her expression softened as she turned to face me. “I think your methods hurt people. Not just the cheaters. A wedding is a celebration. Relatives, friends, and co-workers fly in from all over to support the bride and groom. You’re not just sabotaging the bride and groom—you’re planting a seed of cynicism in everybody who attends.”

“Good,” I said. “People shouldn’t be so blind about love and marriage. They should know what they’re getting into.”

“You’re so caught up in how bad it hurt you that you’re the one who is blind.”

“Am I?” I asked, voice edged with anger. “Because I feel like I’m seeing pretty fucking clearly.”

“I think there has to be a better way. A way that doesn’t leave so much destruction in your wake.”

“Destruction of things like your career?” I asked, forcing the anger out of my voice.

"That too." Her voice shook slightly. "The wedding in Ireland was supposed to be my breakthrough job. It was my chance to prove I could handle a high profile, high budget wedding and knock it out of the park. Instead, it became the reason no one would trust me with anything bigger than a backyard ceremony."

"I'm sorry about that. I really am. But I'm not sorry I exposed him."

"And what about now?" She pushed up on one elbow, moonlight catching the curve of her hip and the swell of her breast beneath a thin shirt. "Is that what you're doing here? You’re only keeping my sister’s best interests in mind?"

“I want to do what’s right. And…ifI was actually hired to work this wedding, I would only act if I found something worth acting on.”

“You’re still pretending you aren’t working the wedding?”

“I sign a confidentiality contract with my clients when I do work weddings. If I was working this one, I wouldn’t be able to tell you.”

Emma’s face darkened. “I’m not stupid, James. But… I love my sister. And if you hurt her somehow in this mess, I will never forgive you.”

“That’s not what I do,” I said.

“No,” she said softly, eyes falling to my lips. “You just… show up and complicate things.”

“Pardon?”

“You arrived and had your mouth on mine within seconds. You convinced everybody we’re a couple. And now I’m in your bed, James. Tell me that’s not complicated.”

Her soft voice, the moonlight, and the cold sheets… It all felt so damn intimate, and I wasn’t sure if I was reading too much into her body language, but?—

"Emma..."

“You talked about trust,” she continued. “How do you think it felt for me when I trusted you with my body in that wine cellar? And then the next day you were destroying everything. Imagine what that does to a girl’s mind. And her heart.”

“I didn’t think I meant anything to you. I wanted to tell you that night, but I knew you’d probably go to the groom and bride. You’d try to talk them into working it out, and it would only lead to more pain for them.”

She was quiet for a long time. “And what about now, James? Why are you doing this? Why spend so much of your time here selling the lie about us to everybody? I don’t see what’s in it for you.”

“I thought I owed you after everything. I saw a chance to help. That Dick asshole was going to be all over you. I could see it the moment I walked in the door, and I just did what I thought was right.”

“You thought kissing me was right?”

“It certainly felt that way,” I admitted.

Emma swallowed hard. “Sometimes, I wonder if you’re really pretending. Sometimes, it feels pretty damn real.”

My pulse kicked up. "Does it?"

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