Page 22 of Father of the Bride

So this thing with Kez…it was almost like a cheat code. They’d already been in love. They’d already made love. It was easy…which scared her. A lot.

“Are you ready to go with me to the dress shop?”

Sunny turned to her right, putting her gaze on her soon-to-be daughter in law, who was pretty in pink today, and absolutely adorable.

“Yes, ma’am,” she answered. “I’m excited to get a sneak preview of your gown.”

Brooklyn beamed. “It shouldn’t take long.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Sunny reassured. “I’m here for you. I’m on your time, so don’t worry.”

Brooklyn blew out a breath and nodded.

Sunny let her gaze shift back to their host, shivering slightly when their eyes locked. She couldn’t get over how handsome he was, or the fact that men are genetically blessed to look even better as they age—if they put in effort, that is. Orion looked a mess half the time, but he was no longer her concern.

As if she conjured him up, he came stumbling out of the back door, his face tight as he made a beeline to Sunny.

Unluckily for her, the seat on her left was unoccupied. When Orion slid into it, she held her breath and waited for him to embarrass her.

He didn’t make her wait long.

“Where the hell were you last night?”

The smell of whiskey hit her nose. She glanced at Mark, thankful that his attention was elsewhere.

“I went to bed early,” she said, soft and low. “And I never agreed to come by.”

“You had me staring at the fucking door like a simp,” he snapped, grabbing a piece of bacon from the tray in front of him. “Since when do you sleep at the beach?”

She rolled her eyes as hard as she could. “It would be a much better use of your time to worry about where your little girlfriend is sleeping.”

Orion frowned, surprised by her sour attitude. He decided to switch gears and appeal to her vanity. That always worked.

“My bad,” he said. “I’m just agitated, I guess. Seeing you last night…in that dress…” he trailed off, gazing into her eyes. “You know you did something to me, baby.”

There it was. A hint of a smile.

He blew out a breath. “Listen. We got one more day to enjoy each other. Maybe we could—“

“The answer is no,” Sunny said, firm and final.

He stared at her, wondering what was wrong with her. If he had said or done something to piss her off. He’d barely seen her since they got here. In fact, that was when she started tripping.

She was probably sick of nagging him about Davion.

He ran his fingers down her arm to get her attention. “You know what? I’ma talk to him today.”

She turned her gaze toward him. “Talk to who?”

“Davion.” He frowned at that. “Who else?”

She shook her head like she was clearing the fog out of it. “I don’t know. I—I’m just tired.”

His eyes narrowed as he puzzled through that. She hadn’t been withhim, which meant she went to bed early. But if that was the case, she wouldn’t be tired.

Mark watched that entire interaction over a cup of espresso. Those two were very familiar, and way too friendly, in his mind. Knowing that man cheated on her made Mark lose the little shred of respect he had for him, and frankly, he was close to losing respect for Sunny for entertaining that clown shit.

The old Kez would have already explained the facts of life to her ex, but Mark, Dr. Mark, was a different kind of man. A reasonable man.

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