Page 50 of Hardcore Vanilla
She couldn’t help but wonder how he was going to react when she joined him in his room later. Because she was definitely going to need some stress relief after dinner.
Fortunately, Jake didn’t question her any more about the separate wings for her and her parents’. She could tell he was still struggling to deal with the reality of what they were like and she really didn’t want to have to get into it. The guest room he was in, which was richly furnished and decorated in muted navy blue and forest green, was very comfortable and masculine (well, in her mom’s opinion). It was meant for male guests.
“Bathroom is through that door,” she said, pointing to a door in the corner of the room. “I’ll meet you out here in half an hour.”
“Great,” he said, sounding a little dazed as he looked around.
Sharon smirked as she turned and went to her room. It didn’t take her long to get ready. Little black designer cocktail dress, hair smoothly coiled in a French twist, a dash of make-up with red lips and she looked presentable enough that her mom would probably leave her alone. Well, about her appearance at least. Chances were her parents were going to be more focused on Jake anyway.
She thought Jake was going to faint when her parents insisted on them taking one oftheircars to the rehearsal dinner, which was at her aunt’s house.
“Why are we taking one of their cars again?” he muttered under his breath as her parents left the garage in her dad’s Ferrari.
“Because their cars are awesome and I thought you’d enjoy the ride. Now get in the Mercedes and enjoy yourself.”
Opening the door, Jake stared down at the ground. “Sharon.”
“What?”
“There’s a light on the bottom of the door making the Mercedes symbol on the ground.”
“Yup. Also, the seats will massage you, don’t ask me how to work the radio, and if you ask my dad about the specs he will be happy to give you the full rundown. Now get in, we’re going to be late.” Since they were taking her parents’ car, Sharon was driving. She kind of wished she wasn’t though, just because she had the feeling she was going to need a lot of alcohol.
Oh well. Tomorrow night she could get shit-faced. It was probably better tonotbe totally hungover for the actual wedding anyway.
Arriving at her aunt’s house – where the driveway was already filled with cars the valets were taking care of – Sharon was amused to see that Jake was moving as if in a trance, staring at their surroundings. The house was slowly filling with people and she was stopped by several relatives and friends of her parents who recognized her. She introduced him around; he smiled and shook hands in all the right places, but he was definitely thrown.
“Oh, thank goodness, you’re here!” Melinda came barreling out of nowhere, throwing her arms around Sharon in pure relief. Tall, willowy, and dressed in a strapless white dress that did not look warm enough for the outside weather – not that that would matter to Aunt Lorraine - Melinda looked stunning. She also looked fed up. “My mom is driving mecrazy.Mark and I should have just eloped.”
“I told you so,” Sharon said immediately, grinning. She held out her hand to indicate Jake. “This is my friend Jake, he’s here as my date.”
“Nice to meet you,” Melinda said, barely sparing him a glance as she looked around, appearing almost hunted. She groaned. “Here comes my mom. Distract her? It’s for the bride.” The pleading look she gave Sharon was more than a little desperate.
“Ugh. Only because you’re getting married tomorrow. Now shoo.” Sharon turned her cousin around, giving her a slap on the butt to send her on her way.
“What’s going on?” Jake asked, looking confused. At least he didn’t appear quite so dazed anymore. Which was good, he was going to need his wits about him if they were going to run interference for Melinda.
“Come on,” she said, tucking her hand into the crook of his arm. “I want to introduce you to my aunt.” Sharon forcibly turned him around and called out, “Hey! Aunt Lorraine! I want you to meet someone!”
Both Jake and her aunt winced as she called out, loudly enough to draw disapproving looks from more than one person around them. Sharon pretended not to notice. If Melinda was hiding out from her mom the night before her wedding there must be a good reason… And if Aunt Lorraine was after Melinda, the only way to get her to focus on Sharon was to be loud. Aunt Lorraine wouldn’t want to cause a scene.
Sharon beamed as her aunt frowned censoriously at her, pivoting her direction slightly so that she was now headed directly towards Sharon and Jake. Behind her, Sharon could see her own mother now heading their way too. She was frowning even harder than Aunt Lorraine.
Well, this should be fun.
Chapter 13
Jake could feel his cheeks heating with embarrassment at the looks he and Sharon were now garnering as she waved energetically at her aunt. Talk about a rude awakening. He’d admittedly been a little out of it when they’d first come into the house, which was even bigger and decorated more dramatically than Sharon’s parents’. He didn’t know why she was suddenly taking it upon herself to be both loud and obnoxious, but he hated the looks they were getting.
It made his skin crawl.
Definitely not the impression he wanted to make on anyone, much less her family. Yeah, he wasn’t the one doing it, but she was on his arm.
He tried to temper his automatic response since he did realize what she was doing. The same way she'd shielded Ellie at the engagement party, she was now working to shield her cousin. Just in a louder, more obnoxious and more obvious manner that was drawing attention from everyone around them.
"Aunt Lorraine, this is my date, Jake Standish," Sharon said. Her voice wasn't exactly louder than before, but she was projecting it so that it carried, despite the crowd of people around them. "Jake, this is my Aunt Lorraine."
