Page 15 of Best Man
Was that why he felt like healreadyknew her? It was the strangest feeling, after all—like they were already close. She just didn’t know it yet.
Piper brought her over and introduced her to the group. “Everyone, this is my little sister, Paulina. She’s my maid of honor.”
Everyone in the group shouted, “Hi, Paulina!”
Paulina flashed her prettysmile andwaved at the group, perhaps a tiny bit shy. “Hi, everybody.”
Before anyone could stand up for a more proper introduction, the wedding coordinator wrangled control of the situation. “Okay, we can shake hands and get acquainted later. First, we need to run through today’s agenda. Please pay attention to what I’m going to say. I promise I’ll keep it clear and concise.”
Veronica began giving her spiel about the wedding rehearsal and what was to come today and tomorrow, but Niko had already tuned out. To be fair,howcould he focus with Paulina standing there? Try as he might, he was too distracted, overwhelmed by an irresistible urge to steal justone lastpeek. But it was never enough. He knew someone might catch him looking at her, which made his heart quicken, but he couldn’t stop himself.
She’s so cute.His eyes wandered up and down her body.And what a babe, too.
But the bride’s little sister was also totally off-limits, and no one should know that better than the groom’s best man.
6
Paulina
Paulina’s plans for a quick rinse in the shower were dashed when she took her pigtails out. She washopingher hair would look wavy and beautiful, like sometimes happened after she wore braids, but instead her hair looked flat, crimped, and weird. Not wanting to look like a mess in front of Piper’s cool hockey friends, she had no choice but to wash her hair instead.
But a longer shower meant Paulina didn’t have enough time to do her face or style her hair. Instead, she toweled her hair dry as best she could, hastily brushed it, then jumped into her favorite pair of jeans and threw on a decent enough babydoll blouse. She ran over to Jax and Piper’s and found everyone waiting in the backyard patio, where she knew she’d find them.
“Hi,” she panted, a little winded from her sprint. “Sorry I’m late.”
“No worries!” They hugged, and Piper took her hand and led her to her friends. “Let me introduce you to everybody.”
Normally not one to be shy, Paulina couldn’t help but feel a little intimidated as she waved and meekly greeted the group of twenty or thirty. Some faces she knew, but most she didn’t. And the truly shocking part was howattractiveeveryone was—talk about a good-looking group! The ladies looked like they’d strutted right off the pages of a fashion magazine in their amazing designer clothes. The men looked quite dapper in their button-downs and suit jackets, too.
Paulina glanced down, feeling shame at her outfit. Adding insult to injury, her hair, still damp, was beginning to soak the back of her blouse.
Oof,she thought, feeling like she was slowly shrinking under everyone’s gaze.
Luckily, the wedding coordinator put a stop to any sort of extended meet-and-greet. A few moments later, Veronica mobilized thegroup, and everyone began the march through the green grass and across the backyard so they could practice the ceremony. Their destination? A clearing atop a flat hill where the couple would exchange their vows tomorrow.
Paulina stayed close to her sister, her ears warm with embarrassment, feeling like she didn’t belong with this group of millionaire athletes and their beautiful and talented wives. “Welp. I feel a little out of place,” she quietly admitted with a nervous chuckle.
“Huh? What are you talking about?” Piper asked.
“Everyone looks so good.” Paulina gestured at herself. “I just threw this on. I didn’t have time to get ready.”
Piper shushed her. “Oh, stop. You look fine.”
Paulina wasn’t exactly persuaded, but Piper had already moved on, talking and laughing with her friends. With dozens of people to entertain, the bride had a role to play. She didn’t have time to lift Paulina’s spirits—that washerjob as maid of honor, actually.
Whatever,she decided.I need to get over it.
They hiked up the small hill, where the rows of painted white wood chairs faced the wedding arch that Dad had built and topped with roses. Out here in the middle of nature, there wasn’t a sound to be heard but the gentle whistle of the breeze cutting through the green hills, and the digitalsnapof a camera shutter as Piper’s friends took photos on their phones.
From their previous run-ins, Paulina knew the wedding coordinator ran a tight ship, and Veronica wasted no time getting all the right pieces in place for the rehearsal. Jax waited at the altar while Veronica ran through the order and logistics of how the ushers were to seat the two families.
Once Veronica had that squared away, she moved on to the next task. “Okay, next. I need the members of my wedding party.”
One of the really neat things about Piper and Jax’s wedding party was that almost all the groomsmen and bridesmaids were married couples: there was Beau and Camille Bradford, Dane and Austen DeHardt, Jack and Emma Hathaway, Katerina and Derek Reaves, Ainsley and Tanner Vaughn. When Veronica learned this, she showed the first hint of a smile—and Paulina thought it might’ve been the only time she ever smiled in her life.
“Perfect,” she said. “Everyone already knows each other, so we shouldn’t have any problems organizing this.”
Under Veronica’s watch, the first pair began their slow walk down the aisle. Paulina was in her own world, watching Beau and Camille walk the aisle together. Snapping back to reality, Paulina began to look around forherescort, Jax’s best man, Niko.
