Page 35 of Mine To Keep (Southern Wedding)

“Is this a funeral or a party?” I ask, making my father laugh and my mother groan.

“I said the same thing,” she shares softly as I give her a hug and kiss her cheek. “I should have done color.”

“You hate color,” my father points out to her.

“No one asked you.” She glares at him, then turns to glare at Nash when he chuckles.

“Hey, Dad,” I greet, hugging him also.

“Have you seen inside?” Nash asks, and I just shake my head.

“I gave Grace the control,” I inform him, and he rolls his lips, making the hair on my neck stick up.

Surely, she wouldn’t fuck with me and fuck up tonight, would she? “Oh, stop it.” My mother slaps his arm. “It’s out of this world.” I do a sigh of relief. “It’s so elegant and classy. She did good.”

I hold up my hand and flip him the bird, making him laugh, and putting one of his hands to his chest. “Straight to the heart.”

“You two behave yourself,” my mother scolds. “Look, we have people arriving.” She looks at both of us. “Behave.”

I nod at her as she walks over toward the guests arriving, instead of following her toward the guests, I walk into the venue space. I think even I gasp when I see the room. The drapes to the outside are opened and pushed aside, giving it just a bit of the remaining sunlight. The ceiling lights are on but look like they are dimmed. Round tables fill the room with black tablecloths, and white linen napkins fill the table, with gold centerpieces that match the gold chairs. The back of the room facing the door has black draping from the ceiling to the floor, with a screen in front of them with, “Cottrell Group Gala” in the middle of it. A black stand with a microphone attached to it sits on the side of the stage.

She didn’t just do good, she fucking killed this. “Can I get you something to drink?” one of the servers asks me when she stops beside me, holding a tray in her hand.

“I’ll have a whiskey on the rocks, please,” I tell her, and she nods her head, going to the bar in the corner. I see five or six other servers coming out and grabbing a silver tray with champagne flutes on them.

“So, what do you think?” Nash asks as he stands beside me.

“I think she killed it,” I say honestly. “Why? Don’t you?”

“I think she killed it from the first day she put juice boxes and animal crackers on the boardroom table.” He laughs, taking another sip of his drink. “I’m just waiting for you to fuck up again so I can get her to my office.” I don’t answer him because the server shows up with my glass of whiskey. “Let’s go mingle.”

I take a sip of the whiskey before following him out of the ballroom. Outside is now filled with guests, and I look around for her. My eyes roam the room, not seeing her anywhere, but then I spot her. She’s walking up the stairs with Kayla and Kevin, but my eyes don’t leave her. Her hands hold up her dress until she gets to the top, and then she releases it. I swear I take a big inhale and then feel my chest compress, making me cough. She moves her hair off her bare shoulder as she smiles at something Kayla says. Her dress is strapless, dipping in the middle of her chest a bit. It’s a light-pink color with bright pink and green flowers on it, falling all the way to the floor. When she walks, her right leg slips out of the slit you wouldn’t even know is there. She looks magical and exactly like a fucking fairy with her blond hair flowing.

I don’t even know my feet are making their way to her, until I’m standing in front of her. “Hi,” I say to the three of them.

“Hey,” Kevin greets. “I’m going to go get a drink.”

“I’ll come,” Kayla says, looking at me and then at Grace. “Do you want something?”

“I’m good,” she assures them, and I wait for them to walk away before I talk.

“This is amazing,” I finally say, looking around the room watching everyone mingling. “Inside is even better.”

The smile fills her face, and I have the need to bend down and kiss her. I can even see it in my head. “Thank you,” she says, “it was all Sofia.”

“No, it wasn’t,” I say, looking around to make sure no one is around in hearing distance of us before I say what I really want to say, “You look beautiful.”

She looks down, trying to hide her shy smile. Her hair falls to the front, and she tucks it behind her ear before she looks back up at me. “Thank you.”

I want to take a step closer to her, I want to wrap my arm around her and pull her to me. I want everyone here to know she’s off-limits. “There she is,” Nash says from behind me.

I turn and see my parents coming with Nash. He walks past me and toward Grace, kissing her on her cheeks. If we were alone, I would probably grab the back of his jacket and yank him back; instead, I grit my teeth and take another sip of my whiskey. “Mom, Dad,” I start once Nash gets the fuck away from her. “This is Grace Barnes,” I introduce her, “she’s the one who did all this.” I smile with pride. “Grace, these are my parents, Ida and Ernie.”

“Hello,” my mother says, going straight to her and giving her a hug. “We can’t thank you enough.” She kisses both her cheeks. “What you’ve done is amazing.”

“It was my pleasure,” Grace replies softly to her.

“I know your grandfather,” my father states to her, shocking me. My eyebrows pinch together. “Met him a couple of times last year.”

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