Page 86 of Legally Ours

I bit my lip, thinking about the image of our wedding we'd built for ourselves. Brandon groaned.

"Cory's right," he said regretfully, rubbing his neck as he stepped away. "I need to call Hope before he does and start damage control."

"Okay. I have a therapy appointment, and then I need to get some work done myself. I'll probably just go to the cafe down the street, and then pick up some––"

Before I could finish my sentence, Brandon yanked me to him for another deep kiss. I melted into it, my fingers clenching at his hair as I opened my lips to his seeking tongue. But just as quickly, he let me go with two more short kisses and a smack on my ass.

"Go," he said with another quick peck. "Before I can't stop myself anymore."

~

Several hours later, I returned to the apartment with a bag full of read depositions and a growling stomach. I dropped my bag on the foyer table and walked into the living area, where Brandon, Cory, and two people I didn't recognize were all sitting around the uncomfortable sectional with empty takeout containers littering the coffee table. All four faces turned to me, but Brandon's was the only one that smiled.

"Hey, beautiful," he said, beckoning with a long arm stretched over the back of the sofa.

I went to him obediently. Brandon wrapped his arm around my waist as I gave him a brief kiss in greeting, which he extended just a second longer than was strictly necessary.

"Mmm," he murmured when he finally let me go. "Damn. Four hours really wasn't enough."

"Enough for what?" I whispered

He smirked. "Enough to get those dirty thoughts out of my head."

I blushed, glancing at the other three people in the room. I loved that Brandon wasn't shy about showing his affection for me, but every now and then it took me off guard.

"Um, thanks. I think," I said as I toyed with my hair, willing the blush in my cheeks to fade. "What's going on?"

"Oh, just a little strategizing for the campaign," Brandon said. His hand lingered at my waist as he turned back to the guests. "You know Cory, obviously, but we recently hired some other folks to help us out. This is Hope, our Communications Director, and Omar, who's in charge of social media. Guys, this is Skylar, my fiancée."

Still pinned to the couch by Brandon's arm, I waved awkwardly and ignored Cory's glare from the facing armchair as Hope and Omar said their hellos.

"Nice to meet you," I said. Absently, I stroked Brandon's hair, and he smiled up at me. "I'm going to change and get something to drink. Is there anything in the fridge?" I looked over the empty takeout containers and wrinkled my nose.

"Bubbe just brought beef stroganoff up for later," Brandon said. He rubbed his still-flat belly. "She's going to make me gain twenty pounds, I swear. Will you still marry me if I have to roll down the aisle?"

"Any day of the week," I said, earning another bright grin. It's the dimples, I thought. That was what made his smile sink into my soul every single time.

When I reemerged in a pair of harem pants and a loose gray T-shirt, the four of them were all deep in conversation.

"What about conversion?" Cory was asking. "That might help, you know?"

As I walked into the kitchen, I could feel four pairs of eyes watching as I poured myself a glass of water and pulled a plate out of the cabinet. The room went silent as I heated up some food, and when I turned to look at them, they were all staring at me.

"What's going on?" I asked, feeling under examination. I supposed I was.

"Nothing," Brandon said too quickly.

"Come on, man. She can make her own decision."

"It's not the worst idea in the world," Hope added. "The optics would probably play well in Catholic Boston. Reformed sinner atones! It's an easy headline to feed the smaller papers and blogs."

Omar remained quiet, studying his laptop.

"What’s not the worst idea?" I asked as I carried my food over to the dinner table.

I took a seat at the corner closest to the group. Brandon came to sit next to me.

"We were just talking about the wedding," he said, almost regretfully. "They...think it would be a good idea to do something different with it to draw attention away from the video."

---