Total pages in book: 53
Estimated words: 50689 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 253(@200wpm)___ 203(@250wpm)___ 169(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 50689 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 253(@200wpm)___ 203(@250wpm)___ 169(@300wpm)
“He’s a fool, you know.”
I laugh, but we both know she’s wrong because Lucas is actually a very smart man. “All I’m asking is for you to support me, Carl. Be there for me... and be my matron of honor. The rest of it we’ll deal with as it comes.”
She blows out a breath and rolls her eyes. “What color is my dress?”
I laugh. “I don’t care. Any color you want.”
She seems to think about it. “Red. Red looks good on me.”
I nod in agreement. Red looks really good on her, but honestly, Carlotta is beautiful, and with her dark skin, she looks great in any color. “Yes, red would be perfect. And I know we won’t have time to go shopping, so just send me what you want, and Lucas will order it.”
She looks at me skeptically. “I’m not going cheap.”
I roll my eyes. “It’s fine. He won’t care. I’m almost embarrassed for what he paid for my wedding dress.”
“Oooh, girl, give me the details.”
For the next two hours, we talk about the wedding. Dwayne eventually shows up and laughs as he has to help his wife out to the car. I sit in the back while Carlotta tells him all about the wedding. Everything is slurred, but it’s funny. When we get back to Lucas and Lottie’s house, Dwayne insists on walking me to the door when his wife tries to get out to do it.
“I guess she needed to let loose tonight.”
He laughs. “Yeah, she never does, so when it happens, it’s always an adventure.”
We’re both laughing when the front door opens. Lucas walks out onto the porch, his eyes moving between Dwayne and me.
“Hey, Lucas. This is Dwayne, Carlotta’s husband. Dwayne, this is Lucas Blaze.”
The two men shake hands, and we hear Carlotta hollering from the car, “Congratulations, Lucas! You better be good to my girl!”
Dwayne starts rushing back to the car. “See you all later. I better get her home.”
Lucas hollers thank you to her, and we both wave. “I figured your brothers would be here still.”
He points inside. “They are. Why did they bring you home? Is something wrong with your car?”
“Uh, no. Carlotta picked me up, and I had a couple of beers. She obviously had more.” I laugh. “Since neither of us should be driving, Dwayne was dropped off at the bar to drive us home.”
He takes a step toward me. “Why didn’t you call me? I could have come and picked you up.”
I tilt my head to the side, unsure what the big deal is. “Uh, I knew your brothers were coming over.”
He pinches his nose as if he’s frustrated. “That doesn’t matter. From now on, you call me.” He jabs his thumb into his chest. “I’ll pick you up.”
I shrug and go to walk past him, and he grabs my arm. “Got it, Bella?”
I turn and put my hand on my hip. “Lucas, look. All this is new. I’m not sure what I’m supposed to be doing here. And honestly, until two days ago, there’s no way I would ever had called you to come pick me up. For real, you would probably be the last person on the list, so I’m just trying to catch up here.”
He blows out a breath and runs a hand through his hair. I hate it when he does that because put-together Lucas is hot, but hair mussed, exasperated Lucas is even hotter. “I know. I know. This is all happening quickly, and I don’t know how everything is going to work either, but I do know that opening that front door and seeing another man walk you to the door–”
“He’s my friend. He’s my best friend’s husband.”
He shakes his head. “It doesn’t matter. I didn’t like it. Just promise me from now on, you’ll call me if you need a ride. That’s all I’m asking.”
There are so many questions rolling around in my head, but I don’t dare ask them. “Sure. I can promise that.”
He nods. “Good, so just a warning. My brothers are on the war path, so you may want to lay low.”
Understanding smacks me in the face. “They don’t want you to marry me. Did you tell them I’ll sign a prenup and that I don’t want anything out of this?”
He gazes down into my face. “No, surprisingly, none of that came up. They’re mad at me for using you.”
He turns to walk inside, and I follow behind him. At the stairs, I tell him I’ll see him in the morning, and he gives me a once-over and a little nod before going into his home office. I’m at the first step when I hear the raised voices.
Lucas
Finally, I’ve had enough. I throw my hands up in the air. “Listen, guys. I’m doing it. Nothing you can say is going to change how I feel about this. It’s between Isabella and me, and we’ve both agreed to it. I’m not asking your permission or anything else. I’m asking you to be here on Saturday with smiles on your faces. That’s all.”