Текст книги "That Wedding"

Автор книги: Jillian Dodd

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Текущая страница: 5 (всего у книги 25 страниц)

I wake up to Phillip kissing my shoulder. My back is spooned tightly into his chest. I'm still half asleep, half dreaming, but notice his kisses feel rough. The scruff on his face is tickling my shoulder.

"You need to shave," I whisper.

He runs his scruff up the side of my face and pulls my hips into a serious case of morning wood.

"Dang, Phillip, been having some good dreams?"

"Reliving last week, I think. We should have naughty dream week every week. Starting now."

After an amazing wake up, Phillip left for work, and I texted Danny.

Me:  You awake?

Danny :)  Yeah.

Me:  Skype me?

Danny :)  Cool.

I open up my laptop and see just part of Danny. One broad shirtless shoulder, half a muscular pec, an angular jaw, messy blonde hair, and one blue eye. Danny sucks at Skyping.

"Danny, the computer is your like your center. Line up under the ball."

He grabs the sides of the computer with both hands, and his whole face comes into view.

"You need a haircut," I tell him.

"What are you, my mother now?"

"No. How come you're up so early?"

"Lori was craving blueberry muffins."

"So you had to go get her some?"

"No, she's baking her mom's recipe. I'm keeping her company."

Lori yells from nearby. "Jade, why aren't you at work?"

Shit. She's way too smart for her own good. Who would even think of that?

"Um, I'm going in later. Working from home this morning," I lie.

Danny can usually tell when I'm lying. He says I always look up at the sky. He grins at me. His Devil Danny grin. Shit. He knows I'm lying.

I try to play it cool by saying, "What?"

"So, I heard the big news." He keeps grinning at me.

What!? Phillip promised he wouldn't tell. No. Phillip always keeps his promises. Danny must be talking about different news. "Um, what big news is that?"

"Naughty dream week was a big success."

I inwardly sigh with relief. "Yeah, it was a lotta fun. Phillip seemed to like it."

"He did. I talked to him on his way to work this morning. Heard all about how naughty you were."

"Did he say what he liked best?"

Danny looks at me confused. "Shouldn't you know that?"

"Oh, yeah, probably. I think it was the baseball. We almost got caught. Like if Cookie would've shown up a minute later, we would've been doing it."

Danny shakes his head at me. "Nope, that wasn't his favorite."

I squish up my nose. "Then it must've been the tent."

"No, don't you know your own fiancee? He liked Cancun."

"Really? Cancun wasn't that naughty."

"You attacked him in a beach chair in front of the restaurant where, if it weren't for your long dress hiding things, people could've seen?"

"Oh, yeah, that. That was kinda naughty. Okay, so I have a question for you. Hang on. I'm gonna get some cereal. I'm starved."

I quickly pour a bowl of cereal, add some milk, grab a spoon, then sit back in front of the computer. "Okay, so how did you set your wedding date? Did it have any significance?"

Lori's face comes rushing into the screen. She has a little bit of flour on her cheek. Danny gently wipes it off as she says, "Jade!! Are you setting a date? Did you set one?"

"Not yet, but we're talking about it."

Her face looks bright. "That's so exciting! And no, we just had a timeframe of when we wanted to get married. We picked three resorts and called to see if they were available. They all were, so we chose our favorite."

"It was a really pretty resort. We had a fun weekend. Not that your wedding wasn't great, but Phillip was pissed at me, which sort of made it seem not as pretty."

"You look tanner," Danny says.

"A little. We laid out in the sun a lot. You should see Phillip. He's way darker than I am."

"He always gets tanner than us."

"I know. It's sexy."

Lori sighs, "At least you don't burn like I do. So what do you think you want? Maybe you should start by picking a season. Which sounds best? Winter, spring, summer, or fall?"

I go out on a little limb when I say, "I was thinking a winter wedding might be pretty."

Danny and Lori's eyes both get big. Lori says, "Like this winter? That'd be so great! I won't be huge."

"I don't know when. I just thought winter might be cool. It might be next winter."

"Why would you wanna wait that long?" Danny asks. "I couldn't wait to marry Lori. I'm glad we had a short engagement."

"Did people give you crap about that?" I'm a bit concerned about this part.

Lori says, "My parents were sure I was pregnant. That pissed my dad off a bit. I assured them that I wasn't, and they got over it. They love Danny. I mean, who wouldn't?" She plants a sweet kiss on the side of his neck.

Danny says, "My mom thought we might be rushing things a bit."

"She did?" I pause and let out a sigh. "I have been dragging my feet a bit on the wedding planning."

Lori says, "I've noticed that, but why? You love Phillip."

"It's just hard without my parents. Like my mom would've helped me find the most amazing dress. I went shopping with Katie and Lisa, and I have no idea what I want. Well, I guess I know what I don't want. I don't wanna look like Cinderella."

"Jay..." Danny starts to say, but I keep going.

"And the Macs are great, but Phillip's mom is so like.....she's..." I struggle for the right word.

"She's a steamroller," Lori says.

I nod my head at her. "Yes. And I don't wanna get smooshed. Danny, I have a really big favor to ask."

Danny nods his head at me.

"You know your dad's been there for me through like everything."

"I know, Jay."

"I wanna know if it's okay with you if I borrow him."

"What do you mean?"

"I wanna ask him to walk me down the aisle."

Danny stares at me solemnly. He knows all the emotions wrapped up in what I'm asking. "Jay, you know he'll be honored."

"I feel bad though. I feel like all I ever do is go out there, eat your mom's cinnamon rolls, whine, beg for advice, or ask them to do something for me."

Danny smiles a soft smile. "My mom said you were out there the other day. She said she always prayed for a daughter, now, with you and Lori, she has two. They adore you."

Lori's face pops back onto the screen. "Jade, I'm so sorry. I didn't know that's why you've been dragging your feet. I've been pushing you on planning and stuff, and I never even thought about how hard it must be. I'm such a bad friend."

Danny pulls her onto his lap.

"Oh...uh...hang on," she says. She quickly runs off the screen.

"Where's she going?" I ask as I take a bite of my cereal.

Danny grins at me. "To puke."

I drop the spoon back in my bowl. "Nice. I think on that note, I'll say goodbye."

My phone buzzes with a text.

Phillipbaby<3  I love you. We're gonna have an amazing wedding. Have fun looking for ideas today.

And that motivates me. I pop on a popular wedding planning website. I look at all the pictures of things to choose for your wedding and click on the one choice that I'm sure will be easy.

Cake.

I love cake, specifically white wedding cake.

And what's the deal with brides lately? They get all creative on this part. The last two weddings I went to had all these flavors of cake, and not one of them was white!! Another wedding we went to had white cake, but they ruined it by adding a gross lemon filling.

Don't brides know that white wedding cake and an open bar are the only two reasons people go to weddings?

I know that's one tradition I'm not going to mess with.

My cake will be white. Plain white cake with chocolate frosting. That's the cake my mom made me every year for my birthday.

I also want fluffy frosting, not the stuff that looks like cardboard.

I start clicking through photos of cakes. There are over two thousand cakes to choose from. They're all really beautiful. I've saved photos of some that are really pretty. I'm not sure if I've found the dream one yet, but I know this.

I want some cake. Badly.

I run to the store, buy a cake mix, bake some cupcakes, and make my mom's chocolate buttercream frosting.

Phillip comes home for lunch while I'm frosting. As he walks in the front door, he says, "Yum. What smells so good?"

I hold up a freshly frosted cupcake. "Cupcakes."

"I thought you were supposed to be planning our wedding?"

"I was looking at cakes."

He laughs. "Let me guess, made you crave cake?" He grabs a cupcake and puts half of it in his mouth.

"Yes, I've decided one thing. I'd like to have white cake with chocolate frosting. Sound good?"

He shoves the last half of his second cupcake into his mouth. "You can have anything you want. Especially if I can have what I want."

"What do you want?"

He sticks his finger into the bowl of frosting, smears chocolate down the side of my neck, and then licks it off.

"Phillip!" I scream playfully.

While he's licking my neck, I shove my whole hand into the frosting bowl. I attempt to smoosh it onto his face. He's too strong though. He grabs my arm, so I only manage to get a little bit on his cheek.

"Want me to lick it off?" I ask with a laugh.

He grabs more frosting and smears it down my arm.

I still have frosting all over my hand, so I try again to get his face.

He grabs me, spins me around so my back is to him, and then grabs my hand and rubs it across my face. "Ha! You're putting it on yourself!"

Pretty soon, we're in the midst of a full-fledged frosting war.

I throw a chunk of frosting at him. It hits his shirt. "Oh, you're in trouble now. You got it on my shirt!"

He pulls his shirt off, grins sexily, takes a step closer to me, and pulls mine off too. He smears frosting down the front of me then slowly licks it off. He says, "This is an awfully pretty bra. It'd be a shame to ruin it with chocolate."

"Well, it wasn't your mother's kitchen island, but it wasn't too bad."

He laughs at me.

"What?"

"You should see yourself. You have chocolate all, like everywhere. You need a shower."

"Shut up. You have chocolate all over you too. You need a shower," I say back.

"Exactly my thought. I'm also thinking I don't really need to go back to work today."

Lori calls me and asks how the wedding planning is going.

"I feel like I'm drowning in options. I don't think you understand. You just got on the phone, said I want to get married on the beach at sunset, and you did."

"I still had to make choices when we got to the resort. They showed us three cakes, and we picked one."

"I looked at thousands of cakes online. Then I got hungry for cake, so I made white cupcakes with chocolate frosting."

"Oh, that sounds really good."

"It was good, especially when Phillip came home for lunch. We got in a frosting fight and ended up doing it on the kitchen counter."

Lori screams, "Jade! You and Phillip are naughty. Then what happened?"

"He told me I was dirty, needed a shower. We did it again in the shower. Then he decided he didn't really need to go back to work, so we spent the rest of the afternoon in bed. I didn't get much planning done."

"That still sounds fun. You and Phillip seem like you have a lot of fun together. I'm so happy for you. Hey, why aren't you at work?"

"I'm really happy too. If I tell you something, will you promise me you won't tell a soul? Not even Danny? Like we're going to tell everyone soonish, but just not yet."

"Are you pregnant? Is that possible? It's only been a few weeks, I guess it's possib...."

"Lori, I'm not pregnant."

"Oh, what is it then?"

I can't hold it in any longer. "Phillip got a promotion. He's going to be running the new Kansas City branch of their business. Which means that we're going to MOVE to Kansas City!!! We can see each other all the time!"

"OH MY GOSH! That's the best news ever!! I know we talk a lot, but it's not the same. I miss you. I have no one to shop with. When are you going to move? What about your job?"

"I miss you too. A lot. I quit my job on Monday. I'm going to work for Phillip, if you can believe that. I'm going to help him find temporary offices, design them, and then design and oversee the building of their headquarters."

"Oh, Jade! I'm so excited for you. That's what you want to do."

"I know, and there's more."

"More? Wait. I have to pee. Hang on, I'm taking you in the bathroom with me."

"I really didn't need to know that. Just mute it. I don't wanna hear you pee. So this is the even bigger news. We're going to get married really soon. Like sometime this winter. Hopefully December or January."

I hear peeing, and her scream, "JADE!!! That's the BEST news EVER!! I'm so happy for you. But oh my gosh, you must be freaking out. Trying to plan a wedding so quickly. Wait, you don't seem like you're freaking out. Why are you so calm?"

"I have no idea. Phillip said the same thing when he told me about everything. It just all feels so right, Lori. I can't wait to marry Phillip. I've never been so sure of anything in my life."

"Awww, that's so sweet. Okay, so do you need help? Maybe you should hire a wedding planner."

"Maybe, I don't know. I do feel like I'm drowning in options. So will you help me a little?"

"I have all day. Let me get some paper." I hear flushing, then water, and then her walking across the hardwood floor in her kitchen. "Can you hear that?" she asks.

I'm pretty sure I just heard way more than I needed to, but I don't know what exactly she's referring to. "Hear what?"

"The workers. They're so noisy. They're sawing tiles outside right now. It's a mess, but the bathroom is starting to look pretty cool, don't you think?"

"It's going to be beautiful, just like you. Did I tell you how gorgeous you look pregnant? Mrs. Diamond was going on about how you're glowing. They're pretty excited to be grandparents."

"Yeah, they are. It's cool. Okay, so what do you want for your wedding? Do you have any ideas?"

"A few. I want a white cake with chocolate frosting. I'm not sure how I want it to look, but I do want it tall with lots of layers. I found a picture of one that had fluffy chocolate frosting, but it had little white and pink designs. So far, it's my favorite. I was thinking about doing a red velvet cake for the groom's cake since it's Phillip's favorite."

"Those both sound good. So if the cake has pink on it, does that mean you want pink for your color?"

"I don't think so. I'm not sure on a color yet."

"Okay, what else do you know?"

"My mom and I talked about my wedding reception when I was little. I always thought it would be in a big ballroom with pretty chandeliers and lots of candlelight. I know I'm not the most romantic person, never really been into all that mushy stuff, but with Phillip, I feel romantic. I want the wedding to feel romantic."

"I think all weddings should be romantic, and you and Phillip have so much history. There will be lots of cool things you can do. Okay, so I have all that, what else?"

"I know it's not all about the party, but we want a great reception. I know Phillip will be picky about the food. He also wants to wear a black tuxedo, and we want it to be formal."

"Jade, I'm so proud of you! You said you didn't know anything you wanted, but you really know a lot. Your theme is romance. You know what kind of cake you want. I think the next thing you need to do is find somewhere to have the reception. That will help you set your date. Then you need to find a dress. I think you should go shopping by yourself. I wish I was there, but here's what I think you should do. Tell the consultant you want to try on a dress of each silhouette. That's what I did."

"Katie told me to do that, but Lisa made me try on a bunch of ball gowns."

"Just tell them you don't like ball gowns. I figured out pretty quickly what I liked and didn't like. After trying on four or five different styles, I knew I wanted an A-line dress. It looked the best on my figure. Then we set out to find one that was perfect for a beach wedding."

"Your dress was gorgeous. I loved how simple it was."

"Vera Wang does simple very well. I loved my dress and felt amazing in it. Think about that too. You'll be in the dress for hours. Make sure it's comfortable."

"The dress seems like it sorta sets the tone for the wedding."

"Yes and no. You already know you want a formal wedding, so you're going to want a more formal dress. Your goal for today is to figure out what style you want. That's it. So go."

"Okay, I'll go. Call you later. And Lori, thanks."

"You're welcome, Jade, and I promise I won't tell Danny."

I grab a cupcake and slowly lick the frosting off the top while thinking about how sexy the man I'm going to marry is. I click on the internet to pull up a raunchy gift store's website. Maybe I can find a sexy game or some cute coupons for Phillip. Something that will keep naughty week going.

OMG!

I come across an item that I have to tell Danny about because I'm dying laughing about this. I believe it's an item that a boy would use to, um, pleasure himself.

Me:  New XXX wedding idea. You know how they have pasta stations at lots of wedding dinners? So I'm online looking for some naughty games, and they have something for men that they call an ejaculation station. What do you think, should we have one for the XXX wedding?

Danny :)  Like the idea....but it's a special day. They shouldn't have to do it themselves, hire professionals to help :)

I'm laughing as I head out the door.

At the wedding store, I look at dresses. I don't know what I want, like I've looked at a million dress ads in magazines, but none of them screamed at me from the page saying they were the one.

I think I want something simple and elegant. I don't want lace. I don't want anything flashy.

Something elegant, beautiful, subtle, and refined.

Just like me.

I laugh.

Ha!

Sorry. I even have to laugh at myself sometimes.

Really, I want my wedding dress like Danny's old girlfriends.

SSE. Simple, smooth, and easy.

Vibrate.

Danny :)  What naughty games?

Me:  Can't talk now. I'm trying on wedding dresses!!

Danny :)  That's okay, I'm at a photo op with a few of the guys from the team and some of the cheerleaders. Tired as hell but still smiling and signing autographs.

Me:  Keep smiling and remember :) not :D

Danny :)  Will do :)

I leave the store feeling a little depressed. I know Lori told me just to narrow in on a style, and I think I did. All the ladies at the bridal store seem to think I look best in a strapless mermaid style gown. I agree on strapless, but I don't know if I picture myself at my wedding looking like a mermaid.

Phillip rubbed my face before he left for work this morning. It might be my favorite thing in the whole world. I fell back asleep and dreamt of wedding dresses.

I'm in a bowling alley wearing the huge pouffy hoop-skirted wedding dress. All my friends are bowling pins with faces.

Somehow, I keep getting pushed down the lane, like I'm a bowling ball. I smash into my bowling pin friends with the big skirt and knock them to the ground.

And they are not happy about it.

Pretty soon, all the bowling pins are yelling at me, telling me what a horrible dress I picked, how they hate it, and hate me.

Now, I'm standing above what I think is the pit to hell.

All my bowling pin friends are lying in the pit all around my feet. They're moaning, writhing in pain, begging to be let out. When I can't bend over to help them because the dress is so big, they try to pull me into hell with them.

I wake up with a jerk, feeling a bit depressed, but immediately get to work.

After four hours of online searching, I've decided that planning a wedding seems to vary from being the most joyous of experiences to being the biggest suckfest of all time.

Right now, it's literally sucking the life out of me.

Rule #1 in all bridal magazines. Give yourself a year to plan the perfect wedding.

And here's another wedding statistic for you.

Most brides are engaged for fifteen months!

Fifteen months!!!!!

And we want to do this in like three months?

Is that even possible?

I called a bunch of hotels this morning. Asked about a Saturday in December or January. I got a whole lot of we're booked.

Maybe we should just run off to Vegas and get married by a fake Elvis. I'll wear a tacky cheap gown that I can wear on the roller coaster later.

No, that's not what I want. I remember my mom telling me she spent way too much on her wedding dress. JJ, that is something you should never skimp on.

I know her rhinestones, bling, and love of leopard used to bug me, but it was so her.

I feel like I shouldn't be planning my wedding without her. I also know she'd be pissed to hear me say that. She'd want me to have fun with it.

Then I think, my mom's dress! Maybe I could wear it!

I crawl up to the top shelf in my closet, pull the big box down, and try it on.

And laugh.

And laugh some more.

Oh my. This dress is so eighties, it's almost comical. It has huge puffy shoulders, full length mutton sleeves, and is covered with lace and iridescent sequins. I look closer at the fabric, wonder if I could have the dress remade. I really don't love the lace, so probably not. I'm a little surprised at myself though. I kinda like the sparkle. The little sequins. I bet they looked really pretty when she moved. They kinda remind me of the dress Phillip got me for our engagement party. It was beautiful. I've been telling the ladies at the bridal shop that I hate bling, but some of the dresses I've tried on have seemed too plain. Maybe I need a little bling.

I'm pretty sure my mom would like that.

I call Lori again and tell her to Skype me. I want her to see that I'm actually miserable and not just faking it.

"Lori, wedding planning sucks. I have no dress. All the places I thought about having the reception are booked, and I can't decide on a color scheme. I think I'm going insane and crazy at the same time."

"You just need a different approach. Don't look at this as something you have to do, have to get done…look at this as, um, a once-in-a-lifetime adventure. You're taking this incredible trip to Bridalville, and you get to shop, no wait…SEARCH, for the coolest thing from each town to bring back to show your friends. You know, the greatest cake, the most gorgeous dress, the funkiest favors, the yummiest food, the coolest cocktail. Whatever YOU want. How fun is that????"

"Well, that does sound fun," I say cautiously. "A new approach. Maybe that's what I need." I look at her with a shrewd eye. "You're using this shit on Danny, aren't you? Is Danny going to Babyville?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." She gets a smug look on her face.

"You've gotten really good," I say, complimenting her manipulative skills.

And well, the conversation worked.

I've decided to take a new approach.

Screw the theme.

Screw the colors.

I'm going on a search for what I like best, and that's what I'm going to use.

We'll throw caution to the wind, say what the hell, and just let it fall into place.

We have a new theme for the wedding, and that theme is ME!

Say it with me now!!!

It's all about me!!

Okay, so it's about Phillip too, but you know what I mean.

Then I realize that's what is missing! I need Phillip. I want his input on all of this. I shouldn't decide it myself. We should do it together. Although lately, it seems like every time we talk about anything wedding related, we end up in bed, or well, somewhere, you know, having a little fun.

Tonight, I'll take Phillip out for some pizza, and we'll look through wedding ideas.

Shoot.

That won't work. I don't want to drag my laptop and all the crap I've torn out of magazines to dinner.

We'll just order in pizza.

But if we're at home, I know what'll happen. And what will happen will have nothing to do with the wedding. Well, I take that back, Phillip keeps telling me we're having "rehearsals" for the honeymoon. The honeymoon he's planning but won't tell me about.

So I text that boy.

Me:  Tonight, I'm just saying no. No sex.

Phillipbaby<3  Did I do something wrong?

Me:  No, but we have a wedding checklist of a million and seven things to do. I'm ordering pizza. We can have a few beers, eat, and look at lots of ideas. See if we can find some we want to use. There will be no fun until we make some serious progress. Deal?

Phillipbaby<3  Deal ;)

I thought he was serious until I saw the little winky face.

Me:  Philllippp!!! No winking either! I know what that means!!

Phillipbaby<3  Fine :(

Me:  No sad faces either. If you want, we don't have to do any of it. We can just skip the wedding.

Phillipbaby<3  Can't wait!!! Looking forward to it!!

Me:  You're such a liar. I love you.

Phillipbaby<3  I love you too. We'll find some great ideas tonight, and then we should probably have another honeymoon rehearsal. It's important we get that right.

When Phillip got home, he caught me staring into my jewelry box.

"What are you looking at?"

"Just my mom and dad's wedding rings. I feel bad they just sit there. It's kinda sad."

I get little tears in my eyes, but I push them back. I'm good at pushing back tears. Well, I used to be. It's gotten harder to do lately.

Phillip wraps me in his arms, and I forget about being sad, especially when he kisses me.

I drag him out to the couch, where we chow on pizza and drink beer. I click through picture after picture of wedding ideas. Phillip thought if we saw something we both liked, we should save it. So we did. We found a cool menu card we both really like. It's black and white damask and has accents of either teal or purple. Which depending on which color I pick, would work either way. We both love a huge white tree centerpiece that is dripping with lights, candles, crystals, and flowers. There's an all white place setting with a really cute snowflake ornament sitting on top. Since we're getting married in the winter, we both think something like that might be cool. We also save a photo of something I get really excited about. It's the cutest cocktail table that's covered in a black and white damask print tablecloth and tied with black ribbon at the base. It has a small purple floral arrangement and votive candles on top of it.

"Let's click back through everything we've saved," Philip says.

I click back through. "Well, we seem to really like black and white. Should we do that, and then I'll accent with either purple or teal?"

"That sounds like a plan," he says.

"I was thinking I'd like to have everything all in one place. I'd like to go from ceremony, to cocktail hour, to reception, to after party, without having to drive."

"Would that mean we wouldn't get married at the church?"

"Yeah," I say sneakily. That way I don't have to worry about Pastor John. We'll just find someone random off the internet or something. Or invite a judge. I bet Mr. Diamond knows a judge. He's an attorney, he should. "Especially since it'll probably be snowy and cold. If we can do it all at the hotel, I think it would be nicer. I mean, if I can find a hotel. I haven't had much luck with that yet."

Philip closes my laptop, sets it on the coffee table, and kisses me. "You're lucky. We'll find somewhere."

"Speaking of getting lucky," I say with a smirk.

Phillip smacks my butt as he follows me into the bedroom.