Room for You

Page 49

“Quit moving, goofball,” Kacie said to Piper.
“This dress is itchy.”
“Well, you look adorable in it. I’m the luckiest mommy in the world to have to two of you,” she said as Lucy parked it in the chair next to her.
“Brody said I looked pretty.” Lucy announced.
“Brody?” Kacie looked at Lucy. “He’s here?” She followed Lucy’s little finger that pointed in my direction.
She spun around and our eyes locked. It was there, whatever it was. God, she was stunning. She had on a little more makeup than usual and while I normally loved her natural look, she was nothing short of magnificent.
“Hi.” I grinned at her.
“Hi.” She repeated quietly.
“You … look fantastic,” I said, as she bit her lip shyly and looked down at herself.
“Thanks. I wasn’t sure what I thought of the color at first, but I guess it’s okay, huh?”
My eyes inspected the length of her whole body before returning her gaze. “Way better than okay.”
I strolled over and wrapped my arms around her, knowing damn well that the girls were sitting right there and most likely staring at us. I didn’t care though, things between us were strained for some reason and right then, I needed to hold her against me. When she didn’t resist my hug, I wanted to do a backflip, though someone would have to teach me how first.
After a minute of us just breathing together, she pulled back and gazed at me from under her long lashes.
“Why do you have to be so damn irresistible?” She sighed.
“Why are you trying to resist me?”
“Why are you answering my question with a question?”
I grinned down at her, and the urge to kiss those sassy lips was almost unbearable.
“You guys just about ready?” Sophia called out as she came into the kitchen. “Oh, hi Brody, don’t you look handsome.”
“What about me, Gigi?” Lucy said, jumping up from the table proudly.
“Oh, my precious babies!” Sophia’s voice cracked as she clapped her hands together.
Kacie grabbed her camera off the counter and handed it to her mom. “Would you mind taking a picture of the four of us?”
“It would be my pleasure.”
The four of us? Score.
She called the girls over and positioned them in front of us. I put my arm around her waist and pulled her in closer as she rested her hand on my chest.
This picture, this moment … felt right.
“Everybody ready?” Sophia called out from behind the lens. “One … two … three.”
“Okay,” Kacie called out. “Everyone ready to go?”
I looked at my watch. “Yep, it’s about that time.”
“So the plan is still the same, right?” Kacie turned toward her mom. “You’re going to take the girls from the church to the reception hall, stay for dinner, then bring them home?”
“You got it,” Sophia responded before yelling toward the back of the house. “C’mon, you old fart.”
Fred walked out of the powder room dressed like a pimp in a dark gray suit and yellow tie. Kacie let out a cat call that made everyone giggle.
“I cleaned up nice, huh?” Fred struck a pose, opening his suit jacket.
“We’re gonna have to beat the ladies off you with a stick tonight, Fred. Okay, I think that’s everyone, right?” I opened the front door and watched for the girls’ reaction.
Their little faces lit up; their mouths dropped open when they saw the car sitting in the driveway. “A limo!!!” They squealed as they hugged each other.
“Do you like it?” I asked.
“What is this?” Kacie looked as shocked as they did.
“Why are you answering my question with a question?” I grinned and cocked an eyebrow at her.
Her eyes laughed but all her mouth did was stutter, “I don’t understand … how…”
“Easy. I had a car brought to the reception hall for Fred, Sophia and the girls for when they’re ready to leave. I also had a car brought there for us.” I glanced at the girls who were struggling to put their shoes on and peek at the limo at the same time. “I just thought they were so thrilled with it last week, it’d be nice if they could actually go somewhere in it, not just around in circles.”
Kacie looked at me adoringly. “You’re something else, you know that?”
The church looked great. Alexa and Kacie had done a fabulous job of decorating it with flowers and yellow accents earlier that morning. Lauren looked beautiful, and Tommy wept like a big baby through their vows. The whole ceremony went as smooth as could be and then … it was time to party.
The reception was at a swanky hall with more yellow accents. I was seated at a table with Derek, the girls, Sophia and Fred. During dinner, I kept the girls entertained with my artillery of amazing knock-knock jokes and chatted with Derek, who I’d never really talked to before but ended up liking a lot. Kacie and I kept exchanging glances, holding onto each other’s eyes just long enough for the tension between us to boil at the surface. Whatever had been bothering her the last few days was nowhere in sight now, maybe it was wedding stress like she said. The food was amazing, but I wanted dinner to be over so I could boogie with the hot bridesmaid.
Finally, the waiters came around and started clearing the tables.
Lauren and Tommy had their first dance as husband and wife. Tommy cried … again. Who would’ve thought that the big, dumb jock I’d met that day before the fair was turning out to be such an emotional basket case on his wedding day? Good for him, though; good for both of them.
After the usual dances were done and people started buzzing around the outskirts of the dance floor, I noticed Sophia starting to pack up the girls’ things.
“Could you wait one minute?” I asked her.
She looked confused, but nodded as I turned and hurried to the DJ booth. He leaned over to me, covering his other ear with his hand, then smiled and gave me a thumb’s up.
“Attention, party guests, I have a request to fulfill a little earlier than I normally would, but two little princesses have to get going and they were promised a special dance. This song is for … The Twinkies.”
I took the girls’ hands and led them out onto the dance floor as “Isn’t She Lovely” by Stevie Wonder started playing. I motioned for each of them to hop on one of my feet as I spun and bounced them around the dance floor, doing my best to keep to the actual beat of the music. I was dying to look over at Kacie’s face, but I didn’t want her to think this was about me impressing her. It wasn’t, it was about my moment with the girls who I’d really grown to love. Our moment. One of hopefully many to come.
Once the song ended, the crowd cheered and I thought my legs were going to fall off, but the huge grins on their faces made it absolutely worth it. Kacie was waiting at our table for us when we got back.
“Mommy, did you see us?” Piper asked excitedly.
“I did, you guys looked beautiful. And what great dancers you are!”
“We didn’t dance.” Lucy giggled. “We stood on Brody’s feet the whole time.”
“Wow!” Kacie slapped her cheeks with her hands, pretending to be surprised. “I think you fooled everyone.”