Trying to free her brain from the clutches of the Nightmare Before Christmas that would most likely be Mikki and Aaron’s nuptials, the knocking against the window startled her.

“Are you going to sit in there all day and daydream? Come on, we’ve got a dress to try on. Move it!” Mikki shouted through the passenger window of Charlie’s car.

Damn, Bridezillait is. Charlie blew an errant tendril of hair out of her face and exited the car.

“Keep your panties on, Mikki. I’m early. We have time. They aren’t going to give the dress away. Chill!”

“Whatev!” Mikki dragged her sister by the arm into the store and led her back to the dressing rooms.

Charlotte carefully unzipped the garment bag hanging on the back of the dressing room door and whispered a silent prayer to no one in particular. There had to be some sort of prayer to ward off horrible bridesmaids dresses, didn’t there? She slipped her hand in and much to her shock discovered the softest silk. Charlie carefully removed the beautiful dark cranberry creation.

She quickly did her hair into a braid and slipped into the gown. It had a single twist shoulder strap that lent itself to an enticing, flowing silk gown with gorgeous shirred detail. Remembering Declan’s direction, she quickly snapped a selfie in the dressing room mirror and sent it off to him. He responded almost immediately.

Declan: You look stunning. Dinner at 8?

Charlie: Yes, Master, as your heart desires.

She exited out into the main dressing area to find Mikki.

“Oh, Charlie,” Mikki spoke through soft sobs. “It’s perfect!”

“You really outdid yourself this time, Mik.”

“Well you know I had to find something that would conceal all of your curves.”

“That’s really so thoughtful of you.” Charlotte bit her tongue. She wanted to tell her where she could shove the dress, but decorum dictated she let the bride have her say. She walked back into the dressing room, confident that the only person whose opinion mattered was Declan’s.

As she was placing the dress back into the garment bag, her phone vibrated in her jean pocket. She smiled thinking about what sorts of delicious torture Declan had in store for her later that evening. She was standing there in her bra and panties when Mikki opened the dressing room door. “Oh God!” Mikki shrieked.

***

Charlie’s key’s clattered against the cherry of the sideboard in the hallway, the first noise to break the silence between her and Mikki. They didn’t say a word the entire drive home. Charlie avoided her big sister’s eyes; she avoided them in the dressing room, out on the sidewalk, in the car, and now she still avoided them.

Kicking off her Vans, Charlie kept her back to Mikki, and then left her in the hall as she moved through to the kitchen to get a glass of water.

“Are we not going to talk about it then?” Mikki asked quietly, following Charlie in.

Charlie looked over her shoulder at Mikki, feigning ignorance. “Talk about what, exactly?”

Mikki gave her a look of exasperation. “About the fact that your backside looks like someone took a two by four to it. What the hell happened?”

Charlie couldn’t help it, she burst out in a fit of laughter.

“Charlie! Seriously! What is going on? Did he do this to you?”

The laughter vanished from Charlie’s lips. “Declan paddled me last night. He wanted to. I wanted him to. It was sort of a ‘funishment’.”

“You can’t let him do this to you, Charlie.” Mikki grabbed a bag of peas from the freezer.

“Its fine, Mik. I know what I am doing.”

“I think you don’t and I—”

“Mikki.” Charlie whirled around, her nerves shredded. “Just stop. Okay? Please. I don’t really want to talk about all of this with you.”

Mikki looked like a chubby kid who didn’t get seconds on birthday cake. “But—Fine,” she sighed, tossing the bag of peas at Charlie.

In an effort to maintain diplomacy, Charlie took the bag, setting it on the seat of her kitchen chair and sitting atop them, wincing at the sudden chill against her bottom. “So what was up with you and Aaron this morning? You looked like you were going to skewer his liver and serve it to him for breakfast.”

“I don’t want to talk about it!”

Yeah right. “Mik …”

Mikki’s dark eyes narrowed unhappily. “Oh shut it! Of course, I want to talk about it! Frick, how do you keep everything in so well? How do you do it?” She pouted. “It’s absolutely impossible for me.”

Charlie grinned and shook her head. “Not for me.”

Mikki stuck her tongue out at Charlie and slumped in the chair across the table from her baby sister. “I’m beat. Today’s been exhausting.”

“Hence the bitchy?”

“What? I’m not bitchy.”

“You’re a teensy bit bitchy.” Charlie held her thumb and index finger apart in the air.

“Well, you’d be too if you had a wedding to plan all by yourself!”

Charlie shifted in her chair, adjusting the Green Giant ice pack, wondering if she needed to check out that boxing class in preparation for kicking one future brother-in-law’s ass. “What happened, Sis?”

“He’s not being helpful at all.” Mikki grimaced, eyeing Charlie sadly. “He keeps saying he wants to be involved, but he’s not.”

“I did notice that he looked bored out of his mind at the bakery this morning.”

“Bored? Oh, he’s fine with tasting the cakes, he just doesn’t want to fork any money over to actually buy one. Says we can’t afford it, and I called him out on it.”

“And what did he say?”

“Oh, some lecture about how marriage lasts a lifetime and I was behaving like a petulant child for wanting to spend a lifetime’s worth of money in one day. He said if I stopped acting like a spoiled brat, he’d stop acting disinterested and distant.”

Aaron was good. Charlie laughed dryly. “Wow, nice job on side-stepping things, huh?”

“Well, you do know all about avoidance,” Mikki grumped.

Charlie snorted. “Okay, put your claws away.”

Mikki groaned. “Oh God, Charlie, I’m sorry. I’m being such a brat today.”

“I find it to be one of your more endearing qualities, that and your ability to hunt down a killer shoe sale.” Charlie shook her head and giggled. “You’re certifiable, do you know that?”

“And you’re crazy.” Mikki stood up. “But, I love you anyway.” She grabbed a bottle of Green Machine from the fridge. “I’ve got to head out to yoga. Maybe you can help me talk some sense into Aaron later.”

“Sure thing, Mik,” Charlie answered.

“Oh, and Charlie? Go to the salon and have them try that updo I was telling you about. Your hair is out of control if it’s down.”

“Um yeah, I’ll get right on that.”

***

Later that evening, Charlie stepped into the bathroom of the restaurant to dab some water on a wine stain. She’d been clumsy with her wine and ended up with a few drops on her blouse. Declan had met her at Tin Angel and they had grabbed a bite to eat.

When she emerged from the ladies’ room, she made her way toward Declan who stood in front of the bank of elevators. He stood there with a casual grace, his hands in his pockets, his charcoal gray suit straining in all the best possible ways, reminding her of his rock hard body. He turned to face her. Damn. She walked toward him trying like hell to remain steady on her heels, savoring the look of pure carnal desire on his face.

She could focus on nothing else as she passed by the long, elegant bar and the ’restaurant’s patrons, but a face in the crowd caught her attention. Charlie stopped in her tracks, suddenly gripped by an all-consuming panic that sucked the sound from the overcrowded space. Her heartbeat ratcheted out of control. An icy pain pushed its way through her, seizing her body.