She holds out her hands to me and I cross the room, dodging kicked off high heels and what looks like lingerie.

“What’s going on? Is Tank okay?”

“No. He’s not. That’s why I need a favor. I need you to kiss him before the wedding.”

Emma is already shaking her head. “It’s bad luck to see the groom before the wedding.”

“There might not be a wedding if he runs out of here!”

Emma looks stricken and a girl with dark, wavy hair puts her arm around her and gives me a nasty look. “Tank wouldn’t do that. Stop scaring my sister!”

Sasha grabs my arm. “Is it really that bad?”

I’m suddenly surrounded by a sea of worried faces. Okay, Luke. Maybe this wasn’t the best plan. It wasn’t my intention to scare the hell out of Emma on her wedding day but I’ve seen Tank when he freaks out. It’s not a pretty sight. I take a deep breath. Talking about it isn’t going to get the job done here. If Emma could see how bad Tank looks right now, she’d know I’m right.

I pull out my phone and call Zack. He answers immediately.

“Blindfold Tank. I’m bringing Emma to you guys.” Then I hang up.

“You’re doing what?”

“Where are you taking her?”

The room explodes into a chorus of worried questions as I grab Emma’s hand and tug her toward the door. She follows me into the hall, Sasha and Josie scrambling behind her to carry the train of her dress. Zack peeks his head out of the door and his eyes go wide when he sees me leading a charge of women down the hall.

“This is your plan?” he hisses.

I push him out of the way. “Do you have a better idea?”

Zack moves back to let us inside. As soon as Emma sees Tank across the room she drops my hand and runs to him. He has what looks like a tie around his eyes but even with half his face covered you can tell he’s a nervous wreck. As soon as Emma wraps her arms around him, his whole body shudders in relief.

“Emma, you’re still here.”

“Of course I’m still here. Didn’t I tell you I would never leave you?” she whispers back.

“Come on, everybody. Let’s give them some privacy.” Sasha shoos us all out the door. We all stand in the hall awkwardly trying not to listen too closely to the soft voices coming from behind the door.

After a few minutes, Emma emerges wiping tears from her eyes. “Everything is okay now. Thank you for getting me, Luke.”

I let out a sigh of relief. “I did the right thing? No bad luck?”

Emma smiles and hugs me. “No bad luck. Thank you, little brother.”

We watch as she leads the girls back down the hall. Once they’re gone, we go back in the room. Tank is looking out the window with the most peaceful expression on his face.

“Is everything okay?” I ask tentatively.

Tank turns and then picks up his jacket. He shrugs into it and then moves to the mirror to adjust his bowtie.

“Everything is more than okay. Now where the hell is that photographer so we can get these pictures out of the way.” He catches my eye in the reflection and mouths thank you. Then he turns around.

“Let’s get this show on the road. I’m ready to get hitched.”

chapter eight

†

SEVEN

Some people are weddings people. They love flowers and cake, puffy dresses and vows of forever. They cry at the idea of people pledging their troth and swoon at the exchange of rings. They’re in love with the idea of love.

I have never been one of those people.

But as I watch Tank standing at the end of the aisle flanked by his four brothers, I can’t remain unmoved by it all. He looks so excited, his eyes trained on the door where his bride will appear. Then the bridal march starts and he gets his first look at her walking down the aisle toward him. He looks like every dream he’s ever had just came true. Emma looks much the same, absolutely glowing with her love for him.

When she reaches him, Tank steps down from the altar to take her hands and then gives her a little kiss to the consternation of the minister. As he coughs in disapproval, a titter of laughter goes through the crowd.  They both look so unapologetic about it that even I want to sigh a little.

I can’t deny that it almost makes me a believer. Almost. But then I’ve always known that love is out there for the lucky few who can find it.

I’ve just never been that lucky.

My eyes immediately seek out Luke. My breath catches when I find that he’s been watching me.

Of course my imagination does the unthinkable and immediately produces an image of the two of us standing before a preacher glowing with love and excitement. Just as quickly, I shut that down.

I have no right to dream about forever with Luke when I’ve been plotting against him this whole time. The thought of it makes me feel ashamed so I don’t look at him again.

The rest of the ceremony proceeds smoothly and when the minister finally says You may kiss the bride, Tank wastes no time. The crowd is on their feet cheering when they finally break the passionate kiss and they’re both wiping tears away as they walk back down the aisle hand in hand. I wait patiently for the bridesmaids and groomsmen to file out before making my way through the crowd looking for Luke.

“Seven!”

When I see him waving at me, I dodge a few people to get across the room.

“Hey! We have to take a few more pictures and then we can relax a bit. There’s food out already and it’s open bar so hopefully you won’t be too bored waiting for me. I’m sorry—”

I put a finger over his lips to silence him. “Why do you keep apologizing?”

“You know why.” He lowers his voice and glances around him to make sure no one can hear us. “I practically assaulted you before we came here.”

Is that how he sees what happened? Our version of events definitely don’t match up because I thought it was the single hottest thing that’s ever happened to me.

“What are you talking about? Luke … I liked it. Really liked it.”

He moves closer. “You did?”

“Yeah.” It comes out as a rush of breath, sounding way more breathy and sexy than I intended.

“Good. So did I. I’m sure you could tell.” The corner of his mouth lifts. “Now I really don’t want to go. Anyway, my mom is here. I saw her come in right before the ceremony started. I apologize in advance if she asks you to marry me and have my babies before I get back.”

He looks so worried that I can’t help laughing. “We’ll be fine. If nothing else, I’ll get drunk and tell her sad stories of growing up without a mother. I’m sure that’ll cure her desire to have me in the family.”

“That won’t matter to her. And it doesn’t matter to me either.” He taps me on the nose softly and the affectionate gesture takes me off guard.

“Okay, see you later.”

I watch as he melts into the crowd and then move toward the bar. If I’m going to survive a night with Luke’s sudden intensity and questioning by a concerned mom, I’ll need a drink in me first.

I’m just taking a sip of a vodka tonic when Anita appears at my elbow and asks the bartender for a martini.

“There you are, honey! I got here a little late so I didn’t get to say hi to you before the ceremony started.”

“Oh hello again, Ms. Marshall. It was a beautiful wedding, wasn’t it?”

Usually it’s just something you say at weddings but this time, I mean it. Watching two people that genuinely excited to be together was beautiful.