Page 37 of Bad Boy Husband
SADIE
I’d never liked being the center of attention, but standing on a velvet pedestal in an upmarket bridal boutique, I realized I was actually having fun. Laney had come with me, as had Gwen, her friend who had also become mine, but most surprising was the fact that CC had shown up with Callum in tow.
Callum, who had no business being wedding-dress shopping with us as the brother of the groom, had also voiced serious objections to every dress I’d tried on so far. His input was shockingly useful, his criticism actually constructive.
Gwen just kept refilling his champagne flute and sitting back like she’d personally brought him along to be our entertainment. Occasionally, she chimed in too but mostly to reiterate what he’d already said.
For the most part, it seemed like CC was finally coming around to the idea of me marrying her son, and she seemed to be enjoying herself too.
She waved off his latest comment, her free hand wrapped elegantly around the crystal glass she’d barely sipped from but also hadn’t let go of since we’d walked in.
“She does not look like she got into a fight with a taffeta monster and lost.” She shot him a look that was very clearly a warning. “Don’t be so afraid of a little bit of poof, darling. Some girls like feeling like a princess on their wedding day.”
“Sure, but she doesn’t look a princess,” he said flatly from an armchair in the corner, champagne in one hand and his phone in the other, staring at me like a disapproving reality show judge.
“I love you, Sadie. You know that, but it doesn’t even look like a dress.
It just looks like you glued yourself into a ball of taffeta and lace and got stuck. ”
“Thank you for your honesty.” I chuckled, glancing down at the dress and wondering what I would’ve thought of it had he not been here. “Remind me to bring you to every major life decision from now on.”
“You’re welcome.” He didn’t even blink, smoothing his hand over his five-hundred-dollar tie as he raised his glass toward me. “Thank you for listening to reason. Now, why don’t you try something less foamy ?”
Laney let out a weak sound that was probably meant to be a laugh, but it sounded more like a choked groan. She was curled up on a padded bench near the window, clutching a ginger ale in one hand and looking dangerously pale.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” I asked for the third time. “We really didn’t have to do this today if you weren’t feeling up to it.”
“I’m fine,” she half-groaned, half-squeaked. “The wedding is in two weeks, Sadie. We did have to do this today. We should’ve done it last week. Last month, even.”
“I wasn’t engaged last month.”
She nodded and her lips twisted. She clamped her hand over her mouth, her words muffled behind it. “My point exactly. There’s already not enough time.”
CC rose gracefully from the armchair she’d been on and went over to rub Laney’s back, her brow furrowing as she glanced down at her. “You’re barely holding down plain crackers today. Why don’t you head home and have a nap? We’ll send you pictures.”
“No, I’m fine,” she repeated her lie, looking up just as I spun to head back to the dressing room. “Just, God, please don’t twirl. Don’t turn. Don’t move too fast.”
“Visual nausea is new to me,” I mused. “You really are making pregnancy look like a walk in the park. Jurassic Park, but a park nonetheless.”
She chuckled weakly. “It’s not that bad. Your future niece is just being dramatic. Like her daddy.”
“Jurassic Park.” Callum laughed, tossing back the champagne that had been left in the glass and passing it back to Gwen for a refill. “I should hang out with you girls more often. You’re fun.”
“No shit, Sherlock.” Gwen gave him a sweet but sharp-edged smile.
“We’re dangerous too, though. Whatever you see here today, if I find out you’ve breathed a word about it to the groom, well, let’s just say I’ll be severing a very specific appendage that you might need to give your lovely mother some more grandchildren. ”
On instinct, he flinched, but then he shrugged and winked at her. “Your secrets are safe with me, Gwenny. Mom’s probably going to make me sign an NDA after this anyway, but I’m going to enjoy torturing Jameson with this information far too much to even consider telling him anything.”
Across from him, CC gave a small smile. A real one this time, not her usual tight-lipped nod or careful neutrality.
She actually looked invested today. Maybe even happy.
“An NDA isn’t a bad idea, but if I know you, you meant what you just said about taunting Jamie with the fact that you will know what the dress looks like and he doesn’t. Why did I bring you with me again?”
“Because I asked so nicely,” he said, surprising the heck out of me. “Go change, future sister. I don’t have any information to torture him with just yet. So, you know, chop chop.”
I laughed but made my way—slowly, so as not to upset Laney’s stomach—back into the dressing room. After pulling the curtains shut, the shop assistant helped me change, but I’d barely stepped back into the room when Callum grimaced.
“Let’s not traumatize the children with those sleeves,” he said crisply, getting up and flicking one gauzy wing between two fingers. “God, you look like you’re about to float away on a cloud of polyester. I doubt that’s the vibe we’re going for.”
“It absolutely is not.” CC leveled the poor shop assistant with a look that was equal parts elegance, grace, and expectation.
“What else have you got in the back? Look at this gorgeous bride and tell me she needs wings or a dozen skirts to make my son want to produce an heir with her. We need simple, my dear. Classic, beautiful, and simple.”
Callum smacked his thigh softly with his hand, snorting with his fist in his mouth trying to hold back at laughter. “That was brilliant, Mother. Exactly right too. Jameson has never needed?—”
“I’m going to stop you there,” Gwen chimed in, glancing at me as I stood there, cheeks flushed, but also on the verge of laughter myself.
Honestly, I’ll take it. That had felt suspiciously close to affection coming from CC, even if she had just, in her own way, told the store assistant to find a dress that would make her son want to take me to bed.
On the other hand, she’d conceived five children. After having had her own marriage arranged. A marriage that had lasted almost four decades so far and was still going strong.
Clearly, the woman knew a thing or two about all this. Moments later, the assistant reappeared with another round of gowns, her coworker removing the others from the dressing room before she went back in. Her arms were overflowing with silk, satin, and sparkle.
I stepped back in after her, carefully maneuvering out of the lace mountain I’d been wearing before I glanced at myself in the mirror. Gwen had pinned my hair up when we’d arrived, but a lot of strands had escaped, the red burning like fire against all the white and cream in the room.
My cheeks were still flushed, my hands trembling slightly as I reached for the next dress being handed over. The shop assistant passed the hanger around the curtain and I paused for a beat as I looked over the garment on it.
This was dress number six and it honestly didn’t look like much. A lot simpler than any other I’d tried on, it didn’t have a single rhinestone, rosette, wing, or tuft. It was just a sleek, structured gown with an extremely low back and a sweet, draped neckline.
There was a faint sheen to the fabric that made it look like pearls shimmering in low light, but outside of that, there was absolutely nothing special about it. I almost passed it up, but then the shop assistant spoke from the other side of the curtain.
“Just let me know when I can come in and I’ll zip you up,” she offered quietly. “That’s part of a new line we’re carrying. Every dress is one of a kind. The designer is young, an up-and-comer who believes that things don’t have to be extravagant to be beautiful.”
My head tipped to one side. That sounded like a philosophy I could get behind, so I stepped into the dress, deciding I might as well give it a chance. “I’m ready.”
She came and zipped me into it, then put her hands gently on my shoulders and turned me to face the mirror. As soon as I saw my reflection, it was like something clicked. This was me. Not me playing dress-up or pretending to be a bride, but me me. The real me. The woman Jameson knew.
My heart started thundering behind my ribs, but I smiled at the assistant in the mirror and then walked out slowly, barefoot and wondering if I was insane for thinking something so simple was perfect for a Westwood wedding.
There was a beat of silence when I walked into view of the others. Callum sat up a little straighter, his mouth actually dropping open and his eyes widening. “Okay, that’s the one. Our work here is done.”
“You look beautiful,” Laney whispered, her eyes glassy but her smile as genuine as ever, even if she still looked like she might hurl into her purse at any moment. “I agree with Callum. That’s absolutely perfect.”
While Callum’s reaction was the biggest compliment of the day and Laney’s had been so real that I had no doubt she agreed that it was perfect, it was CC who got to me. She stood up slowly, one hand over her mouth as she blinked furiously.
“That is gorgeous,” she said quietly, her voice more breathless than I’d ever heard it. “It’s classic. It’s sophisticated but also feminine and it’s, well, it’s you.”
“Damn, girl.” Gwen grinned. “That’s exactly what you wear when you’re about to change your last name and take over a dynasty.” She glanced at Laney, CC, and then Callum, and added in a mutter, “Well, part of a dynasty, anyway.”
Callum offered her a satisfied smirk. “There. That was better.”
He swung his gaze back to mine, devilish light dancing in his eyes as he lifted his chin at me. “So, what do you think? Is this the one Jameson is going to crea?—”
“Callum,” Laney whisper-yelled at him. “Don’t be a weirdo.”
“Fine.” He shrugged. “Is that the dress we’re saying yes to?”
I laughed, brushing a hand over the bodice. My heart fluttered as I nodded. “I think so. Yeah, maybe it is.”
He clapped his hands together once, grinned, and then rose from the armchair. “Well, like I said, our work here appears to be done.”
By the time we left the boutique, I had a dress, a headache from skipping lunch, and an overwhelming urge to call Jameson and tell him everything that had happened this afternoon. Instead, I drove straight to the shelter and didn’t even reach for my phone.
The adoption fair was in just a few days and we still had a lot to do. Plus, I really did want the dress to be a surprise, and if I spoke to him right now, I would describe it in intricate detail. I was so excited, I wouldn’t be able to help myself.
I’d barely walked into the shelter when my phone buzzed. Fishing it out of my purse, I saw a number I didn’t recognize on my screen, but I answered, assuming it had something to do with the fair. My whole life these days was Jameson, the wedding, and the Baby Blossom fair.
“Hello?” I said as I picked up, distracted and feeling a little like my head was stuck in the clouds. “This is Sadie Shepard.”
“Sadie, hi. It’s Carson.” I froze mid-step, my keys still clinking against the metal frame of the security gate as I stood there, completely stunned to be hearing from him. “Carson? What, uh, why are you calling me? Is everything okay?”
“I’m in town,” he said, his voice clipped and rushed. “San Francisco, I mean. I was hoping we could talk. It’s serious.”
“Yeah, well, I’m kind of busy planning my wedding,” I said, annoyed and toeing the line between irritation and sarcasm. Carson and I were not friends. We weren’t anything. “If you really want to meet up though, I suppose Jameson and I?—”
“It’s about Jameson.”
That stopped me cold. “What about him?”
There was a pause, a too long silence that made my heart sink and my stomach bottom out. Carson exhaled, the sound sharp and grim. When he spoke again, he sounded cautious. Sympathetic. “Have you seen the pictures yet, Sadie?”
My throat went dry, my grip on the phone tightening as if I could squeeze the meaning out of his words without having to ask.
But deep down inside, I already knew that the other shoe had finally, fully dropped, and if word about whatever had happened had reached Carson already, then I was pretty sure everyone knew about it.
Everyone, that was, but me.