Page 5 of Finding the One (River Rain #7)

Just Dance

Blake

I was tipsy.

And it was Dair’s fault.

How?

Every time I turned around (not really, but mostly), he was shoving a full glass of champagne in my hand.

Of course, I didn’t have to drink them, but Dair had also been true to his word about helping me keep everything good for my sister.

Surprise of the century: it was safe to say he’d grown more dedicated to the binder than me.

But I hadn’t taken into account Alex’s wedding would obviously be filled with a ton of people who knew and loved Alex, all of whom would look after her.

Most importantly, Rix.

I didn’t need to keep things going at a certain clip, rescuing Alex from floods of Mum’s guests who were nice, sure, but they’d overwhelm my sister.

Rix constantly kept his eye on her, going to fetch her when she got besieged, sticking by her side and guiding her away when chats went on too long.

And most importantly, when all eyes were on them, he protected her.

I will never in my life forget how he angled it so, after they’d cut the cake, you could only see a bit of Alex as Rix held her in one arm and they gently fed the cake to each other.

And when he hugged her afterward, he slid his cheek down hers and buried his face in her neck so all you could see of my sister was her arms around her new husband and the crown of her head.

It was incredibly sweet.

The same with the couple’s dance.

Rix picked the song, and in doing so, he kept surprising me.

He picked “Storybook Love,” the theme from Princess Bride .

But it wasn’t lost on me that the song was very slow, very simple, very pretty and there didn’t need to be any fancy dance moves. Just two people in love swaying together in each other’s arms while words of love washed over them.

Rix made that dance so it wasn’t like they were being watched by two hundred people, but instead, dancing in their living room.

Alex’s face had been filled with smiles, her eyes saturated with adoration, and I could tell she was all in that moment with Rix.

In fact, it was so quiet, peaceful and perfect, after it was over, it took a long time for people to clap and cheer. We were all in the moment with them.

Rix gave his wife that.

Rix gave the love of his life that.

Rix gave my sister that.

And I loved him for it.

Now, the photos, the cocktails, the toasts, the buffet, the cake cutting were all done, the dancing was in full swing, and all that was left was having fun, the bouquet toss (the only bouquet that would be actual flowers, and Alex wanted to do it right before she and Rix got in the car and drove away), which was scheduled for just under an hour from now.

We weren’t doing the garter. It was Rix who put his foot down about that. Not that I pushed it. But he was having none of it anyway. So that wasn’t going to happen.

After the toss, I’d wind things down, hand out tips, and…

Done.

So really, I could relax and sip champagne.

It was good now.

On this thought, Gal collapsed on the chair beside me.

I was taken aback. Gal didn’t seek me out very much. Say, never . She put up with me when I was in town, and she had to spend time with me because I was spending time with Alex.

Other than that…no.

“Think our girl had a good day,” she said, taking a pull from the bottle of beer in her hand (one could say there were no airs and graces with Gal, one could also say I admired it).

“I hope so,” I replied.

She tore her eyes off Alex, who was laughing with Nora and Mika, to look at me.

“No, our girl had a good day. All thanks to you.”

That was such a shock, I swallowed hard.

“Don’t think she missed it,” Gal went on.

“I…she didn’t miss what?”

“That huge-ass binder,” Gal said. “The fact you knocked yourself out so me and Katie could concentrate on Alex. Us showing up for hair and makeup still hungover, which was stupid, but you made that all right too. I don’t think she knows about the grass snafu, but she overheard the cake was late being delivered, and she didn’t blink an eye because she knew you’d sort it.

” She held her beer my way. “You’re a good kid, Blake. ”

My belly gave an astonished, happy flutter.

I held my half-empty champagne flute her way and whispered, “Thanks, Gal.”

We clinked. We drank. She looked back at the party.

And then she said, “Me and Katie, we’ve been bitches to you. It wasn’t our place, but Alex is our girl. You guys didn’t really?—”

“I get it,” I said swiftly, the belly flutter long gone. Now my chest was feeling tight at the reminder I hadn’t been the best big sister for oh, not long. Only thirty years.

They had every right to be wary of me.

Hell, I was wary of me one hundred percent of the time. Terrified I’d backslide to that place. That place that was leading me to be a grown woman the same class as Helena Coddington-Sharp.

The scariest place in the world.

She turned back to me. “Maybe you get it. It still wasn’t cool.” She shook her head. “Girl, the way you went all out to make this day all it could be for Alex?”

She said no more.

She simply twisted to me, pulled me in her arms and gave me a tight, sit-down hug.

I didn’t think a girlfriend had ever hugged me, sitting down or otherwise.

Not in my life.

I didn’t even know Gal was a girlfriend.

Until right then.

Shit!

I was going to cry again.

I held on, just as tightly, and kept holding on for a bit even after she started to pull away. But I finally let her go.

“Sorry, I’m a little tipsy,” I muttered.

“Yeah?” she asked on a grin. “Well, good . You deserve it. Before you go back to New York, give us a bell. We’ll take you out and get you proper shitfaced.”

I let out a startled laugh.

Even though no way I was getting “proper shitfaced,” I thought that would be fun.

Just as long as we didn’t go to a honkytonk (or maybe I should let my hair down and just go with it—so they might never wear designer at honkytonks, c’est la vie ).

She glanced sideways and said, “Incoming hot guy.”

I turned to where she was looking and saw Dair headed our way.

My heart started beating faster.

Damn it!

Why was stuff like that happening?

“His accent is so thick, I only understand half of what he says,” Gal told me as she moved to get up. She stopped so she could shoot me a wink. “But I feel all of it.”

Another startled laugh erupted from me, but this one sounded more like (good Lord!) a giggle .

“Toodle-loo,” she bid, giving me a finger wave and strolling away, aiming a big smile at Dair as she passed him.

He handed me a fresh glass of champagne (of course!) before he threw himself down in the chair beside me, not hesitating to stretch one long arm along the back of my seat, slouch down, straighten his long legs and cross them at the ankles.

“So Sasha went to get your money bag and I gave the tip sheet from your binder to Duncan. He’s going to deal with the tipping at the end of the night,” he announced, before socking back some of his own beer.

I turned on him. “You did what?”

“Dinnae worry. I didnae tear the sheet out of your precious book. I unclipped it. Ye can put it back and keep it for posterity when Duncan is done.”

“How did you know where the money bag was?” I asked.

His amused gray-blue eyes caught mine. “Probably shouldn’t’ve written tip money in leather money bag hidden in bridal quarters at the bottom of my tote .”

Then he took another sip of his beer, but he was smiling around the mouth of his bottle.

Unbearable man.

“I didn’t want to forget where I put it,” I huffed, sitting to face forward again.

“Well, that’s a good way not to forget. Also a good way to tell anyone who might pick up that binder where thousands of dollars of cash are stashed.”

Ugh.

I said nothing. Though I did empty my half-full glass of champagne down my throat so I could start on the fresh one.

“Enlighten me,” he said. “That army of men in black suits with earpieces here for Imogen Swan or Hale Wheeler?”

He was talking about the heavy security Dad had ordered because yes, Imogen Swan (known to all of us as Genny) was ridiculously famous, so was her ex-husband, Tom Pierce, and to a lesser extent, her current husband, Duncan Holloway.

But Hale was not only a close friend of the family, he was a particularly close friend of mine.

Also, he was the richest man on the planet.

I couldn’t forget to note that Dad, Mum, Alex and me were all objects of media fascination. Dad because he was rich too. Mum because she was titled. Alex because she was their daughter and mixed up with the rest of this famous crew.

And me, mostly because people had filmed my altar scene with Chad, and it had gone viral.

Very viral.

Then again, in my earlier days, when I was walking a dark path, I’d sought the spotlight, and I hadn’t done it in ways I was proud of.

But boy, did that defunct wedding mess cure me of that .

So those men were not only the security Dad had hired, they’d worked with Hale’s and Genny’s people to maintain a perimeter so Alex and Rix could enjoy their day.

And I had planned this wedding with the strictest of secrecy.

I’d done this to the point guests were required to check their phones at a staffed phone check station, so no one would even know it was happening until Elsa (Hale’s wife, and a celebrity journalist, how’s that for ironic?) broke the story.

“Take your pick,” I answered Dair’s question.

“There a reason why Alex is faking it with sparkling apple cider?” he rumbled.

My head whipped his way again. “How did you know that?”

His lips were curved up when he looked at me. “Saw ye intervene three times when someone handed her one fully-loaded. Ye’d be a shite spy, hen.”

I moved closer to him and lowered my voice. “Do you think anyone noticed?”

“Erm…everyone?” he asked.

Oh my God.

“She doesn’t want anyone to know until she’s passed her first trimester,” I hissed. “Only Rix, Gal, Katie, Chloe and me know. And probably Judge, since Rix tells him everything, and if he didn’t, Chloe would.”

“Secret’s out. Now everyone knows she’s up the duff,” Dair drawled on one of his big grins.