Page 6

TANNER

I watch as Marlie plops down on the sand, not caring about the custom-made dress she created.

Believe me, I heard Taylor bragging about it last night at the rehearsal dinner enough to know that Marlie is fucking talented.

I place our drinks down in the sand, take my jacket off, and drape it around her shoulders.

She may have wanted to come here when the weather isn’t the greatest, but that doesn’t mean I’ll let Marlie freeze her ass off.

“God, I missed this. Oklahoma might be where my family is, but right here is where my heart is.” I’m busy popping the lid off the champagne bottle, but my eyes sweep to hers.

“No shit. Bet it gets cold up there.” I pour her a glass and hand it to Marlie. Her fingers graze mine, and who fucking knows if it was on purpose or not, but any chance I get to touch her, I’ll take it.

“It’s a cold I’d rather never endure again. Luckily, when the plane was grounded because of snow, I was already in the airport and not having to brave the weather. But yeah, in the negatives sometimes. Thank you for this, by the way.” She holds her glass up, waiting for me to open my beer.

“Cheers. You’re not gonna hear me complain. A pretty woman beside me, a cold beer, and the wedding I never thought would end is over.” The clink of glass is drowned out by the sounds of nature surrounding us.

“The feeling is mutual, though the wedding wasn’t too bad, was it?” Marlie lifts an eyebrow, as if seeing just what I’ll say to incriminate myself.

“It wasn’t horrible. Not my favorite getup either. You give me a shirt and jeans, I’ll be right as rain. Speaking of, I’m not sure why I’m still wearing this.” I set my beer down in the sand, then my fingers are working at the knot of the tie around my neck.

“On that we can agree, though I’m finding myself in dressier clothes than I want to lately.

” Marlie’s eyes track my movements. The tie is discarded on the ground, same with the cummerbund, and then I unbutton my shirt at the collar.

She takes another sip of her champagne, almost guzzling it down, and I can see she likes what she’s seeing.

Fuck, for more than the second time tonight am I kicking myself in the ass for working like a dog and not taking the time out of life to meet her earlier.

“There’s a remedy to that.” I pick my beer back up and take another swallow.

“What’s that?” I notice the rest of her champagne is missing from her glass.

“Let loose more often.” Marlie snorts, honest to God snorts, not pretentious, not giving one single fuck that most women would try to impress me by now.

“I hear you do such a swell job at that. Maybe I’ll take your pointers.” She tips her head back and laughs a deep throaty laugh. It’s so fucking sexy, and her neck is begging for my lips, mouth, and tongue to taste.

“Damn.” I lick my lips, thoroughly enjoying how Marlie is being herself, not putting on a charade or prancing around. Taylor wasn’t wrong when she said her best friend was “the bomb dot com, amazing, the real MVP.” Those were her words, clearly. But I’m beginning to think she’s not wrong.

“What’s that for?” Marlie asks, recovering from her laughter and placing her champagne flute in the sand.

“What’s what for?” I respond, not ready to show my cards.

Marlie doesn’t miss a beat. “Oh, it’s like that, is it? I guess I’ll just sit over here, enjoy another glass of champagne by myself, then.”

“Sweetheart, if I told you what I was thinking, you’d grab your champagne, shoes, and whatever you could so fast, I’d never have a chance to catch you.” Shit, that blush of hers can even be seen with the moonlight as our only light.

“Hmm, I highly doubt that.”

“We’ll have to see about that a little later, then. You want another glass?” I ask her. Somehow, between our laughter and conversation, we’ve managed to get closer. That’s something I won’t be complaining about in the least, either.

“Sure, but this will have to be the last one, or I’ll turn into a pumpkin. I mean, not really, but it’s been a long weekend with little to no sleep, and something tells me falling asleep on the sand might make for some back and neck pains come morning time.” She holds her glass out to me.

“Not to mention sand in the worst of places.” I top off her glass.

“Ugh, I didn’t think about that. There’s no way I want that. Just thinking about it is making me want to pack up and leave.” She wiggles her body in the sand, and I’m sure that’s not helping much.

“Well, how about we finish our drinks, I’ll walk you to your car, and then you can ride off into the night without worrying about turning into a pumpkin or sleeping on the beach and taking the risk of catching sand fleas?”

“Oh God, you’re a ray of sunshine. Sand fleas? Give me thirty seconds flat to finish this glass, then I really will run for the hills.” Marlie’s head tips to the side and finds my shoulder. My arm moves to her lower back, making its way beneath my borrowed jacket to give her more of my warmth.

“I try, but you won’t have to run. I’ll keep them at bay.” Today might have started off with me being ready for it to be over and done with, yet now, I’m not ready for it to end. What a fucking conundrum it’s turned out to be.