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An older couple walked up then. The woman had shining brown hair and glasses. The man had similar glasses. Definitely a married pair.
The lady said, “Dinner’s about to start.” Then she turned to me. “Maksim truly did bring a plus one? I’m Natalie’s mother, Rebecca. And this is my husband, Tom, Natalie’s stepfather.” They both struck me as good-natured. “We’re RVers.”
I checked my mental acronym databank for RVer, came up empty. Good money said they must do RVing. “It’s nice to meet you. I’m Cat Marín. And RVing sounds exciting.”
Whatever I’d said was the exact right thing. “Oh, it is! I can’t interest Natalie. But I have oodles of pictures.”
“I’d love to see them.”
Rebecca’s gaze flicked to Jess, and she sucked in a scandalized breath. “Jessica! Where are the rest of your clothes? Must you?”
Completely deadpan, Jess said, “Becks, I must.”
“Couldn’t you slip on a sweater? This is why I shouldn’t have let you fire the wedding coordinator! She would have told you . . .”
“We’ll see all of you inside.” Máxim steered me away from that, and we headed into the spacious wood-paneled Grand Hall. Elaborate crown molding adorned the ceilings. And there were fireplaces. Plural. Big ones!
About a dozen tables had seven or so seats each. Máxim found his placard, with one that read Guest beside it. He rubbed his thumb over it. “I suppose ‘guest’ is as accurate as the name you told me. Give me one thing right now, solnyshko. Anything.”
My gaze darted. “Um, I never expected to like you even half this much?”
Good humor restored, he said, “That’ll do for now.” He curled his finger under my chin, and I wondered if he was going to kiss me right there. Then everyone else started arriving inside.
Jess sidled over to me. “Since Natalie’s getting married, she won’t be able to give me all the attention I need and deserve. You’ll pick up the slack.” She moved her placard to my other side.
Natalie, Aleks, Tom, and Rebecca made up the rest of the table. When we sat, Jess tossed back an old-fashioned she was holding—drank it down. Whoa. I expected her to swipe her forearm over her mouth.
As Máxim made small talk with Rebecca and Tom, and Natalie teased Aleks about something, Jess said to me, “We need to discuss shoe-polishing the limo tonight.” She ordered another drink and got me one too. “I’m open to dirty limericks. Any suggestions?”
“I’ll work on it.”
“So lemme give you the lay of the land.” She hiked her thumb over her shoulder. “At that table, we have three bridesmaids. Polly’s the corn-fed-looking blonde, and the only one worth mentioning. The other two are lame and their invites make me wonder where Natalie’s head’s at. The three uptight guys are Russian groomsmen. My charm is lost on them, so obviously they’re nobodies—guys who did hits with Aleks or some such shit.”
Whoa, she was talking about his hit man background aloud? Just like that?
She continued, “I was surprised by the turnout, since Natalie gave us zero notice about this shindig. The rest of the crowd is extended family of Rebecca and Natalie’s adoptive dad.”
“Where is he?”
“He died. Natural causes. Not like her birth father.”
Across the table, Rebecca said, “So, Cat, is your name short for Catherine?”
Máxim’s gaze was lasered on me.
“They just call me Cat.” I had a crazy impulse to stand on the table and shout to everyone, “I am Lucía Martinez! I was born and raised in JAX, baby!”
“Well, it’s a cute name.”
Jess said, “Your name doesn’t suck too bad, Becks.”
Rebecca ignored her, asking me, “Why don’t you tell us about yourself?”
Máxim turned his chair and faced me.
Dodge and deflect? Bobbing and weaving was difficult in the hot seat. “I’m about to finish college.”
“Oh, where do you go?” she asked.
“It’s a small private school.” Máxim would think I was lying, believing I’d denied going to college.
“You and Maksim met in Miami, right? What brought you there?”
“I like the city very much. I’m keeping my eye out for new opportunities there.” Not a lie.
“How long have you two been together?”
He smoothly interjected, “Not long enough. How could it be?”
Charming devil. I tasted my old-fashioned. Not bad.
“What’s your major?” Natalie asked.
“Business. Economics major, finance minor.” Too much information was flowing from me! I felt like a miser flinging away coins.
Máxim raised his brows, sipping his drink.
Natalie looked impressed. “I can’t even do simple sums in my head. Business was forever out of my reach.”
“But you’re getting your PhD, right? Who needs simple sums when there are calculators?”
“That’s what I’ve always said!”
Jess said, “Hey, if I sit between her and Natalie, will I get smarter? I guarantee they’ll get sexier.”
Rebecca spoke over her: “Tell us about your family, Cat.” Such a “mom” thing to say. In an arch tone, she added, “It’s like pulling teeth getting information out of any of these Russians.”