Page 125 of The Wedding

“Oh, I would, and she will make your life hell for turning this down.” Seena turned to Jamie. “You’ve never met her, but she loves weddings. Like, she is shitting herself over me being in your bridal party because my grandmother is all over those society pages looking at the dresses and shit. To see both of us in a photo on Page 6? That is going on the wall.”

“Hell, no, not the wall…”

“Please, Tosh,” Jamie begged, looking one of her oldest friends in the eyes. “Help me out here.”

It took about five more minutes of coaxing and begging before Tosh finally gave in. Once he did? Jamie felt the first great amount of relief she had in a long while.I still don’t have a dress, though.One thing at a time!

Chapter 40

Jamie sat at the dining table when Etta walked through the front door of the penthouse. She had a bridal magazine open in front of her, flipping through one dress after the other, still not in love with anything.I like pieces of this. Pieces of that. It’s too late to get a custom dress, though. Now, if they were getting married next June like was the original plan…

She didn’t look at Etta as she drank white wine and depressed herself over dresses, for her excitement over completing her bridal party was short-lived, and Etta making her grand entrance at dinnertime wasn’t helping.

“Wonderful,” she said, fixing her jacket as she stood beside Jamie and looked over her shoulder. “We’re still getting married. Wasn’t sure.”

Jamie’s eye twitched.

“I see you’re still mad, though.”

“Really?” Jamie’s exasperated sigh was too heavy to channel through her weary body. “We’re jumping right into that? Was hoping for a bit of a break. Maybe a ‘Hi, honey. I love you. How are you?’”

“Hi, honey,I love you… how are you?”

“Very funny.”

Etta bent down and kissed the top of her head. “I’m sorry. For everything.”

She shot her a derisive glare. “Do you even know what you’re sorry for? Sorry doesn’t count if you don’t get it.”

Yup, they were committed to this conversation. Etta yanked out a chair and sat down. The fact she didn’t whip out her phone and check her emails while Jamie talked was a fair sign that she took this seriously. “Something about the prenup, obviously.”

“You get that I’m not angry about its existence, right?” Jamie clenched her wineglass so tightly that she was probably close to shattering. “I’m not above thinking we can get married without a prenup. You’re worth how many billions of dollars right now?”

Etta grabbed the wine bottle and drank right from the top. “Five,” she gasped, speaking before she had completely swallowed. The bottle clanked against the glass table. “Five fucking billion dollars are in my various accounts right now. That’s not including what my investments are worth. I’m not going there. It would give me a headache to try to add together right now.”

“Hmph.” Jamie took the bottle back and refilled her glass. “Obviously, you have to protect yourself. I get that. Now, guess what I’m pissed about regarding Sunday.”

Etta studied the glass in front of her, teeth chomping on her bottom lip and looking as if she were about to go into a boardroom and slice someone’s financial jugular. “Well, I had told you about it.”

“No, you didn’t!” Jamie didn’t mean to aggressively point, but her wine-laden finger had a mind of its own. “You mentioned something about it weeks ago, but you said we were ‘dropping by’ your lawyer’s office for something personal. I thought you meant business stuff for you. Not something that automatically put me on the defensive and implied that I was out for nothing but your precious billions.”

“I didn’t tell you?”

“How many times do I have to tell you no? I would have remembered something like that.” Oh, would she have. Jamie would need at least a week’s notice to do her own research, speak with her attorney – whom she still barely knew – and emotionally prepare herself for something very unpleasant. Kinda like going to the dentist.

“I made the appointment on Friday afternoon, right before you showed… oh.”

“Oh?Oh? For fuck’s sake, Etta, don’t tell me you forgot all about it the moment I walked into your life Friday and you started thinking about sex.”

“To be fair, you were rather dazzling. I barely remembered my own name that day.”

“Uh-huh.” Jamie leaned against the back of her chair, facing Etta in the slovenliest position possible.I smell like wine, and I don’t care.Soon Etta would too. Too bad they weren’t celebrating anything. “I’m gonna get over this, Etta,” she began, careful not to really sound like the harpy her lawyer thought she was. “You have to understand why I was so upset with not only you, but that embarrassing situation. I’m not mad that I have to sign a prenup that protects your assets should – God forbid – we have to split up someday. It’s not a happy matter, but I’m not dumb. Obviously, it had to happen.”

“I’m glad you understand. It’s certainly not my intent to imply I’m hatching an escape plan to get out of our marriage.”

“Truly. I get that, but it’s not something I can waltz into without fair warning. If we ever have to do something like that again, make sure you tell me.”

“Duly noted.”