Page 189 of The Wedding

When the fervor died down enough, Jamie offered them coffee or iced tea, depending on how much caffeine they wanted. Naturally, everyone wanted as much as possible. It was a big day, and Seena, although the maid of honor, had it in her head that her main mission was to bag her own billionaire. She didn’t even care if he was married.

“Now, honey,” Luna said, while Seena ran to the master bathroom. “We need to talk about…” Luna lowered her voice, “tonight.”

Jamie stared at her mother as if she hailed from another planet. “Mom,” she said, “I’m not a virgin, as you have plainly seen before.”

Natasha raised her eyebrows, but didn’t say anything. She did, however, slowly inch away, because any discussion about her boss’s sex life set her on edge.Can’t imagine why.

“That’s not what I was going to talk about.” Luna sat up straight on the bed, her loose muumuu doing nothing to hide her saggy breasts beneath.I really hope she wears a bra today. Please, Mom, just this once.“That would be awkward.”

“All right. Then what?”

“Well, I know that you and Etta… are very experienced together.” At that, Natasha got up and took Seena’s place in the bathroom as the maid of honor bounded out. “So were your father and I when we got married.”

“Mom.”

“Now, hear me out. My mother didn’t tell me, but I always wanted to make sure to tell you. The first time you make love as a woman and wife…”

“Hell, yeah! I’m in time for the sex talk!”

“…Is a very blessed experience. It will be unlike what you’ve ever experienced before. If you’re lucky at all…” Luna leaned forward and patted her daughter’s stomach. “You’ll start the next phase of your life already.”

“How many times do I have to say we’re not hitting up the donor clinic anytime soon?”

“Doesn’t matter. Your father and I did a helluva dance yesterday.”

“You could say that again.”

Raul showed up early. He brought Jamie over to her vanity and piled his supplies high. The day had officially begun.

People ran this way and that, constantly coming in and out of the master suite, which was the bridal base for the day. Etta had slept in her mother’s guest room on the other side of the manor the night before, and as far as Jamie knew, a few guests had already harassed her about her look. Last I heard, Helen Warner brought her personal stylist.Jamie wondered how that made Adele feel, since she had often talked about doing Etta’s hair for the wedding.

That named woman stopped by more than once, first in a simple black shift, then her… pantsuit.Holy shit!Everyone in the room gaped in awe as Adele Thompson, the usually regal femme with her sleek, short-skirted dresses, came waltzing in wearing a tailored black Armani suit with a silk purple cummerbund, no tie, top two buttons of her shirt undone. Raul dropped his comb. Seena whistled.

“Hello again!” Adele showed herself in, her hair the most pristine braid in a bun Jamie had ever seen. Was that done by the personal stylist in Etta’s dressing room? “Oh, my goodness, Jamie, your hair is divine!” She shuffled forward on her black stilettos, poking out from her trousers like a pair of flirty girls. “We still getting married today?” she said, not quietly enough.

“What do you mean… still getting married?” Seena asked, half-dressed in a slip.

“Oh, didn’t you hear?” Adele rested her elbow on Jamie’sshoulder as Raul went back to combing out the other side of her hair. “Etta can’t make the ceremony, so she’s asked me to stand in.” She winked at Jamie.Cute. “Why do you think I’m in this getup?”

Natasha dropped the flowers she carried the moment she got a look at Adele.

“Hi!” Adele spun around, winking at her as well. “Is that your dress? It’s lovely!”

“I… uh… I gotta go.”

Great. Gearing up the drama for my wedding. Where was Eve Warner for a cat fight over Natasha?Actually, that might be a great distraction from the parents…

“My, what a great look!” Luna was positively beaming as she got a load of Adele in her maid of honor suit. “You must be Adele. I’ve heard so much about you.”

The look on Adele’s face said everything.

Jamie didn’t pay much attention beyond that. Raul, one of the only men allowed to come in and out of the bridal suite, finished up Jamie’s hair while the makeup artist took to her face.

They had the discussion of how she should look many times. A week ago, Jamie went into the salon to not only get her customary wash and trim, but to try out some bridal hairstyles. She didn’t have her dress on, obviously, but she brought a picture from the most recent fitting. They originally wanted to do an updo, but both agreed that Jamie looked too little like herself.“We could do the updo for the ceremony and then take it down for the reception,”Raul suggested,“but it’s up to you.”

I want to look as much like the woman Etta imagines as possible.“Let’s take it down,”Jamie had said. So, that’s what they did now, fluffing out Jamie’s hair and putting in as many curls as possible.I don’t look that much different from usual. Just fancier.She looked like the day Etta proposed to her. That made her smile.

“All right, I am here!” That thick accent echoed down the hallway, sending Adele to Etta’s suite.Not hanging around, huh?Drama! “Let’s get thisvestitoon the bride!”