Second Chance for Romance

Chapter 8

The Swan House actually had a person whose job was to coordinate weddings. She was a prim and immaculate thirty-something woman.

Mark and I chatted while she organized the wedding party. Tessa’s brother and the Virginia cousin stood nearby. Our job as ushers was fairly simple: friends of the bride on the left, of the groom on the right. We also had to seat family in the first three rows, but that was about it.

When the coordinator guided us into place for the processional, I learned that I had a bigger role than I’d thought. Elizabeth and I officially started the ceremony. Well, she did. I was just her escort.

“Are you ready for this?” I asked as we marched down the aisle at a stately pace.

“I hope so.”

“You’ll do fine,” I said. “You’re the most important woman here. Well, after Kara.”

“You’re such a dear.” She glanced at me sidelong. “You and Gina seem to be getting on well.”

“Don’t plan our wedding just yet,” I said with a laugh.

“God, no! Let us get through this one first.”

“That’s the spirit.” We reached the first row. “This is where I leave you.”

She sat and crossed her legs.

I gave her a wink and finished my circuit around the left. My job was done.

We ran through the whole ceremony twice, from beginning to end.

Afterward the coordinator made sure everyone knew where and when to

arrive. (The bridal party had to arrive before noon. I only had to be there two hours early, at two o’clock.)

Gina appeared beside me. “Do you mind if I ride with you to dinner?”

“Um… sure. Lemme just find Erin.”

“Oh, she’s riding with Leah and Mark.”

“Ah. Gotcha.”

We joined the crowd heading to the cars.

“So,” I said, “how’ve you been?” I felt like an idiot, but didn’t know where else to start.

“Good. Busy with school. My classes are a lot harder now.”

“Tell me about it.”

“How about you?”

“The same. Projects. Deadlines. Studying for exams. You know how it is.”

“Yeah. I’ve already started studying for the MCAT. They say it’s brutal.”

“So you still like pre-med?”

“Definitely. I’ve been talking to Kara a lot. It’s a lot of work, but she enjoys it.” She glanced at me. “What about you? You still love architecture.”

“Gee, what was your first clue?”

“Oh, I dunno. I think it was when you gushed for an hour up in the house.”

“Sorry about that.”

“Don’t be. I told you, I like seeing things through your eyes.”

I opened the Cruiser’s door and helped her climb in. She smoothed her dress out of the way, and my eyes fell on her dark, slim ankles. She was wearing silver high heels, and I wondered if Christy had a pair like them.

Gina gave me a curious look.

“Just admiring your legs.”

Her lips pursed with a smile.

I shut the door and walked around to the driver’s side. I started the engine and shifted into gear. “So, you still like LA?”

“I do. The weather’s amazing. We can go to the beach almost year-round.”

“So you still have tan lines?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know!” she laughed.

“Well, I have to file a report. You could lose your nudist’s license.”

“You don’t say?”

“Mmm hmm.”

“Well then, I’d better hope they make an exception.”

“They might. You’ll have to undergo a thorough examination, though.”

“Oh, really?”

“Yeah. It’s policy, I’m afraid.”

“In that case I’d better get it over with.” She turned in her seat and ran a finger along the neckline of her dress. Then she moistened her lips and gave me a suggestive look. “Do we need to go somewhere private?”

“Okay, now you’re messing with me.”

She broke into laughter. “What gave it away?”

“It sounded like a porn movie.”

“Oh my God, Paul! You wouldn’t believe how many times I’ve been asked to do porn.”

I blinked at the change of subject. “Seriously?”

“Yes! Sometimes it seems like everyone in LA is in the porn business.

They’re all over the Valley. And I see flyers on campus all the time for

‘Models Wanted’ or ‘Movie Auditions.’ You can’t wear a bikini on the beach without some guy telling you how beautiful you are and saying you should do a ‘photo test.’ It’s ridiculous.”

“So you never thought about doing it?”

“Thought about it? Sure. But I never would. Too many people would find out. And it’d ruin any chance I have to become a doctor.” She looked at me.

“Wait. Are you asking…?”

“No. I was just curious if you’d ever—”

“Paul, it’s one thing to take off my clothes at camp, or for a special person. But do you really think I’d do it for money?”

“Not really. I guess…”

“What?”

“I guess I was thinking about it and got a little carried away.”

“Thinking about what, exactly?”

“Not you doing porn. Mostly…” I shot her a grin. “Well, you know what I was thinking.”

Her eyebrows rose.

“Hey, you can’t blame a guy for trying.”

“No, I guess not,” she said at last.

“Sorry.”

She looked at me from under long, dark lashes. “I didn’t say I was upset.”

I almost missed the turn for the restaurant.

She laughed. “God, I’ve missed you.”

“Keep thinking that. Especially if I kill us both.”

“Don’t. Kara would never forgive me.”

“Or me.” I pulled into a parking space and turned off the engine. “Gimme a sec,” I said, and hopped out. I went around and opened Gina’s door for her.

She lowered a foot to the ground. Her dress wasn’t particularly short, but I still had a tantalizing view from ankle to mid-thigh.

I took her hand and met her eyes.

She grinned. “Still wondering…?”

“About what?”

“My tan lines.”

“Sort of.”

She arched an eyebrow.

I stepped close. I could feel her body mere inches away, could smell her flowery scent. I brought my lips to her ear.

“I was thinking,” I whispered, “about how beautiful you are.”

She held very still.

“And how much I want to…”

She swallowed. “To what?”

I waited a moment and then pulled back.

Her dark eyes searched mine.

I let a slow grin spread across my face.

“You aren’t going to tell me?”

“We’d better head inside.”

She looked at me with a mixture of disbelief and surprise.

I put a hand on the small of her back and gently propelled her toward the restaurant. I walked beside her and slid my palm down.

She jumped but didn’t pull away.

I grinned to myself and patted her bottom.

Dinner passed in the blink of an eye. We were supposed to get to know Victor’s family better, but Gina and I were in our own little world.

I told her about the backyard at the rancher and the other houses in

Atlanta. She told me about smog and traffic and life in Los Angeles. I talked about the beautiful houses in Fort Sanders and the project for Professor Joska.

She talked about her friends in the sorority and how she volunteered at a women’s clinic. We laughed about several awful dates Regan had been on. I told her about Wren’s matchmaking antics.

“You didn’t sleep with any of her friends?” Gina said, incredulous.

“Nope. Not one.” I ventured a rueful grin. “Dumbest thing I’ve ever done.”

She laughed. “I’ll say!”

“What about you? You haven’t mentioned a boyfriend…”

“I don’t have one.”

My eyebrows shot up.

“I broke up with Brock back in April.”

“April?”

“Mmm hmm. And I’ve been single ever since. Not really looking for anyone either.”

“For real?”

“For real. Although…”

“Yes…?”

“Well, I came to camp in July. I was hoping to see a certain someone…”

“Me?”

She rolled her eyes. “You’re such a goof. Who else?”

“You mean…?”

“Mmm hmm. But you missed your chance.”

“What’d you do instead?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know!”

“Just think,” I said. “Instead of spending time with you, I was digging up a septic tank. By hand.”

“Wow. You really got the better end of that deal.”

“No kidding!” I did my best Richard Dawson voice: “A hundred people surveyed, top five answers are on the board. Name something you’d rather do besides sex. Backbreaking manual labor? Ding, ding, ding!”

Her eyes sparkled with laughter. “Who said anything about sex?”

“Oh, please!”

“So what about you?” she said. “Has Wren found you a girlfriend yet?”

“No. But not for lack of trying!”

“So… you and Leah?” Her tone carried more than a simple question.

“Leah and Mark,” I said firmly.

“There isn’t…?”

“Between Leah and me? Yeah, of course there is. But it’s hard to describe. She’s…” Like you and I used to be. I couldn’t say that aloud, so I stared at my half-eaten dinner instead.

“You really care about her.”

“Of course I do. She…” I’d started to say that she reminded me of Gina, but that wasn’t true. I never thought of Gina when I was with Leah. Oh, sure, they had a lot in common, from looks to attitude to personality, but they were different people.

“I think I understand.”

But she didn’t, and I didn’t correct her.

“So,” she said at last, “what do you do? In Knoxville, I mean. If you aren’t dating anyone, and you and Leah aren’t serious…” Her dark eyes danced with mischief.

“What do you think?”

“You must go through a lot of Kleenex.”

“Boxes!”

“I knew it!” she laughed.

“I should buy stock in the company.”

“You should. You’d make a fortune.”

“Yeah, but I’d blow it all buying more Kleenex.”

“Mmm.”

“What?”

“I was just thinking about you ‘blowing.’”

I rolled my eyes. “What about you? What do you do?”

She feigned innocence. “What do you mean?”

“Well, if you don’t have a boyfriend…”

“It’s the eighties. I’m a modern girl.”

“Which means…?”

“Let’s just say I should buy stock in Duracell.”

“Mmm hmm. That’s what I thought.”

“You can’t blame a girl for having an electronic friend.” She grinned. “Or two. And maybe a couple of non-electronic friends.”

“What about Regan? Do you…?”

“We do,” she admitted. “But it isn’t the same.”

“What isn’t?”

“You know,” she said after a moment.

“Know what?”

“What I like.”

“I do.”

Kara loomed over us and cleared her throat.

Gina and I pulled apart like we’d been caught behind the bleachers by the principal.

Seriously? Now?

“We’re headed home,” Kara said. Tessa and Victor stood behind her.

I looked around the restaurant. Almost everyone else had left.

“Don’t stay out too late.”

My hard-on had plans to do just that.

Too bad, I told it. You aren’t running the show.

It thought otherwise.

“We’ll be right behind you,” I told Kara.

She nodded a bit dubiously, but left with the others.

I glanced at Gina. “Big day tomorrow. You need a good night’s sleep.

Remember?”

“I…”

“Come on,” I said. “I’ll drive you home.”

The evening had turned chilly, and Gina shivered as the restaurant door swung closed behind us. I took off my coat and put it around her shoulders.

She thanked me with a smile and laced her fingers through mine.

We walked to the car in a silence filled with unasked questions.

I opened her door and helped her into the seat, but then lingered a moment.

She looked into my eyes.

“We don’t have to go straight home,” I said softly.

“No, we probably should.”

I leaned in.

Her lips parted, and she closed her eyes.

I kissed her.

“That was nice,” she said afterward.

“It was. But… are you sure you don’t want to…?”

She hesitated. “I’m sure.”

“Want me to change your mind?”

“Yes.”

“Sorry. I promised—”

It was her turn to kiss me, with a lot more heat than the first time.

I pressed the bulge of my erection into her leg. Then I ran a hand along the silky skin of her inner thigh, until my fingers brushed damp panties.

“I’ll take them off,” she panted. “But not here.”

My brain threatened to desert my head and run things from my penis. I resisted with an almost physical effort.

Gina felt it. She made a sound of frustration and reached for my belt.

I easily fended her off.

“Don’t you want to?”

“Of course I do. Can’t you feel how much?”

“Then why…?”

I looked around at the nearly empty parking lot. “Here? Seriously? Our first time in… what? A year? More?” I shook my head.

“We could go somewhere.”

“Not tonight,” I said gently. “Tomorrow. In a real bed. With real sheets.”

She nodded.

“Maybe in a real hot tub, too.” I paused to imagine it. “Bent over a real desk. Up against a real door. On top of a real—”

She kissed me again. Her lips were full of hunger and desire.

I almost gave in.

A group of waiters saved me. They spilled out of the restaurant, talking and laughing.

“We can’t,” I said at last. “Not here.”

“You’re right.” She adjusted her dress. Then she grinned as I tried and failed to find a comfortable angle for my trapped hard-on.

“It’ll just have to suffer.”

She made a moue. “Poor thing.”

“Exactly. Now, let’s get you home before we change our minds.”

The woman from the Swan House gave orders like a drill instructor. Go here.

Stand there. Wait for this. Do that.

Not surprisingly, the wedding went exactly like it had in rehearsal.

Kara was radiant. Victor was nervous. Chris Coulter was unusually

dignified. (I found out later that Elizabeth had threatened him with “grievous bodily harm” if he cracked a joke when he presented the bride.) The minister was a refreshing mix of serious and lighthearted. The garden and fountains were the perfect backdrop. Even the weather cooperated with a beautiful fall day. Best of all, the whole ceremony took less than thirty minutes.

Victor and Kara walked up the aisle to cheers and applause, followed in a procession by the rest of the couples in the wedding party. I caught Gina’s eye and smiled, but was already headed around the left side of the seats.

Mark went around the right. Our job was to stand in the aisle and dismiss the guests by rows. We made it to our post before the coordinator had to threaten us with mess duty.

I went looking for Gina as soon as the last of the guests filed out. The reception was on the front lawn—the garden and fountains were actually the back of the house—so I edged along the stream of people climbing the terrace steps.

Gina excused herself from a group as soon as she saw me. I lifted her into the air and kissed her, which surprised us both.

“Why, Mr. Hughes,” she said, “you’ll sully my reputation.”

I laughed and set her down. “Your accent’s coming back.”

“Must be something in the water.”

“Speaking of which… you want something from the bar? Beer? Wine?”

“Are you trying to get me drunk?”

“Um… do I need to?”

She laughed. “Just some lemonade, please.”

“Right. Two lemonades, coming up.”

The caterers had set up bars on either side of the porte-cochère, with cases of alcohol ready in the center. The lines were already five deep and growing.

Fortunately, the regular drinks were on a table at the end of the ones they planned to use for the buffet. They had pitchers of iced tea and water, along with a big fountain for lemonade. I filled two glasses and returned to Gina.

She drank half of hers straight away.

“Thanks. I was parched. They only had champagne in the bridesmaids’

tent.”

“Hold on… you aren’t drinking?”

She held up her half-empty glass.

“You know what I mean. Alcohol. You weren’t drinking last night either.”

“No.”

“Have you given it up altogether?”

“I dunno. I never really drank much before, but now…” She shrugged.

“Go ahead and drink if you want to.”

“Nah. I’ll pass.”

“Are you sure? I don’t mind.”

“No thanks. I… kinda had fun last night. Maybe it was ’cause I was sober.”

“It didn’t have anything to do with me?” She mocked me with a playful flutter of dark eyelashes.

“You know what I mean.”

“I do. But it’s fun to tease you.”

“You’re too much like Susan. And your mom. And my mom, for that matter.”

“Is that a bad thing?”

“It depends.”

“On what?”

“Whether we’re in bed or not.”

“So you think you’re going to bed with me?”

“Well, I did promise,” I said.

“Uh- huh.”

I started to say something else, but an older gentleman and his wife approached us.

Gina gave me a wry little smile and turned to greet them.

They were Victor’s grandparents on his mother’s side. We talked to them for a few minutes before they made their way to the bar. Another couple took their place almost immediately.

Gina was the sister of the bride, which meant that everyone wanted to talk to her. She was also young and pretty. She drew middle-aged men like moths to a flame. She was unfailingly polite, but I could see the amusement dancing behind her dark eyes.

One randy older guy, Victor’s great-uncle, said he’d never seen so many

“beautiful brown women.” He spoke in a deep southern drawl and flattered Gina shamelessly. She laughed and flirted right back. Then she dashed his hopes and introduced me as her date. Without batting an eye, he said, “What about the dusky young lady over there, the one with the enchanting accent?”

“You mean my cousin Tessa,” Gina said with a laugh. “I’ll introduce

you.” She handed me her empty glass. “Would you mind getting us refills while I do?” She rose on tiptoe and kissed my cheek. “I have a surprise for you later,” she added in a soft voice.

My eyebrows shot up, but she merely grinned and took the older man’s arm. She headed toward Tessa, who was surrounded by men her own age.

Gina returned a few minutes later, still laughing. “You know, I think he might actually have a chance. He’s a silver-tongued devil.”

“He certainly is.” I handed her the lemonade. “So,” I said after we drank,

“what’s this surprise?”

“Hmm?”

“You mentioned a surprise.”

“Yes, that.”

I waited.

She grinned and touched my arm. “Let’s go say hi to my Nana and Nani.

I know they’d love to see you again.”

We spent a while talking to her grandparents and reminiscing about our trip to Europe. Then we circulated and talked to more friends and relatives.

We chatted with my parents and Susan for a few minutes, until Elizabeth pulled them away to meet some distant relative or another.

We drifted through a half-dozen conversations after that. Each one more or less followed the same script. The men said something about the reception or how lucky I was to be with Gina. The women talked about Kara and the ceremony itself. They all asked when Gina and I were going to get married.

I nearly choked on my lemonade the first time, but Gina answered with her usual aplomb.

“Oh, we aren’t ready to settle down yet. Besides, I don’t know if I’m going to keep him.”

I turned the tables on her with the last couple.

“Definitely before the baby’s born,” I said.

Gina squawked.

“Oh… well… yes,” the woman stammered. She and her husband moved on.

“That wasn’t nice,” Gina said.

“It was funny, though. And it serves you right, especially after what you told that first couple.”

“Well, I haven’t decided if I’m going to keep you.”

“Do I need to convince you?”

Her eyes shifted to something behind me. “Hold that thought. The food just came out. I’m starving. I haven’t eaten since breakfast.”

Being a member of the wedding party did have its perks, and people made space for us near the front of the line. We filled our plates and joined Mark and Leah at a table. She smiled at me and turned an acid look on Gina.

“Who wants more wine?” Mark suggested.

“I’ll join you,” I said.

We used our boutonnières as a sort of pass to skip the line at the closest bar. Mark ordered two glasses of champagne.

The bartender glanced at me.

“Nothing, thanks.”

Mark looked at me in surprise.

“Long story. Is Leah okay?”

“Yeah. It isn’t you. It’s Gina.”

“Sibling rivalry?”

“I guess. It bugs her that Gina always gets what she wants.”

“Anything I can do?”

“Not unless you find another date.”

“Little late for that.”

“That’s what I told her.” He raised the glasses of bubbly. “Don’t worry.

This’ll help.”

“Not if we’re standing here and they’re over there.”

“No kidding!”

We returned to the girls, who were politely ignoring each other and talking to the people on either side.

I caught Leah’s eye when Gina was deep in conversation and Mark went for more food.

Are you okay? I mouthed.

She nodded, but looked resigned more than anything.

Sorry.

I know. Me too.

Anything I can do?

She shook her head.

“Paul can probably tell you more about it,” Gina said from my right.

Leah automatically glared at her.

Fortunately, Mark slid into place between us, both literally and figuratively.

“Sorry, wasn’t paying attention,” I said to Gina. I turned and rested my arm on the back of her chair. “More about what?”

“The Swan House,” she said. “Carl and Clara are curious about it.”

“Ah, cool. What do you want to know?”