Page 71 of Last Night Was Fun

“We have, like, fifteen on our side alone,” Henry chimed in.

“Second,” Emmy went on, “heis the best man in the other wedding?”

“It would appear so, yes.”

“Reporting for duty,” Henry said with a salute.

Emmy couldn’t believe it. Her wish had come true. Gabe had manifested an ally for her. Someone from the other side she could lean on for help negotiating.

“This is perfect,” she said. She threw her arms around Gabe and squeezed him in a hug. “I think you just saved my sister’s wedding.” She kissed his cheek and left him standing there stunned.His mouth popped open like he’d lost his cool and didn’t know where to find it.

Emmy didn’t have time to help him find it. She had a wedding to save.

“Come on,” she said, and grabbed Henry’s arm to head into the bedlam. “We’re going to fix this.”

Chapter13

“I owe your cousin dinner back in LA,” Emmy said as she sank into her chair next to Gabe with a contented sigh.

“I think it’s just as fair to say he owesyoudinner.” He helped scoot her chair in, which was completely unnecessary but indulgent and appreciated. His arm brushed her bare shoulder, and his hand gripped the seat very close to her thigh.

After the morning’s negotiations, Gabe had gone golfing with Henry while Emmy spent the afternoon at the pool with her sister and the bridal party. Still no Jacob sighting, and Emmy was so wrapped up in the spirit of the festivities she’d all but forgotten he was due to arrive at all. They’d all cleaned up for the rehearsal dinner they were now attending on the same terrace where they’d had breakfast.

What about a boat?Those had been the magic words during the negotiations. Emmy had thought of it, inspired by the bachelorette party she’d thrown. Luckily, Gary thought it was a great idea: thrilling, unique, memorable—everything they wanted their wedding to be, heightened to a new level. Together with Henry’s help, he’d been able to convince Cary to agree to hosting their ceremony and reception on a chartered boat, courtesy of the hotel, in exchange for getting to use the landlocked venue for their rehearsal dinner tonight, while Piper and Ben got the venue for their ceremony and reception. That was why the Carmichael-Jameson party had been relocated to the lobby terrace—the second-largest space aside from the venue—for rehearsal celebrations. Piper had been willing to compromise if it meant she still got to get married beachfront and dance all nightunder the swaying palms, and Emmy had heaved an enormous sigh of relief.

“You both pulled off an amazing feat,” Gabe said, and slowly removed his hand from the back of her chair. His fingertips grazed her shoulder blades and sent a thrilling zap straight to where her thighs met.

Emmy lifted her wine for reprieve. “That’s largely credited to my skill for negotiating with difficult men,” she muttered into her glass. Cary had been hard to win over.

Gabe gasped in mock scandal and pressed his palm to his chest. “Was that comment in reference tome, Jameson?”

“If the shoe fits, Olson,” she said in a cheeky tone.

Under the table, he lightly stepped on her foot with his shoe.

“Ow!”

The lines between who they were behind their screens and who they were face-to-face had blurred so much they’d nearly dissolved. They’d gotten braver about touching each other. Little nudges, arm grazes. Swatting away bugs that may or may not have been present but served as excuses to brush fingertips against skin. Emmy took the liberty to playfully punch him in the arm for stepping on her foot.

“Ow,” he quietly said, like it actually hurt. He reached up and squeezed where she’d hit him and rolled his shoulder back.

“Oh! Sorry,” Emmy said, regretting it at the pained look on his face. “Are you all right?”

He shook his head once with a half grimace, half smile. “I’m fine. It’s my own fault. Too much shoulder motion today.”

“From golfing?”

“Yeah.”

Through his opened top buttons, she glimpsed the scar on Gabe’s collarbone where he’d been screwed back together years before. He’d told her he’d had pins and a plate put in his shoulder, and the thought made her knees weak in the worst way. She cringed again at seeing a piece of the scar now.

“I’ll have to take it easy tomorrow,” he said. “Maybe a pool day while you’re getting ready for the wedding.”

“I mean, they probably have a sports masseuse on hand at this place if you want a massage...” Emmy muttered and glanced over her shoulder.

Gabe was still gripping his arm right as Emmy’s parents returned to their seats across from them. They’d been up mingling as mother and father of the bride. Piper and Ben were doing the same while everyone finished off their dinners before dessert was served.

“Gabe, sweetheart, are you all right?” Emmy’s mother asked in concern when she noticed him holding his arm.