Page 79 of You Are Cordially Invited

“Oh yes, I’m positive Cam will love it.” She pulled a face. “Because it’s the onehechose, dammit. He was right, even though I didn’t want him to be.” Her mouth turned up in a sly grin. “But I told him I’d bought the other one.”

I laughed. “Oh my god, you’re positively evil.”

“Yeah, well, he deserved it.” Her eyes danced with mischief. “He drove me up the damn wall.” She walked over to the bed and grabbed the soft collar for my neck.

“Bloody thing,” I grumbled.

“Suck it up,” she admonished. “You wouldn’t be allowed to get married without it so don’t be a baby.”

I tipped her chin up to look in those smiling eyes and chuckled. “You know, I’ve always loved this patient, tender side you have. It’s one of your many gifts.”

“This is true.” She poked me in the stomach with her finger and I almost doubled over. “And don’t you forget it.” She stood back. “Yes. You’ll do nicely.”

“Knock, knock, knock.” Mac pushed the bedroom door open and gave me an approving once over. His gaze lingered on my face and his mouth quirked up. “Well, don’t you just look positively fucking edible.”

I snorted. “You better keep those comments out of the AB dressing room if you’re looking to stay in the closet. Besides, I’m not quite sure the world is ready for a flirty All Black prop who’s built like a tank and could bench press the Queen Mary. They had enough trouble with my slender model.”

He laughed and brushed a tiny piece of lint off my trousers before grabbing my jacket from the bed. “Here.” He held it out and I slipped my arms inside.

“Holy crap, is this really happening?”

“You better believe it, sunshine.” He brushed my shoulders. “Just keep thinking who’s waiting for you at the other end. You’re a lucky man.”

I grabbed his arm. “I am. And thank you for doing this for me.”

He stared, the corners of his huge green eyes crinkling with affectionate warmth. “You are most welcome.” He stood back to take a longer look, his finger to his lips, and then nodded. “Fabulous job, Georgie.”

She blushed. “Thanks. I had great material to work with.”

“Wow, you look amazing.”

I spun at Craig’s voice, surprised to see his eyes shining with what looked like tears. “You scrub up pretty damn good yourself.”

I ran my gaze over both of them in their matching black tuxes, white shirts, black ties, and pink rose boutonnieres. The stitching on Tom’s tux barely contained the mountain of rippling muscle beneath, whereas Craig’s slender frame stood out in stark comparison. Apples and oranges, and yet they somehow fit.

“Is Belinda coming to the reception?” I asked Craig. His newish girlfriend was a whole staircase up on any of his previous ones—smart, sensible, and with an actual job, which was always a good start. Plus, she was excellent with Cory.

He nodded as a small face appeared around his right hip. Cory—dressed in the cutest little black tuxedo with a pink flower pinned to his lapel and pink shoes. Cam said Cory had been adamant about buying the shoes to match, and he looked so damn adorable I teared up on the spot, which sent Georgie running for the Kleenex to blot my face before I smudged my eyeliner.

I’d wanted to surprise Cam and I’d been practising on the downlow for months with colours and techniques.

“Pappy!” Cory walked into my arms, carefully avoiding Mac who had yet to be accepted in Cory’s inner circle. “Dad made me Vegemite toast. He makes it better than you.”

I glanced at Craig to find a smug smile in place. I returned him a wide grin. “Well, maybe he can show me how to do it right, then.”

“Happy to,” Craig answered, and we stared at each other for a long moment.

We’d been trying to do the family thing better. He hadn’t been in contact with our father since the hospital debacle, and he’d promised not to pass on the change in wedding plans or send any photos. I could only trust he kept that promise, but so far, so good.

I didn’t know how we’d managed it, but the press were apparently still in the dark with some even spotted heading over to Waiheke Island, just in case. But that wouldn’t last. They knew we hadn’t cancelled altogether, and I had no doubt word would get out as soon as we all started moving. We knew eyes were on us.

Which was why we’d kept the news of the baby completely under wraps. Only Georgie, Michael, and Sandy knew. When Stella and her parents had agreed to come to the hospital to meet with us, they’d been over the moon to hear we still wanted to adopt Stella’s baby as long as she was still interested in us being the adoptive parents. Michael had explained about my injury in order to allay any concerns they might’ve had, and we’d agreed to approach the issue of the media as a team and deal with it the same way.

Stella’s second ultrasound was due in a few weeks and we were beyond excited that she wanted us to be there. The immediate goals were to get the formal processes under way, including Cam laying groundwork for the extended leave he’d need from his job, and then try to keep a lid on things for as long as possible.

However, as Cam and I knew from painful experience, that didn’t always work out, and there would need to be a strategy for when shit inevitably hit the fan, planned or otherwise, most likely otherwise. The secret was driving us crazy, but it was the right thing to do, and we could only pray it held. We needed the wedding under our belt at the very least before that particular can of worms was leaked to the press.

“Okay, you lot.” Ed stuck his head through the open doorway. “Let’s get this show on the road?” He jangled the limo keys in his hand. A friend in the business had agreed to let Ed drive to keep a better lid on the wedding. And we’d accepted Ed’s offer of his and Mark’s house to get ready in for the same reason. Plus, Tink was one of Cory’s favourite ‘people’ and an integral part of the wedding party.

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