Page 34 of Marriage (Red, White &) Blues

“You should definitely put some clothes on first.”

Such a man response. I pushed up to kiss him. No, I hadn’t brushed my teeth yet and probably had morning breath, but I felt the need to kiss him and acted on it. If my breath stunk of overnight Chinese food, he didn’t seem to mind because he kissed me back. Then we got up to shower.

When I walked out of the bathroom with the towel wrapped around myself, I stopped short at seeing a beautiful pale-pink, satin sundress with spaghetti straps lying on the bed.

“What’s this?” I asked, totally shocked.

He shrugged. “It’s your wedding day. I thought you should have a dress.”

“How? When?”

“I called Maisie last night while you were passed out. Gave her the size from the dress you had on yesterday.”

“You called her in the middle of the night?”

“Sweetheart, you have no idea how excited she was to get that call. Is it okay? I know white is traditional, but nothing about us has been traditional so far and you look so beautiful in?—”

I cut him off by throwing myself at him. He caught me and we stood there making out like a couple of teenagers for a good five minutes.

“I take it you like the dress?”

“The dress is beautiful. What I like most is the husband who thought of it.”

“We need to get dressed—now. You keep being sweet and we’re not going to make it out of the bedroom.”

“And for clarification, that would be bad, right?”

He eyed me, making me laugh. I loved getting to be playful with Blake. I’d seen it between Pen and Ant, but I never quite understood it until now.

The dress had a V-neck with a slight drape at the bottom of the V. It was fitted and made from the softest satin fabric imaginable. It hung down to mid-calf with a V-slit up the middle. Blake and Maisie each had a good eye. The dress was every bit as classy as it was sexy. I wore my hair down with all my abundant curls spilling down my exposed back. My makeup I did soft. Yes, we were getting married, but it was the morning on a Monday. I didn’t want to look like a sex worker. My heels perfectly matched the dress, along with the clutch that I used to carry my important papers and identification.

Yes, knowing I was traveling from Michigan to meet myhusband, I’d had the presence of mind to grab my social security card and my birth certificate before leaving the house. I didn’t know what they’d require at the courthouse—I’d never beenmarried before—but I couldn’t think of anything else besides my driver’s license, which I always carried on me.

Blake wore a fitted, deep-gray suit with a white, button-down dress shirt and a matching deep-gray tie. He looked like the walking epitome of sex.

“Jesus, Glory,” he said, and his eyes filled with heat. “I feel bad for every other woman on the planet. You look amazing.”

I swatted my hand in the air. “You clean up nicely yourself.”

“Would you like to join me at the courthouse, Almost Mrs. Parker?”

“You said ‘love to’wrong.”

He held his arm out to me and when I took it, Blake escorted me down the stairs, where Maisie stood in a flowy, taupe, satin dress, her hair in a bun. She looked beautiful.

“Wow, Maisie, you look stunning,” I said.

“I’m nothing compared to you.”

“I told Maisie that we were getting married today and she wanted to be there for us.”

I walked over to her, grasping her hand in both of mine. “Thank you. I mean that.Thank you.”

It was clear that she and Blake had a special bond, and my heart swelled knowing that he had good people looking after him. Lord knew he didn’t get that from his parents.

“You can pay extra for witnesses,” Maisie said, “but he had to know I could never allow that.” Her words caused me to have to blink rapidly while fanning my face, just to evaporate my tears. This had to stop.

“Enough with the mushiness, or I’m going to ruin my makeup,” I declared. Blake kissed my cheek before leading me out of the house with Maisie following us to the shiny, black beemer. He opened the door, helping me down into the passenger seat, then helping Maisie into the back beforeclimbing into the driver’s seat. I held his hand on my lap the whole way to the courthouse.

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