Page 41 of Forbidden Billionaires: Vol. 2
"Take a deep breath. And try to do what I thought you were already doing. Enjoy tonight. Remember every second. You only get one rehearsal dinner your whole life. Unless you're James."
I laughed again. "Ugh. God, I've been thinking about that too. I just want all of this to be better than whatever he had with Isabella."
"It's better by default. Because this time he's marrying you." She put her hands on my shoulders and held me at arm's length. "And you, Penny, are my best friend in the world. James is the lucky one."
"Thanks, Melissa."
"You don't think Penny is a little lucky to have wound up with me?" James said with a smile. "Here, take this." He handed me a few pills and a glass of water.
"Of course she's lucky." Melissa squeezed his arm. "You're both lucky. And you're seriously the happiest, cutest, most amazing couple I know. Was any of that good? I'm so nervous about my speech tomorrow. I feel like you're going to be grading me."
James laughed. "Something along those lines would be perfect."
"Oh, good. I'm definitely going to pay attention to Mr. and Mrs. Caldwell's speech tonight to get some ideas on what to say."
"They're giving a speech?" James asked.
"Um, of course. I thought you knew that?"
"No, they didn't say anything to me about it," he said.
"That's really sweet of them," I said and looped my arm in James'.
"They don't have to do that."
"Yeah," I said. "They want to do it. That's the sweet part."
He laughed. "I guess so." He glanced over at Mr. and Mrs. Caldwell. He said he was envious of my childhood. Was he envious of Mason and Matt's too? As far as I could see, Mr. and Mrs. Caldwell had been better parents to him than his own.
Despite how much I thought it might hurt him, James had made the right call. His parents shouldn't be here. Tonight was supposed to be fun with the people we were closest to. That wasn't James' parents. And to me, it seemed pretty clear that that was on them, not James. I was done pushing it. I just wanted us to be happy. We had enough negativity that we couldn't shake. I didn't need to add to it.
"I can't wait to hear their speech," I said.
"Me too." James smiled. "Although, I have no idea what they're planning to say."
"Probably something about how lucky Penny is to have you," Melissa said with a smile. "Okay, I have no segue. But what's the deal with that caterer over there? God, he's gorgeous isn't he?"
"So gorgeous," someone said from behind us.
I turned around. "Hi, Kendra."
"Girl, you were not lying about the plethora of single men. It's like walking into a very elegant candy shop. Now I just need to find the right flavor lollipop."
I laughed.
"Don't be gross," Marie said from beside her. "Hey guys," she said and gave me and James each a hug.
"Congratulations, you two," her husband, Carter, said. He gave me a hug and James a handshake. "Kendra has been talkingnon-stop about weird, sexual candy references the whole taxi ride over here. I need a drink."
James laughed. "Come with me."
"I still can't believe you snagged the sexiest bachelor in New York," Kendra sighed.
"We were just talking about that," Melissa said.
"Wait, you're referring to Carter, right?" Marie said.
We all laughed. I don't know what I had been so worried about. Tonight was going so well.
