Beautiful Mistakes

But if he insisted on wearing clothes, she thought he should spend more time in suits.

Smiling as he walked out, Aaron said, "I didn't realize we would match."

She returned the smile and grabbed her tiny black purse. "Are we ready?"

"Define 'ready,'" he said.

Shaking her head, she said, "We have to go in there as happy as clams. We are entering the enemy camp."

"Are clams really that happy? I mean, how would you know? It's not like they talk."

"You're stalling," she stated, picking up the room key and sliding it in her purse. "No more stalling. You look great, I have my camera, I have the key, and we are ready to go."

Nodding slowly, Aaron walked to the door. "The day can't last forever."

"It'll be fun. Just don't think about the people that we don't like," she advised.

"But they're everywhere," he told her, closing the door behind him.

"We hate that many people? Damn, we are antisocial."

Nodding, Aaron said without hesitation, "Damn right. I deal with people when I'm being paid. Right now I am not being paid."

"I'll give you a dollar when we get back to the room," she told him.

The reception was to be held at the hotel, but the wedding itself was going to be at a church a few minutes away. Julie drove them, smiling to herself when Aaron put Dean Martin on and thinking it was a cute little quirk to have.

When they arrived at the church and found a parking spot, Aaron sighed and started dragging his feet.

"Come on, strong and proud," she told him, elbowing him lightly in the ribs. "Yes, we have exes and enemies inside this building, but look on the bright side—the roof could very well cave in on them."

"The floor could also open up and swallow us into the pits of hell—oh wait, that's already what we're walking into," he said.

"Well, at least we'll know someone," she offered with a bright smile.

With one last sigh he held his arm out a little. "Shall we?"

Grinning at the gesture, she looped her arm through his and then leaned a little closer, privately pleased with the contact—and he was sober.

Julie's stomach began to flutter a little and her bravado quietly faded as they approached the church doors and the moment of truth was upon them, but she forced herself to at least look confident as she held onto Aaron's arm and walked inside with him.

She tried not to immediately scan the room for Matt, she really did, but she also wanted to see the look on his face when he first spotted her on Aaron's arm.

Luckily, she found him in time to see it. He hadn't been looking when they first walked by, he was balancing Anna on his knee and smiling down at her in her cute little purple dress. Emma was standing next to him of course, but she wasn't looking at Anna and she noticed the two of them walk in almost immediately. As she stood there looking absolutely gorgeous in a purple silk dress, practically backless but with a little gathering at the neck that held the dress together, Julie watched Emma's gaze sweep over Julie and Aaron, then their joined arms, and she almost smiled.

Almost.

But then she must have decided not to, because she turned away from them and instead took Anna from Matt, causing him to have to turn so he was facing Aaron and Julie.

As soon as his gaze fell on them his expression changed; his face fell. For a moment, Julie almost felt a little guilty.

Then she recovered.

Matt's gaze left her and went to Aaron, a look of hostility quite visible in the way his jaw locked and the fiery look in his eyes.

Julie stole a sideways glance at Aaron to see if he was looking and she saw him meet Matt's gaze and hold it, then he smirked at his brother and offered a sarcastic little wave.

If they were wild animals, she knew Matt would be growling, because the look he gave Aaron as he turned his back to them was none too friendly.