The Things I Do for You (The Alexanders 2)

Raina whimpered as he took her mouth, kissing her so deeply that it got him aroused again almost immediately. He hardened inside her and she arched underneath him.

“Nick. Nick!” She clutched his back as he made love to her again with thick, forceful thrusts.

“I’m not leaving your body this time. I don’t want to. This is where I always want to be,” he growled in her ear. He made love to her over and over again, never leaving her body until they fell into an exhausted sleep.

* * * * *

THE DAY OF the wedding dawned sunny and clear. After spending the morning checking in with the florist and Julia while Ridley bathed and gathered her things, Raina was more than ready to head to the Alexander’s farm.

She made sure Ridley’s honeymoon bag was packed and then they gathered up the simple white off-the-rack wedding dress Ridley had purchased. Raina put her white pumps, hair pins, hose, and corset in a separate bag. She’d brought her own makeup kit with her. Her sister barely owned any and the stuff she’d buy wouldn’t be as high quality as what Raina had.

As they were driving over to Julia’s house she said, “You know, there’s something really special about just jumping in and doing it this way.”

Ridley looked at her from the passenger seat of her car. “There is?”

“Yeah. Since you planned everything in such a short time frame, you kept all the stress contained.”

Ridley looked over at her and then squealed. “I’m getting married today!” They giggled all the way to the Alexander farm.

As soon as they pulled up, the front door opened and Julia came out. “Here she is! Come on in, honey.”

Ridley got out of the car and Raina followed, scooping up Ridley’s dress bag and her makeup kit.

“You can take the second guest bedroom on the left to get ready. That used to be Jackson’s room.” Julia winked as she said it. They followed her inside and down one of the hallways.

“Here you go, girls. I’ll be back in a little while. I’m waiting on Lonny Wilson to bring the flowers. He’s an hour late.” Julia threw up her hands and made a face. “That boy would be late to his own funeral, bless his heart.”

Raina suppressed a smile. Since she’d grown up mainly in D.C., she was still amused by the uniquely Southern tradition of insulting someone and then bestowing a blessing on them. She’d kind of prefer to just say “screw you” and be done with it.

“Let’s do my hair first. I have a feeling this is going to take a while.” Ridley sighed and then pulled out the band holding her ponytail.

Raina worked for the next hour, meticulously twisting sections of her sister’s hair and then pinning the coils high on her head. Next she spritzed several tendrils around her face with water and wound them around small rollers. She used the blow-dryer to get them mostly dry and then left the rollers in while she worked on her sister’s makeup.

By the time Julia came back, Ridley was just stepping into her dress. It was a simple A-line with a sweetheart neckline and lacy cap sleeves. Simple but perfect.

“Oh my goodness. You are so beautiful.” Julia fanned at her eyes, blinking back tears. “Wait until my son gets a look at you.”

Raina agreed. Considering that Jackson couldn’t keep his eyes off her sister on any given day, she had a feeling he was going to be knocked on his ass when he saw Ridley coming down the aisle.

The next hour was a blur as she rushed around getting her own dress on and doing her hair. Ridley had decided that just Raina, Laura, and her friend Katie would stand up with her as bridesmaids. They were all wearing simple blue sheath dresses that they’d gotten at the same discount bridal store where Ridley had found her dress. Laura and Katie arrived and after the requisite oohing and aahing over Ridley’s dress, they were all changed and lined up with their escorts, waiting to go down the aisle.

“You look beautiful,” Nick said.

“Thank you. How’s Jackson holding up? Is he sweating yet?” she teased.

“Like a hooker in church. He looked like he’d just run a marathon.”

“Nick!” Raina glanced around to make sure Julia wasn’t close enough to overhear. That was when she realized Julia and Mark had already gone down the aisle to be seated.

The music changed and Raina looked over to one of Julia’s church friends, standing behind the table where Elliot’s sound system was set up. Apparently he’d arranged everything so the music was on a playlist and all she had to do was press “Play.” Elliot was watching her closely anyway.

Laura linked arms with Bennett and they walked down the aisle. After a few beats, Katie linked arms with Elliot and they followed. Raina smoothed down the front of her dress and glanced back at Ridley.

Mark had offered to stand in and give her away, but in the end, Ridley had decided to walk alone. She’d figured it was a fitting symbol of the way she’d found Jackson and Raina couldn’t disagree.

“Are you ready to become an Alexander, Ri?”

After a brief pause, Ridley nodded. She glanced down the aisle to where they could see Jackson standing at the altar next to the pastor. Her eyes twinkled with excitement. “Yeah. I’m ready.”