“Uncle Coop doesn’t like his tux. I don’t like mine, either.” Joey made a face.
Vaughn grinned at the little boy who was a miniature version of his uncle. Joey was Cooper’s best man. “Well, you look good.” He nodded at the boy’s mother. “You look beautiful, Cat.”
Surprise knocked the cockiness out of her smile, and there was an unexpected shyness to her response. “Thanks. You don’t look so bad yourself, Tremaine.”
“None of that,” Cooper groaned. “First my pseudo sister, now my real sister. No, Vaughn. Just no.”
He chuckled. “Apparently a man is not allowed to compliment a woman without it being construed as lascivious.”
Cooper scowled at him. “When it’s you, yeah.”
“Well that’s insulting. I’m a perfect gentleman.”
“When a man has as many friends as you, other men start protecting their womenfolk from you.”
“Womenfolk. Really?” Vaughn smirked. Then he thought about how much Jessica seemed to want him and Bailey to work things out. And whatever Jessica wanted, Cooper wanted her to have. He cleared his throat, pushing past his aversion to discussing personal matters in public. “Well, if it makes you feel any better I have every intention of only having one friend from now on. I just need to convince her of that.”
“Bailey?”
He nodded.
That got him a shit-eating grin. “Good.” Cooper clapped him on the shoulder. “About time.”
“Yes, well, she’s not exactly amenable but . . . I’m working on it.”
Cat smirked at him. “I hope you have a lot of patience, Tremaine. I’ve known Bailey Hartwell my whole life and when she digs her heels in, man does she dig them in good and deep.”
“I’m aware. She decided I was a—” He stopped, considering Joey who was listening intently. “Not a very nice person a while ago, and hasn’t really changed her mind about that.”
“If you can change how the people of this town see you, you can change Bailey Hartwell’s mind,” Cat assured him.
God, he hoped so. “I guess we’ll see.” He looked at Cooper. “Do you have everything you need?”
The nervous groom sucked in a huge breath and exhaled. “Yeah, think so.”
“No nerves, Lawson. No reason for them. She loves you.”
“Yeah, I know, I just want to get married quickly before she comes to her senses and changes her mind.”
“Not going to happen. So you’re set?”
“Crosby might need some new fingernails,” Cat joked. The man hadn’t said a word since Vaughn had entered the room.
Crosby scowled at Cat and dropped his hand from his mouth.
“I’m just going to check everything is as it should be for the reception.” Vaughn strode to the door. “Ceremony is in thirty minutes, so I advise you to make your way down to the bandstand.”
Ten minutes later Vaughn was assured that his staff had everything under way for the reception that afternoon. He wandered back through his hotel, politely greeting his guests, as he made to leave for the ceremony.
In that moment he took a surprising amount of joy in the idea of Cooper and Jessica finding a happy life together, and he had hope that he could turn things around with Bailey.
That hope smashed into smithereens when he walked into the foyer of his hotel and saw who was standing at reception.
“Oliver?”
Dread filled him as Oliver Spence grinned at him and spread his arms wide. He was wearing a tux. “Heard there was a wedding.”
Fuck.