With her undergarments in place, Gretchen slipped into the gown she’d chosen with Amelia. It was strapless with a sweetheart neckline and a high waist that fell right under her bust. The top was a shiny black ruched satin, but below the waist, it was flowing white satin, painted in purple, blue and black almost like a wearable piece of watercolor art. It was beautiful and fit her perfectly.
The last piece she added was the necklace Julian had given her. The fiery opal rested nicely on the bare expanse of her chest, falling right below her collarbone.
Admiring herself in the full-length mirror on her closet door, she was stunned by what she saw. This wasn’t the mousy, awkward Gretchen from a week ago. She looked confident, radiant and even beautiful. Gretchen was ready to walk out the door and be Julian’s girl, which was a good thing, because it was time to go. She needed to get back to the facility.
It felt weird enough already that she wasn’t there helping the others, but she’d done her part, including buzzing by this morning to meet the florist and snatch up those wayward panties. Now she was returning as a guest. Since Julian was the best man, he wasn’t able to pick her up. He was in the groom’s room, likely doing a shot of whiskey with Murray and helping him with his tie. They had to be ready early so Bree could take pictures of the wedding party before the ceremony.
Just in case, Gretchen threw a few last things into an overnight bag she’d packed. If she did end up staying with Julian again, she wanted to be ready and not slink back home in the morning in a gown. She had all her toiletries, a change of clothes and a slinky little red lace chemise that had been rotting in her closet since she’d impulse-purchased it several years back. She was looking forward to someone actually seeing her in it, aside from her.
After loading everything into her car, she returned to the chapel. Gathered on the curb outside the facility was a crowd of photographers. The location had leaked, as expected, but they weren’t allowed on the grounds. With very little activity outside with the winter weather, all they’d get were shots of people coming in and out. They paid little attention to her in her cheap sedan. She was able to slip in the back door as usual.
“Wow.”
Gretchen paused outside her office where she was about to stow her overnight bag. Turning, she saw Natalie watching her from the hallway. She was all geared up with her headset, her tablet and fierce determination to tackle the day, but the expression of awe on her face was new.
“Do I look okay?”
Natalie nodded, coming close to admire the dress. “You look amazing. Every bit the girlfriend of a movie star, no doubt.”
Gretchen beamed. She thought she looked nice, but was nice good enough? It seemed so, at least in Natalie’s opinion.
“I especially like the well-bedded glow. Is that a bronzer or an all-night lovemaking session?”
Gretchen’s eyes widened and she brought her hand to her lips to shush her. “Bronzer,” she said pointedly. “We’ll discuss the brand and how well it was applied later.”
Natalie gave her a wicked grin and swung her dark ponytail over her shoulder. “You bet we will. The ballroom looks great, so relax and have fun today.”
“I’ll try.” Gretchen put her things into her office, then went around the facility checking on a few last-minute things. All was well in the ballroom. The pin lights were perfect, and the floral arrangements added the ideal touch. Amelia’s wedding cake was an eight-tier masterpiece nestled in a bed of white pastillage roses. All that was left was for the servers to light the candles and the guests to mill in.
She crossed the lobby and found Julian, Murray and the other groomsmen in the chapel taking photos with Bree and another guy who was probably from the magazine that had the exclusive to the event. Gretchen couldn’t help the wide smile on her face when her eyes met Julian’s, especially when his own smile returned her excitement. He looked so handsome in his tuxedo, as if he were auditioning to be the next James Bond. And he was hers, at least for now. Their relationship might be short, but it was special, and she’d always think of it that way.
Natalie followed her into the chapel, this time on official planner duties. “Okay, gentlemen, we need to get all of you except the ushers back into the gentlemen’s suite. The guests are about to arrive. Ushers, please meet me back here so we can go over your instructions one last time.”
The men filed out, Julian pressing a kiss to her cheek as he went by, so as not to mess up her lipstick. “I’ll meet you in the lobby after these two get hitched.”