Strip Search (Tap That)

“Oh, my goodness, you have such a good touch with her,” her mother said. “They usually last longer than that.”

They did. But Axl was a big, strong, calming force for her. An anchor.

Axl gave her a smile that made her toes curl. “Leighton has a good touch with me, too.”

She sighed, loving how he always made her feel like his equal. Like she had something to contribute. Without even thinking about it, she reached for his hand and laced her fingers through his.

“Well. Who wants coffee and dessert?” Hillary said, swiftly, like it was important to move on. Or maybe because their intimacy was upsetting to her.

Leighton wasn’t sure if that made her feel better or worse.

“You should see Leighton’s dress,” her mother said cheerfully. “It will knock your socks off, Axl!”

Leighton had seen it and was pleasantly surprised that her mother had chosen a dress that reflected her personality. It was certainly blingy, but not outrageous the way she had been expecting. It was mermaid style, which was what she would have chosen for herself. She had felt good in it when she had tried it on and it only needed minor modifications. The veil hadn’t arrived yet but was due in tomorrow. It made her feel like maybe her mother did understand her, and did respect who she was as a person.

“Is it low cut?” Axl asked. “That’s all I care about.”

His mother reached across the table and slapped his arm. “Knock it off. This is your future mother-in-law. Show some respect.”

“It is low cut!” her mother said, not sounding the least bit offended.

Leighton reached out for Axl’s glass and took a giant sip, fighting back the urge to choke.

It settled on her hard and fast that this wasn’t worth her job. This was torture. Glorious, delicious, horrible torture. It was like having everything you’d ever wanted knowing it was all go

ing away in a matter of days. It felt real, but it was fake. It was an emotional tornado and Axl sat there though it, the eye. Calm. Unperturbed, while she was spinning around unable to grab onto anything but him.

She didn’t want to say it was a mistake, but God, she had enjoyed being with Axl so much. But she didn’t like the lie.

“I can’t wait to see her,” Axl said.

It was like being on a reality TV show where everyone else had a script but her.

Axl was doing this to save his ass. She needed to remember that.

She may be falling in love, but he wasn’t.

Oh, God, she was falling in love.

Damn it.

She took another sip and prayed she would not make an ass out of herself by telling him how she felt. Because he wasn’t going to fall in love with her even if she had all the wedding lingerie in the state of Minnesota.

Twelve

“I can’t believe you want to play poker for your bachelor party,” Sullivan complained. “I wanted to go to the strip club.”

“It’s not a real bachelor party,” he reminded him. They were in the back room at Tap That. Sullivan’s dad and two young bartenders in their twenties were running the bar.

“So, I came here from Chicago for a fake wedding. Fantastic,” Brandon said, shaking his head.

“I told you that you didn’t have to come. I was honest about what’s going on here.”

“No one else knows it’s fake. So if I don’t show it would make me look like the shittiest friend ever. People would be like that fucking guy can’t even make his best friend’s wedding. What a dick.”

“You are a dick.”

Brandon threw his cards down. “I’m out. For the record, you owe me a plane ticket. I was just here last weekend.”