“Are you okay?” Joe asked from beside her. He hadn’t strayed far from her side all afternoon. Was she being uncharitable by wishing he was someone else right now? Yes, she was.
“I’m having a mother-of-the-bride moment. I’ll get over it.”
“No rush, my darling,” he whispered in her ear. “You’re fully entitled.”
She summoned a smile. She might be entitled to this, but what about what she was doing with her husband’s business partner and best friend? Was she entitled to that?
* * *
Dead center in the middle of the crowd, Rachel stood, her hands propped on her hips with her elbows out to give her more room on either side should she need to move to the left or the right.
The bouquet was hers. It would be an awesome conclusion to her future sister-in-law’s wedding if she were to set her own wedding plans in motion right here and now. A passing of the baton, so to speak.
She caught Elana’s gaze and smiled. Elana’s smile widened just a touch. Oh, yeah. She had this in the bag. Hell, she had the ring, and her dress could almost pass for bridal. With a bouquet in hand, how hard would it be to get Luc to make everything official tonight? What a wild thought. But God, what if?
They could elope tonight, maybe head to Vegas and be hitched by morning. She would still have the big wedding of her and her family’s dreams later, but wouldn’t it be super awesome if she could become Mrs. Luc Marshall before the weekend was over?
Her thought screeched to a juddering halt as she watched the bouquet hurtling almost in slow motion toward her. The trajectory was all wrong. And her hands weren’t even raised.
No!
Panicked, her arms jerked up, her feet leaving the floor as she launched herself into the air. And watched the bouquet sail right over her head. She landed back on her feet with her hands staggeringly empty. She felt her mouth actually drop open with the shock of her loss. Elana had winked at her, she was sure of it.
At the sound of stunned laughter and applause, she whirled around. With everyone’s attention on whoever had caught her bouquet, Rachel had a few precious seconds to tamp down her disappointment and put her game face back on. Had Elana missed her deliberately? She didn’t think so. They’d shared a look.
Was she making too big a deal of it? Maybe. Maybe not. They were just flowers, after all. But it would’ve been nice for the baton to have been passed on, as it were. Elana had to know she and Luc were serious, right?
She turned around, struggling to brush off her disappointment, and joined the crowd. Only to feel another layer of disquiet settle over her.
Of all the marginally worthy people here, Mariella’s housekeeper—the one Luc acted weirdly around, the one who kept glancing at Luc when she thought no one was looking—was the woman who’d caught what was rightfully hers? And she had the audacity to fake blush her way through the whole thing as a round of applause scattered through the crowd.
Rachel’s teeth met in a jaw-crunching clench as she fought the urge to spit out one of those curses her mother detested. She took a breath. Then another. Forced her features into neutral as a smiling Elana joined the crowd gathered around Vanessa. When her future sister-in-law placed a soothing hand on Rachel’s arm, she forced herself to swallow.
“Sorry, Rachel. I tried to throw it your way. I’m sure Luc will tell you my aim has always been atrocious,” Elana murmured.
“That’s true. Elana can’t throw for shit,” Luc confirmed.
Rachel smiled, conscious that gossip-hungry eyes were beginning to turn their way. “Oh, that’s absolutely fine, Elana,” she said in a light, airy voice, making sure her voice carried over the crowd. “After all, I’ve already said yes to my Prince Charming.” She flashed the huge diamond on her ring finger.
Elana gasped, then squealed before enfolding Rachel in her arms. A gratifying number of women who’d been hovering around Vanessa the ho-bag made a beeline for her. Satisfied that the limelight was back where it belonged, Rachel’s smile widened. As she answered the when, how and wheres that came with proposal announcements, her gaze skated over to where Vanessa now stood, her smile gone and her hand hanging on limply to the bouquet.
As their eyes met, Rachel quirked a brow at the girl.
Too fucking right. I’m the princess in this castle, bitch.
“Oh my God, Luc! Why didn’t you tell us?” Elana exclaimed.
Rachel watched her fiancé shrug as his brother and mother joined them. “It’s your wedding day, sis. You would’ve attempted to castrate me if I let my gorgeous fiancée take the spotlight away from you.”
Elana smacked him hard on the arm. “That’s for making me sound shallow. Seriously, I’m really happy for you two.”
Pleasure surged through Rachel as she accepted the congratulations.
“This is wonderful news, Luc. I couldn’t be happier for both of you,” Mariella added, bestowing a smile on both of them.
“Thanks, Mom,” Luc said, accepting a hug from his mother.
“Thanks, Mariella,” Rachel chimed in. “I can’t wait to become part of your wonderful family.”
And the sooner the better. She looked to Luc to see if he would add something more, but he was turned away, talking to his brother.
Well, she’d come this far in getting him to propose. If she had to work a little harder to get him to the altar ASAP, so be it.
“Hey, Thom, aren’t you forgetting something, buddy?” one of the groomsmen called out.
Thom frowned. “Uh...”
“The garter, numbskull. Some of us have been waiting all day to catch sight of your wife’s killer legs. So hop to it or one of us will do it for you.”
Good-natured catcalls and wolf whistles sounded, followed by a cheer. Thom executed an exaggerated bow before leading his wife back to the chair in the middle of the dance floor.
The DJ struck up a saucy number as Thom, minus his jacket, got down on one knee before Elana. With a saucy smile of her own, Elana slowly drew up her wedding gown. Inch by inch, her legs were exposed. More wolf whistles flew across the room as she extended her right leg and planted it in Thom’s lap.
A slow hike of the dress to the middle of her thigh, and the white lace garter was exposed. A few exaggerated groans from the groomsmen triggered laughter.
A smiling Thom, now on both knees, slowly drew the elastic band down his wife’s leg. Once the garter was off, he took Elana’s hand and kissed the back of it before he stood up, twirling the garter around his forefinger.
“You ready, guys?” he asked, waggling his eyebrows.
The catcalls stopped abruptly. The men scrambled to get out of his line of fire. With a wicked grin, Thom strolled around in a taunting arc, then lobbed the scrap of fabric over his shoulder.
“Oh, hell no!” Thom’s best man, Greg Dalton, jumped as if he’d been scalded with hot water, then tossed the garter that had landed on his shoulder into another group of men. The women burst into laughter as several men attempted to stop themselves from inheriting the garter.
* * *
Luc watched with detached amusement as the piece of silk traveled through the crowd. Beside him, Rachel laughed, her left hand splayed possessively on his chest as they watched the antics.
A waiter approached with a tray of champagne. He took one and handed it to Rachel. About to reach for another glass, he froze when the garter whizzed through the air and landed at the last place he wanted it.
Hell,