The Wedding Party (The Wedding Date, #3)(50)

She crossed her legs. How did he always do this to her?

Mmm, keep talking



She opened a second bottle of champagne to keep herself occupied as she saw his thumbs flying over his keyboard.

I don’t care how long we’re out looking for wedding dresses, or what other kind of wedding nonsense Alexa has you doing later on tonight, we are going to be naked in bed together before midnight, damn it. It’s been way too long



She poured champagne into all of their glasses before she texted him back.

Mmm, naked, yes, but does it have to be in bed?



She felt Theo’s eyes on her and shivered.

“Oooh, I like this one!” Olivia said. Maddie’s head shot up.

This dress had a very vintage vibe to it: short lacy sleeves over a simple silk chiffon sheath with a sweetheart neckline. Maddie liked it immediately, but she couldn’t tell if Alexa liked it.

“What do you guys think?” she asked. Maddie and Olivia both jumped up.

“What do you think?” Olivia asked.

Alexa turned around to see herself in the mirror.

“I like it. I didn’t think I would like lace, and I didn’t think I would like this shape of a skirt, but Jill convinced me to try it on, and I like it a lot more than I thought I would. I think I could see myself getting married in it? It would fit the venue really well. But I just don’t know.”

Maddie and Olivia looked at each other and shook their heads.

“I like it a lot,” Maddie said. “But there are plenty of other dresses here to try on. You don’t have to convince yourself to get the first one that seems like it might be right to you.”

Alexa turned back around and looked from Olivia to Maddie.

“Okay. That sounds right.” She raised her voice. “Theo, any thoughts?”

The three of them turned to stare at Theo, still sitting on the couch.

“I think you look beautiful in that dress, but I also think you shouldn’t get it if you’re not positive.”

Maddie nodded at him and he winked at her.

“Excellent thoughts, Theo,” Olivia said. She put her hands on her sister’s shoulders and spun her around in the direction of the dressing room.

“Okay, we’re all agreed,” Maddie said. “On to the next one.”

When she disappeared down the hallway, Maddie turned to Olivia.

“What if this keeps happening? What if she keeps finding dresses that look good on her and one of us likes, but she doesn’t like them? I don’t want her to get that second dress because you liked it, or the third one because I did. I want her to get one she falls in love with.”

She felt herself tearing up, which seemed silly. It was just a wedding dress.

But it was Alexa’s wedding dress.

Theo put his hand on her shoulder. If he made fun of her for crying over a dress, she might have to kill him.

“Hey.” His voice was more tender than she’d ever heard it. “She’ll find a great dress. You won’t let her down.”

She wiped her eyes and smiled at him.

“Thanks. I just want everything to be great for her, you know?”

The other two nodded. They did know.

She was glad to be here with both Olivia and Theo, two people who she knew loved Alexa as much as she did, and only wanted the best for her. In her years of scorning Theo, she’d somehow managed to ignore what a genuinely good friend he was to Alexa.

Maddie took a deep breath.

“Okay. Let’s all just look at the tiaras and try to relax a little.”

Theo swiveled his head around to look at her.

“That’s how you relax?”

She grinned and looked into his eyes.

“Well, that’s one way.”

He opened his mouth to respond, just as Olivia said, “Here she comes! Lexie!”

Olivia jumped out of her seat. When Maddie saw Alexa emerge from the hallway, she stood up, too.

Alexa glowed like she was lit from within. This dress was pure white, with a sweetheart neckline that gave Alexa plenty of cleavage, but not grandma-can’t-come-to-the-wedding amounts of cleavage. The full skirt had pleats and folds that swayed as she walked toward them. As she moved, the dress floated around her, which made her look like she was dancing with every step. She stopped in front of them, a huge smile on her face, and spun in a circle. The folds of the skirt rose and fell and swirled around her as if they were set to music.

They all grinned at one another without saying anything.

“Why wasn’t this the first dress she tried on?” Olivia finally asked.

Jill grinned.

“We only have one sample in the store, and someone else grabbed it for their client. But I knew she needed to try this one on, so I pulled rank and took it back.”

Alexa turned around to look at herself in the mirror, with Maddie, Olivia, and Theo all behind her. Maddie didn’t even realize she had tears streaming down her face until Theo reached up to wipe them away.

“It’s perfect,” Alexa said to them. “It’s me. It’s mine.”

Olivia laughed.

“She used to say ‘it’s mine’ just like that when she was a little

girl, anytime she really wanted something. But this time, she’s right. It’s hers.”