Do You Take This Man (11)

“Once everyone is in place, I’ll give a few remarks,” I said when everyone was finally in their places. I glanced at Lear, who stood watching from the aisle. For once, he was quiet and deferent, looking at his tablet and following along as I walked the couple through the vows, the exchange of rings, and the readings. I was in the homestretch, already calculating how late I’d end up being in the office as we ran long.

“RJ, do we need to run through the beginning again?” Veronica eyed the aisle.

“I’d say so. It’s always good to practice one more time.”

“Love it, but we’re getting very close to when you should head to dinner,” Lear said, clapping his hands and glancing at his watch unnecessarily. “Since you have others meeting you there, is everyone okay with the one walk-through?”

“I think we’ll be fine,” the daughters all chimed in, along with a chorus of voices.

Veronica looked unsure, and I stepped forward. “It won’t take long. Let’s practice one more—”

“So, everyone is good? Let’s head out.” Lear nodded toward the exit, and people fell out of line.

Something I perfected at a young age was camouflaging my resting bitch face. It came in handy with juries and when I spent any time with my ex’s family, but the skill wasn’t so honed that I could do much about the active version. I patted Veronica’s arm. “Is there anything else you two want to talk through? They will wait for you.” I shot a glance across the room to where Trevor’s daughters again surrounded Lear, each of them somehow with a hand on him. That was fine, but he was lapping it up. Like a dog.

“It’ll be fine,” she reassured me. “They’ll get it right or they won’t—certainly wouldn’t be the first time something didn’t go as planned.” She and Trevor shared a knowing smile and laughed together at their inside joke. The syncopation of their laugh struck me—they were so in tune. I just smiled. After going over a few last-minute things, they headed for the exit with their families.

“That went well,” Lear said, clapping his hands together after getting them on their way. He looked like a cheerleader when he did that, and I always expected a head nod and loud “Ready? Okay!” to follow the movement.

I slid the binder holding the ceremony back into my bag after making a few notes in the margins. “Mm,” I said, looking into the bag instead of at him. Reason and self-preservation were still trying to hold me back. He’s close with Gretchen. It’s his first time doing this.

“Penny said she rarely steps in much for the rehearsals, but I think us tag-teaming went well.”

I paused, a slow blink kicking in. “So, she told you to step back and let me run things?”

“Yeah,” he said, gathering a few things and glancing around the room, a half smile on his face. “But that’s not really my style. I like to have my hands in things, you know?”

I stared at him. The smile created a dimple in his left cheek, and it stayed for the few moments before he realized I wasn’t happy.

“What? Did I do something wrong?”

“One, I don’t care where you like your hands to be.” I ticked off the items on my fingers. “Two, you talked over me the entire night.”

“What? No. We just jumped in at the same time a few times.”

I stared at him again, a look my friends called my lawyering stare.

He held it for a moment longer than I was used to people withstanding but cut his eyes away.

“I don’t enjoy ‘tag-teaming.’?” I added finger quotes to the phrase. “Please make note for future reference. As Penny told you, I prefer to run this part, since it relates to the ceremony.”

“My fault,” he said, holding his palms out to me, his half smile returning, like his charm would disarm me. “Mea culpa. Won’t happen again.”

“Good.” I slung my bag over my shoulder, ready to head back to the office. I hadn’t expected him to keep talking.

“But you have to admit it worked. I mean, we stayed on time and no one got too bored.”

I ignored him, taking a few steps toward the exit, but he followed, his stride longer than mine, so we reached the doors to the space at the same time.

“It looks like we’ve got a lot of weddings to do while Penny’s out, so it’ll be good for us to figure out a give-and-take.”

I turned on my heel, pausing at the door he held open. “There won’t be give-and-take. I have a way I do things to best serve the couples. I run the ceremony. You’re on top of all the other parts, but I’m on this, like Penny told you.”

The smile fell off his face, and I stood with my hand resting on the door. “Whoa. Calm down. I understand.”

I rolled my eyes and stepped out into the hall. “Good.”

My well-timed and pointed exit was perfect, except for my stumble when I ran into one of Trevor’s daughters just outside the door. I gave her a tight smile and headed for the parking lot.





Chapter 6


Lear





WHAT THE HELL just happened? I stared at the door as RJ stormed out. Her scent—something sweet and enticing—lingered behind her. I rested my fist on the door frame, replaying the quick exchange in my head.