Cherry Pop (Mercury Rising Book 3) (22 page)

Twenty-Six

Five Months Later

B
en opened
the door and let another group of people into Loreene and Dean Junior’s house. He was playing greeter today. Part of his groomsman duties. At least that’s what he claimed so he wouldn’t have to help in the kitchen or setting up the chairs under the tent in back. He’d never seen a tent that could hold two hundred and fifty people. They had those standing gas heaters set up in there, and it was pretty nice. No expense spared, of course. Tripp and a crew had even put in a temporary wood floor. Winter had been wetter than usual this year, or so the locals said.

“It was nice of Tripp’s parents to offer their house for the wedding,” John said from the other side of the door. He was passing out these little booklets that had the ceremony in them and listed all the attendants and other wedding stuff. “There’s no way we could have had this at our house.”

“Evan wanted a Valentine’s wedding,” Ben said. He adjusted the tight bow tie he was wearing with his plain black tux. Plain or not, it had cost a fortune. Brian had chosen Tom Ford to design them. “What Evan wants, Evan gets. Besides, it was sort of Lanier Construction’s fault their house wasn’t ready in time.”

“Brian and Evan don’t blame them at all,” John said. “They know it was the historical society and strict preservation guidelines that delayed the construction. So don’t sweat it.”

“I’m not,” Ben said. “I’m not part of Lanier Construction.”

“The hell you’re not,” John said with a laugh. “I give you two years before Dean Junior wears you down and you’re running the show.”

Ben fidgeted with his booklets, not looking at John. Dean Junior had been giving him the hard sell ever since he and Tripp had become open about their relationship. As far as Dean Junior was concerned, it was a done deal.

“As best man, shouldn’t you be upstairs helping Brian get ready or something?” Ben asked, peering out the window beside the door to see if any more cars were coming. The lawn was full and they were parking down the side of the long driveway. There were two big party buses next to the house for all the out of town guests who were staying in Wilmington.

“Probably,” John said. “But Kari’s up there taking care of it. She had to sew a button back on or something. I’m no good at that stuff.”

“Kari to the rescue,” Ben said with a smile.

“I hear she’s going to take the Realtor’s exam with Loreene,” John said. “And that she and John Junior have been fighting about it. He wants her to stay at the diner.”

“I cannot believe how my mom and Loreene have bonded,” Ben said in amazement. “They talk, like, every day. She’s mentoring Loreene and talking about coming out here to visit. Mom wants to help her move in on the beach real estate market. Now that some of the houses in the subdivision are almost finished, when Loreene gets her license she’s already got several commissions lined up. And I’ve got a few leads for her from people at Turnstiles who want beach houses. I think this is a good move for her, and for Kari too.”

“I read in
US
magazine that they’re calling Mercury Hollywood Heels now,” John said with a laugh. “Not sure if UNC will let them use the Tarheel nickname, though.”

“Speaking of Hollywood, do you know why Trey isn’t here?” Ben asked. It had been bugging him all day. Brian and Evan weren’t talking, but he knew something was up. Trey had gotten a lot of bad press lately, and his breakup with K.C. had sent him into a tailspin.

John shook his head. “No. But I’m sure it’s a good reason. They don’t seem too upset about it. Whatever it is, I wish he’d postponed it. He’d have been doing this job instead of me.” He made a face. “My mug shot is going to be all over the tabloids.”

“Maybe not,” Ben said. “That’s why they sold the exclusive rights to the wedding pictures to
People
. The money’s going to the Mercury Foundation. So you’ll only be in one magazine. But probably all over the Internet.”

“Connor won’t come near me all night,” John groused. “He almost refused to stand up with Evan over the pictures. He’s determined not to give them a shot of the two of us together. Said it’s a huge violation of privacy. He’s got some crazy ideas about his past catching up with him.”

Ben secretly agreed with Connor. He wasn’t too happy about having his picture all over either. But that wasn’t going to keep him away from Tripp.

“Hey.”

Ben turned toward the sound of the voice and smiled. “Speak of the devil,” he said. “I was just thinking of you.” Tripp was shrugging into his tux jacket as he crossed the foyer. He’d been setting up chairs.

“Were you?” Tripp asked with that killer smile of his. The stylist Brian’s team had brought in had cut Tripp’s hair a little shorter than normal. It had turned him from redneck cutie into sophisticated heartthrob. Ben couldn’t wait to get him home.

“Well, hold that thought,” Tripp said, winking. “The ceremony starts in twenty minutes. We’re supposed to leave the booklets on the table here, go check on the boys, and start lining up. John, you’re walking Brian’s mom in, and Connor is walking Evan’s nana. They wanted my mom walked in too, since she’s throwing the wedding, so I’m doing that. Ben, you and Kari are walking in first, and you’ll go straight up to the altar and wait with Brian. Got it?”

“We rehearsed it last night,” John said, rolling his eyes. “We’ve got it.”

“I know,” Tripp said. “But I was given the mission to remind you. My job is done.”

“Let’s go get them married, boys,” John said, dropping his booklets on the table. “Then we can get back to our regularly scheduled lives.”

The wedding was beautiful, of course. Evan knew a thing or two about planning one, and he was a master at wedding vows. There wasn’t a dry eye in the room when he and Brian read their unapologetically sappy vows to one another. Ben was sure Brian would be quoted all over the Internet tomorrow. He’d had a line about loving Evan for the rest of his days—mind, body, and soul—that had brought the house down. Ben had seen half the Hollywood crowd recording the vows on their phones.

He, on the other hand, spent most of the ceremony only half-listening, staring at Tripp, who’d stared right back.

At the reception Brian swung by the head table with a big grin on his face and kissed the cheek of Ms. Priscilla Jones, who was sitting with John, Connor, Ben, Tripp, Loreene, and Dean Junior. The elderly black woman was as close to a mother as Connor and John had.

“Well, Miss Priss,” Brian said, using Connor’s nickname for her. “I put a ring on it. Happy?”

“It was the right thing to do,” she said primly, and everyone laughed. She cracked a smile and patted Brian’s hand, and he flitted off to talk to more people.

“Weddings sure make a body think,” she said after Brian left.

“They sure do,” Dean Junior said, reaching out and taking Loreene’s hand.

“Don’t you start thinking about it,” Loreene said, taking the sting out of her words when she kissed him on the cheek. “Right now not being married is doing better for us than being married ever did.”

Tripp groaned. “You two are an embarrassment. Married, divorced, fooling around, and now living together in sin. It’s a wonder I turned out as perfect as I did.”

“Well, Mr. Lanier,” Ms. Priscilla said sharply to Tripp. “What are your plans with Mr. Heston?”

Ben choked on his Cheerwine. After Tripp’s drunken escapade months ago, the two had unofficially giving up drinking. They’d toasted the happy couple with champagne, of course, but neither wanted to be too drunk to have wild monkey sex when they got home.
Weddings made a man think about sex
, Ben thought, and fought a grin.

“Well, I thought we might adopt one of those cute little Chinese girl babies,” Tripp teased, winking at his dad.

Dean Junior put his hands together like he was saying a prayer. “Thank you, Jesus,” he said.

“Don’t you think we ought to get married first?” Ben asked casually. Tripp’s jaw dropped.

“Thank you, Jesus,” Loreene squealed, jumping up and running over to hug Tripp from behind. He smiled at Ben, still looking shocked.

“I suppose we could do that,” Tripp said.

“Before we move into the new house,” Ben said, nodding. “We should do that.”

“Did you just publicly propose?” John asked in disbelief. “What if he’d said no?”

“Well then,” Ben said, “I’ve got my people around me. I guess they would have helped me out.”

Suddenly Luke bellowed from the other side of the dance floor, “Tripp and Ben are getting married next,” and a cheer went up from the crowd.

“News travels fast in Mercury,” Tripp said, still grinning. “Now you got to go through with it.”

Ben winked while he toasted him with his Cheerwine. “Got it. No worries.”

About the Author

R
eviewers have called
Samantha Kane “an absolute marvel to read” and “one of historical romance’s most erotic and sensuous authors.” Her books have been called “sinful,” “sensuous,” and “sizzling.” She is published in several romance genres including historical, contemporary and science fiction. Her erotic Regency-set historical romances have won awards, including Best Historical from RWA’s erotic romance chapter Passionate Ink, and the Historical CAPA (best book) award from The Romance Studio. She has a master’s degree in American History, and taught high school social studies for ten years before becoming a full time writer. Samantha Kane lives in North Carolina with her husband and three children.