Just A Step Away (Closer) (12 page)

~

I hadn’t seen Lucas the entire morning. Something wasn’t right. I could feel it.

By that point, I’d gone from wondering about what Willard was up to, to being on the verge of an all-out panic.

“We’re all set.” Deena was like a ninja, coming out of nowhere, sidling up beside me. “The guests are all seated, everything’s in place. Now all we need is the music and your cousin to get her ass out here.”

“Have you seen Lucas?”

She shook her head. “No, and I haven’t seen Willard either. What do you think they’re up to?”

“I have no clue.” I looked around and realized that, yes, everything was in order just as the music began to play. “Get the best man, groomsmen, and bridesmaids ready. I’ll go check on Jasmine and my dad.”

Because Jasmine’s deadbeat father had skipped out on her years ago, my dad bit the bullet and said that he’d give Jasmine away. It was those little things my father did that made me love him so much.

Slipping into the back of the house, I found my father holding a hyperventilating Jasmine. She looked green, really, really green.

“What the hell happened?”

“I don’t know. She just started breathin’ real heavy and then doubled over. Thought she was havin’ a fit!”

I wrapped my arm across my cousin’s bent back. I could almost feel her heart pounding through the back of her wedding dress. A thin sheen of sweat appeared on the nape of her neck.

“I think I’m havin’ a heart attack,” she said, and gripped onto my hand. “I can’t do this.”

And, as any fuck awesome wedding planner would do, I got down on all fours, face level to my cousin, and looked her right in the eye.

“Yes. Yes you can, and yes you will.” My knees started to hurt from the tiles but that didn’t stop me. “You are the bride.”

“No, Lanie, I can’t.” Jasmine’s eyes went wide. “He won’t love me. He’ll think I’m a royal bitch. It’ll be bad.”

Staying on my hands and knees, I forged on. “He will love you, Jasmine. He wouldn’t marry you if he didn’t already.”

“But, Lanie—”

“Do you love him, Jas? I mean, can you see yourself spending the rest of your life with Mitchell, growing old together, being his wife and the mother of his children? Can you?”

Jasmine’s eyes flew to the floor, and she was lost in her thoughts when the back door flew open, smacking me right in the ass.

“Oh, I—Lanie? What the hell are you doing down there?”

If he didn’t possess the golden peen, I would’ve junk-punched Lucas. My ass felt like it was on fire, my dad was obviously beside himself, Jasmine was still having a mild panic attack, and Lucas was gawking at my ass. Typical life in the Wagner household, and now he was kind of part of it, I suppose.

“Let’s do this shit.”

All thoughts of my insane family flew out the window when Jasmine stood up, straightened out her back, and sucked in a deep breath. For a split second, I thought she was about to bolt, become the next runaway bride, but she didn’t. Instead she looped her arm through my father’s.

Before I could speak, Jasmine was leading my dad out the back door. I got up to my feet and looked up at Lucas. His eyes were still wide, and it looked like
he
was about to have a damn panic attack.

“I need to tell you something before the wedding starts, which I’m guessing is right now, so please just listen, okay? I don’t have a whole lot of time.”

Lucas’ eyes were wide, and he sucked in a sharp breath. I seriously thought he was going to pass out.

“What the hell is wrong with you? Did Willard give you some of his ‘shrooms? I told him that shit was going to fry his brain and now he’s giving them to you? Wonderful!”

“What? No. He didn’t give me anything. Listen.” He shook his head and grabbed on to my shoulders. “I promised your brother I would help him with something. He blackmailed me, actually. But that’s neither here nor there. The point is that I agreed to it. I just need you to promise me something before I do it. Okay?”

“What the actual fuck is going on, Lucas? You’re acting like a damn idiot.
”

“Promise me,” he said, scooting closer to me, determination in his eyes. “Promise that when we get back to L.A. things between us will be different. I need different, Lanie. I need you. I need to know that you want me, want to be with me.”
Lucas studied my face and swallowed hard. “And you have to promise that you won’t get mad.”

I sucked in a breath. Lucas was asking me to be with him, like boyfriend and girlfriend status.

My brain blanked for a moment, going on a short hiatus. I just couldn’t believe he’d asked me that. I couldn’t believe that a part of me actually wanted it, even though I’d been so scared to give in.

I did. I wanted it.

Holy shit, I
wanted
it bad.

I threw my arms around his neck, emotion hitting me hard when I kissed him. “Yes,” I said through kisses. “Yes.”

He pulled back. “Yes, what?”

“Yes, things will be different. I want you too.”

“Good,” he said, kissing me on the lips before heading out the door. “Just remember what you said. I’m holding you to it!”

I shook my head and smiled, heading out the back door. The music played sweetly as Jasmine’s train slipped passed the throngs of witnesses, and the smile that stretched across my face couldn’t have gotten any bigger. I was still nervous about what Lucas was up to, but right then it barely mattered.  For the first time I was happy to be back home. My family was mine. I was blessed to have them, no matter how nuts they all were.

And I had Lucas, someone I never realized, until this week, that I had wanted so much. Just as much as he wanted me.

“Who gives this woman away to this man to marry?”

“Her aunt and I do,” I heard my father say
.

I continued to walk the path down to the ceremony. I wasn’t in any kind of hurry. Deena had taken care of the entire morning. Things were perfect. Even my mother with her pretty pink dress looked perfect.

“If anyone has any objections speak now or forever hold your peace.”

Objections? Not a soul in this world was going to
—

“Oh my God!”

My stomach hit the floor.

“Is that what I think it is?”

“That’s fucking awesome!”

Voices and shrill shrieking erupted for the wedding guests.
Willard
. My feet moved double time as my eyes scanned for my asinine brother.

“It’s an ass!”

Shit! Did he bring a fucking donkey?

“That ass looks fine. I’d like to—what does his ass say? Someone read his ass!”

My feet came to an abrupt halt and my eyes were going to stay permanently bugged out of my head. High on my bedroom balcony, Willard and Lucas were bent over the railing proudly hanging their bare asses over the edge. That didn’t surprise me as much as what they had written on their butt cheeks.

Willard’s read, “Eat my ass, Jas!” while Lucas’ read, “You promised you wouldn’t get mad, Lanie!”

“I’m gonna kill you guys!” Jasmine screamed, her fists clenched at her sides.

Mitchell stood next to her, smiling like an idiot, as he teetered on his heels. I momentarily wondered if he was in on the prank with the other idiots.

“Bare it, babycakes,” Deena hollered.

The clicking of a camera caused me to turn my head. My grandmother was snapping pictures, no doubt of Lucas’ rear. When I gave her the brow, she shrugged her shoulders and winked.

As the wedding party erupted in giggles, I had the sudden urge to rip both of those ass hats from the balcony, but all I could do was stare. In all the things I thought could’ve possibly happened during the past week, this was not one of them.

Eventually, when they were obviously satisfied with the sheer amount of people that had seen their damned asses, Lucas and Willard lowered themselves onto the balcony, pulled up their pants, and went back inside.

But not before my brother turned around and bowed at everyone.

The ceremony continued after that, but Jasmine’s face remained red for the rest of it. I felt bad for her. Watching the newlyweds walk down the aisle as husband and wife, I scanned the area for my jackass brother and his accomplice.

I’d almost given up finding them when I turned and ran straight into Ass Number One.

“I can’t believe you did that.”
Crossing my arms, I glared up at Lucas.

“Willard made me.”

“Did he twist your nuts?”

“Worse.”

“It was her wedding, Lucas.”

“I know, and I’m sorry.”

I could tell that he was being sincere. He was sorry. I could see it in his eyes. And I had to admit, when I stood back and thought about it, the whole thing was kind of funny.  It was no doubt going down as the funniest prank in wedding history.

It was still awful that they went ahead with it.

“Are you mad?”

I didn’t respond to Lucas’ question as I leisurely headed over to the reception with him hot on my heels.

“Lanie? Lanie, will you talk to me, please?”

I stopped right at the edge of the dance floor, then whipped around and glared at him again. “Please promise that next time you and Willard decide to pull a stunt like that, you’ll at least warn me. I planned this wedding. I had a right to know.”

“So you’re not mad?”

I laughed to myself as I walked away from him, hearing the slight panic in his tone.

“Lanie? You’re not mad, right?”

He could wonder about that for a long time. I had no plans to let him off the hook that easy.

This was going to be fun.

In that moment, realization hit me.
This man, the one that I’d always been in love with, had always been just one step away.

Six Months Later

~Lanie~

Things changed dramatically between me and Lucas. Our “relationship” had upgraded to sharing a bedroom. No, we didn’t have a discussion about it one night over dinner. It just happened…one night after great sex. We eventually made Lucas’ old bedroom into a guest room.

Sometimes I find him passed out in there. Apparently he has separation issues.

Deena and Willard were getting it on—a lot. My mother started calling Deena the human vacuum. Apparently, Willard was currently sporting the world’s biggest hickie on the center of his neck. My dad thought it was funny.

Nana, consequently, loved the hell out of her. Probably had something to do with the fact that when Deena visited, she always hauled nana off to the VFW, stopping off at the local bar first.

Willard, for his part, was completely in love. He thought Deena had hung the moon. In reality, Deena claimed to just wants his “salami canoe”, as she called it. But I knew better. She wanted him as much as he wanted her. That was fact was confirmed when Willard called her the other day and her ring tone went off, playing the song “Cowboy Take Me Away”. Yeah, she wasn’t fooling anyone.

Jasmine was currently living in New York with Mitchell. They’d been trying to conceive for the last couple of months, with no luck. She and I talked every other day and had worked out any differences we’d had in the past. I was truly happy for her and her new husband. Lucas and I had made plans to visit them this summer.

My parents and I talk almost every other day. My mother still talks about future grandchildren, and I had to keep reminding her that the time will come for that. Lucas and I are still new in our relationship, very new. My dad has been very supportive, telling me that he thinks Lucas is a good “fella” but has asked me to watch him around animals. I had yet to ask what he’s talking about.

And with a lot of arm twisting, I finally met Lucas’ mother. The best way to describe Melanie Sparks was as a ball of fire. The woman knew everything about everything and everybody. Her sense of fashion went way beyond what I was used to; it even put Deena’s diva side to shame. I had to admit she was pretty nice but I was getting increasingly tired of being her new shopping buddy. I vowed that the next time I saw another Gucci
anything
, I was going to scream.

Lucas had also introduced me to his brother, Heath. They were worlds apart, different in every aspect. While Lucas was a free spirit, always looking to have fun, Heath was like a wall, hard and non-conforming. Heath was their father’s pride and joy, following in his footsteps by joining the family business. I couldn’t have thought up any more different of siblings if I tried.

My business had also taken off to the point that I needed to hire two more employees just to keep things rolling. Miriam was rather quiet but she was also a beast at working numbers. Delaney, however, needed more training on her people skills. She reminded me a lot of Deena, and I think that’s why they got along so well.

I smiled to myself when I rolled over and saw Lucas sleeping quietly beside me on the bed. It was something that I knew I would never tire of.

“You’re staring at me.”

I giggled when I saw him peeking at me through one eye. “Thought you were going to sleep in.”

“Kinda hard to do that when such a beautiful, naked woman is lying next to me.” He wiggled his brows, placing his palm on his package. “Mr. Thundercock agrees.”

He still hadn’t changed that damn name he‘d given his balls and Johnson. Sometimes I wondered if he actually talked to Mr. Thundercock when he was alone.

I patted his stiffy with my palm. “Well, you and Mr. Thundercock will have to find some restraint because I need to get up and get to the office.” I leaned down, kissing his lips, and got out of bed. “You may be able to play hookie today, but Mrs. Cashman will have a royal fit if her seating arrangement isn’t done today.”

“No,” he whined, stretching his arms out to pull me back to bed. “Baby, that’s why you hired new people, so you could lay around and be lazy with me.”

I laughed, and pushed out of his embrace. “Right. If I stayed in bed with you all day, I’d end up barefoot and pregnant.”

“You wanna be?” He smiled. “I can so make that happen.”

Before I could even respond to that statement, the doorbell rang out loudly.

“Who the hell?”

I grabbed my robe, pulling it on, as Lucas quickly slipped his boxers up over his ass and followed me down the hallway. The doorbell continued to ring over and over.  Lucas stopped right behind me, his hand on my shoulder. We shared a curious look. When I flung the door open, I was immediately accosted by an EPT pregnancy stick.

I reared back, knocking into Lucas. “What the hell are you doing? Oh my God, did you pee on that thing? Get it out of my face!”

“Holy shit,” Lucas mumbled behind me.

Deena stood on the other side of the stick with the largest grin I’ve ever seen stretched across her face.

“I’m pregnant!
”

Aw, crap.