I let my lip go and asked quietly, “You sure?”

“You love him?” she asked back.

“Yes,” I whispered.

“Then your father and I best get to know him.”

So totally told you my mom was the shit.

“Thanks, Mom.”

“See you in a few hours, honey.”

She disconnected. I did too.

I set my phone aside and addressed Ren.

“You’re invited to dinner tomorrow.”

He stared at me.

Then he asked, “How did that happen in the two seconds you were talking to her?”

“It’s Mom’s way.” I curled my arms around him and pressed closer from happy place to chest, and assured him, “It’s gonna be okay.”

His arms tightened. “I know, baby.” He then gave me a touch on the lips before he said, “You gotta get goin’.”

I did. I needed to be primped and trussed in preparation for two people I loved tying the knot.

Therefore, I smiled.

Ren smiled back at me.

* * *

“Oh God, honey.”

“Hurry.”

“God, Ren.”

“Hurry, Ally.”

We were in a cloakroom at Hotel Monaco where Luke and Ava were having their reception.

I had my back to the wall, my arms and legs curled around my man, and Ren was exploring the functionality of the deep slit up the front of my killer aqua column bridesmaid dress with a chiffon overlay that exposed a pure Ava rock ‘n’ roll stretch of midriff.

Ren and I were doing the business.

In other words, love was in the air.

Totally good luck that Tod had picked up and kept hold of all the bridesmaid dresses until the big day. If mine had been in my apartment, semi-tragedy.

But my mind wasn’t on escaping a semi-tragedy.

It was on something way better.

“I’m… it’s… Ren,” I gasped, whimpered, then came.

Glorious.

“Fuckin’ fuck me,” Ren growled. He shoved his face in my neck, thrust deep and groaned.

I held on tight as his shuddered though him and mine me.

After it was over, I kept holding him until he kissed my neck, indication to let go.

I did. He slid me up, sliding out of me. His mouth came to mine, his eyes glued to mine, as he put me to my feet. He held me against the wall and I felt him do up his trousers.

Then he touched our lips together before crouching in front of me and ordering, “Foot, baby.”

I lifted a silver strappy, stiletto-heel shod foot and he slid one side of my discarded thong over it. I lifted the other and he repeated, then slid my thong up my legs.

This caused another shudder.

He settled my panties on my hips and rearranged my skirt so it fell properly, but before he got to his feet in front of me, he kissed the inside of my right knee.

And another shudder.

Then he was on his feet and I was no longer leaning against the wall because I was in Ren’s arms.

“You got sex hair, honey,” he told me, eyes moving around my head.

“So?” I asked, and his gaze came to me.

That got me a smile, which led to another touch on the lips. This one harder, it lasted longer and it included our lips opening and both of us adding tongue.

Yummy.

Ren ended the kiss, landed one on my jaw and grabbed my hand.

He led me to the door, opened it and shoved me in front of him, still holding my hand as he pushed us out.

And thus we ran headlong into Sadie and Hector.

Sadie, in a baby blue dress the same style as mine, stared up at me.

Her face got red.

Hector muttered, “Fuck,” and pulled her back. He gave a chin jerk to Ren, and then sauntered away, clamping an arm around her waist and disappearing around an opening to the corridor.

I looked up at Ren.

Ren’s eyes were to where Sadie and Hector disappeared, but when he felt mine, they came down to me.

When they did, I burst out laughing.

Ren’s arm slid along my waist and he propelled me forward as he joined in my hilarity.

Yep. Love was in the air.

* * *

After hitting the bathroom for a necessary errand due to Ren and my cloakroom activities, I entered the function room and scanned the crowd looking for Ren.

My eyes stopped on Luke, who was standing with his mom and Ava’s mom.

Ava’s mom was clearly babbling, and it was clear she’d been doing this for a while because Mrs. Stark was nodding but the smile was fixed on her face and it was obvious her mind was miles away. This was also clear because Luke looked like he wanted someone to shoot him. But still, he was standing there holding his mother’s hand, and I thought this, particularly from badass Luke, was all kinds of cool.

I continued my scan and my eyes stopped again when I saw Tex and Duke standing close, Tex looking weird (and not just because he was wearing a suit instead of his uniform flannel shirt and jeans) and Duke smiling and clapping him on the shoulder.

Tex had a personality set to crotchety and Duke worked with a bunch of crazy women and had for decades. Thus they did not get along in a normal way. They got along by bantering (sometimes heatedly), bonding when shit got crazy and they agreed that the women amongst them were loons, and the rest of the time ignoring their own craziness in order to focus on the crazy around them.

This did not mean they weren’t tight. They’d known each other awhile and had both ridden the turbulent waves of the Rock Chick/Hot Bunch Courtships from the very beginning, and those kinds of rides formed unshakable bonds. Trust me.

But they were men. They didn’t have heartfelt conversations or hug it out. I’d never seen one touch the other. I didn’t think I’d even seen them smile at each other.

Now Duke was smiling big.

However, Tex wasn’t.

He just nodded, said something, turned jerkily away and his eyes caught on me.

He then lumbered toward me.

When he got close, I greeted, “Yo, Tex. What’s up?”

His eyes moved over my hair then back to me and he noted, “I think sex in a public place is illegal.”

“That’s only a problem if you get caught,” I returned.

“This, the Ally Nightingale Life Philosophy,” he muttered on a low boom.

I grinned. “You bet your bippy.”

He stared at me, and it was then I noticed he still looked weird.

So I asked, “You okay?”

“Need to talk to you,” he told me.

Uh-oh.

This could mean anything.

“About what?” I asked cautiously.

“What’re you doin’ on Wednesday?” he asked back.

I was likely taking pole dancing classes from Daisy.

I didn’t tell him this.

“Nothing… yet,” I answered.

He lifted his hand to his throat, where the tie that was there earlier was now gone and likely in some trash receptacle. His fingers encountered no tie so he lifted his hand to wrap it around the back of his neck and he rubbed.

Oh man.

This was not a good sign.

“Tex—”

“Indy’s standing up with me,” he cut me off to say bizarrely. “Trixie’s doin’ it for Nancy. We only need two witnesses, but I still want you and Duke standin’ beside me. Indy and Duke already agreed. I need you at the Justice of the Peace on Wednesday when I marry Nancy.”

Ho.

Lee.

Crap!

“What?” I whispered.

“On Wednesday, me and Nancy’re gettin’ hitched,” he stated, and I felt my body lock and my eyes get hot in that way that this was the kind of stuff I knew would take a miracle to hold back the tears.

Nancy was Jet’s mother. Nancy was the bomb. Nancy had also been Tex’s girlfriend for a good long while.

But Tex and a Justice of the Peace?

I started teetering and Tex started talking.

Fast.

“It’s no big deal. We just do our thing, get the fuck outta there, and Blanca’s givin’ us a little shindig in her backyard. Just family. You don’t even have to wear a dress. You can wear jeans.”

“I… you… Nancy…” I stammered, stopped and felt the wet hit my eyes. “Tex,” I whispered.

He stared at me, looking agitated, then more agitated then finally he declared, “The cats like her.”

I burst out laughing.

Still doing it, I threw myself at him and wrapped his massive bulk in my arms (as best I could, my arms didn’t go around).

His arms closed around me and they did this tight.

Tex and I had also never hugged it out.

Now that we were doing that, it felt amazing.

My body bucked as the emotion shoved itself up my throat and I barely managed to force it back down.

I felt his bulk bow as he put his lips to my ear and that was when Tex—yes, Tex—whispered, “I take it you’ll be there.”

I turned my head to get to his ear and my voice was croaky when I whispered back, “With bells on.”

“Thank you, darlin’.” He kept whispering.

My body bucked again and the swallow was audible, and loud, when I beat back the sob.

“What’s goin’ on?”

That was Ren.

I twisted my neck to look at Ren as Tex’s hold loosened and one of his massive mitts hit the small of my back in order to direct me into Ren’s arms.

When Ren had me, Tex answered, “Nuthin’. Gotta go.”

But he didn’t go.

He caught my eyes and held them before he lifted a beefy hand and rested it on the top of my head.

Warmth flowed through me.

Only then did he take off.

Quickly.

“Baby?” Ren called, his hand coming to my jaw and tilting it up.

“We have plans Wednesday,” I declared. “I’m standing up with Tex while he marries Nancy, and then we’re going to Blanca’s for an after party.”