Her Kind of Trouble. Sarah Mayberry
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turned into such a freakin’ stiff?
“I so need another one of these.” He dumped the empty on the table and, hands shoved into the pockets of his pants, headed for the waiter.
There were four years between him and Jason, but right now it felt like four decades. In the space of a couple of years, his brother had gone from being a fun guy who loved to party and hang out to a stay-at-home, cardigan-wearing family-man-in-training. He’d even bought a set of golf clubs last month, for Pete’s sake.
Seth blamed Jodie. Not that she was inherently evil, but she had clearly done something to his brother’s brain, changed its fundamental chemistry so that Jason was now a different man. And he was about to become a husband.
Seth shuddered. Was there a worse word in the English language? Herpes, perhaps. Maybe fungus. But husband had to be up there.
He snagged a beer and surveyed the room. His parents were schmoozing with Jodie’s parents, all of them looking as pleased as punch that they would spend the next thirty-odd years doing exactly the same thing at extended family gatherings. His grandmother was seated, her cane dangling from the table by its crook. But his gaze kept sliding to Vivian.
To her ass, if he was being strictly accurate.
Her skirt was tight with no V.P.L. He bet she wasn’t wearing underwear. She might be wearing a thong, of course, but he preferred his version.
He glanced to where his brother was talking with Jodie and some of her cousins. Jason was preoccupied, his head tilted toward Jodie as he listened to something she was saying.
So attentive. So domesticated.
Since he was otherwise occupied...
Seth headed across the room, only stopping when he was a few feet away from Vivian in her sexy blue dress. She made him wait a full ten seconds before pretending she’d just noticed him.
“Oh, sorry. I didn’t see you,” she said, her eyes sending him a very different message.
A shame he wasn’t allowed to play with her properly. She’d give him a good run for his money.
“Seth,” he said, offering her his hand. “And you’re Vivian. We’re about to become family, they tell me.”
She considered his hand for a beat before sliding hers into it. Her skin was soft and warm, her nails surprisingly short and businesslike.
“Jodie warned me you aren’t brother material.”
She was more of a strawberry-blonde than a true redhead, he decided. Her eyes were an intriguing blue-green, her skin creamy smooth.
He bet she tasted good.
“Did she? I wonder why?”
“You think maybe it has something to do with the whole Marlon Brando On the Waterfront thing you’ve got going on?”
“Damn. And here I was, aiming for James Dean in Giant.”
“You’ll need a cowboy hat to pull that one off.”
“A cowboy hat, huh? I’ll add it to my shopping list. So, Vivian, what do you do when you’re not being the sexiest woman in the room?”
She huffed out a little laugh. “Wow, you don’t mess around, do you?”
“Just calling it like I see it.”
She took a sip from her champagne flute, considering him over the rim. “So, how do you see this working? We slip out between the main and dessert and I do you in the alley? Or were you thinking the bathroom?”
He choked on his beer, going from semihard to hard in no seconds flat. Then she arched her eyebrows and he knew she was yanking his chain.
“Funny.”
“Just calling it like I see it.” She lifted one shoulder in a casual shrug.
The movement caused the slit in her bodice to flare momentarily, offering him a heart-stopping view of cleavage. He was about to respond when he felt the heavy pressure of someone staring at him. He glanced around and met his brother’s dark glare.
Okay. Time to wind up this little chin-wag before his brother burst an artery.
“Vivian, it was nice meeting you. I look forward to seeing you at the altar tomorrow,” he said, offering her a mocking half bow.
“Tomorrow’s a whole other day. And you know what they say about weddings.” She winked then, the sexiest move he’d ever witnessed in the flesh.
Since he knew he couldn’t top that, he offered one last smile and turned away. Jason was angling toward him, and Seth headed in the opposite direction and sat beside his grandmother. As he’d guessed, Jason stopped short, unwilling to give a lecture about keeping his pants zipped in front of an octogenarian.
Wimp.
“Seth, sweetheart. Good to see you. Tell me about all the trouble you’ve been causing,” his grandmother said, patting his hand.
“I don’t know who you’ve been talking to, but I’ve been busy working. No trouble here.”
She laughed heartily, tickled, and he set himself to entertaining her. And all the while he puzzled over Vivian’s parting words. What, exactly, did people say about weddings? And did it mean he was in with a chance tomorrow or not?
* * *
VIVIAN STAYED UP half the night hand-stitching the sequins, seed pearls and feathers onto the belt. She was bleary-eyed when she finished, but the belt was gorgeous and she was certain that Jodie would love it.
It wasn’t a dress, but it was something.
She set her alarm before burrowing into the pillow and willing herself to sleep on the narrow bed. For some reason, her conversation with Seth slipped into her mind as she drifted off. Man, he was cocky. So confident he was almost offensive.
Almost. If he actually delivered on the promises he made with that body and those eyes... Well, it would be a whole lot of fun.
She fell asleep with a smile on her face, slept through her alarm and then had to shower in a panic before joining her sister downstairs to have her hair and makeup done with the other bridesmaids.
“Vivian,” her mother said reproachfully as Vivian slipped into the lone empty seat at the kitchen table.
Vivian widened her eyes. It wasn’t as though the makeup artist or hairdresser had eight arms and was able to work on more than one person at a time. She would have been sitting around twiddling her thumbs if she’d been on time.
The next hour flew by in a waft of hairspray and a dusting of powder. Then it was time to get dressed. She and the other bridesmaids shimmied into their pale green sheaths before helping Jodie dress. Then, holding her breath, Vivian handed over the belt.
“Oh, Viv.” Jodie eyes popped as she reached for it reverently. “It’s so beautiful.”
“Good. I’m glad you like it.”
“I love it.”
Vivian was pretty sure she’d remember the look on her sister’s face for the rest of her life.
There were photographs to take next, then the drive to the church. In the vestibule Vivian and the other bridesmaids helped arrange the small train on Jodie’s dress, then Vivian tweaked the veil one last time. The doors to the church proper opened, the organ chimed the opening chords to “Here Comes the Bride,” and Vivian started down the aisle, her suddenly sweaty hands clutched around her bouquet.
She might not want this for herself, but it hit her that this was a big deal. Jodie was getting married. She was about to become someone else. Mrs. Anderson. She was about to lay the foundation stone for starting her own family.
Vivian blinked rapidly, worried she would ruin her makeup. Then her gaze found the tall figure of Seth standing at the head of