AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chapter Fifteen
Aweek before the wedding, it occurred to me Billie hardly knew any of my friends, apart from Aiden, Jenson and the guys in the band. Since the start of the year, our lives had been all about managing other people or moving home and very little about us.
With all of this in mind, I decided to arrange a pre-wedding party at The Penthouse on the twenty-first floor of The Standard Hotel. This provided a relaxed environment for my cousins, friends and Billie’s friends to get to know one another. Fortunately, my sisters had flown in earlier that week as well.
Until then, 1 OAK nightclub had been my usual hangout, but occasionally I preferred the low-key vibe at Le Bain because it didn’t draw as much attention from the celebrity seekers or celebrities, for that matter, 1 OAk did.
My parents were already busy receiving guests at the house as some of our other relatives arrived early in order to spend some time with them.
When I first suggested the party to Billie, she appeared a little off until she said it was because she had no one to invite. In the end Tricia, Tricia’s parents, Betty and Lester, her older Marnie and her husband, Franco her boss, Karl, and two women, Joslin and Gretta who she used to work with all came. I reminded her my sisters would be there, and kept my friends invites to the closest ten and their partners or plus ones so as not to make her feel too outnumbered.
Once my relatives were added there were plenty of people. The only other person I’d have like to have been there was Kevy, but he couldn’t find someone to cover his bar. It had felt weird not having Hammer there, but I knew that was totally for the best. Although he could enjoy himself without a drink, Wiggy had been due out of rehab any day at the time, and he knew he’d needed his A-game for this. So being mindful he gave himself a break by not putting temptation in his way.
Thankfully, Logan was doing better, dry and motivated by Colby to stay that way. Hammer was still in residence at his place, but felt Logan was staying strong. Thankfully, he’d found employment in Bergenfield Public Library and his parents came through for him again and had traveled from Florida to support him during the wedding.
Billie told me they were moving back to New York permanently to be near their son and grandson, and I was especially glad about this, as it gave Billie less to fret over on the lead up to our wedding day.
James had taken care of the reservation at The Penthouse at the Standard and Le Bain for us all, in case we wanted to go to the club. When he had suggested this venue, I had agreed the space was ideal, and with James being a well-known party animal it hadn’t proved difficult to secure the spots, since the management there knew him well.
Eventually there were sixty-eight people there; including a few members of Tricia’s family, which had turned out to be the perfect number as the atmosphere was intimate and relaxed and the music played at a level where people hadn’t had to shout.
Billie had looked sensational in a short black silk halter-neck dress with an A-line skirt that fell just above her knees, black silk stockings, and ruby red stiletto heels that matched the lipstick she wore.
Watching her move elegantly around the room took my breath away. She looked like a movie star with her petite frame and the cute way she carried herself with pride. My hungry eyes took everything in, from her long dark curls that flowed freely down her back to the beaming smile on her face, and the feeling of pride that swelled in my chest stole my breath again.
When I had seen her stop and talk to people she had never met before it made my heart clench tight, because I knew she wasn’t used to being the center of attention and this didn’t come naturally to her.
“She’s stunning,” Josh, James’s best buddy since we were kids, told me when he caught me staring at her.
“She is,” I agreed, without reservation.
“Got any sisters?” he asked, wistfully.
“Nope, she’s one of a kind,” I told him with a chuckle.
“Story of my life,” he muttered, seriously.
“You’re hanging out in all the wrong places, my friend.”
“It would appear so, since I’m here with Meribelle,” he added, nodding at his sister.
I chuckled. “Yeah, that’s illegal,” I replied, staring straight into his eyes then widening mine.
He laughed. “Good to see you and James are on speaking terms again,” he informed me, and I felt some of the glee in my heart ebb a little. “He told me what happened at the time and swore me to secrecy. I understood he was scared, but he should have told you.” I nodded, not wanting to talk about this anymore and caught the eye of my friend, David.
“Excuse me, David wants to speak with me.” Thankfully, my friend, David, was looking at me at the time so I left Josh standing and walked over and stood beside him. David St. John was special to me for the same reason Brian was. He was the guy who had arranged Brian’s bachelor party and if it hadn’t been for his madcap idea, I may never have met Billie.
“Am I a decoy?” he asked, immediately reading the uncomfortable scene that had begun to develop.
“Something like that,” I said with a chuckle and warmly slapped his back for having mine. We stood talking for a few minutes and my eyes drifted over to where Billie stood. Our eyes immediately connected and mid-sentence she smiled.
I couldn’t begin to describe what I felt in that moment as love poured from my heart, as I looked at her and her eyes softened, projecting her love for me in return. We kept to our pact and stared at the other until I guessed she’d counted to twenty when she eventually looked away. All conversation had stopped until we’d shared our moment and made things awkward for everyone else. Although we were already together, the feeling of knowing she was going to be officially mine forever overwhelmed me and I needed to touch her.
Excusing myself I walked toward her, her smile widening with every step as she took me in, and just as I reached her the lighting dimmed and the music shifted to a more intimate mood in the room. Ed Sheeran’s “I’m in Love With The Shape of You” began to play, and I grinned because it was the perfect song for the way I felt about the beautiful woman who was about to be my wife.
People had been dancing in The Penthouse for more than an hour while Billie and I spent the time making pleasantries with our guests, but I took this as my cue to rescue my girl and give her some time to breathe.
“Enough, if you’ll excuse my fiancé, I want her to myself for the next few minutes,” I stated, smiling down at her. I slid my hand around her waist and pulled her into my chest. “Did I mention how thoroughly ravishing you look in this dress?” Billie’s cheeks immediately flushed pink, even in the dimness, and it made me smile as I steered her toward the dance floor.
