Page 59 of Beg Me

“Markie …”

He takes a breath as if he’s practiced this speech a hundred times and is gathering the courage to go for it. But before he can speak, my phone rings on the kitchen table. I have about as much interest in answering it as he has in talking to me at the moment, but he delayed my gratification last night. I’m nothing if not petty.

“Hold that thought,” I say, pulling my hands away. “I need to get that.” His eyes widen as I pivot toward the kitchen. “I’m waiting on a call from Mira, and she needs my input, or I’ll hold everything up. It’s hard being the one that everyone counts on for direction.”

I think. I’d have to ask Astrid if that’s true.

“Hey,” I say brightly after answering the call.

“Why do you sound so happy to talk to me?”

“Work with me,” I whisper before turning back to the living room. Jory’s sitting on the couch right where I left him. “Did you get with Audrey on our questions?”

Mira sighs. “I don’t want to know.”

I laugh. “You’re right. Gianna would think this is entirely more entertaining than you.”

“Oh, Markie.” She snorts. “I’m just going to say what I need to say. You can listen and respond however you want, and I’ll just assume you’ll call me after you get home and fill in the details if your answers don’t make sense.”

“That’s a great idea. I’m so glad you thought of it.”

She bursts out laughing. I hear Hartley in the background, asking what she’s laughing at. That makes me laugh again.

Jory’s brows pull together. I wink at him.

“What did Auddie say?” I ask.

When I met Mira after church to go over our part of the wedding, we came up with a list of unanswered questions for the bride and groom. Neither of them would answer their phones, probably following through on the whispered promises Brooks made to Audrey while we were waiting to exit the church, which we happened to overhear. So, we abandoned our efforts, and I went home, waiting on six thirty to roll around.

Because no matter how much I wanted to just come to Jory’s, desperation never looks good, and I got a little too close to that fire last night.

“You want to do this now?” Mira asks, surprised.

The anticipation is killing Jory. Relax. It’s only going to get so much worse.

I grin. “Of course, I have time. I’ve been waiting on your call.” I quickly look at Jory, remembering that I told him I’d be with Mira until six thirty. “You got back to me much faster than I expected since I only left your house a while ago.”

His eyes narrow, but he doesn’t say a word.

“Oh, boy,” my sister says, blowing out a breath. “Okay, then. The final head count for the wedding is thirty-two. Everyone has RSVP’d, so we’re set on that. But, because it’s such a small wedding, they’ve decided not to have bridesmaids and groomsmen because we’re essentially half of the guest list. So, that makes things simpler.”

“I love that idea.”

“I bet you do. I could say anything right now, and you’d love that idea.”

“That might be a little exaggerated, but go on.”

As she rambles on about their choice to get married in the barn and not in the church, and when the florist is coming to decorate and a bunch of details that don’t really involve me, I set my sights back on the man in front of me.

Leaning back against the cushions, his knees spread apart, I mosey my way to him. The closer I get, the more his chest rises and falls. His eyes turn a deeper shade of green. His jaw muscles flex.

The man is a fucking dream.

I pick up the edge of my dress and straddle his thigh before letting the hem fall again. A slow smile stretches across his lips. That, in turn, makes me smile. Because if he thinks it’s going to be this easy, he’s mistaken.

“The only hiccup,” Mira says, “is that Violet Crowder can’t play the piano if they’re having the wedding in the barn. The ground is too uneven out there, and she’s afraid she’ll fall.”

I frown—both at her words and at the fact that Jory hasn’t tried to touch me. “Shit. Audrey really wanted the ‘Bridal Chorus’ played live for some reason. I don’t know what we do now. Is this even in our area or Astrid’s? She’s the wedding planner.”