Finding Forever (2 page)

But that part of my life was over. Rafael had just been the final disaster in a lifelong pattern of ridiculously bad luck in love, and a lesson learned the hard way. I would
not
be making that same mistake again. However, that didn’t mean I couldn’t enjoy the gentle pressure of Avery’s hand against my back while it lasted.

He spoke, breaking me out of my thoughts of regret. “So… you aren’t wearing a ring…”

For a moment, I panicked, thinking he was asking me about Rafael, but the playful grin on his face told me he was flirting. My lack of a ring announced that I was possibly single, something he could use as an entry point. I pushed out a deep breath, relieved that both of my little secrets were still safe. I’d never worn a ring, due to the clandestine nature of the relationship, but there were a few people — my immediate family and two good friends, one of those being Des— who knew about my marriage. Des was the only one who didn’t know about the divorce.

“Very observant of you,” I replied, tucking away my moment of panic. “But…. what does my lack of a ring have to do with
you
?”

We came to a stop just outside the door to Desiree’s dressing room, where I could hear her fussing loudly at someone, presumably her cousin Deidra, who was her only bridesmaid. Avery brought his hand around to rest on my waist as he faced me. “It could have a lot to do with me, Tori. I could see us being really good …
friends
.”

“
Friends
, huh?” Well, at least he was straightforward. Laughing, I pressed my weight into the wall behind me. “I don’t think I’m interested in being the same kind of ‘friends’ you want to be, Avery.”

“You sound really sure about that, but I’ve been known to change minds.” With one hand still at my waist, he pressed the other palm into the wall beside me, effectively pinning me in place. Damn, he smelled good.
Damn
, he was wearing his suit well.

I shook my head. “That won’t be happening in this case.”

“You haven’t heard me out.”

“I don’t need to hear you out, because my final answer is no.”

“Even if I guaranteed you would have a
very
enjoyable time as my friend?”

I laughed, dropping my gaze to the lily pinned to his lapel. “You could promise me
five
good times, and the answer would still be no.” When I dared to look up, my eyes snagged on that magnetic gaze of his, and I was so enthralled I didn’t realize the door had opened beside us, and Deidra had stepped out.

“Avery, leave her alone! Don’t you have something better to do than harass the bridal party?”

I startled, and with a teasing wink, he stepped back, giving me room to step away and take a few deep breaths to calm my racing heart. I tried to keep my expression neutral, knowing Deidra was looking right at me, but my skin was flushed, and on fire from that short interaction. Without looking back, I told Avery over my shoulder that I would see him at the wedding, and entered the room to find Des pacing.

“Tori! Oh thank God, I was getting worried about you! Where were you?” Des asked, stopping in front of me to grab my hands.

“I just stepped out to get some air, Des. I’m ok.”

Behind me, Deidra snorted as she approached. “I found her in the hall, cuddled up with Avery…”

“With
Avery
?” Desiree’s eyes widened. “Tori, seriously,
no
. Avery is…”

“— An asshole?” Deidra interjected, earning a scathing look from Des.

“He’s not an asshole, Dei, don’t say that. Avery is just… he can be… Okay, it’s like this—”

“Des!” I shook my head, sending a withering glare of my own in Deidra’s direction. “I was
not
cuddled up
in the hall with your brother, I just met him. I have no idea why Deidra is getting you all riled up.”

“I’m just telling what I saw,” Deidra said in an innocent voice, turning to check her makeup in the mirror. I caught her reflection in the mirror to make sure she could see me rolling my eyes at her. I liked Deidra well enough, — most of the time— but damn, the girl told Des everything she saw, and it usually wasn’t even the most accurate account. Deidra knew her cousin had a tendency towards worst-case scenario style dramatics, but she fancied herself Des’ sidekick, so I guess she had to observe and report accordingly.

Des entwined my fingers with hers to pull me off to the side, away from Deidra. When we were out of earshot, she squeezed my hand. “Tee, I know things are rough right now with you and Rafael, but if you’re gonna have a fling, trust me, my brother is not the one to have it with.”

I had to remind myself that this was her wedding day so I wouldn’t roll my eyes at
her
as well. “Well, I wasn’t planning to, but what’s so wrong with Avery? He seems charming— a lot more than I expected.”

Rolling her eyes, Des lifted her hands to my updo to fix a few loose strands. “Duh, Tori. You’re a beautiful woman; of course he was nice to you. I’m just glad you’re married now, and I don’t have to watch you around him.”

Watch me around him?

Des had been making little comments like that for the last year or so, and it was
more than
getting on my damned nerves. Ever since she’d gotten with Drew, it was as if
she
was suddenly the relationship expert, never mind that her dating history was more pitiful than mine was.

I pushed her hands away. “What the hell does that mean?”

“It means I don’t have to worry about you getting involved with him. Avery is a good guy most of the time, but when it comes to women, I’ve seen him be downright
mean
, and I don’t want that to happen to you, because I would have to kill him.”

“Mean?” I had to ask, because Des was a sensitive girl.

Des shrugged. “Well, maybe not
mean
, but like he just doesn’t care that much. Avery turns the charm all the way up to get these women into his bed, keeps them around for a few weeks, then he acts as if they don’t exist. We’ve been out to dinner before, and a girl he dated came up to talk to him and he just blew her off. I wanted to stab him with a fork for being so rude to her, so imagine if that had been you. So yeah, like I said, glad you’re married.”

I averted my eyes as she continued. I felt a little guilty for not correcting her, but this wasn’t the time for my little divorce revelation. It was her wedding day, and I really didn’t want to hear any I-told-you-so chastening from her. “Can you believe it, Tori? An hour from now we’ll both be married women! We can have married lady lunches, and married lady shopping trips, and take couples vacations if Rafael is down with that, an—”

“Des, you haven’t named one thing that doesn’t sound God-awful. What the hell is a ‘married lady lunch’?”

“Girl, I don’t know, I’m just excited! I really can’t thank you enough for bringing Drew and I together. We wouldn’t even know each other if it weren’t for you!”

Humph. I would think she had forgotten, the way she acts like the queen of good decisions.

Drew had been one of my harder customers to match even though on the surface, he should have been easy. Sweet, handsome, tall, fit, rich, and smart, his qualities read like one of those lists I received from clients way too often, as if those were really the things that would make a relationship work. None of his great attributes could cover up the fact that when it came to women, Drew was painfully awkward, and it presented itself as an incessant need to talk.

One day, in the middle of a conference call to coach him through that quirk — which was making him seem self-centered, and scaring away his matches — Desiree burst into my office in her usual bubbly fashion, gushing about the office space she’d found for her lingerie boutique. While I wondered why Des needed to come all the way from Chicago to Dallas to tell me about it, Drew caught a glimpse of her through the video monitor. For once, he was speechless, enthralled by my gorgeous, mahogany-skinned friend. I shooed her out of the office, but Drew insisted on meeting Desiree. They hit it off, and now, two years later, they were getting married.

I charged a pretty penny for my services, but I had an impressive record to back up my rates. Of course, not every relationship worked out, because there was no way to account for every single quirk and nuance that came along with humanity. In the six years since I’d gone into business, it wasn’t often that I received the sad news that a couple had broken up, but good reports were frequent. I loved to hear about couples moving cross-country to be together, buying houses, and having babies, but the words I loved to hear most were “Please come to our wedding”, which is what brought me to the Maldives for Drew and Desiree’s wedding. Client’s weddings always felt like a perfect stamp of approval, the confirmation I needed that I was doing something that mattered.

“I should be thanking you,” I joked with Des. “Drew probably would have fired me if you hadn’t agreed to go out with him.”

“He wouldn’t have!”

I sucked my teeth. “Girl please! You didn’t see the way he was begging me to introduce you two. ‘Tori, please, she’s so fine. Is that her hair? Is that her real ass? Please, Tori, you
have
to let me meet her!’ I can’t believe you’re marrying a man that
begs,
” I teased.

A grin spread across Des’ face. “Whatever, Tori. He might do a little begging, but he’s
mine
. I really feel like he’s my soul mate.”

The overpowering, nearly tangible love Desiree wore on her face was foreign to me. Sure, I’d loved Rafael when we got married, but it was shallow, and now that it was over, I could plainly see that a lot of my feelings for him were wrapped up in the fact that he was my last chance to have even a little of what was pouring out of Drew and Des in abundance.

“That’s beautiful, Des. I am
so
happy for you.” My words were honest, but I had to force a smile to my face. Now that I was back in reality, minutes away from this wedding, the pain was rushing back, and it wasn’t just about Rafael. I was hurt over the things he had done, but it was the failure, period, that felt like a knife to the gut, and this beautiful setting full of happiness and love just made that awful reality even more palpable.

Swallowing past the lump in my throat, I glanced down, realizing Des wasn’t in her wedding gown. “Des, the ceremony is supposed to start in like fifteen minutes. Let’s get you dressed.”

Instead of turning to head to where her dress hung on the garment rack, Des hesitated, looking me right into my eyes. “Tori… are you okay?”

“I’m fine, Des. Why?”

She frowned at me, with her head tilted to the side. “Well, your
eyes
… they’re red, like you’ve been crying.”

“It’s just the makeup. I got a little trigger happy with the liquid eyeliner, but I’m okay.”

Not convinced, she narrowed her eyes, but turned away to retrieve her dress.

Just make it through the next hour, Tori. That’s all you have to do.

While Deidra and I helped Desiree into her dress, my thoughts drifted back to Avery, but I quickly pushed him from my mind. Sure, he was handsome, but he was Des’ brother, which was a big check mark in the NO category. Besides, after what she’d told me about him, the very last thing I needed was to get involved with a man like Avery— or
anyone
, for that matter.

Across the room, I heard my phone vibrating in my purse. Just before it was time for us to take our places, I checked it, in case there was some emergency with my family, but the missed call, and subsequent voicemail were from my attorney, letting me know I was officially a single woman.

Again.

— Avery —

I shoved my hands into my pockets as I turned away from door where Tori had disappeared. I’d stood there for a few moments after it closed behind her, still intoxicated by the seductive scent of her perfume. Floral notes, vanilla, citrus… whatever it was, I didn’t know and didn’t care. All I knew was Tori smelled— and
looked
— good enough to eat, and if I had my way, before the night was over, I would be doing just that.

I ambled lazily down the hall, wondering why this was our first time meeting. I had better things to do than wonder about my little sister’s friends, but Tori was fine as hell, and I felt like I’d been slighted. It didn’t take much thought to conclude that Des had purposely avoided putting Tori and I together in the same place. It was the only plausible explanation for why I’d never met the woman she called her best friend, but the question was
why
? Why would Desiree keep such a sweet little treat from her loving, caring big brother? I stopped walking for a moment, thought about it, then headed in a different direction in the spacious resort. I couldn’t ask my sister about it right now, but I
could
spend a little time interrogating her husband to be.

I grinned when I entered the room where Drew was waiting with his best man, Wes, for the wedding to start. I was glad to see my future brother-in-law was relaxed and ready to move forward.

“Hey, you ready to become Mr. Desiree Anderson in a little while, man?” I asked as we slapped hands, and then pulled each other into a brotherly hug.

“Ha, Ha, very funny Avery.”

I smirked. “It
is
funny. I can’t believe you’re
voluntarily
signing up to get bossed around by Des.”

“Whatever man. You look me in the face and tell me you can say no to your little sister.”

I opened my mouth to offer a rebuttal, but the only thing I could do was break into a grin. Drew was right. I couldn’t find the heart to deny Des anything she asked for. Mostly — when she wasn’t on one of her bossy, motherly, rampages — she was a genuinely sweet person, so it was natural to want to make her happy.

“That’s what I thought,” Drew said, standing in the mirror to make a last adjustment to his tie. “What brings you back? They ready to start?”

Shaking my head, I leaned against the top of the dresser, facing Drew as he looked in the mirror. “Not quite man… I’ve actually got a question for you.”

“Ask away.”

After a moment’s hesitation, I did. “Des’ maid of honor… what’s up with her?”

“You’re talking about Tori’s fine ass,” Wes said from the other side of the room, letting out a low whistle of appreciation. I lifted an eyebrow at him, sending the unspoken message that, at least between the two of us, Tori was
mine
to claim. He lifted his hands in a conciliatory gesture. “I don’t mean any harm man. Tori looks good, but I’ve got my eye on that fine ass bridesmaid.”