WMIS 03 Play With Me (33 page)

“Come
on, let’s mingle,” Will smiles down at me. “I want to show you off.”

“Right,”
I smirk.

“You
are gorgeous today. Well, every day, but I love this dress.” He brushes his
hand down my naked back and settles it right above my ass. “I can see your
dimples.”

I
grin up at him, enjoying that lustful look in his eyes. “I did that on
purpose.” My dress is simple, but pretty. Its eggplant, and floor-length. The
bodice is v-shaped, ending right between my breasts with a tiny rhinestone
broach. It’s sleeveless, the straps only about an inch wide, and there is no
back to speak of.

“Yeah,
I thought so,” he laughs. He looks amazing in his dark suit. Like his brothers,
he’s broad-shouldered and tall and just delicious.

I
want to eat him up.

He
grabs us each a glass of champagne and we start to wander about the room,
chatting and laughing with the other guests. I’m introduced to friends of
Nate’s from his fighting days, all of whom are funny and nice, and clearly
uncomfortable in their suits. Finally, we make our way back to Nat and Luke.

“Who’s
the guy with Luke?” I ask Will.

“Oh,
you haven’t met Mark yet. That’s his brother. He’s usually in Alaska working.”
He leads me to the threesome and introduces me to Luke’s handsome brother.

Holy
shit, I didn’t think it was possible to be hotter than Luke Williams.

I
was wrong.

What
is up with the water these women drank when they were pregnant? Seriously, it’s
crazy.

“Hi,
Meg, nice to meet you.” Mark offers me a cocky grin as he shakes my hand. “Too
bad Will’s already snatched you up.”

“Watch
it, dude. You’ve been back all of two days. Don’t make me kill you.” Will
growls good-naturedly.

Mark
just grins at him. “You’d miss me.”

Suddenly,
Jules is walking briskly to me, her eyes wide and worried. “Um, Meg, we need to
talk.”

“Why?”

But
before she can say anything, I hear it.
Lonely Soul
starts to play, the
song I wrote with Leo.

And
it’s Leo singing it.

“Luke,
who did you hire for this?” I ask, my eyes pinned to Jules’. I already know.

“Nash,”
he replies, his voice confused. “Why, you don’t like them?”

I
close my eyes and take a deep breath.
Holy fucking shit.

Natalie
gasps, and Will wraps his fingers around my arm, pulling me around to face him.
“What is it?”

“Meg,
I’m sorry. I didn’t know.” Jules runs her hand down my back. “I really didn’t.”

This
is Jules’ wedding. She’s one of my oldest and dearest friends. I will be fine.
I will do what I need to do to get through tonight, and it will be fine.

I
paste a smile on my face and hug her tightly. “It’s fine, sweetie.”

“What
did I do wrong?” Luke asks.

“Nothing.”
I shake my head and smile over at him. “Nash is a fantastic band.”

“What
am I missing?” Will murmurs down to me. I sigh.

“Leo
Nash is
my
Leo, Will.”

“What?”
he asks, frowning. Natalie curses under her breath. Jules is still worried,
biting her lip.

“I’m
fine.” I look around at the group of people who have come to mean so much to
me. They have become like family to me. “Honestly, this is great. The guests
will love them.”

Will
is watching me closely, questions in his eyes, and I feel like shit for not
telling him the whole story before. But it was too painful to admit to him that
Leo left me here while he went and became a big rock star.

That
he just forgot about me.

“Luke,
how did you manage to get Nash?” Jules asks him.

Luke
shrugs. “They’re doing the soundtrack for the new movie I’m producing. They just
wrapped up a tour, and are taking some time off, so I asked if they would do
this event before their vacation, and they agreed.”

“You’re
so sweet,” Nat murmurs and kisses him.

“Maybe
I should have checked with you guys, though. I didn’t think you knew any rock
stars.”

I
shrug. “We used to.”

Everyone
is watching me. “Stop. I’m fine. What’s next? Dinner? When do we get cake?”

“Yeah,
when do we get cake?” Will asks, making us all laugh, but his eyes are still
serious and pinned on me.

“After
dinner,” Jules replies dryly. “Which I think they’re about to serve.”

The
band stops playing, and a DJ takes over while we have dinner and go through the
motions of the cake cutting and the toasts.

Natalie
stands and takes the mic offered to her and smiles shyly to the room at-large.

“My
husband is usually the one to speak to large audiences, but I’m happy to talk
to you all about my best friend.” She looks over at Jules and smiles widely.

“Are
you going to embarrass me?” Jules asks.

“Maybe,”
Nat winks. “See, she can never break up with me because I know too much.” We
all laugh and Nat sobers.

“I
don’t remember a time in my life that Jules and her family weren’t in it. You
have shared everything that has ever mattered with me, even the birth of my
baby. When Jules and Nate got together,” Natalie turns to the audience and
smiles. Will takes my hand in his and kisses my knuckles. “I was astonished to
watch the change in her. Jules is a kick-ass girl. She’s not big on public
displays of affection, which she reminds me of almost daily.”

“Seriously,
you guys are gross,” Jules rolls her eyes, but I can see the tears threatening
to spill over.

“But
Nate brought out that soft side of her. He makes her better. And I think she
does the same for him. I just couldn’t have found anyone more suited to you, my
friend, if I tried.” Nat raises her glass and we all follow suit.

“So,
to my new brother-in-law Nate, and my sister of the heart, his Julianne. May
your love continue to grow every day.”

“To
Jules and Nate!”

Even
I wipe a little tear away from the corner of my eye and laugh when Will smirks
at me. Gosh, I love those girls. I understand what it is to have a sibling of
the heart. Mine is in the next room.

Holy
shit.

“Are
you nervous?” He asks me, sensing my tension.

“To
sing?”

“Yeah,
are you okay?” He wraps his arm around me, resting it on the back of my chair.
I grin up at his handsome face.

“I’m
fine. I don’t usually get stage fright. And I’ve been practicing a lot.”

“I
love the arrangement you’ve done with the song,” he murmurs and kisses my
cheek. “You’re going to knock them dead.”

I
smile and lean into him. “Thank you. I hope so.”

“Are
you okay with Leo being here?” he whispers down at me.

The
mention of Leo makes my heart stop. God, I’m going to have to talk to him. I
don’t think he even knows I’m here.

What
will he say? How will he react?

“I
don’t know,” I whisper back.

“Hey,”
he pulls my face up with his fingers so he can look into my eyes. “It’s going
to be okay. I’ll kick his ass if you want me to.”

I
laugh and cup his cheek in my hand. “That’s okay. The time for that was about
three years ago.” God, I love this man. He’s always so ready to protect me.

“I
love you, sweetheart.”

I
smile softly and kiss his lips, tenderly. “I know.”

“And
now, ladies and gentlemen,” Jules’ dad, Steven, announces, “I am proud and
pleased to introduce you to a very good friend of Jules, and the woman who
seems to have snagged my son, Will’s, heart. Megan McBride is going to sing the
song for the first dance. Meg? Where are you, honey?”

“Here
goes nothing,” I murmur at Will and he smiles widely and follows me, along with
everyone else, into the ballroom.

And
there by the stage is Leo, his mouth gaping open, watching me cross the dance
floor to him.

“Can
I please borrow your guitar?” I ask, cutting to the chase.

“Meg-pie,”
he murmurs, shocked to see me. The old knick-name almost brings me to my knees.

I
lock them.

“Leo,
I just need your guitar, please.”

He
can’t move. He’s just staring at me. God, he looks good. He’s tall, about six
feet. His light brown hair is cut short on the sides, and a bit longer on top,
styled into a faux-hawk. He has a small guage in one ear with a hoop through
it. His lip and eyebrow are pierced. He’s covered in tattoos.

And
his sweet, soft dark-gray eyes are pinned to mine.

“Leo,”
I say again, a bit stronger, and he blinks.

“Meg,”
he clears his throat. “I didn’t know you’d be here.”

“Same
here,” I reply with a grin. “I need to borrow your guitar, please.”

“Oh,
sure.” He holds it out to me, and offers me a half-smile. “You’ve played it
often over the years.”

I
learned to play on this guitar.

I
bite my lip as I loop the strap around my shoulder and back, and look up at
him. “Thank you.”

I
climb the stage and move the stool that’s been set in front of the mic for me.
“I don’t think I can gracefully sit on that thing in this dress,” I say to the
audience with a smile, earning laughter and applause.

“So,”
I begin, “Jules and Natalie and I have been friends since college, so they knew
me back when I used to play with a local band here in Seattle.” I smile out at
them. All the guests have gathered in a semi-circle around the stage, Jules and
Nate and the rest of the family and bridal party up front. Will is gazing at me
with warm blue eyes.

I
look to my left to see Leo standing by the stage with his arms crossed over his
chest, watching me intently. I swallow hard and focus on the task at hand.

Just
get through this one song, Meg.

“I
was a bit surprised when she asked me to sing tonight because I haven’t sung in
front of an audience in quite some time, but I’m honored to sing for Jules and
Nate’s first dance together as a married couple.” I smile again and strum the
guitar, making sure it’s in tune.

It
is, of course.

“The
song they’ve chosen is
I Won’t Give Up
.”

I
begin to play the intro as Jules and Nate take the dance floor. Nate pulls
Jules into a firm embrace and moves her effortlessly across the floor.

‘Cause
even the stars, they burn

Some
even fall to the Earth

We’ve
got a lot to learn

God
knows we’re worth it

No
I won’t give up….

I’m
taken away by the song and watching my beautiful friends dance so gracefully,
gazing into each other’s eyes. Nate is singing along with me, to his girl, and
the romantic in me melts at the sight. He leans down to murmur something in her
ear, then kisses her naked neck, below her ear, and sweeps her around the floor
again, much to the crowd’s delight.

I
won’t give up on us

Even
if the skies get rough

I’ve
given you all my love

I’m
still looking up

I
find Will’s eyes across the dance floor. He’s smiling at me, watching me
intently. God, I love him.

I’ve
got to tell him.

The
song ends, and the room erupts into applause and whistles. I smile and back
away from the mic to offer a little curtsy, and then walk to the end of the
stage, ready to hand Leo back his guitar.

“We
have to do a song together,” he says, his face serious.

“No,
thank you.”

He
takes his guitar and hands it to someone else, then grabs my arm and pulls me
back to him and whispers in my ear.

“Megan,
please. I’ve missed you. Let’s do the song we used to do at weddings back in
the day.”

I
sigh and tears threaten.

“Leo…”

“Please.
You sound great. We’ll blow them away.”

“You
don’t need me to do that, remember?” I ask, my voice cold. He scowls.

“I
never said that.” He sighs. “Come on, people are watching.”

I
don’t have a choice. I do not want to make a scene at Jules’ wedding. So, I
follow Leo up the stairs and stand at his side as he speaks to the audience.

“Hey,
everyone, are you having a good night?” He asks, and the audience applauds and
whistles. “Good! I’m honored to be here tonight with my band to entertain you
all and celebrate with Jules and Nate. I knew Jules, back in her college days,
and I’m happy to see she found a dude worthy of her.” He winks down at Jules.
“We just came off a big tour, so being here with you guys is a nice and welcome
change.”