For once he was bummed he hadn’t picked up the magazine his sister had sitting on the end table in his living room to check it out. He might have put a few dots together if he had. Trina wasn’t a common name, and a wedding in Texas . . . Who was he kidding? He wouldn’t have figured it out.
It became painfully clear that this was not the first time this gaggle of friends had been on a private jet. Not every time, Shannon had said. But oftentimes. It appeared that Avery had been known to pay for the things. Who did that?
Who was she really? He started to wonder if his blowing off her telling him she’d married for money was a mistake.
If money made her tick, then why was she wasting her time with him? He did okay, moderately better than okay, but he hadn’t so much as sprung for a first-class ticket, let alone a private jet.
When the jet landed and they were picked up by a stretch limo and carted off the tarmac like the president, Liam ditched all hope of paying his way for any of this.
They arrived at Wade Thomas’s ranch, where the roads leading to it were lined with media and photographers wanting pictures of the bride and groom.
Their party was escorted beyond the gates and down the tree-lined road.
“Incredible, isn’t it?” Reed offered.
“I’ve never seen anything like it.”
“Today is about immediate family and friends. The rehearsal and the dinner . . . and then we’re taking Trina into one of the guesthouses for the night,” Avery reminded him.
“Down-to-earth people with money. Don’t let it get to you,” Reed told him.
Too late.
As he thought the words, Avery, who was sitting next to him in the limo, reached out and placed her hand over his.
His world, which had started to tilt off-kilter, began to settle.
He turned his eyes to hers, squeezed her hand, and smiled.
They pulled up to the main house and climbed out one at a time. “Holy wow.” He’d have to be blind not to be impressed. Massive beams spanned a front porch that you could put his entire home under.
“Don’t let me drool,” he whispered to Avery.
He loved hearing her laugh.
“You’re here!” A woman’s voice echoed through the open front doors.
“Did you think we would miss it?” Shannon asked.
Liam stood back while Trina hugged and giggled and smiled more than any woman he’d ever seen. When her attention landed on him, she pulled in a quick breath. “Oh my God, you’re Liam.”
“I am.” He put his hand out, which she ignored, pulling him into a hug. “I can’t believe she let you come.”
“Me either,” he confessed.
“Oh, good Lord,” Avery sighed. “I’m not that bad.”
A chorus of “Yes, you are” ensued.
Trina walked them into the foyer, and once again Liam was lost in the architecture.
“Sounds like the wedding party has arrived.”
Liam turned to find a living, breathing celebrity walking down the stairs to greet them.
Play it cool.
Wade shook Reed’s hand and hugged the women before offering a smile to Liam.
“Look who Avery brought,” Trina told her fiancé. “Liam, this is Wade.”
“I can’t believe the blonde pit bull caved,” he said, grinning as he shook Liam’s hand. The handshake said a lot.
“Blonde pit bull?” Liam questioned.
“Long story,” Avery offered.
“Not that long. She hated me,” Wade told him. “Said I wasn’t good enough for Trina. Which might be true, but that didn’t stop me.”
“He exaggerates.”
Wade lifted a hand in the air. “Can I have a witness?”
Shannon, Lori, and Trina joined the hand waving.
“Good thing I like you now, Cowboy.”
Wade dropped a hand over Avery’s shoulders and pulled them into the great room.
Avery had to admit, even to herself, that she was a little unnerved by how well Liam adapted to the group. They’d been placed in different parts of the house, mainly because Trina, Shannon, Lori, and Avery had already planned on spending the two days leading up to the wedding doing all the girl things that needed one more round before Trina took the plunge . . . again.
Within an hour of arriving, the four of them were whisked off for some spa time.
While sitting in crisp white spa robes with their feet soaking, they sipped wine and gossiped.
“Is Vicki behaving?” Avery asked Trina about her soon to be mother-in-law.
“She’s been quiet.”
“Is that good?” Shannon asked.
Trina shrugged. “I’m tired of trying to figure that woman out. One minute I think things are fine, and the next I swear she’s powdering my sugar cookies with arsenic.”
“Let it go. She’ll come around when she realizes there isn’t any going back,” Lori advised.
“So, Sunday?”
They all laughed.
Avery pulled her foot out of the pulsating water so the woman doing her pedicure could make her toes shine.
“Liam seems like a really nice guy,” Trina told Avery.
“Which begs the question what he wants with me.”
“Where did all this negativity come from?” Lori asked. “What happened to the self-assured woman who marched into my office before Bernie and said, and I quote, ‘He’s lucky to have me. Let’s do this.’?”
“That was different.”
“How?”
“It had an end date,” Avery said without thinking.
“And Liam doesn’t?” Shannon prompted.
“Of course he does. I just don’t know when that is.” She switched feet for the technician. “Saturday night dates end on Sunday . . . weekend dates end Monday morning. Liam isn’t shaking.”
“That’s a good thing,” Trina said.
“It’s because we haven’t had sex.”
“What?” Lori asked.
Avery glanced at the three sets of eyes on her. “I know, right? He’s kissed me three times, and that’s it. It’s not like I haven’t encouraged it.”
“He’s into you.” The technician, who Avery didn’t think was listening, added her two cents.
“I think she’s right.”
“Or he’s gay. Could go either way.”
“He’s not gay,” Avery told the virtual stranger.
“I don’t think that’s the case,” Shannon said. “The way he looks at you is anything but platonic.”
“You’ve known him for what, five hours?”
“Which is the normal time span of your dates, Avery. Maybe you should try and stop worrying about when it will end and enjoy what you have going on now.”
Avery glared at Lori. “He’s here, isn’t he?”
“Bridesmaids always get lucky. I bet he doesn’t bolt after.”
Avery didn’t offer a comment.
“I didn’t get lucky at Lori’s wedding,” Shannon said.
“Let’s try and fix that this weekend.” Avery leaned back to enjoy her foot massage.
“This I want to see,” Lori added.
Chapter Sixteen
Avery said he wouldn’t see her . . . and she wasn’t kidding.
Liam found his time filled with Reed, Wade, and two of the guys from Wade’s band. There were plenty of marital tips offered, a lot of beer, and food. So much food. Liam wondered how the men in Texas stayed in their Levi’s.
The ranch was a massive venue setting up for a colossal wedding.
On Friday, during the rehearsal, Liam stood back and watched as the wedding coordinator directed Avery and the others in their duties.
Wade made time with his future wife when they pretended that the minister had announced them husband and wife.
Trina’s father gave Wade a hard time, entertaining the small crowd.
When Avery walked back down the aisle, this time on the arm of Wade’s best man, a stab of jealousy smacked Liam’s brain.
He reminded himself that the other guy was married.
That didn’t stop Liam from swooping in as soon as the opportunity presented itself.
“Looks like everything is set for tomorrow.”
“I don’t think they forgot anything.”
They took a seat in the back row of the chairs set up for the next day. “Let me know if there is anything I can do.”
She blinked as she looked at him. “Are you having a good time?”
“Weddings are always an adventure.”
“Adventure sounds like drama.”
He shook his head. “None of that from what I can see.”
She turned back to look at the bride and groom, who were talking with the minister. “Let’s hope it stays that way. Trina deserves her day.”
Liam had heard through some of the conversation around him that Trina’s first husband had died. No one had elaborated on the details, and he didn’t feel at liberty to ask.
“At my sister’s wedding, my brother-in-law got hammered.”
“You’re kidding.”
“Fall down, pour him into the car drunk. Michelle told me it took him two days to sober up.”
“What an ass,” Avery said.
“Yeah. They’re divorced now. Took her some time to get over him.”
“Trina cared for her late husband, but it wasn’t anything like her love for Wade. Which is a blessing, all things considered.”
Liam took the opening to learn a little more. “Reed implied that he died.”
Avery kept her eyes glued in front of her. “Killed by his own dad. Doesn’t get more dramatic than that.”
Chills ran up his arms. “You’re kidding.”
“Nope. It was all over the papers last year.” She nodded toward the mother of the groom, who stood to the side of where the ceremony was going to take place the next day. “Vicki didn’t heed the threats of Trina’s former father-in-law and ended up kidnapped. I think that’s why she’s so butt hurt about Trina. Not that any of it was Trina’s fault.”