All I Want Is You (10 page)

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Authors: Kayla Perrin

BOOK: All I Want Is You
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It was the eve of her sister's wedding, and she should have been happy, but Mikki was instead feeling the familiar pain and insecurity she had known so well as a teen.
The fear that she would never find the right man.
But on the heels of that depressing thought came another one:
What if you've already found him?
Chapter 12
Mikki was in a slump. It was her sister's wedding day, and she should be excited and happy, and yet she was miserable.
The news that Alex had been cheating on her had crushed her. She had stewed over the bombshell all night, unable to get the betrayal off her mind.
Even now, at the hair salon getting all dolled up with the rest of the bridal party, Mikki wondered if she should go into the bathroom and call Alexander. More than once in the night, she'd contemplated sending him a text.
Watching her sister smile at her reflection in the mirror as the stylist softly curled the front of her hair, Mikki's anger grew. Alex was supposed to have been here with her. The asshole was supposed to have proposed to her. And the snake had been screwing someone else.
Mikki took her phone from her purse and began to type:
 
You cheating scumbag.
But she didn't send it. Instead she erased it. No, she wouldn't give Alexander-the-Pig the satisfaction of caring.
She wished she didn't care at all. And it wasn't like she hadn't had the most amazing sex since him. It was just that . . . it was hard to totally erase a two-year relationship from your mind overnight.
Their hair and makeup done, the girls went back to Mikki's parents' house and got dressed. By the time the limo showed up, Chantal was already getting teary-eyed, and Mikki kept reminding her that she didn't want to ruin her makeup.
Chantal looked absolutely stunning. As brides went, she was the most gorgeous one Mikki had ever seen.
Seeing her sister so radiant, Mikki realized that this was what she wanted for herself. And that's why the news of Alex's betrayal on this day was especially hard. Because she'd believed that she would marry him, and now she had no clue if marriage would ever be in her future.
“You look radiant,” Mikki said to Chantal before they walked out of the house to go down to the limo. “Absolutely stunning.”
And she did. The whole princess-type dress on her and on the bridesmaids did make one think of a fairy tale. Her sister's bodice was form-fitting and made of satin, with crystal embroidered into it. The skirt—netting and organza like the bridesmaids' dresses—was exceptionally wide and also decorated with clear crystals. It was a magnificent dress, and Mikki only hoped it would fit into the limo.
“Thank you,” Chantal said, and her eyes misted again.
“None of that,” Mikki told her. “Though thank God you're wearing waterproof makeup.”
When they got to the church and Mikki saw Barry, all thoughts of Alex fled her mind. He was wearing a tailored black tuxedo with tails—all the groomsmen were—but he was undoubtedly the most handsome of the lot. Good God, he looked like he had stepped off the pages of
GQ
magazine.
How could he be this damn attractive? Like a caterpillar morphing into a butterfly, his transformation had been magnificent and still a little hard to believe.
But the one thing that hadn't changed about him—and it was the most important thing—was that Barry was still a nice guy. His good looks could have turned him into a cocky asshole, and then he would have held no appeal to Mikki at all. Thankfully, he was still down-to-earth and decent.
His lips curled into a smile as their gazes locked from across the room in the basement of the church. And then Mikki felt the pull of desire and would have bet her last dollar that he was thinking about the amazing night they had shared.
But she tried to push the image from her mind, because her task now was to make sure all the men were accounted for, including the groom.
She gave Barry a little wave, then gathered her skirt and headed back up the stairs.
As soon as she entered the bridal room, Chantal hurried toward her. “Is he here?”
“He's here,” Mikki told her. “Like I told you, no need to worry about a thing.”
“So we're ready to do this?” Chantal asked.
“Ready if you are.”
Chantal gripped both of Mikki's hands. “I'm scared.”
“That's normal. Every bride has the jitters. But you're going to be fine.”
Chantal grinned, some of the anxiety on her face ebbing away.
“If you're ready to get this party started, I'll go set everything in motion.”
Chantal nodded. “Let's do this.”
 
 
As ceremonies went, this one was beautiful. The bride and groom exchanged personalized vows, the kind that had many of the women—and some of the men—weeping.
Mikki noticed that as Ken and Chantal were standing at the head of the church exchanging vows, Barry had constantly had his eye on her. As though he was trying to tell her that he was exchanging vows with her.
The weather had held up for photos at the Miami Beach Botanical Gardens, and thus far the reception at The Delano, a chic South Beach hotel, was going off without a hitch. The five-star cuisine had been splendid, the décor of the reception hall the utmost in luxury, and everyone was in a happy mood.
Mikki's eyes misted as she watched her sister and Ken share their first dance as husband and wife.
The obligatory first dances over—father and daughter, mother and son—the DJ started playing more upbeat tunes, and everyone piled onto the dance floor.
Mikki took this opportunity to head to the restroom. With this kind of a dress, a woman couldn't go too often. But if she didn't relieve her bladder now, she'd be in trouble.
Mikki was on her way out of the bathroom when she saw Ken standing nearby. Seeing him, she grinned.
“Hey, brother-in-law.” She walked toward him. “Congratulations again.”
“Thanks.”
“It was an amazing day. Everything went off without a hitch.”
“Come here,” Ken said, and opened his arms wide. He wrapped her in a hug.
It started off as innocent but changed when he held her a little bit too long and moved his hand over her bottom.
Mikki jerked back, looking up at him from narrowed eyes. Was he drunk?
“Ken, I think you ought to head back into the reception. Chantal's going to be wondering where you are,” she added with a smile.
“You look incredible,” he said. “Have I told you that lately?”
“Ken?” Mikki asked, her voice holding a note of uncertainty. “Are you okay?” Clearly he'd had too much to drink.
“Oh, I'm definitely okay.” His eyes roamed over her from head to toe. And then he made his intentions perfectly clear. He pulled her against him, put both hands on her butt, and squeezed. “Damn, what I wouldn't give to have a taste of this.”
“Ken—”
“Come on, let's go into the bathroom.”
Mikki wriggled herself out of Ken's arms. She stared at her brother-in-law in horror. He had just exchanged vows with her sister. Vows where he said he would love and honor her until death. How could he have just groped Mikki in a clearly sexual way and then suggested they go into the bathroom together?
It was a joke. It had to be.
“Come on,” Ken urged. “No one has to know.”
Mikki wanted to slap him. “Ken, I'm going to ignore what you said, because I'm sure you're going to regret having said it.” She paused. “And lay off the alcohol, because it's obvious you've had too much.”
Then Mikki spun around and went back into the reception hall.
 
 
For the next hour, Mikki contemplated what to do. As she partied on the dance floor, she periodically checked out her sister and Ken. Mikki noticed that Ken looked at her every so often, something that unnerved her. But other than that, they seemed like the perfect couple.
Mikki hadn't even been able to enjoy dancing with Barry, because her mind had been on the problem at hand. In fact, her opinion of the opposite sex was at an all-time low right now.
Maybe it was the news about Alexander, how he had been cheating on her, but Ken's sexual pass at her—and on her sister's wedding day—didn't sit well with her.
It confirmed her original misgivings about Ken. Even Barry had said that he
thought
Ken's player days were behind him.
But what if they weren't?
Alex had cheated on Mikki, and she would have wanted someone to tell her if they had known what he was up to. Didn't her sister deserve to know that her husband of only a few hours had already propositioned someone else?
Her decision made, Mikki went to get her sister, who was now dancing with some of the other bridesmaids to a funky song. She took her by the arm, saying, “Chantal, we have to talk.”
Chantal, who was tipsy, smiled and hugged her sister. “You were so right, Mikki. I didn't need to worry at all. This has been the best day.”
Her sister's happiness made what Mikki was about to do only harder. But Chantal deserved to know.
Mikki took her by the arm and led her out of the ballroom and into the bathroom. Thankfully, no one was in there. Placing her hands on her sister's shoulders, Mikki looked her squarely in the eye and said, “You have to listen to me. What I'm about to say concerns Ken.”
The seriousness of her tone seemed to resonate, because Chantal's eyes widened in alarm. “What's wrong?”
“This is super hard for me to tell you. And I've debated it for the past hour. And I don't know . . . it could be just because he was drunk.”
“What?”
Mikki drew in a deep breath, then said, “He came on to me.”
There. She'd said it. There was no other way to do it. You had to just say it, the way people had to just rip off a Band-Aid so it wouldn't hurt as much. At least Mikki hoped it would hurt less this way.
For a long moment, Chantal said nothing. Then, a look of disbelief flashing in her eyes, she said, “What?”
“I thought he was just messing around,” Mikki began. “Then he suggested we go into the bathroom together—”
Mikki didn't get the words out before Chantal snapped, “How could you? How could you say that?”
“Chantal—”
“No!” Chantal was shaking her head. “This is my wedding day.”
“You think I don't know that?”
Mikki stared at her sister, saw the fury in her eyes. And she suddenly felt unsure about her decision.
Should she have said nothing? But if Ken was the type of man to proposition his own sister-in-law on his wedding day, with his new wife in the next room, didn't that show that he was a slimeball?
That's why Mikki had never totally taken to him. She had sensed that there was something untrustworthy about him, even though she hadn't exactly known what.
Now she knew.
“Chantal, I would never want to hurt you. Especially not on your wedding day. I guess I'm just saying . . . I'm saying you should talk to him. I don't know. I just thought . . . I thought you would want to know.”
“Stop it!” Chantal exclaimed. “Stop telling lies. I'm sorry Alex dumped you, but—”
“You think this is about Alex?” Mikki asked, aghast.
“I think that Alex dumped you, and you're miserable,” Chantal said. “And if you're miserable, I have to be miserable, too, right?”
This couldn't be happening. “You think I'm telling you this to hurt you? You think I'm making this up?”
“You've always been jealous of me. Always. I had more friends than you, more boyfriends. That ate you up, didn't it?”
“That's not what this is about!”
“I wouldn't put it past you to make up something like this today of all days—my wedding day.”
“I'm telling you the truth. Ken came on to me. And it wasn't innocent. He knew what he was doing. For God's sake, he invited me into the bathroom to have sex, saying no one would know.”
“If he said anything even remotely like that, it's because he's drunk and was goofing around.”
Mikki tried another tactic. “Listen, Chantal. I just found out last night that Alex was cheating on me, and I wish someone had—”
“Ah, so that explains it.” Relief streaked across Chantal's face.
“Explains what?”
“This isn't about me. This is about you. And let's face it, you never liked the fact that I was getting married before you were. I'm sure you're exaggerating what Ken said or did. He's not like that anymore.”
The words stopped Mikki cold.
He's not like that anymore.
So he
had
been a player.

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