Finally Satisfied

FINALLY SATISFIED

by Tori Scott

Copyright 2011

Smashwords Edition License Notes

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the author's work.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

With thanks to all who helped bring this novella to
publication, from editing to copyediting to beta reading: Debra
Holland, Cindi Mitchell, and A. Howard Payne

FINALLY SATISFIED

Chapter One

Angel Kensington could feel the panic attack
coming on. Sweaty palms, rapid heartbeat, chest pain, choppy
breathing. She searched the kitchen for a distraction and grabbed a
cinnamon roll from the counter. She peeled a section off and popped
it into her mouth, concentrating on the flavor, the
texture--anything but what her younger sister Cara wanted her to
do.

Caramia put a hand on Angel’s shoulder. "I
know how hard it will be for you, really. But this is the most
important day of my life. Doesn’t that mean anything? "

She shrugged Cara’s hand off and moved to the
other side of the center island. "You should know better than to
even ask. Let Reggie do it." Angel turned to their mother. "Mom,
tell her. Tell her I can’t do this. "

"Don't bring me into this. It wasn't my
idea." Anna Kensington wiped the kitchen counter with a dishrag,
shaking her head as her daughters continued to argue.

"Just tell me why," Cara begged. "You at
least owe me that much."

Angel scowled. Why couldn't Cara just accept
no
for an answer and let it go? She'd managed to go sixteen
years without letting anyone in on her darkest secret, and she
didn't intend to start now. "Two reasons. I don’t want to have a
panic attack in front of all those people, and you know that’s a
distinct possibility. Second, I don't want to be paired up with
Mitchell Turner, but it's inevitable if he's going to be Gray's
best man."

Cara sighed. "You can take your meds before
the ceremony to take care of the first problem. As for the second,
you won't be
paired up
with anyone. All you have to do is
walk out with Mitch, then you can stay as far away from him as you
want the rest of the time. It's not like I'm asking you to date
him."

Damned good thing, but she still didn't want
to do this. How could she not, though, without looking like a
self-absorbed bitch? She'd tried very hard to not let her mother
and sister know how often she had the attacks, or how bad they
were. If they knew, they’d worry a lot more than they did now, and
her mother would hover. She knew sixteen years was way too long for
it to affect her. But she couldn't help it. She'd tried to put the
past behind her, just forget it, but nothing worked.

The panic attacks came without warning.
Stress made them more frequent and stronger. Being in the wedding,
being near Mitch, would shoot her stress levels through the roof.
Maybe if she doubled up on Ativan… "Fine. But I don't want to be
dressed up like some fancy peacock. I get to choose my dress or no
deal."

"No problem. You and Reggie and I will go
shopping together. As long as I get to choose the color, you two
can do the rest." Cara let out an audible sigh of relief. "Thank
you. I want this wedding to be perfect, but how could it be without
you in it to share it with me?"

"Just promise me you won't try to do any
matchmaking, or even try to make me dance with Mitch. Because I
won't do it, and I won't be ladylike about saying no." Angel turned
and fled the kitchen before Cara could press her for more details.
Mitch seemed like a genuinely nice guy, but she didn’t trust him.
She knew his family, and if he was anything like them, he had an
ulterior motive behind those boyish good looks and southern
charm.

Ever since Cara and Gray had gotten back
together, Mitch had made it his personal quest to draw her out. She
didn't want to be drawn out. She liked her life just the way it
was--safe and uncomplicated.

She had her online friends and her
photography business to keep her busy. She didn't need, or want, a
man in her life. She'd been there, done that, and had the
heartbreak to show for it.

***

Cara settled onto the couch next to Gray with
a glass of iced tea cradled in her hands. She couldn't wait until
the weather turned cooler as fall settled firmly over Austin,
perfect for sitting in front of the fireplace, talking and making
wedding plans. But tonight it was still warm and muggy and the air
conditioner hummed in the background. She wasn't in the mood to
talk about the wedding, either. Angel's initial refusal to be her
maid of honor had hurt her feelings, and Gray had picked up on her
mood.

He put his arm around her and pulled her in
close, kissing her forehead. "Want to tell me what's wrong?"

Cara shook her head. How could she tell him
that choosing Mitch as his best man might ruin the wedding? She'd
assumed he'd ask Sam, but he'd insisted that while Sam was his best
friend, Mitch was family. Which was the same reason she'd asked
Angel to be maid of honor instead of Reggie, so how could she
criticize his choice? But she had this uneasiness in the pit of her
stomach that they might have made a terrible mistake.

She watched enough reality television about
weddings to have nightmares. Maybe they should just elope.

"Is this about Angel?" Gray asked, rubbing a
hand up her arm.

"How did you guess?"

"Maybe because you've been dreading asking
her to be in the wedding. So I take it she said no?"

"At first," she said, covering his hand with
her own. She never tired of touching him, being touched by him.
"But she finally agreed."

"What did you have to bribe her with? A new
car?" He chuckled when she stuck her tongue out at him.

"Nothing so expensive. I just had to promise
we wouldn't try any matchmaking, and that she didn't have to have
anything to do with Mitch beyond the recessional."

Gray dropped a soft kiss on her upturned
mouth. "I don't understand why she has such a problem with Mitch.
As far as I know, he's never done anything to her. I didn't think
they even knew each other. He's never mentioned her."

"She's never mentioned him before, either,
which makes me think there's something there, either in the past or
just some strong attraction now, and Angel is running from it. So
we have to block her escape." Cara looked up at Gray from beneath
her lashes, something she'd learned drove him crazy and pretty much
guaranteed that he would give her whatever she wanted.

Gray shut his eyes. "Oh no you don't. You're
not pulling that trick on me again."

She batted her eyelashes against his chin,
tickling him. "Open your eyes."

"No."

"Come on, Gray. Just one last itty-bitty
favor."

He opened one eye and sighed. "We're going to
do it again, aren't we?"

Cara laughed and kissed him, deep and hard.
"Yep. Looks like we're having a destination wedding."

***

"Oh, no. Not a chance. You bullied me into
being in the wedding, but I'm not spending a couple of days trapped
somewhere with no way out. Find yourself another bridesmaid." Angel
could feel the panic attack building again. She had to get away,
find some place where she could breathe. But Cara blocked the door
to the kitchen and her mother stood in the doorway to the hall.
Gray guarded the front door.

They'd ganged up on her and cut off all
avenues of escape. Sweat broke out on her forehead. Why couldn't
they just leave her the hell alone? Why couldn't she have been an
only child? Or an orphan? Then she wouldn't have people trying to
force her to do things she didn't want to do.

"What is so wrong with Mitch?" Cara demanded.
"I want to know. Has he hurt you in some way? Forced himself on
you? Belittled you or made fun of you?"

Angel shook her head, her hair flying around
her face. "No. I don't know. It's just…I can't explain it. He
scares me."

Gray's brows furrowed and his fists clenched.
"If he's done anything to you, I'll take him apart myself."

"No. He's been a perfect gentleman. Maybe
that's the problem. He's just too damned nice. So I don't trust
him."

Cara laughed. "You don't like him because
he's nice? Then what's the problem? It's the bad boys you have to
watch out for. A gentleman will leave you alone if you ask him to.
He won't push or press. Just tell him politely to leave you alone
and he will. And if he doesn't, Gray will take care of it. Fair
enough?"

The panic began to abate a bit and Angel
dragged in a deep breath. "Where are we going? It has to be
somewhere I can get away from if I have to. No cruise ship this
time."

"Come sit down," Cara said, "and we'll tell
you all about it. You're going to love it"

No, she wouldn't. She wouldn't love being
anywhere with Mitch. But curiosity won out and she followed Cara to
the couch. Gray sat on one side of Angel and Cara sat on the other
side. Trying to pen her in? When her mother pulled a chair up to
face her across the coffee table, she was sure of it.

Cara pulled some brochures from her purse and
spread them across the table. "We're having an outdoor wedding and
the one thing I want more than anything else is snow. Since the
chances of that in Austin are nearly zilch, we have to find the
perfect spot that has both snow and lots of scenery. But it needs
to be somewhere in the states so our friends don't have to get
passports to attend."

Angel picked up a brochure and opened it.
"Wow, it looks cold."

Cara grinned. "But can you imagine how
gorgeous we'll all be, wearing fur jackets with our dresses? I want
long gloves and ear muffs, too. The pictures will be amazing."

Angel sighed. It did sound beautiful. "But
how are you going to pull a wedding together that fast? Valentine's
Day is only a few months away."

"I've chosen places that do complete
packages, right down to the photographer and DJ. All we have to do
is pick out the dresses and get them altered." Cara leaned into
Gray and he pulled her in close. "We're cutting it close, but I
thought we'd go shopping tomorrow. I've already scouted out a few
places and had some dresses put aside."

"But I had plans for tomorrow. I don't think
I can change them on such short notice." This was too much, too
fast. She'd kept her defenses in place all these years by always
controlling her surroundings, her schedule, the people she let
near, and now Cara was trying to wrest that control from her. She
didn't think she could handle it.

"Please? For me? Just one day, that's all I'm
asking." She grinned. "Well, that and the week on the mountain, but
who's counting?"

"A week? Why a week?" Her heart beat went
into double time. "No, I can't do that. Two days, maybe, for
rehearsals and stuff, but that's it." No way was she spending a
week trapped on a mountain. Not even her meds could get her through
that.

"We're making a vacation out of it for the
wedding party. We're going to do all the touristy stuff during the
day in between taking care of wedding details. At night we'll hang
out around a fire and just relax so the wedding day isn't so
stressful. We'll have plenty of time to chill out."

Cara's mother smiled at Angel. "Doesn't that
sound wonderful, dear?"

No, it didn't sound wonderful at all. "But I
hate snow. I hate cold. I thought you were getting married on the
beach where it's warm?" She sounded whiny and petulant, but she
couldn't help it. She hated surprises. Hated having plans uprooted
and turned upside down. Why couldn't they see that? Didn't they
know her at all?

"Don't whine, Angel. It isn't becoming." Her
mother turned to Gray. "Would you like some coffee, Gray? Or maybe
some hot chocolate? I have cookies fresh from the oven."

Gray took the cue and followed her into the
kitchen. "Hot chocolate sounds wonderful, Mrs. Kensington."

"Oh, shoo. Call me Anna. You're practically
family now."

An uncomfortable silence settled over the
living room as Angel avoided looking at Cara and Cara never took
her gaze off of Angel. The grandfather clock on the sideboard
ticked away the passing seconds, then minutes.

"Would you stop staring at me like that?"
Angel snapped before she turned and walked to the window, pulling
the curtain back to look outside.

"Would you stop acting like a wounded warrior
with PTSD?" Cara snapped back. "Look, honey, I'm sorry. I know life
hasn't been kind to you. But what happened was years ago. You've
let the best years of your life pass you by while you hide out here
with Mom. You need to get some help or you're going to die in this
house, a lonely, bitter old woman."