Modern Arrangements: Complete Trilogy (Modern Arrangements #1-3) (21 page)

"Don’t be ridiculous! Of course you
do." She sat back with a determined look on her face. "Liam?"
she placed one of her hands on top of his. "Do you remember our
honeymoon?"

"Of course, love." He grinned.
"Ireland for two weeks and then the Island for two more. And, if I recall
correctly, the last week at the Island was clothing optional." He winked
and chuckled. Viola giggled.

"Please don’t start," Aidan
shook his head, horrified. I laughed and he scowled at me.

"Sorry," I mumbled through
more stifled laughs. He narrowed his eyes at me. "Oh come on, it’s
funny."

"No it’s not. It’s scarring
me." A small smile started to form on his lips.

Lips that suddenly looked more appealing
than the lemon vanilla cheesecake sitting in front of me. The urge to wipe the
cheesecake over his lips and climb in his lap to lick it off  coursed through
me.

Whoa, there
!
I shook my head quickly and turned my attention back to Viola and Liam.

"Oh Aidan, how do you think Maggie
came to be, Immaculate Conception?" Liam chuckled.

"I just don’t need to hear about
it. By the way, when did you guys decide I was old enough to hear you talk like
this? Because I want to renegotiate with whoever made that decision."

 I laughed again, this time at Aidan
acting like the kid who caught their parents going at it.

"Lighten up," Viola said as
she took a sip from her glass. "I’m sure you can come back with a few stories
when you return. In fact…I’ve got it! You guys can have the Island for two
weeks after the wedding."

"The Island?" I asked. Who the
hell has an entire Island?

"Yes, Aidan Sr. left it to us and I
want you to use it for your honeymoon." She smiled. "Lilli, you will
need to get packed before the wedding and I’ll have everything sent and ready
for when you both arrive after the wedding."

"Vi, I can’t just leave for two
weeks without planning –" Aidan tried to argue.

"Nonsense, Aidan," Liam
interjected. "Things will be fine. You’ll have the satellite phone and
internet while you are there. If necessary you can fly back but I don’t see why
that would occur."

"Umm –" My brow furrowed as I
ran through good reasons to get us out of this.

Aidan sighed. "Thank you, Viola,
but –"

"It’s settled, Aidan. It will be
good for both of you to get some
alone time
together."

The way she said
alone time
made
me shift uncomfortably.

"You both are always apart and that
needs to change if you’re going to be together for four years," she lifted
her glass to her mouth. I swear I heard her mumble, "or longer"
before she took a sip.

"I don’t think we’re getting out of
this." Aidan leaned and whispered to me.

All I could do was nod.

We left from Viola and Liam’s in silence
and remained that way the entire ride home. I didn’t want to think about a
honeymoon because all I thought about was what’s supposed to happen on your
honeymoon. I felt a little nervous he would expect it. I didn’t think it should
happen but I also felt jilted because I wouldn’t have the experience other
brides get on their wedding night. Not to mention that I had the urge to jump
Aidan tonight right at Viola’s dining room table.

Once we were in the apartment, Aidan
headed to the large leather chair, plopped down and turned on the television. I
went straight to the bar. Pouring a glass of wine, I also poured bourbon. I
handed the bourbon to Aidan on my way to the couch.

"Thanks," he paused. "How
did you –?"

"Aidan, how many times did you
order those at the club? It wasn’t hard to figure out." Stretching out my
tensed muscles, I smiled.

"Yeah, but how did you know…I
mean…why did you grab it for me?"

I shrugged the best I could while half
lying on the couch.

"I figured you could use a drink as
much I could after tonight’s dinner conversation." I giggled, thinking
about his reaction to Viola and Liam’s indiscretions.

"I’m not that worked up over the
honeymoon." He said with a grouchy tone.

"I wasn’t talking about that,"
I said back in a teasing tone. "I was thinking about Viola talking about
their honeymoon and –"

"Ew…don’t you start too!" He
laughed out. Turning my head, I saw him cringe at just the thought.

"Oh, get over it. I say more power
to them!" Raising my glass into the air, I took a large drink.

"I guess," he mumbled.

We sat in comfortable silence awhile
just watching television. Aidan had shifted in his seat but I kept my eyes on
the TV. One moment I blinked and the next, Aidan was next to me pouring more
wine into my glass.

"Thanks," I smiled.

"No problem." He gave a
lopsided grin.

Our eyes met and for a brief moment, we
lingered. Neither one of us wanting to be the first to look away. Heat flushed
my face just before he broke the connection and walked away. I downed my wine
quickly and excused myself to bed.

Friday I woke up to banging on the
apartment door and the buzzer going off over and over and over. Looking over to
the clock, it was only five in the morning.

"Ugh!" I groaned out and
pulled myself out of bed.

Halfway to the steps Aidan stepped out
of his room only wearing a pair of dress pants, which were hanging low on his
hips since they weren’t yet buttoned. I licked my lips taking in his fresh from
the shower hair and the bareness of his chest. Pulling myself out of my lustful
stare, the door buzzer went off again.

"I got it." I yawned and
headed down the stairs.

His hand wrapped around my arm and
pulled me back. Turning, I looked at him with confusion.

"In that?" He motioned to my
pajamas.

"What’s wrong with me?" I
looked down over my shorts and t-shirt. It was more coverage than the night
James had showed up. Hell, it was just a simple black t-shirt and gray sweat
shorts.

"You should cover up."

Shrugging off his tingling touch, I
continued down the stairs.

"You’re a dork." I said over my
shoulder. Flipping the switch on the door monitor, I saw Phoebe’s face.
"Oh God, make it go away!"

"Who is it?" Aidan yelled from
behind me.

I looked back noticing that his pants
were now buttoned and he had an undershirt on. His shirt was over his shoulders
and left unbuttoned.
Is it wrong to want to strip your fake fiancé and
bounce on him like a pogo stick?

"It’s Phoebe," I groaned at
her arrival and my thoughts. Aidan chuckled as I pulled open the door.
"Good morning, Phoebe," I mumbled as she danced into the room.

"Good morning, sunshine," she
practically sang. She looked at Aidan and stopped. "Well, hello there,
handsome." She smiled sweetly. I rolled my eyes.

"See, she knows how to greet
me." He grinned.

"Good, marry her." I mumbled
and dragged my ass into the kitchen for coffee – a lot of coffee. Phoebe’s
laugh rang out behind me.

"Sorry, baby, you’re stuck with
me." He entered the kitchen behind me.

"Only for four years, then you are
g-o-n-e, gone." I laughed. He didn’t.

I turned around to gauge his expression;
he stood half a foot away from me grinning. Leaning forward, he placed both
hands on either side of me.

"If I let you go." He said it
with such a serious tone I shivered. I smacked his arm.

"Shut up!" Shoving coffee at
him, he took his mug and backed away. Turning back to the coffee machine, I
prayed I could calm myself before I needed to do a panty change.

Today was the rehearsal dinner, which
was at the Carlyle on the Upper East Side of New York. It was a small dinner
compared to the Iverson’s typical gatherings but, to me, seventy five people in
a five star restaurant was a lot.

Phoebe arrived early since she had a
seven in the morning spa day planned for Viola, Maggie, Celia, Elora, and me.
She needed two hours to prepare me for the spa. Preparing entailed me lying in
bed and letting her do whatever while I dosed off.

Half an hour before the car was going to
arrive, I jumped in the shower and put on the totally clichéd
Bride
jogging suit Phoebe had set out. Hers, of course, said
Maid of Honor
and
the rest said
Bridesmaid
, except for Viola’s, hers said
Mother of the
Groom
.

We arrived to the spa and were rushed
into a private suite. Scowling at Phoebe for doing this, I found out it was
Viola’s typical room. After apologizing to Phoebe, I just sighed and relaxed.
Sitting around getting foot massages, Phoebe disappeared for a moment, emerging
a few minutes later.

"Lilli, I have a surprise for
you…" she was practically doing a cheer. As I was about to reprimand her
for the surprise, my mother stepped out from behind a curtain.

"Mom?" Quickly standing, I
froze in shock.

"Hey, babe!" she moved
quickly, throwing her arms around me.

"Uh…hey" I looked at Phoebe
with wide eyes. "I...uh…thought you couldn’t make it this weekend?"

"Do you think I would miss my
baby’s wedding day? Of course not." She kissed my cheek. "I can’t
wait to meet the man who finally got that big heart of yours." She beamed.
Internally, I groaned.

"You mean with an iron clad contrac
–" Lucky for me a spa worker appeared and interrupted Maggie’s comment.
She called my name.

"Miss Snowe?"

"You know, what? Please, take my
mother back first." I smiled apologetically.

"Of course, whatever you
prefer." She gave me an odd look and took my mother with her. Turning back
to everyone, I got more strange looks.

"Okay, listen. My mom has no idea
about this ‘arrangement’. I thought I could just tell her the truth, but it
seems she is all high off of true love and romance at the moment." I
sighed loudly. "So, can you please not say anything to her? Atleast not
today. I’ll tell her about it tonight after dinner."

"Of course, dear," Viola
leaned over and wrapped her arm around me. "Though, you need to tell Aidan
before he makes a mistake when you introduce them."

"Oh shit!" I went wide eyed again.
"I didn’t even think of that. Viola, you’re brilliant. I’ll be right
back." Grabbing my cell phone, I went into a small changing room.

"What’s the matter, are you already
sick of the spa?" he answered his phone laughing.

"Oh, ha ha. No, I…uh…have a problem."

"What’s wrong?" I couldn’t
help but feel the warm fuzzies grow inside me at his genuine concern.

"My mother’s here."

There was a long silence.

"O…kay?"

"She doesn’t know…about the
agreement." I bit my lip and waited.

"I thought you called her about
it?"

"I tried to, but she
is…well…remember how I told you my mother was kind of crazy, free spirited and
wishy washy?"

"Yeah."

"Well, Mrs. Wishy Washy is on this
big romance and true love kick right now. So when she said she couldn’t make it
to the wedding I just let her believe what she wanted." I took a deep
breath. "I swear, I’m going to tell her tonight after dinner when it’s
just me and her. I just don’t want to embarrass her in front of anyone."

"Ok." He said quickly.

"That’s it, just okay? You aren’t
pissed ‘cause I didn’t tell her?" I was a little surprised.

"No, not really. It’s not a big
deal. She should stay with us." He added.

"W-what?" I choked. "No, I
don’t think she should –"

"Of course she should. Invite her
or I’ll have Viola do it." He laughed and hung up.

He was up to something. I just didn’t
know what it was.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Aidan

My day had been hell. First, I have to
see Lilli in her barely-there pajamas this morning. Second, I got way too close
to her this morning. The scent of her cherry and floral skin made me want to
lift her on the counter and plow into her until the whole building heard her
scream my name. I needed sex, I needed it soon and I wanted her. Not a good
combination for me at the moment.

Barely listening to another sales
meeting drone on about figures, my phone lit with Lilli’s picture from her
bachelorette party. Muting my desk phone, I answered. Hearing about her
situation with her mother was, at first, a little alarming, but the bastard in
me slowly formed the perfect plan.

It was too good to be true, so I had to
be careful, very careful. If things worked in my favor, then not only would
Lilli have to play along with my advances, but she would end up in my bed.

With the rehearsal dinner tonight, and
the prospect of Lilli in my arms all night, I arrived the apartment by two
o’clock, after I made an important phone call to check on some arrangements. We
had to be at the pier by four with dinner plans starting at six. However, Viola
wanted us there by five thirty. When I got home I could hear Lilli and Phoebe
arguing in her room about the dress she wanted her to wear.