Second Chances (Dreams Come True #2) (15 page)

“We’ll pack up the food, the decorations, the wine, and especially the cake. Kristofer can play wedding photographer.” Isabella interrupted Ben.

“But what if I want to take the pictures?” She stuck out her lip in a pout. “No offense, Kristofer.”

“None taken, doll.” Kristofer winked at her.

“You can’t,” Ben explained. Even as he talked the caterers were packing everything up at Gabriel’s directive, while I marveled at the activity going on around me. “Isabella, you have to be the matron of honor.”

“Yes, please!” Marisa danced happily.

“Gabriel has to be the best man,” Ben continued.

“I thought I got to pick the best man,” I joked.

Gabriel laughed. “You know you want me for best man.”

I peered at Ben. We had a long private history no one knew about. “You don’t want to be the best man, Ben?”

He shook his head. “Who’s in film school?” He jabbed himself in the chest with his thumb. “I’m the videographer. We’re going to record this for posterity.” Ben grinned.

“Well, okay then.” I shrugged.

“What about us?” Ian leaned on Matt’s shoulder.

“Well,” Ben suggested, “somebody has to play wedding guests.”

I blew out a breath. “So, it’s all settled?”

Marisa smiled up at me. “Looks that way.”

The caterers were already disappearing out the door on their way to the vehicles, arms loaded. The room might be emptying, but my heart was full. “Let’s go get married.”

Chapter Fourteen

Marisa

We rushed out of the gallery after grabbing our coats and my purse, then raced to the airport. The caterers had already arrived and were loading the plane. As I soaked it all in, I wrapped my arms around my body and squeezed. This felt completely surreal. A second set of limbs encircled me and I looked up at Sebastian’s serious face and smiled while tears filled my eyes.

“Second thoughts already?” He wore a mirthless grin.

Shaking my head hard enough to move my bun, I sniffled. “I can’t believe this. Look at everyone working so hard to make this happen.”

“We’re friends. We’ve been there for each other since we were kids.” Sebastian shrugged. “It’s what we do. We make things happen.” Slowly he released me and took my hand. “Let’s get on the plane. You’re sure you won’t have any regrets?”

I pursed my lips. “Maybe one.”

His brow furrowed. “What’s that?”

“I wish I’d agreed to this sooner. Maybe Mattie could’ve come. Now I won’t have anyone there for me.” My chin dropped and I stared at the ground.

Sebastian hugged me close as he murmured into my hair. “Silly sunshine, haven’t you figured it out yet?”

“What’s that?”

“The best part of marriage is sharing. Clearly my friends are already your friends. Take a look around.” He nudged me and I glanced at the scene unfolding around me. “This isn’t for me. It’s for us.”

Somehow, Sebastian managed to make me feel better. I lifted my chin and smiled up at him. “Thank you. You’ve changed my life.” My voice was barely more than a whisper.

Sebastian chuckled. “It’s the least I could do since you’ve saved mine.”

“Tick tock, love birds!” Matt shouted to us from inside the plane.

With a genuine laugh, I rushed as quickly as the platform heels would allow and joined everyone. Sebastian was right behind me as we ascended the stairs and found two open seats together inside. Once everyone was buckled in, the pilot started preparing us for takeoff while Gabriel addressed the group.

“We have our work cut out for us,” he began. “Everyone will be assigned a task. I’m going to book our ground transportation. Isabella, you find rooms for everyone at the Mandarin.”

“Why the Mandarin?” Isabella interrupted. Then she shook her head, knowing how he’d answer and they said in chorus, “It’s the best.”

“Sebastian, apply online for the marriage license.” Gabriel looked at me and smiled. “Marisa, pick a wedding venue.”

“Okay.” I could barely speak without squealing. We were on a private jet, flying to Las Vegas where Sebastian and I would join our lives together before the day was over. Who did this?

“Ben, can you check out the Apostille thing to make sure the marriage is recognized when we get home?” Gabriel tugged at his chin.

“You got it,” Ben responded, even as he pulled out his phone.

“What about us?” Kristofer had his phone at the ready.

“Um. I’m running out of tasks to accomplish. What am I forgetting?” Gabriel looked to me for ideas.

“Don’t ask me. I’ve never even been to a wedding.” I held my hands up to surrender. “I can’t believe you’re trusting me to find a venue.”

“Oh, girlfriend,” Kristofer began, “you should check out the Little White Wedding Chapel.” He nodded with certainty. “It’s the place all the stars go to get hitched.”

Sebastian stopped working on his phone long enough to roll his eyes. “Like who?”

Holding out his hand to count off all the couples he could think of, Kristofer grinned. “Frank Sinatra and Mia Farrow.”

Making a sour face, Sebastian responded. “Divorced.”

“Brittney Spears. I don’t remember which marriage.” Kristofer looked to the ceiling while thinking.

“Doesn’t matter. Not married to anyone now. Divorced.” Sebastian crossed his arms over his chest.

“Bruce and Demi!” Kristofer grinned.

My future husband sighed loudly. “Divorced!” With a shake of his head, Sebastian asked, “Has anyone who married there stayed married?” When Kristofer couldn’t answer immediately, he frowned at me. “I’m not sure we want to marry anywhere so cursed, sunshine. I bring enough gloom and doom to the altar as it is.” Sebastian shrugged as he passed it off on me.

“What are you talking about? You’re talking like you’re cursed.” My face contorted in disbelief.

Sebastian took a deep breath. “Before we marry you should know, I’ve always been cursed. Look at my history. My parents died in a plane crash. My uncle destroyed my psyche and ruined my life while systematically depleting my fortune. It may never get better. The curse could continue.” He seemed so sad, like he expected me to call it off after his admission.

I shrugged. “Hey, shit happens. Get over it. When life hands you lemons, make lemon cheesecake and all that crap. Plus, you have me now.” I grinned at him playfully. “Huh. Of course, I could be part of the curse.” I winked.

Slowly, a smile spread across his face. “I thought it was lemonade.”

“You thought what was lemonade?” The way he looked at me had me losing my whole train of thought.

“I thought the expression was about making lemonade when life handed you lemons.” His smile widened.

I made a face. “Why would I make lemonade when I could make lemon cheesecake…oh, or lemon bars? Man, I love lemon bars. We should go get some.”

Chuckling, Sebastian asked, “Could we get married first?”

“Yeah.” I nodded enthusiastically. “Then we eat.”

“Yes, we’ll eat.” He leaned over and brushed his lips against mine.

“Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward!” Kristofer shouted triumphantly.

“What?” Sebastian lazily ended our kiss.

“They were not only married at the Little White Wedding Chapel, but they stayed married until his death. I think it was like fifty years.” He leaned back proudly.

“We could totally be Paul and Joanne.” I nodded at Sebastian.

“You think we could be married fifty years?” He held my hand tightly against his chest.

“Whoa. I don’t know about fifty. By then your looks will have gone and you’ll be all cranky. I figure I can stick it out for forty-seven maybe.” I batted my eyelashes at him playfully.

“Oh, and your looks will be intact, I suppose?” His eyebrows arched.

“Hell yeah. I’m like a fine wine. I only get better with age.” I glanced at the phone he held in his other hand. “Now get that form done or we’ll never find out.”

***

Sebastian

With everything we had to do to prepare for the wedding, the flight had landed before we knew it. I’d heard weddings were supposed to be so stressful, but ours promised to be fun. At least it had been so far. The excitement in the air was nearly tangible. Still, as we emerged from the plane and loaded everything into the waiting limo, I began to have my doubts. Already, it was closing in on eleven at night, Vegas time. I tried not to focus on the clock too much and simply live in the moment.

As we rode with our friends, Marisa squeezed my hand. “Don’t worry. We’re going to make it.”

“I didn’t say anything.” I stared at our hands joined together.

“You didn’t have to. I know you. After all, I’m your almost-wife.” She giggled.

“You won’t be able to say that much longer,” I teased.

Her eyes widened. “I know, right? Then I’ll be saying I’m your actual wife.”

“You’ve picked your title? You’re going with ‘actual wife’?” I grinned down at her sparkling mischievous eyes.

“Well, I figured actual mother fucking wife was a bit unsophisticated.” She bit her lip and I knew she wondered if she’d gone too far.

“Good thinking. Of course, you can still be my actual mother fucking wife in private.” I winked.

Before we could say more, we had arrived at the Clark County Clerk’s Office to get our marriage license. I stepped out first and then offered my hand to assist Marisa, but no one else moved. “Hey, are you coming?” I leaned into the limo.

“No, we’re going to get everything set up in the hotel suites, then meet you at the chapel,” Gabriel explained.

“Wait. You aren’t coming back for us?” I frowned. “How…” Before I could ask another question, I saw a driver wave our direction from another limo.

“I thought you might like some alone time before the wedding.” Gabriel grinned.

I held out my hand to him. “You’re the best, Gabriel. I know I haven’t always been easy to be around…” For some reason, I felt the need to make amends, but he slapped my hand away.

“Don’t get soft on me now. I love you, man. We’re good. Always have been. Hurry up and secure that license.” Gabriel smiled at me and I knew he meant it. We were like brothers.

Nodding, I backed up and met my almost-wife on the curb. I had to bite my cheek to stop smiling like an idiot around her lately. Then we went in to get the license. It took longer than expected. I glanced at my phone and Marisa caught me.

“We’re good. Plenty of time. How long could it take to get married?” She rubbed my arm soothingly.

At quarter after eleven Vegas time, we were in the limo on the way to the chapel. “Is it far?” I nervously asked the driver.

“Only a mile and a half, actually.” The driver smiled pleasantly.

“Wow. We could walk there,” I commented.

Lifting a foot, Marisa shook her head. “Not in these shoes.”

“Just a figure of speech, sunshine. We’ll ride. Plenty of time.” I held her hand in both of mine, and traced her fingers as I struggled to remain calm. If my hands were busy, I couldn’t keep checking my phone for the time.

Not so long ago, the guys and I would go out partying. We wouldn’t leave until close to eleven at night. Midnight seemed so early. Suddenly, now it seemed late…too late.

The limo driver soon let us out. The drive had taken a mere five minutes due to some heavy traffic. We discovered everyone was there waiting for us. I breathed a sigh of relief. This was happening. We had forty minutes. Ian, Matt, Ben and Kristofer were standing around joking and planning their night. Gabriel and Isabel, the only ones who truly understood the reason for our rush to the altar, wore tight faces.

My shoulders sank. “What’s wrong?”

“There’s a line,” Gabriel began calmly, his hands out in an effort to help me hold it together, no doubt.

Isabella took it one step further, she moved closer and held our hands. “So, I asked. You’re third. They thought your turn would be in roughly half an hour.”

In my head, I did the math. “That’s ten minutes before twelve.” My heart was in my throat. I could feel myself wanting to absolutely vomit as I considered how we’d gone to all this work for nothing.

“Should we go somewhere else? Is there another place we might get in sooner?” Marisa glanced around.

“That was my next question.” Isabella sighed. “They are all experiencing similar surges in weddings today. You do know what today is, right?”

I frowned. “My birthday?”

Gabriel chuckled. “Sebastian has never been one to celebrate Valentine’s Day.” He grinned at Marisa. “And apparently you weren’t either.”

“I never really thought about it.” Marisa shrugged then stared up at me. She tried to offer a reassuring smile, but we both knew it fell short. “I’m sorry. I should’ve agreed to marry you sooner. This is all my fault.”

My chest swelled. This woman loved me. All the years of believing I’d never find love, never be loved in return, and here she was, twisting herself into a pretzel for me. I swallowed hard and shook my head. “No. I said it before and I still mean it. I simply forgot. It’s you I want. The money doesn’t matter.”

“Money doesn’t matter?” Ben laid a hand on my shoulder and squeezed, then pretended to glare at Marisa. “What have you done to my friend?”

“Oh, you know how us girls are. I’ve just ruined his life and he’s pleased as punch about it.” She smiled at Ben, but I could see the sadness in her eyes.

“Marisa, I was only teasing,” Ben explained. Obviously, he noticed her glistening eyes too. “I know I don’t know you well, yet, but I can see Sebastian found his perfect match.” He shared a sad smile. “I’m so happy for him.”

“Then what’s the look in
your
eyes now, Ben?” The frustration was evident in my voice. What was supposed to be a happy occasion was fast turning into a disaster.

“I’m just trying to accept the fact that I’m going to be the confirmed bachelor of the group.” He shrugged. “I’ll be the George Clooney to your Brad Pitt.” Ben gestured to Gabriel. “And your Matt Damon.” He patted me.

“I’m Brad Pitt?” Gabriel smiled and puffed his chest out.

Isabella rolled her eyes before hugging Ben. “Don’t forget,” she murmured in his ear, “George Clooney is no longer a bachelor.”

Marisa leaned against me. “Gawd, I love your friends. They are the best people.”

“Our friends,” I corrected. Then I brightened. I was the negotiator. What was I doing sulking when I should be putting my skills to use? Looking down at my almost-wife, I grinned. “Wait right here. I have an idea.”