Page 221 of Dirty Rival
“Then it’s your dress. I’ll call and pay for it.”
“Reid—”
“I love you, Carrie. We’re getting the dress.”
Her cellphone rings. “My father. I’m kind of dreading this call. I’m inviting him, right?” She pulls her phone out.
“Yes. Invite him.”
“Okay.”
She answers the line. “Hey, dad.” She listens a minute. “Yes. I called because we’re getting married on the twenty-seventh in Rockefeller Center.” Carrie’s eyes meet mine. “Dad, I can’t invite you. You can’t be here.”
My jaw drops. “Carrie,” I whisper urgently.
“Reid is my best friend,” she continues, “and my partner in life now, and I can’t have him upset that day.”
Chapter one hundred fourteen
Carrie
“You don’t want me at the wedding,” my father says, and I’m shocked when his voice cracks.
“He’s my best friend,” I say again. “I can’t have him feeling alienated at our wedding.”
Reid steps in front of me and takes the phone. “James, we’ll call you back.” He disconnects the call. “What are you doing, Carrie?”
My hands flatten on his lapels. “I had this sudden realization that I was being selfish to invite him and that you were being so very gracious.”
“Gracious? Baby, you’re about to be my wife. There is no grace to it. It’s just me loving you.”
“And this is me loving you,” I say. “We’ll renew our vows down the road and hopefully things will be different then.”
“Things are already different,” he says, covering one of my hands with his. “He and I made peace for you.”
“But you have so much history. He threatened you. You thought you’d lose everything because of my father. You’re marrying me despite that.”
“Despite that? Carrie, I’m marrying you because I can’t live without you.”
My heart squeezes with the rough, emotional quality in his voice. “I want this to be the best day of our lives.”
“And it will be. I’m fine with your father and I believe our wedding day will make us bond over what we have in common: our love for you.” He holds the phone between us. “Call him. Invite him. He needs time to plan. He needs to give his daughter away—to me.”
“That’s just it. He’s giving me away to you. He might act like an ass.”
“He won’t. I believe that, and if he does, we’ll handle it together, like we handle everything now.”
I press my lips together. “I really love you, Reid.”
“I really love you, Carrie. Call your father. I’ll go inside and give you space to talk to him.” He cups my face and kisses me. “Don’t be long. The temperature is dropping.” He turns and walks inside the restaurant.
I draw a deep, chilly breath and call my father back. “Carrie,” he answers softly.
“Hey, dad. I’m sorry. I’m confused because I really want you there, but I need you to be my dad, not the man who went to war with Reid’s family.”
“I told you I’d make peace with Reid. I love you, daughter. I know I haven’t been the best father in some ways, but I think I had some decent moments.”
“You have been a great father. I just need you to be him at my wedding.”