Page 69 of Beyond the Rules
“Teresa’s wedding is coming up,” Tanner said. “We’re all expected to bethere.”
“People. Crowds.” Aiden winced. “Shit, I’d have to wearatux.”
“Who’s Teresa?” Iasked.
“Teresa is Tanner’s twin sister,” Zar explained. “We’re close with her. Regrettably, she’s marrying an armygrunt.”
“He’s not so bad,” Aiden said, “I mean, forbeingarmy.”
“For Christ’s sake,” Tanner said. “The grunt you’re talking about is a Green Beret and a WestPoint Grad, so we’ll have to live with him. The question is whether it’ll be safe for Nina to attend thewedding.”
“Me?” I poked my chest. “But I’m not eveninvited!”
“Of course you are,” Tanner said. “My invitation says Mr. Tanner VasquezandGuest.”
Aiden grinned. “Mine says ‘guest’too.”
“And mine.” The heat in Zar’s gaze curled my toes and reminded me we had unfinishedbusiness.
“From a security standpoint, the Vazquez ranch will be highly secured for the event,” Zar said. “We will reassess the threat as the date gets closer, but should the outing rate at a reasonable level of risk, we should all be prepared toattend.”
“Um…” I wasn’t exactly sure how to bring up my next point. “I’m onlyoneguest.”
The three men exchanged looks amongthemselves.
“This should be Tanner’s night,” Zar said and Aiden dipped his head in agreement. “Governor Vasquez will be happy to see a pretty girl onTanner’sarm.”
“Governor Vasquez?” I shot Tanner a look. “Your father is the governor of Montana? Hello? When were you guys going to tellmethis?”
Tanner shrugged. “Sooner or later, you were bound tofindout.”
“Why not justtellme?”
He gave me hisyou know whylook. He didn’t want to be pitied, or given a pass, or categorized as “safe.” He didn’t want to be known as the governor’s son, either, and least of all, he didn’t want to be welcomed into someone’s bed because of his father’s name, reputation or wealth. In fact, he didn’t want to talk about his father at all. I had a lot more questions, but they’d have to wait. Aiden looked as if he was about to throw up. My guess? He didn’t know if he could handle theevent.
“Hey, you.” I hooked my elbow around his and gave him a peck on his hairy cheek. “If I go, I won’t know anybody at this wedding. I’m going to need somebackup.”
Aiden’s eyes narrowed on me. “Are you makingthatup?”
“We could make it a practice run,” I said. “You know, for ourbigdate?”
He considered me closely. “I can try, Iguess.”
I planted a quick kiss on his mouth. “Goodanswer.”
Zar’s cell beeped. He looked at the number and got up from his stool. “Got totakethis.”
“I’ll need to order a dress,” I said. “I wouldn’t want to embarrass Tanner by looking like a techyslouch.”
“I’m gonna tell you right now,” Tanner said, claiming my hand. “You’re never gonna embarrass me and I like you best when you’re wearing nothingatall.”
“Me too.” Aiden flashed hisgoofygrin.
“I like you guys out of your clothes, too, but I think Teresa—not to mention the governor of Montana—would prefer it if we all stuck to thedresscode.”
The sudden vision of the three of us showing up naked must have hit us at the same time, because we all burst into a fit oflaughter.
Zar marched back into the room, eyes dark, shoulders tensed. “Got to go,” he announced. “Can you guys hold theperimeter?”