Page 2 of Love… It's Wild
“It makes me look like the sweet aunt who’s spending time with her nephew.”
“It makes you look desperate.”
I match her snark. “Watch your mouth, young lady, or I’ll have to tell your mother.”
“She’ll yell at you right back. She says I’m turning into a mini you.”
“What did you say in return?”
“That if I grow up to be half as classy, sassy, and badassy as Tara, I’d be a lucky girl.” Ainsley snaps her fingers and gives a flip of her hair.
I laugh and then release Hunter’s hands so I can throw mine around Ainsley. “I love you. You are a sweet, silly, andsassylittle thing. Don’t ever change.” Taking a step back, I sweep my hand toward the vacant space. “Have at it, kids.”
I glance around the dance floor that is full of couples, hands joined, cheeks touching, and eyes gleaming.
Izzy—Melissa’s teenage daughter—is gyrating, cell phone in hand, with the teens and young twenty-somethings as they film their entire life for social media. Melissa’s aunt calls me over to come dance with the over-sixty crowd who have made a circle on their section of the dance floor. I politely decline and step away.
It’s time for a drink.
A very tall drink.
I sashay through the crowd with my shoulders back, tits up, and my chin held high as I sway my hips.
As my grandmother always said, “Walk into a room like you own it,” and own it I do every time.
As I sidle up to the mahogany bar, I lift a dainty wrist and call over to the bartender.
Beside me, a gentleman in a dark gray groomsman suit looks my way. I recognize him from pictures I’ve seen at Melissa’s house. I have been quite curious about Cade, the youngest brother of the groom and an elusive bachelor.
We lock gazes, and he finds this as his invitation to approach.
“Can I buy you a drink?” he asks.
“Sure, at the hotel bar after the wedding because the drinks here are free, and I don’t talk to men who like to pawn off free cocktails to get in my pants.” I wink and then turn to the bartender. “Pinot grigio, please. Make it a generous pour.”
The bartender leaves, and Cade places an elbow on the bar.
He has a wicked gleam to his eye. “You’re attractive and feisty.”
“I heard you were a lady charmer.”
“You’ve heard of me?”
I lift my now-poured glass of wine and turn to him.
“Where do I start? Cade Bronson, world traveler, bedder of woman, and often in trouble for not showing up to family holidays. Left home when he went to college and hardly ever returns to his hometown of Castleton, yet makes many appearances on social media, where he posts Pinterest-worthy photos of himself in various cities and often with a different half-naked woman on his arm.”
“Guilty on all counts.” He has a Cheshire grin.
“Word also has it, you call your mother every day, so we all know you’re not the total bad boy many think you are.”
He laughs. “Also, guilty. That must mean you are Tara Parsons, the bride’s best friend, who is known as a stunningly beautiful troublemaker who’s looking for love.”
“Only trouble if you get caught.”
“Trouble is when you’re doing something wrong.”
“Depends on whose rule book you’re reading.”