Authors: Kayla Perrin

All I Want Is You (3 page)

BOOK: All I Want Is You

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Chapter 4

“Just touched down,” Mikki said into her phone while the plane taxied to the gate. “I think my mother is picking me up, and tonight will be a quiet dinner with family. But tomorrow, I have to head for a fitting at the bridal shop. And I still have to do my Christmas shopping,” she added with a little sigh. “Who plans a wedding for three days before Christmas?”

“In a way, I can't blame your sister,” Debbie responded. “Ken put off the wedding twice before, didn't he?”

“Conflicts with golf,” Mikki said, stating the reason Ken had given. Yes, as well as being handsome and from a wealthy background and pretty much perfect in every way, her future brother-in-law was a professional golfer.

“Forget Ken,” Debbie said, her voice growing with excitement. “Tell me what happened!”

“What do you mean?” Mikki asked. But she was playing dumb. She knew exactly what her friend was getting at.

“Um, you leave the bar with one of the hottest guys I've seen in a long time and you pretend you don't know what I'm talking about?”

Mikki leaned closer to the airplane window. “This isn't the best time to talk. I'm still on the plane.”

“Aah, I get it. The details are too dirty to talk about in public. Nice! But you'd better call me the moment you have a minute. I want to hear every one of those naughty details.” Debbie laughed.

“Sure. I'll call you back in a bit, okay?”

Mikki hung up, knowing that when she called Debbie back, her friend would be disappointed. Because there was nothing to tell her.

Well, that wasn't exactly true. She could tell her how she'd woken up naked in Barry's hotel room, but she couldn't give the details her friend wanted to know.

Naked in his bed.
Mikki had been thinking of nothing but that for practically the entire day. Meeting up with Barry again after all these years. How
good
he'd looked. How incredible he had smelled.

Even amid her alarm at waking up in his bed, there had been a part of her that had felt a secret thrill when she'd lifted the sheet and taken a peek at his naked butt.

As butts went, it was pretty darn perfect.

The memory made her body flush, and as the passengers began to move toward the plane's exit, Mikki mentally chastised herself. She should be ashamed of herself, not feeling any measure of heat over an illicit night she couldn't even remember.

She wondered what Barry was thinking now, if he had missed her once he woke up. If he was upset that she had taken off without a word.

Or if he even remembered having slept with her. If he, like she, had been too drunk, he might have awakened and not even remembered that a woman had been in his bed.

No matter. It was over and done with. Mikki was going to move on and put the disturbing truth behind her.

As she made her way to the baggage claim area, any thought of calling Debbie back anytime soon was quickly erased. Because her sister and Ken stood there waving at her, matching smiles on their faces and matching clothes on their bodies. Ken was in khaki shorts and a polo shirt, while her sister was wearing a polo shirt and a khaki skirt. They looked like an African American Barbie and Ken.

Mikki had first met Ken in New York just over a year ago when he and her sister had shown up to visit the Big Apple. She had gone out with them, feeling like a third wheel the entire time because Alexander had told her he was too busy to hang out. So Mikki had gone to restaurants with them and shown them the sights, all the time listening to just how wonderful Ken was and how amazing her sister's life was going to be now that she'd found her Mr. Right.

Mikki had wanted to throw up.

It wasn't that she didn't love her sister and wish her the best. It was just that everything happened so easily for Chantal. She had met Ken pretty much right after her high school sweetheart had moved to China for business. Out at a restaurant, the gorgeous son of a business magnate had approached Chantal, and the rest was history. He'd helped nurse her broken heart, and the two had fallen in love.

Mikki, on the other hand, had gone through all of high school without dating anyone. She had gone to college where she'd dated some, but not much. She went to New York for a change of scenery, feeling that she would never find the love of her life in Miami. She'd worked for two years at a law firm in Brooklyn, before a better opportunity came up at a bigger firm in Manhattan. She'd been hired, and that was where she'd met Alexander.

Slowly, her relationship with Alex had built. First as friends, because she had rejected his numerous advances, not wanting to be a notch on Alexander the Great's bedpost. When, after a year, he was still pursuing her, Mikki agreed to a real date with him, having believed that the slow and steady start to their relationship would give them a lasting foundation.

And after dating for nearly two years, Mikki had thought he might finally propose. Alex, on the other hand, thought it was time to move on.

Mikki's stomach fluttered as she knew that explanations would soon have to be forthcoming. Alex was supposed to have traveled to Miami with her. Chantal and Ken would have questions as to his whereabouts.

She didn't want to think about him, much less talk about him.

“Hey,” Chantal said sweetly, moving toward her with her arms spread wide. She wrapped her in a hug. “How are you?”

“I'm great,” Mikki responded. She felt a little guilty for any negative thoughts she'd had about her sister, including the ill timing of a wedding during the holidays. But she always felt like this when she first saw her, because they had yet to knock horns.

Ken hugged her next. “Hey, Mikki.”

“Ready for the big day?” Mikki asked him.

“Definitely.”

Chantal draped an arm around Ken's waist. “And
no
cancellations due to golf. Thank God.”

Ken gave Chantal a kiss on the temple. “I know Chantal was angry with me for having to postpone the wedding a second time. But in three days, I'm going to make everything up to her.”

Mikki inhaled a painful breath. Chantal and Ken, the picture of the perfect couple, while her relationship with Alex had gone down the toilet.

As if Chantal read her thoughts, her expression of bliss soon morphed into one of confusion. “Hey, where's Alexander?”

Of course, it had been too much to hope that Chantal and Ken wouldn't have realized he was missing.

“Um, he's not here.”

“Obviously.” Chantal smiled. “Where is he?”

There was no point delaying the inevitable. Alex wasn't coming, and pretending that he was going to show up at any moment would be stupid. As much as Mikki wished he would surprise her and do exactly that, she wasn't about to bet her life on it.

So she said, “He's not coming.”

The serious tone of her voice clued Chantal into what was happening. “No,” Chantal said, shaking her head. “No.”

“We broke up.” Mikki aimed for cool and nonchalant, but her voice cracked a little.

Chantal wrapped her in another warm hug, longer this time. “Oh my goodness. I'm so sorry.”

Mikki drew in a deep breath, because if she didn't, she was going to start crying right here at Miami International Airport.

“What happened?” Chantal asked as they pulled apart.

Mikki waved off the question. “Later,” she said.

“Sure. Tell me all about it this evening at the dinner.”

“At the dinner? What dinner? The rehearsal dinner isn't tonight.”

“No, but tonight Ken's parents are hosting a dinner at the club.”

“The club?”

“Oh, sorry. The Deering Bay Yacht and Country Club.” There was a hint of smugness to her sister's voice, one that hadn't existed before she'd started dating Ken. Chantal loved that she was marrying into a family with money, one that had memberships at exclusive clubs and whatnot.

“Tonight?” Mikki asked. “Because it's been a long day, and I was hopingâ”

“Don't even think of trying to get out of it,” Chantal interjected. “Because, yes, you have to be there. It's a dinner where we'll meet all of Ken's family. And you can tell me what happened with Alexander over a glass of wine.”

The mention of alcohol made a vision of Barry's naked butt flash into Mikki's mind, followed by an odd stirring in her gut.

“I think I'll lay off the wine tonight,” Mikki said. When Chantal gave her a questioning look, she added, “There'll be plenty to drink at the wedding. I'll abstain until then.”

Situated on the southern tip of Coral Gables and along the shores of Biscayne Bay, the Deering Bay Yacht and Country Club was a stunning property. The grounds were lush, with a bay-front golf course, serene waterways, and even mangrove forests. And in terms of amenities, the club had all a person could want. Tennis courts, a fitness and yoga center, and a junior Olympic-size pool. Topping it off were the private marinas that club members with boats could utilize.

The Crystal Room was decorated to elegant perfection. A pianist in the corner was playing a steady stream of Christmas songs. Outside, the palm trees were decorated with strings of white lights, adding to the festive holiday atmosphere. Servers wearing white gloves were making the rounds with hors d'oeuvres and wine. The room was filled with happy people, eating, drinking, and congratulating the engaged couple.

And everyone in the room was extremely well dressed, especially the women. They wore sleek dresses, designer boots, and strings of classy pearls. They looked like models.

Mikki, on the other hand, looked . . . well, not sleek and stylish. She was wearing a black skirt, a red top, and a black blazerâas if she was dressed for a day at the office instead of a party.

Nothing she could do about it now, so Mikki put it out of her mind and dutifully made the rounds, meeting Ken's parents, cousins, and other extended family. There were certainly a lot of them. Chantal said that just over fifty were due to be here. According to Chantal, the bonus of having a wedding so close to Christmas was that it allowed family to get together to celebrate the holidays.

Mikki's parents looked as happy as the bride and groom, her mother's dream that one of her daughters would marry up finally coming true.

Turning to her right, Mikki noticed that Ken's uncle Wally was heading in her directionâagain. He was holding two cocktail glasses, and Mikki was certain that one was for her. She rolled her eyes and quickly whirled around. She didn't want to spend another fifteen minutes entertaining the fifty-year-old flirt.

Mikki veered toward the wall of windows, her intent to head to the door at the room's far end so that she could escape to the restroom. But halfway across the room, she stopped dead in her tracks.

Her heart jumped into her throat. No. It couldn't be. Her eyes
had
to be playing tricks on her.

She closed her eyes. Reopened them.

Gulped.

No.
It wasn't possible. Surely that couldn't be Barry-No-Longer-the-Fairy standing near the exit door, talking to Ken and her sister.

Mikki had conjured him. He was a figment of her imagination, here simply to haunt her because she'd gone to bed with him.

But as she continued to stare at that magnificent body and that bald head, she became certain that it
was
him. Somehow, some way, he was here in this room.

She hadn't seen Barry in thirteen years, and now here he was, appearing in her life twice in two days, and in two different states.

Unbelievable.

Suddenly, he turned. Seeing her, his face lit up in a smile.

Mikki wondered for a moment if it was possible that Barry was following her. She had put on her Facebook page and on Twitter that she was heading to Florida for her sister's wedding. And now here was Barry.

“Ah, Mikki.”

At the sound of Uncle Wally's voice, Mikki turned. He extended a cocktail glass to her.

“Um,” she began, “will you hold that for me? I've got to use the facilities.”

And then, squaring her shoulders, she moved forward, toward the exit as planned. Unfortunately, to get to the restroom, she had to pass the man who had occupied her thoughts all day.

“Hey,” Ken said exuberantly, snaking a hand around her wrist as she tried to sneak by. “Barry was just telling me that you're friends.”

“Um.” Mikki fidgeted from one foot to the next. “Yeah. We went to the same high school.”

“Long time,” Barry said, and Mikki thought she detected a hint of amusement in his tone.

BOOK: All I Want Is You

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