Sweet Surrender (41 page)

“That’s more than a few dates.”

“Yeah, as it turns out, we’re sort of an item.”

Jessie shook her head. An item… her mother and Luther! “Will wonders never cease.”

Lily laughed. “Go figure. So what I need most out of this whole divorce mess is signed divorced papers and never to see Frank Swanson’s sorry ass again. If I get a few bucks of back pay along the way, that’s just gravy.”

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Staring out the window as the Cessna approached the North Vegas airport, Jessie gawked out the window at the notorious strip, which was clearly visible in the bright morning sun. In the distance, the purplish hued mountain peaks stood tall and majestic. As the plane banked sharply, the mountainous view gave way to the Mojave Desert valley in the south. She noted how strange it was that this mecca of decadence and excess rose up in the middle of nowhere.

The pilot announced their arrival, advising the flight attendants to prepare for landing. Strong fingers encircled her hand, gripping tightly.

“All buckled up?”

“Yes, I’ve been buckled since take-off. Other than Florida for the wedding, this is the extent of my flying experience. I still get antsy, especially with all that bumping and shaking, but I’m getting used to it.”

“There’s been more turbulence than usual. I’m not sure you ever get used to that, but we’ll have our feet on the ground in a few minutes.”

Her gaze swept across the cabin to where Jared and Stacy sat. Both were gazing out the window while Jared pointed out certain landmarks. Jessie smiled as she watched an excited Stacy press her nose to the glass. She’d told Jessie before that her home state of Georgia, Michigan and the long stretch of 1-75 that connected the two were the scope of her travels.

From there, her eyes swept across the aisle to her mother, who was sitting next to Luther, a dreamy look in her eyes. Jessie had seen a vast change in her; for the first time in years she looked happy. As her eyes cut to the jovial, barrel-chested, ruddy-cheeked Irishman at her side, she laid the responsibility for that change gratefully at his feet. Her fingers crossed automatically as she wished for that happiness to last.

The group was rounded out by Marc’s parents. David had kept his wife on a short leash. He was attentive and caring, but appeared to be closely monitoring her every word and action, and if Jessie was around, David was glued to his wife’s side.

His sisters, Renata and Annalisa, who had been especially cordial and well-mannered since ‘the incident,’ as Jessie now called the big blow-up with his family, had been invited, but had taken a flight earlier in the week. Shopping and wedding errands, Marc had explained. They had both made an extra effort to make amends with Marc and had apologized again to Jessie. Although Jessie felt their regret was sincere, David had set a precedent by throwing their eldest sibling out of the house and that had to have been considered in the equation.

Giada was conspicuously absent. She had refused to apologize to Jessie or show any remorse for her actions whatsoever. Marc had been livid, and although his rant at her over the phone had been mostly in Italian, Jessie couldn’t have missed his tone or the rift that had widened between them. Therefore, she had not been invited and much to Jessie’s relief had been left behind with the bitchy cousins and visitors from Italy.

As she watched Mariella, who reminded her so much of Giada, she frowned. Unlike the daughter, the mother had to have some redeeming qualities for David to have stuck with her for over three decades, but for the life of her, she couldn’t imagine what those were. David had turned to face his wife as Jessie looked on, his hand rising to cup her cheek. Mariella smiled sweetly at him, saying something softly, too low for Jessie’s ears, but whatever it was, it made David chuckle and the pad of his thumb stroke along her jaw. He leaned in for a soft kiss before settling back in his seat. It was a tender moment between the two and it made Jessie’s frown deepen, finding it hard to believe this was the same woman who had plotted and schemed against her.

“She really isn’t all that bad, Jess. She got sucked into Giada’s crap. Now that girl, I swear is adopted.”

Rolling her head against the high seat back, she looked over at Marc, who was also observing his parents, a slight curve gracing his lips.

“I know that she loves you and I understand how she thought she was saving you from big, bad me, but some of the things she said were truly awful, and inviting that woman to Stacy’s party…”

“It was Giada’s idea, baby. She was the mastermind behind it all.”

“Yeah, but your mother put it in motion by asking for the invitations.”

“True, she was Giada’s willing accomplice.”

She picked up his hand from where it rested on her thigh, idly stroking over the knuckles and down the long tapered fingers. As she brought it up to her face, she laid it against her cheek, after a moment turning her head to place a kiss in his palm. She loved his surgeon’s hands.

“I’m trying to do as you asked, taking the high road, but it’s an uphill climb and it’s going to take more than an apology to get me to forgive. Forgetting is another thing entirely, if it is even possible.”

“She has promised not to interfere and dad and I are going to ensure that she keeps that promise. All I ask is that you be civil.” He stroked his thumb across the back of her hand and brought it to his lips. Her eyes followed the gentle motion. When his tongue came out and teased softly, her eyes rose to his. The intensity of those enigmatic golden brown pools was intoxicating. “Can you do that for me?”

“I’d do anything for you, handsome.”

“That’s my girl. Thank you,
bella mia
.”

The rush of the decelerating plane distracted her from further conversation. As she braced herself involuntarily, she squeezed Marc’s hand and moments later felt a small jolt as the landing gear touched down signaling their safe arrival. She let out a relieved breath.

“Sin City, at last,” he said, unbuckling them both as the jet taxied to the small terminal for private aircraft. He stood after they came to a stop, bending to see out the window. “A limo, dad?”

“Absolutely. This small ceremony is saving a mint for everyone, so I splurged where I could. The tab for the booze at a full reception would have put my retirement back at least another year. Thanks for that, Jessie.” David chuckled, but Mariella who stood up next to him, smoothing away the wrinkles on her slacks, frowned.

“Las Vegas is so gauche.” Her nose wrinkled and her mouth drew up in obvious distaste, as if she’d eaten something sour. “I don’t see why we couldn’t have gone to Atlantic City. It’s only an hour and a half instead of four and being on the east coast, there wasn’t a time change. We’ll all be jetlagged when we fly back on Sunday. For that matter—”

David’s low warning came in a single word. “Mariella.”

Stopping immediately, her head came up sharply. When she saw his disapproving expression, realization dawned because her eyes flew to Marc’s, then shifted to Jessie.

“I’m sorry. Of course, it’s not my decision and I spoke out of turn. I’m sure everything will be—uh, perfectly—lovely.” She practically choked on the words, clearly a bald-faced lie, but Jessie recognized the effort, no matter how superficial.

David guided her toward the open door and down the steps before she could stir up any more trouble. Jessie stared after them with open fascination, marveling over this new dynamic. He’d shut her down before she could work herself into a full grumble. It was amazing.

A giggle and a subsequent shushing sound trailed after her. Marc and Jessie looked over at their friends. Stacy was trying to contain her laughter with the aid of Jared’s big hand clamped tightly over her mouth. When he pulled it away, it was much too soon, because another giggle escaped. Soon the tide of her hilarity burst forth and filled the cabin.

Appalled, Jared scolded. “Stacy!”

“I’m—s-sorry.” She bent over as the amusement rolled out of her. “It’s just too f-funny. She l-looked like she’d been d-dosed with castor oil!”

Jared glanced over at them, at a loss. “Sorry, bud, I guess she’s been cooped up on the plane too long.”

“I can’t wait to see her face when she gets a load of your big surprise,” Stacy said through another peal of laughter. Jessie smiled, seeing the humor in the situation but uneasy about the secret she and Marc had only shared with their best friends. Despite her apprehension, Stacy’s amusement was contagious, and Jessie was laughing along with her.

“I’m sorry, Marc, have no fear, I’ll get this naughty matron of honor under control as soon as I get her to our room.”

That sobered Stacy a little. “Matron, what an awful title.”

Jared ignored her and went on. “She’ll be the picture of good manners and decorum in time for the ceremony, I promise.”

She rolled her eyes. “Jared thinks spanking is the answer for everything.”

“No, sweet pea, spanking is the solution. ‘Yes, sir’ is the answer. Shall we go?”

The bemused expression on Stacy’s face was priceless as he led her away. This time Marc joined Jessie as they both convulsed with laughter. After they’d gone, and they were left alone in the cabin, she realized that her mother had also left.

Marc reassured her. “Your mom and Luther were the first ones off. She’s not a big fan of flying either, I’m guessing.”

Jessie sighed with relief; the comments Stacy and Jared made about spanking were too revealing by half and she didn’t want to think about how she would explain that to her mother.

“We better go and make sure she’s okay with your mom.”

“Luther will protect her, I’m sure, and in case you haven’t noticed, other than the little lapse just now,
dad has her pretty much locked down.”

“I did notice. Did he do as he threatened, do you think?”

Marc’s shrug was no answer.

“What aren’t you telling me? You didn’t have Russ talk to him, did you? I was only kidding, handsome, and I didn’t buy her that hairbrush. That was a joke.”

Picking up her purse and silk scarf from the seat, Marc passed them to her as he explained. “Dad and I had a long talk. I may have mentioned that idle threats are like his old dusty strap that hangs unused in the hall closet. They will remain that way, empty and useless, unless put to the test every once in a while.”

She gaped, knocked for six.

“It was an odd reversal of roles, but as you saw, dad seems to have warmed to the idea.”

“Warmed to it?” she said, finally finding her tongue. “I’d say he’s taken to it like a pro; must be hereditary.” His soft chuckle washed over her as they moved toward the door. “Except for the snide comment at the end, she has been nothing but sweet and kind, even on a four-hour plane ride. It’s really remarkable.”

“Let’s hope that continues. I stepped up to the plate with dad for your sake, baby. Suggesting he take a strap to my mother’s ass was awkward to say the least.” He shuddered. “I really don’t want to go there again.”

Jessie stopped and turned; his face revealed how uncomfortable it had been. Her lips bore a hint of a smile when she asked, “Are you saying it’s hard to preach what you practice?”

“Damn straight, especially when it’s your parents. Change in subject, please.”

When he escorted her from the plane, they saw David had arranged for two limousines, the first of which was pulling out with Marc’s parents, the Bakers, and Jessie’s mother and her new beau inside. They climbed into the second limo with Stacy and Jared, following right behind them. The strip was jammed with bumper-to-bumper traffic, but Jessie and Stacy didn’t seem to mind, practically lying in their men’s laps to gape out the window at the spectacle. Once they even popped up through the sunroof like in the movies, giggling and fighting off groping from below the entire time.

They were checked in and getting dressed for the ceremony in their luxurious suite at the Four Seasons an hour later. It featured an incredible view of the looming snow-capped mountains in the distance and Jessie couldn’t take her eyes off them.

“I can’t believe we can stand here in the middle of the Mojave Desert and at the same time see snow in the mountains.”

He approached her from behind, hands sliding over her hips, his chin settling on top of her head as he pulled her into his front. “This is my first time here, so I did some reading. Those are the Spring Mountains; the peaks are over 10,000 feet elevation.”

“Beautiful.”

He dipped his head, his lips brushing the side of her neck as he spoke. “Absolutely gorgeous.”

Turning, she smiled. He was staring at her, not the view out the window. “I was talking about the mountains, handsome, but thank you for the compliment.”

Lifting his head, his features reconfigured into a puzzled expression and he deadpanned, “What mountains?”

She laughed and turned in the circle of his arms, lifting her face for a kiss.

Because of a flight delay due to weather and a make-out session in their suite, they’d barely had enough time to dress for their dinner reservations. Marc finished first, naturally, and stood by watching as she put the final touches on her hair and makeup. Standing in front of the full-length mirror in her ivory lace Basque bustier and lace panties, she adjusted her breasts in the lightly padded satin cups. The touches of embroidery on the boned shaper made the bridal lingerie pretty and sexy rather than purely functional. As she bent to connect the four attached garters to her stockings, she heard him approach.

His warm hand slid along the plunging V in the back before tracing over the cutaway edge above her bottom. His touch started a flicker of heat down her spine, but she stayed on task. The sweep of his fingers soon gave way to the full stroke of his palm as it slid over her lace panties. The trail of heat ignited when his fingers curled inward and he cupped the full curve of one cheek.

He exhaled softly. “No wonder the groom isn’t supposed to see the bride before the wedding.”

Finishing the last garter with a snap, she stood and took a deep settling breath. Dwarfed in her stocking feet before his tall frame, she kept her head down, avoiding meeting his eyes, which she knew would be sexy, dark, and full of passion. If she dared to even peep at him, she’d lose her resolve and they’d be late for their own wedding.