16. Taylor

"There are no muscles in your fingers; their function is controlled by your palm and arm." ~ Tim Rhodes

"Canwe get a donut after we try on our dresses?" Harp asked as we walked, hand in hand, down the street towards Edith Scoggs' shop for our fitting.

"Yes." I easily agreed.

Today was the third annual "Yes Day." It was something I started with Harp when she was almost three after reading the book of the same name by Amy Krouse Rosenthal, which was subsequently turned into a movie starring Jennifer Garner.

Everything Harp asked today, within reason, she got. I wasn't going to buy her a car or take her to Disneyland, but if it was in town and I could afford it, it was happening. This morning, she'd asked if we could have a picnic in the backyard wearing our PJs for breakfast. So, we ate waffles in the grass at five a.m. She was an early riser.

The chime sounded above the door as I pushed it open. When we walked inside the cozy shop, I didn't see anyone. Ruby was supposed to meet us here, but she might be running a little late because I switched my appointment time to an hour earlier.

During the barbeque/rehearsal dinner, I'd learned that Remi was coming for alterations as well, and his appointment was right after mine. It had been thirty-six hours since I'd seen him, and I was hoping to stretch it out to four days. The bachelor/bachelorette party was being held at The Tipsy Cow the night after tomorrow, and I knew there'd be no way to avoid him, although I would try.

"Can I ring the bell?" Harp asked as we approached the counter.

"Yes." Thankfully, the things she asked for at nearly five were easing me into what I was sure would be bigger asks in the future.

Harper stood on her tiptoes and pressed her palm against the tiny silver bell on the bar-high countertop.

"I'm comin'!" Edith Scoggs called out.

I'd met Edith a few times around town but hadn't really talked to her except by email. Since I was overseas, I'd had to send her my measurements online instead of coming in person. I hoped it all worked out, but I honestly wasn't very concerned.

A dress was a dress. Who did I have to impress?

The Man of Honor, my inner voice piped up, but I quickly dismissed it.

The bell dinged behind me, and for some reason, I was sure that I'd summoned the man by just thinking about him. When I turned around, I saw that it was Ruby. I didn't miss the fact that I was a little disappointed. Which was ridiculous, considering I'd gone out of my way so I wouldn't run into him today.

"Sorry I'm late! Last minute things keep coming up."

"No worries," I assured her. "It's my fault for changing the time. And you know, I can help you with anything. I don't start work until next week."

My first shift at the hospital was the day after the wedding. I'd hoped to have another week, since Kane and Ruby were taking a mini-honeymoon to Mexico for five days, but it hadn't worked that way. Thankfully, my cousin Kenna was going to stay at my house to help me out. And the nights she had shifts at the bar, her mom, my Aunt Marcy, said she'd be happy to watch her. Several other people, including Destiny Briggs, Harper's best friend Lilah's mom, had offered to watch her anytime. It truly did take a village, and thankfully, in Wishing Well, that's exactly what I had.

"No, I'm fine. I just want you to enjoy your time off." Ruby glanced behind me. "Hi, Mrs. Scoggs."

"Sorry to keep y'all waitin' I was on the phone with my sister; she's havin' a crisis."

"Oh, is everything okay?" I asked.

"Everything's just fine. She's what ya call prone to crisis," Mrs. Scoggs replied flatly. "Okay, who's going first?"

Harper stuck up her hand. "Can I go first?"

"Yes." I smiled widely.

It was great because, at this age, everything she asked for were things I'd probably say yes to anyway, but every time I did, it felt special to her.

"This way." Mrs. Scoggs waved for us to follow her to the backroom where there were dressing rooms. Well, rooms might be overselling it. There were two dressing booths that were separated by heavy maroon cloth curtains.

Mrs. Scoggs showed us into the one on the right, where both Harper's and my dresses were hanging. I helped Harp into her flower girl's dress, which she'd picked out with Ruby. It was a white dress with a satin top and a tulle skirt, and she'd be wearing a satin black belt. Ruby and Kane decided to keep the colors simple, just black and white. I was going to be wearing a simple, black dress with spaghetti straps and a slit up one thigh.

Without running it past any filter, my mind started playing out a scenario where I was at the reception, seated at a table, and Remi was beside me. His hand was on my thigh, and he slid his fingers up the slit…

No, I reprimanded myself again. Ever since Remi opened my Pandora's box of pleasure, I couldn't stop thinking about sex. With him, specifically. I wished I could scrub my head with soap to get all the dirty thoughts out of it.

The moment I zipped Harper up, she started to twirl.

"You look so beautiful!" I exclaimed.

I pulled the curtain back and we headed to the front of the store, where Mrs. Scoggs worked on pinning the hem. Ruby was on her phone, talking with her wedding coordinator, Willow. As I sat watching my baby girl getting ready to be in her dad's wedding, I wondered if she would ever be in my wedding.

I'd never had a strong feeling about marriage, one way or another, which I'd always attributed to never seeing an example of a happy one. But since having Harper, and spending more time in Wishing Well, I felt like you couldn't throw a stone without it hitting a happily married couple.

As I sat there, I started envisioning myself in a white gown. I was holding a bouquet and walking down the aisle. Waiting at the end was Remi, standing in a tux, looking like he'd just stepped off the pages of GQ.

No, I admonished myself. That fantasy might even be worse than the sex ones. Those fantasies implied real feelings. They implied commitment. They implied forever. Those were three things that Remi Rhodes and I would never, could never, share.

"Okay, you're all set, little lady." Mrs. Scoggs announced. "Now it's your turn, Momma."

I stood and went back to the changing room with Harper. I helped her out of her dress, then hung it up while she put her overalls and turtleneck back on. Once she was dressed, she went back out front, and I slipped my dress on. The fit was nice, but the hem was dragging, and I wished Harper was still there, because I couldn't reach the zipper to get it all the way to the top.

When I walked out, Harper and Ruby were picking out the ribbon for her dress. I stepped onto the pedestal and faced the mirror as Edith zipped me up and went to work. She was about halfway around the skirt when the door opened, and the man I'd envisioned as my groom walked in. I didn't turn around, but I could see him in the mirror"s reflection.

Today, he wore a gray hoodie, blue jeans, and dark aviator sunglasses. I'd never thought hoodies on men were particularly sexy, but damn, on Remi, the casual look had my lady parts throwing a rave.

"Remi!" Harper ran and threw herself into his arms. Lucky girl. He spun her around several times as she giggled.

When he set her down, Ruby hugged him. "Hey, Bubbas!"

Mrs. Scoggs' greeting wasn't quite as enthusiastic. "You're early."

"Am I?" His voice dripped with mock innocence as he slowly removed his sunglasses. When he lowered his shades, his gaze was locked with mine in the mirror. I quickly looked down at the floor.

"You are," Mrs. Scoggs confirmed. "I'm still gonna be a few minutes with this one. Y'all are gonna have to wait."

"I don't mind waiting." He lowered down into a chair, and I could feel his stare on me. "I'm a very patient man."

"Mommy, can we go get donuts now?" Harper hopped beside the pedestal.

Unlike Remi, who was apparently a very patient man, Harper was not.

"Um, we can when I'm done."

"But it's yes day," Harper pointed out.

"What's yes day?" Remi asked as Edith removed a pin from her mouth and attached it to the hem of my dress.

"Mommy has to say yes to everything I ask today."

"Within reason," I clarified, as I made the fatal mistake of my eyes meeting his in the mirror.

"That sounds fun," he said slowly.

The timber in his voice rippled through me, and the predatory look in his gaze stole my breath. My heart was rioting in my chest, and I felt like I couldn't breathe.

"I can take her," Ruby offered as she lifted her phone. "Destiny just texted, asking me to stop by the bakery because she has a question about the cupcakes she's doing."

Destiny Briggs was not only mom to Harp's best friend; she also owned Sugar Rush Bakery, which was across the town square.

"Um…" My only hesitation was that if Ruby and Harper left, then I would be alone with Remi and Mrs. Scoggs. Edith didn't seem like enough of a buffer to me.

"Please, Mommy! It's yes day."

"If you'd rather me not take her—" Ruby started to say.

"No, of course! Yes, you guys go. I'll meet you there as soon as I'm done here." I felt bad for making her think my hesitation had anything to do with her. Ruby was one of only a handful of people I completely and utterly trusted with my daughter.

Ruby said a quick goodbye to Remi as Harper hugged my legs, and the two were gone. When we were left alone, I kept my eyes staring down at the ground because I knew that if I lifted them, Remi would be staring at me in the mirror.

Remi's eyes were my weakness. They were the kryptonite to the superpowers I hold so dear, namely the industrial strength walls I'd erected around my mind, my heart, and my life. That was something I'd learned in the bathroom at the barbeque when I'd almost kissed him. When I looked into his eyes, I lost all sense, all self-control, all self-preservation. When I looked into his eyes, I melted into a woman I didn't recognize.

I mean, in fairness, it wasn't just his eyes. His touch, his voice, his mere presence made me weak, but his eyes were definite danger zones. They were now in the same category as the sun. I could not look directly at them. Even in the reflection of the mirror, they threatened my willpower and sanity.

"Okay, you're all set," Mrs. Scoggs declared as she started to stand.

Great!" I enthused as I stepped down and rushed to the changing area.

Before I made it two steps, Remi was up and off his chair helping Mrs. Scoggs up off her knees, where she'd been crouched while pinning my dress.

Of course, he was,I thought to myself as I shut the curtain of my changing area and reached behind my back to unzip my dress. Of course, he helped women safely to their cars in busy airports and standing after kneeling. Of course, my daughter's face lit up every time she saw him. Of course, he respected and supported me in my rash, possibly unreasonable, decision to pretend that we didn't know each other by not telling anyone the truth.

I had a feeling that even if I spent every day with him for the rest of my life, I'd be hard-pressed to find a flaw that was a strike against the man. The ones he had now were circumstantially based. Strike one: He was Kane's best friend and Ruby's brother, which to me made him off-limits. Strike two: He'd just come out of a five-year engagement and rebound relationships were not something I entertained.

The third strike he had wasn't even against him; it was against me. I'd led everyone to believe that we didn't know each other. If we admitted we did, that would invite all sorts of questions—questions I didn't want to answer for a multitude of reasons.

First, Kane was the father of my child and my best friend, and I didn't think he'd appreciate being lied to or the fact that I'd hooked up with his soon-to-be brother-in-law. I would never do anything to jeopardize my relationship with him, not knowingly.

Second, this town was Remi's home turf. Everyone in Wishing Well knew him and, from what I'd seen and heard, loved him, which meant this piece of gossip would be on the high-speed rail train, not the coal-fueled locomotive. And once our story got out, I would be the one left here dealing with it because he was going back to California, which could technically be his third strike. I refused to do anything long-distance, although I'd probably make an exception for him, which may not be a strike, but it was undeniably a red flag. Lowering my standards was a slippery slope, and I had no plans on sliding down.

Thoughts whirled around my mind with tornado force as I heard the phone ring and Mrs. Scoggs say, "Remi, you go on in the back and get your trousers on. I need to take this. It's my sister."

My heart rate sped as I arched my back. The very tip of my fingers grazed the zipper, which was in the middle of my back, just below my shoulders. When I couldn't get a hold of the tiny pull tab, panic rose in me. The distinct sound of Remi's footsteps grew closer and closer until I heard the sound of the metal rings scraping against the bar as he entered the cloth booth beside me.

Edith was in the front, speaking loudly to her sister. Ruby and Harper were both gone. We were in the back, alone, with only cloth separating us.

I dropped my chin to my chest and contorted myself into a pretzel trying to reach the zipper between my shoulder blades.

"Need some help?" Remi's deep voice ricocheted through my body.

I lifted my head and was met with Remi's eyes in the mirror. Remi stood behind me, pulling the drape that separated our changing booths to one side, making it one large booth.

"No," I lied, my voice just a whisper. I did not want Mrs. Scoggs to hear us talking and think anything was going on.

He ignored my response and stepped forward, closing the distance between us. My back was facing his front, but I could see him in the mirror.

"What are you doing?" I whispered.

He leaned down so his mouth was less than an inch from my ear. His warm breath fanned my neck as he spoke so quietly that I could barely hear him. "You can't say no; it's yes, day."

"Yes day does not apply to us." I breathed out through clenched teeth.

His lips curled into his trademark half-grin, that did things to my insides I didn't want to admit. He brushed my hair to the side, and the roughened edges of his fingertips lightly grazed my skin, causing goosebumps to break out on my arm and the tiny hairs at the base of my neck to stand on end. I swallowed over a large lump of arousal in my throat.

The only sound I could hear in my head was the whooshing of my labored breaths and the low purr of the zipper as it slid down my back. I was vaguely aware of Mrs. Scoggs' voice as she spoke to her sister, but it sounded muted or like I was underwater.

I watched as his eyes followed the path his hand traveled as he tugged the zipper down, and the fabric fell open, revealing the bare skin of my back.

"Remi." His name came out as a pleading whisper, I just had no clue what I was begging him to do.

The good angel on my right shoulder insisted I was asking him to go back into his booth and close the drape. The devil on my left shoulder was convinced I was asking him not to go back to his side and to alleviate the unbearable pressure building in my core that I knew only he could satisfy.

His right hand slid across my shoulder, brushing the strap and the good angel off in its wake. My eyes were glued to Remi as he lowered his head, and his lips hovered above my shoulder.

"We can't do this," I spoke in a hushed tone on behalf of my fallen good angel.

His lips brushed along the cuff of my ear as he spoke in a growling whisper. "Remi and Taylor can't, but Ana and Kyle can. And yes day does apply to them."

It was semantics, make-believe, an excuse to allow me to engage in totally unacceptable behavior—and it worked.

He must have seen the surrender in my eyes, because without asking for permission, he removed the dress completely, and it pooled on the floor.

"Will you spread your legs for me?" His quiet question was more a command than an inquiry.

"Yes." I hesitated before following up on his request only because my legs were currently Jell-O, and if I moved, I wasn't sure they would support me. His hand gripped my hip, steadying me with an anchor, allowing me to step my feet apart.

"Can I touch you between your legs?"

"Yes."

My belly trembled beneath his palm as I watched him slip his hand beneath the band of my lace panties. The second the roughened pad of his middle finger grazed my clit, my knees buckled with pleasure, and I reached up and grabbed his arms. My fingers gripped his biceps tightly.

"Mmm, you're so wet," he gritted out, his lips brushing along the cusp of my ear. "So wet for me already."

All I could do was nod in agreement as he pushed every one of my erotic buttons. He flicked my swollen nub, once, twice, and on the third time I came apart in his arms. I gasped as I rode out my shuddering orgasm. Remi's left hand quickly flew to cover my mouth, muffling the sound.

As the final wave of pleasure crashed over me, my hips bucked back against him, and my backside met with the hard evidence that he was just as affected by our encounter as I was. Knowing that he was as turned on as I was only amplified my arousal.

Before I was ready, he gently removed his hand from between my legs, lifted it to his mouth, and sucked my arousal off his finger. The sight caused my inner walls to clench, sending an aftershock rippling through me.

"Okay, okay, okay, I'll talk to you soon, Bessie!" Mrs. Scoggs exclaimed, and I realized he must have heard her wrapping up the call.

My eyes widened as Remi kissed me sweetly on the top of my head, then took two steps back and closed the curtain between us.

I was still catching my breath when Mrs. Scoggs' footsteps stopped outside the changing area.

"You okay in there, Taylor? You need some help with the zipper?"

"No, I'm good," I chirped, my voice sounding about two octaves higher than it typically did.

As I hung up my dress and pulled on my jeans, I knew one thing was for sure: Yes Day was never going to be the same for me. Remi had forever corrupted it in the best, hottest way possible.