16 - Joanna

16

Joanna

I dropped my butt back down onto the couch. "You… you want me to take Liz's place?"

"That's right," Danicka said.

"I can't be the Maid of Honor," I said. It was a crazy request. I barely even knew Marisa!

"You've misunderstood me," Danicka said snappily. "Marisa's sister Carol is going to be the Maid of Honor now. We just need you to fill in as a bridesmaid so we have the same number as groomsmen."

Oh thank goodness. That was still more than I wanted to do, but it was a much easier task than what I thought she was asking of me. "Of course I'll be a bridesmaid. My dress, though…"

"We're already handling the dress. Just meet us at the country club in an hour. We moved the hair and makeup schedule around so you can go last."

And then she hung up.

I glanced at my watch. It was nine in the morning. So much for having a nice, relaxing day.

Once I was in the car and on my way, I called Landon. "Hi, sweetie," he answered.

"You're around your family?"

"I'm with Bradyn, yes," he answered carefully.

"Get somewhere you can talk. I've got news, and I don't think you're going to like it."

I heard him moving on the other end. A door closed, and then he lowered his voice. "What's the problem? Are you bailing on the wedding?"

"Actually, the opposite."

"What the hell is the opposite of bailing?" he asked.

"Liz is sick. Your mom upgraded me to bridesmaid."

I heard him groan. "Why do you keep finding ways to complicate our very simple agreement?"

"I had no choice! Your mom practically ordered me to do it."

"Of course you had a choice," he snapped. "Joanna, this is a major life event. It was one thing when you were just my fake date, but a bridesmaid? You'll be in all the photos. Forever. What the hell were you thinking?"

Man, he was really mad. And now that he said it all out loud, I couldn't really blame him.

"You told me to do whatever it takes to make your mother happy. I thought this was better than turning her down."

"You thought wrong. Call her back and tell her you can't be a bridesmaid."

"What am I supposed to say?" I argued back.

"I don't care. Figure something out."

Traffic on the interstate abruptly came to a standstill. I barely slammed on my brakes in time.

" No ," I snapped. "I've done everything you've asked and then some. You wanted me to act like I'm your girlfriend. Well, stepping up to be a bridesmaid is the kind of thing I would do for someone I've been dating for two months. If you don't want me to do it, then call your mother and tell her yourself. Otherwise, I'm already on the way to the country club. I'll see you there."

It was very satisfying to hang up on him. He didn't call me back, but he sent a text a few minutes later:

Landon : Do whatever mom says. I trust your judgment. But if you screw it up, you can kiss that job goodbye.

Gee, thanks for the reminder. Like I had forgotten why I was doing all of this.

Asshole.

Before putting my phone down, I realized I had another text.

Theo : Just got in my Uber. I'll be there in 26 minutes.

Fuck. I had forgotten about Theo. Fuck fuck fuck .

I called him and said, "I have bad news."

"Let me guess: you're going to insist I wear the jersey," he speculated. "I'm okay with it, as long as you don't make me put on a hockey mask this time. But in the future, that's negotiable. I don't kink shame."

"Tell your Uber driver to turn around. I'm not at my apartment anymore."

I quickly caught him up to speed on the situation with Marisa.

"Well that sucks. Now I'm just sitting in an Uber with a raging hard on. And I think this conversation is making my driver uncomfortable. Sorry, bro." That last part wasn't for me.

"I'm sorry. I didn't want to give you blue balls."

He sighed. "It's not your fault."

"I promise I'll make it up to you."

"I'm listening."

"Use your imagination. I have to go. Sorry again. And thanks for my jersey!"

The country club where they were getting married was in North Chicago, overlooking the calm waters of Lake Michigan. I had to admit it was pretty nice… even if it was still a stuffy country club.

There were a dozen or so rooms attached to the club, all of which were blocked off by the Cozart family. I checked in at the front desk, and a bellhop led me to the room I would be sharing with Landon.

I breathed a sigh of relief when I stepped inside. There were two twin beds. I was terrified that they would give us one bed and we would have to share. How cheesy would that have been?

After freshening up, I took a sexy selfie of my ass; the only fabric was an extremely small thong. I sent that to Theo with an apology note, then put on a robe and went downstairs to meet Marisa and the rest of the bridesmaids in the clubhouse parlor, where everyone was getting ready. But as I walked through the lobby, a smooth McConaugheyesque voice called out to me.

"Joanna. A word, if you wouldn't mind."

Austin was sitting in the corner of the lobby, plucking at an acoustic guitar. I slowed down long enough to respond, "I don't have time for whatever this is."

"It will only take a moment. I promise." There was a warning in those piercing blue eyes. Like I would regret it if I didn't hear him out.

Sighing, I walked over to him in the corner. "You have two minutes."

"Only need one. Heard you got called up to the big leagues."

"I'm a bridesmaid now, if that's what you mean."

"Now that's real nice," he drawled while twisting one of the knobby things at the top of the guitar. "I have a small favor to ask."

"I hope it's small, because I'm all out of favors to give today."

He plucked a chord, paused to listen, then tweaked the guitar knob again. "The beautiful bride to be is probably having second thoughts about the wedding right now. Since you're spending the next few hours with her, I want you to feed those doubts."

I couldn't help it: I busted out laughing.

Austin's smile held no mirth. "Now, I don't see what's so funny about that."

"They're getting married, dude. Today . It's too late for you."

"I'm sure you're right," he replied smoothly. "But I still need you to poke a few holes in her fairytale ending."

"Or what?" I demanded. "You'll tell everyone that I'm cheating on Landon with Theo?"

"See? I knew you're more than just a pretty face and a tight little body."

His eyes flicked down over my body, then back up to my own gaze. With that accent and strong, sturdy frame, Austin was probably used to women melting over whatever he said. Hell, my body was certainly reacting to it against my will. But the charm was spoiled by what he was asking of me.

"You're the second person to blackmail me in the past twenty-four hours," I said. "I'm getting real sick of it."

"Probably should have kept it in your pants, then."

It rankled me that someone thought I was a cheater. I wanted to shout at him that he had no idea what he was talking about, that I would never cheat on someone I was dating. It would have soothed my ego to tell him the truth, that Landon wasn't my boyfriend and we were just pretending for the wedding.

But that would just give Austin a different kind of leverage to use against me. Different flavor, same outcome.

Fuck.

"Look, Joanna," he drawled as if I were an old friend. "I don't want you to break them up. I just want you to give their relationship a little stress test. If she and Bradyn are right for each other, if their relationship is strong, then everything'll be finer than white sand in an hourglass. But if it's not? You'll be doing everyone a favor by helping her reach that inevitable conclusion before we get a priest involved."

I felt like a pinball being bounced between people with different motivations. Landon, Danicka, Theo, and now this Texas Chainsaw Asshole. It was exhausting. All I wanted was a leg up in a fucking job interview!

An idea came to me: I could agree to Austin's demands, and then simply not do it. I could pretend like I did what he wanted, and then lie about it after. That would help me get through this trainwreck of a day.

"Fine," I said, sticking out my palm. "We have a deal."

His fingers were calloused and strong as he shook my hand. "I'm glad we could reach a mutual understanding." He strummed a chord. "Oh by the way. I'm real good friends with Wanda. We went to school together, too. She'll tell me if you uphold your end of the deal." He strummed the same chord again, but it sounded more ominous this time. "And she'll tell me if you don't."

"I hope your performance during the ceremony is better," I snapped at him. "Right now, you sound off-key."

He gave a deep, throaty chuckle as I walked away.