“I… Oh, fuck!” He pulled away from me and raked his hands through his short dark hair. He paced to the window then turned back to look at me, his blue-gray eyes looking tormented. “Harper’s mom called me last night. She said she wanted to make amends, to apologize to Harper for being such a shit mom. Then she started laying it on thick about how she wanted to see her daughter get married. So I… I emailed her an invitation.”

“Shane!”

“I fell asleep for about two hours and when I woke up I realized how big of a mistake I made. Harper doesn’t want Monica here.”

“You think?” I couldn’t help it. My voice was rising along with my blood pressure. Damn, now I almost wished he had cheated. I could fix that a lot faster and more efficiently than this. I could have just cut his balls off, presented them to Harper, and been done. “I’ve already got security tight, and they know not to let anyone in without an invitation. But now she has one! I could have kept her out without that, damn it. Gods, this is such a clusterfuck.”

“Help me fix this, Emmie,” Shane pleaded. “Help me…”

“You don’t know how to make anything easy, do you?” I was nearly screaming at him, but I turned away before I started throwing shit. “The guests are already arriving. If she’s here it’s going to cause a huge scene and Harper is going to be even more upset.”

“I know.” His voice broke and he dropped down onto the short sofa against the wall beside him. “I know.”

“Okay.” Nik stepped forward, his hands going to my shoulders to try and rub away some of my stress. I shivered at the feel of his hands on me, but it did nothing for the tension in my body. “We can fix this.”

I blew out a frustrated sigh. “Yeah. I can fix this.”

It was my job to fix all of their problems… Fuck, I hated my job sometimes!

Chapter 7

Harper

I thought I was going to be one of those brides who freaked out at the drop of a hat on her wedding day. Sure, Emmie had been my saving grace, making sure that I only had to say yes or no to this and that. The hardest thing I had to do was pick out my wedding dress, which had been easy once I had seen the dress. Still, I had thought I would have woken up this morning feeling anxious and ready to run for the border at the drop of a hat.

Instead I was calm, ready to walk down the aisle and change my last name.

Now, as I stood in front of the floor-length mirror in my wedding dress, I couldn’t help smiling. It had taken a lifetime, but now I could see exactly what Shane saw every day. The beautiful woman staring out of that mirror was me. My hair was curled to perfection hanging around my shoulders; my makeup minimum with just a little foundation, some light eye makeup, and clear gloss. The wedding dress was figure hugging, pushing my breasts up while showing off the sexy curve of my hips. On my feet I wore simple ballet slippers, giving me no extra height, no added sex appeal. But I was definitely sexy.

Behind me my friends were speechless. I shifted my gaze to find Dallas blinking rapidly, trying to keep from crying. “You are so beautiful, Harp.”

I opened my mouth to thank her, but the door opened and in walked my stepdad along with Linc. Both men stopped in their tracks when they saw me. “Holy fuck!” Linc exclaimed. “You’re enough to turn a gay man, Harper.”

I laughed, stepping forward to let him brush a kiss over my cheek. “Thanks.”

When I glanced at Cecil he had tears in his eyes and wasn’t trying to keep them at bay. “There are no words to describe how beautiful you are, Harper,” he said before pulling me into a warm, loving hug.

I closed my eyes and wrapped my arms around his shoulders. “Thanks for being here for me, Cecil.”

“There’s no other place I would rather be, sweetheart.”

“Where’s Emmie?” Layla demanded. “She hasn’t gotten dressed yet.”

I hadn’t noticed her!

“I’ll go find her. She’s probably just going over everything again before the ceremony.” Natalie smiled at me in the mirror before leaving.

“You look so beautiful, Harper,” Jenna, Shane and Drake’s little sister told me from where she and Mia were sitting on the sofa. “It’s so cool that you’re going to be my sister.”

I crossed to her and pulled her into a one-armed hug, not wanting to mess the teenager’s hair or dress up. The wedding party wasn’t the largest I had ever seen, but it wasn’t small by a long shot. Jenna and Lucy were my bridesmaids along with Lana, Layla, Emmie, and Natalie. Dallas was my maid-of-honor, but I would have given the title to Linc just as quickly. Fortunately he was one of Shane’s groomsmen, because Shane had wanted him up there with us just as much as I did.

“Thanks, Jen. I’m so glad you could be here.”

“Daddy said he wasn’t going to miss Shane’s wedding for the world. Mom didn’t throw as big of a fit as I thought she would.” Jenna rolled her eyes. Stella wasn’t my favorite person in the world, but she had calmed down a lot since the nightmare that Jenna had put her through, running away to New York in search of her brothers. As for Shane’s dad, that was still really strained. Not that I could blame him or Drake. Their father had basically turned his back on them when they had needed him the most.

“Is my dress pretty, Aunt Harper?”

I turned my gaze to Mia who was sitting beside Jenna. In her little white dress she was not just pretty, but a beautiful little doll. “It sure is, flower princess. And your hair is so adorable. You were such a good girl sitting still while Aunt Layla curled it for you.”

The door opened so suddenly that it nearly banged against the wall. Emmie looked a little wild, with her eyes standing out in her pale face. I felt guilty that she had been running around making my wedding day so special while I had just been sitting around having everyone pamper me. “Emmie…”

Her eyes landed on me and I was startled when tears started spilling down her cheeks. “Oh my gods! You’re breathtaking.”

I didn’t know what to say. I wanted to thank her for making this all so special. I wanted to hug her, and tell her I was sorry for being such a pain in the ass. My mouth opened, but nothing came out. Seeming to understand all that I was feeling, Emmie stepped forward and wrapped her arms around my waist. “It was my pleasure, Harper,” she whispered close to my ear. “Welcome to the family, sweetheart.”