Another subtle question he would ask now and again. “I’m getting there.”

  “Good,” he said.

  It took almost forty-five minutes to get about five miles from the docks where the ferry stopped. She knew there were all sorts of ports on the coast of Boston, but the location of this one was good. Not too busy in that the cargo ships were docking there but enough businesses to attract people too.

  There was so much to learn about this town and more to explore, but part of her didn’t care enough.

  She liked the small island that was starting to feel like a home she’d never had before. Even as a kid when her mother was alive, that wasn’t a home.

  A home to her was a place she could lay her head down at night and not be stressed. Not worry about making someone angry or living in fear.

  She had to remind herself she’d come a long way from the little girl that tried to hide under the bed or in the closet hoping not to be found and yanked out. Unfortunately it happened more times than she could count.

  Alex parked her car and they got their bags out. Her dress was in a garment bag. She’d never owned a lot of dresses but found she had to buy more with all these weddings she was having to attend.

  She was lucky enough to find this more formal summer dress on sale in one of the boutiques on the island. It was in the markdown section from last year and since she hadn’t had a lot of time to find a dress was thrilled rather than taking a chance on something ordered online.

  Eli’s wedding was fancy and she knew her black dress was appropriate. One she could get more use out of it too if need be, but just not at another Bond wedding where she’d worry someone would remember she’d worn it before.

  “You don’t know how easy you’ve got it for these weddings,” she said when they were walking into the lobby.

  “I know what you’re going to say,” he said. “I’ve heard it from my mother. No one notices if a guy has the same suit on if they just change a shirt, but they notice if a woman has the same dress on.”

  “That’s right.”

  “Sorry it’s so hard for you to find a dress.”

  He was smirking at her. She elbowed him slightly. “Not funny.”

  “I can’t wait to see it,” he said. “How come you didn’t let me see it before now?”

  “Maybe it’s a surprise,” she said. “I was lucky to find it last minute like I did.”

  “I want to say you could have worn your black dress again that you wore to Eli’s, but I know you’d yell at me.”

  “Not yell, but lecture,” she said.

  They checked in and Alex got the card to their room.

  They rode the elevator to the fifth floor. “I wonder how many of your family members are on this floor.”

  “No clue,” he said. “Did you plan on getting loud later? I’m all for it and can ask around to find out.”

  “Ha ha,” she said. “Maybe it’s you that is going to get loud.”

  They got into their room and he had her against the wall, his mouth on hers, his hands on her waist. “Is that a challenge for later?”

  “I think you’d like that,” she said.

  “I would. But you know I’ll have to even the score too.”

  They stood there while he continued to kiss her. Her breath almost being knocked right out of her in the process.

  There was just something about Alex Bond that made her feel safe when she never had before.

  “I look forward to it,” she said. “We should probably get dressed. Maybe we cut it too close.”

  “No,” he said. “We’ve got an hour yet before the ceremony. We only have to go around the block to the church. How long does it take for you to put a dress on?”

  His hands were roaming under her shirt and trying to distract her.

  “Longer than you realize,” she said. “I’ve got to do my hair and makeup. I wanted to take a quick shower too. I always feel dirty when I’m on the ferry and the wind is blowing around me.”

  He moved back and picked his bag up where he’d dropped it. “Fine. You get the first shower, then I’ll jump in after you.”

  “Thank you,” she said.

  She grabbed what she needed and pinned her hair up on her head, then jumped in and cleaned up.

  When she opened the door to the bathroom and came out, Alex was sitting on the bed flipping through the channels, then got up and moved past her, kissing her on the lips. “I like this look you’ve got going on.”

  She was wearing one of his T-shirts over her bra and underwear. She knew if she came out in her underclothes only to put her dress on, then he’d get distracted.

  “It’s comfortable,” she said.

  He tapped her on the nose. A move he did a lot but no one else ever did in her life.

  When he opened the door from the bathroom ten minutes later, her hair was almost done, the curls she put in it lying loose on her back, and she was spraying them hoping they’d stay.

  She glanced over and saw Alex only in his underwear as he moved to where his suit was hanging.

  “That’s a nice look on you too,” she said, grabbing her phone.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Pictures on my phone. Don’t worry, I’ll take it from the waist up. No one will know you are in your skivvies. Just me.”

  She snapped a few pictures and turned her phone around so he could see. She wouldn’t want anyone taking pictures of her in her underwear, but she figured he wouldn’t mind.

  “What month is that going to be on your calendar?”

  “August,” she said. “My birthday month. No one can tell if you’re naked, or have jeans on, maybe a bathing suit. I’ll know though. It’s just for me anyway, so it’s all good. Right?”

  “It’s fine,” he said.

  He picked his phone up. “What are you doing?”

  “The same thing you did. You’re covered a lot more than me.”

  She decided to have fun with it. Having fun wasn’t something she did much in her life. She turned and posed and stuck her tongue out, then crossed her eyes. He was laughing with her. “Okay, one serious one. I’ll smile.”

  She stopped her games and sent him a smile; then he turned his phone around and showed her the pictures. “This is my favorite.”

  Her head was back laughing; she wasn’t looking at him either. “Why?”

  “Because it might be the most relaxed I’ve seen you.”

  She lifted her hand, then dropped it down. She’d planned on running it over his cheek but stopped herself.

  She wasn’t one for soft romantic gestures and was afraid if she did one now he’d read more into it.

  “Now that we’ve had our fun, we should finish getting ready and make our way to the wedding.”

  After carefully pulling his shirt over her head, she got into her dress and turned for him to zip her up, then moved to put her makeup on.

  He hadn’t made a comment yet about the dark blue dress she was wearing. It had a halter top style but was fitted to her body and then flowed down straight. Not so straight she couldn’t move because the bottom almost bowed out like a bell. It stopped at her calves and she had on nude heeled sandals with it.

  “Are you going to turn around so I can see the front of you?” he finally asked.

  That hadn’t occurred to her, that he’d only zipped her up and hadn’t seen the rest.

  She turned around and put her arms out so he could see the whole package.

  “What do you think?”

  “I think we were made to be a matching couple tonight,” he said. “Damn.”

  She noticed he had a blue shirt on with a blue and gray tie to go with his dark gray suit. He hadn’t had this one on at Griffin’s wedding, and since he had two, she was guessing this was the one he’d worn at Eli’s. Funny how she didn’t notice him there when she felt like her eyes were only going to be on him today.

  “It’s almost like we planned this,” she said.

  They left the room a few minutes later and were in the elevator on the way down. No one was with them. “At least we won’t be on the hot seat today.”

  “Nope,” she said. “Is there another family member that will be?” she asked.

  “I thought I heard something about Roark, but I’m not sure.”

  “Roark?” she asked. There were people she still couldn’t place.

  “He’s in the wedding. He’s Hailey’s first cousin but also works for her. He’s gotten pretty close with Rex. Hunter, Hailey’s brother, is the best man. Hailey’s maid of honor I believe is Kayla, Hunter’s wife.”

  She knew Hunter and Kayla. “She’s pregnant, right?”

  “Yep. I think she is due soon. The other bridesmaid is Rex’s sister, Aileen. I’ve never met her. She lives north of Boston and is a teacher. This is going to be a huge wedding, by the way. I probably should have warned you.”

  “Your family is big. I’ve been to a few of these.”

  “And Eli’s was big. But this will be bigger. With Hailey and Rex owning their own firms, there will be employees and clients, besides family members.”

  “I didn’t think of that,” she said. “I’m sure Bode’s will be the same way.”

  Alex shrugged. “Who knows? My brother was the smart one. He flew to Montana and got married on Sidney’s parents’ property. The only wedding party was Jarrett, me, Amanda and Kayla. My parents were there too and my grandfather and Sidney’s parents. No one else.”

  “Honestly, that sounds perfect. After having been to a few of these, a destination wedding might be the way to go.”

  She shouldn’t have said that though when he looked at her. She was positive if the elevator didn’t stop and open to let other people in, he might have asked her if she was thinking of weddings herself.

  When they got to the main floor, they went outside and around the corner to the church. It was easier to stay parked at the hotel and walk then drive over.

  They took their seats. Half the church was filled up already. She saw her brother and Penelope further up, but she and Alex stayed in the middle. She hadn’t talked to Griffin in the past several weeks and didn’t think much of it.

  She’d gone years without talking to him. Just because they were on the same island now meant nothing.

  She did talk to Penelope more. More so texts that Penelope would send her. Pictures of Zandra that she enjoyed seeing. She’d go visit her niece too when Griffin was working more often than not.

  Over an hour later, they were standing in a room at the restaurant where the bar was located with their drinks and talking to a few people when Penelope and Griffin made their way over. “Where is Zandra?” Jennie asked.

  “My mother has her,” Penelope said. “She’s showing her off. And don’t you look lovely.”

  “Thank you. So do you,” she said to her sister-in-law. No one would know Penelope had a child. She was just as trim as she was before her pregnancy.

  “Let me take you away for a minute.”

  She looked at Griffin and then Alex, the two of them having not said a word to each other, and she wasn’t sure what was going on. “Okay.” When they were off to the side by themselves, she asked, “What’s going on?”

  “I wanted Griffin and Alex to be alone.”

  “Why?” she asked.

  “Oh dear, maybe you didn’t know.”

  “Know what?” she asked, putting her hands on her hips. She turned to look and see Alex and Griffin talking and neither had much of a smile on their face.

  “A month or so ago, when the fire department showed up at the casino, Griffin made a comment to Alex to not mess you up.”

  “He had no right to do that. Alex and I don’t have any problems.”

  “Which I told Griffin. I didn’t even know this happened until last week myself. It takes a lot for me to get things out of Griffin and he was moody when I brought up you guys being here.”

  “Why doesn’t he like Alex?” she asked. “I thought things were fine.”

  “They will be. Give Griffin a chance. This has more to do with what Alex said back to Griffin.”

  “I’m not sure I want to know,” she said.

  “I’m going to tell you because you should know. He replied with ‘like you did.’ Griffin didn’t appreciate it, but I told your brother he had it coming and he should be happy Alex is standing up for you.”

  Jennie ground her teeth. “I don’t need anyone to stand up for me.” Though she had to admit she did like that Alex had.

  “I know. Again, they need to work it out, but I wanted you to know. They won’t cause a scene here. You know that.”

  “They should be more worried that I’m going to cause one,” she said and walked away.

  26

  Future Plans

  The last thing Alex wanted was a confrontation with Griffin in front of the rest of the family.

  “My wife is meddling,” Griffin said.

  “So I see,” he said. They were both staring the other down.

  “I shouldn’t have said what I had the other day.”

  “Nope,” Alex said. “You shouldn’t have.” He wasn’t backing down. He wasn’t apologizing either. It’s not like Griffin did.

  “She’s my sister,” Griffin said.

  “And my girlfriend. In some instances I’m going to say I know her better. You might want to think about that before you start issuing statements.”

  Griffin was holding his ground, then looking around. They both saw Penelope and Jennie talking, then Jennie looked up. Her expression mirrored her brother’s and he knew he was going to be in hot water himself for not saying a word about this to her before.

  “I know I’ve done a lot wrong. I’ve got plenty to make up. My wife points it out all the time. Then she also said I had what you said coming to me. I need to know how to reach Jennie.”

  “You’re asking me for advice?” he asked, stunned this was happening. Maybe he had this all wrong. Was it possible?

  “I’m not thinking of it that way.”

  “Then what way?” he asked.

  “I don’t know. Shit, here she comes.”

  “She’s stalking. This is on you if my night is ruined.”

  Griffin snorted. Jennie stopped in front of them. “Both of you need to grow up,” she said quietly. The lower tone didn’t take away from the anger behind her words though.

  “You don’t even know what we’re talking about,” Griffin argued. “Maybe we are bonding.”

  “Don’t be cute, Griffin. It’s about me, that much I know. If I have to tell you both one more time that I can take care of myself, you’re not going to like the outcome.”

  Jennie moved off and left them standing there.

  “Thanks,” Alex said sarcastically to Griffin. Yep, his night was done and he didn’t do anything wrong. Penelope joined them. “What did you tell her?”

  “Just what happened at the casino,” she said. “I didn’t know she wasn’t aware. I told her I pulled her away to give you two time to talk. I know Griffin wanted to talk to you without Jennie around. I was making that happen.”

  He should feel better that Griffin was trying to make things right with his sister but wished he had been clued in prior.

  He was thrilled that the words he’d said to the bigger man a month ago sunk in. But he didn’t feel better because now his girlfriend was going to give him shit for interfering, he was sure.

  He hunted Jennie down but didn’t have a chance to say anything because there were too many people around. She’d be more pissed at him if she lost her temper with witnesses. The best he could do was get through the night.

  Two hours later, they were on the dance floor and he felt he could at least talk to her. “I’m sorry,” he said quietly in her ear. She was stiff in his arms and if it was possible for the rod in her back to straighten more, it did.

  “You should be.”

  “Your brother started it. I wasn’t going to take his shit.”

  She sighed. “I want to argue that that is a childish response, but I understand. I’m not sure what his problem is. I just want to live my life and he’s not letting me.”

  He didn’t want to defend Griffin but maybe he should. The guy at least listened to him and was trying.

  “He is,” he said. “In his way.”

  “What did he say to you today?” she asked.

  “Not much.” Which wasn’t a lie. She interrupted them before more could be said.

  “But something,” she said.

  Might as well be honest. To a point. “He said he shouldn’t have said what he had.”

  “He apologized?”

  “No. But I told him he shouldn’t have said it either. I’m trying to cut him some slack, Jennie. He loves you and he has a shit ton of guilt. I didn’t tell you what happened because it was only those two statements and nothing else.”

  Plus he’d been too excited to tell her about Lyle retiring. The vote was next week and then hopefully it’d be official and he’d be promoted to captain. He’d be on his way to his future plans falling into place.

  All he had to do was get Jennie on board with the other plans he was feeling.

  “Are you being honest with me?”

  “I am,” he said. He kissed her on the lips. “I really am. I don’t want you to be mad at me. Or even your brother, but I’m trying my hardest to stay out of that too.”

  She sighed. “I know you are. I’m sorry. I’m trying not to lose my temper.”

  “And you didn’t. But you have every right to be upset. I understand that.” He could see the struggle it was for her to let what happened today go.

  “You just don’t want me to not continue with my plans for later tonight.”

  He smiled knowing the crisis was almost over. “Not really, but if you do, then I understand too.”

  She kissed him on the lips. There were a lot of people watching. He’d seen the looks from his mother and brothers at the table when Jennie was quiet and almost ignoring him. Maybe they’d realize nothing was going on now. The last thing he wanted was more interference in his life.

  He at least got that wish a few hours later when they made their way back to their hotel room.

  “Are we all good now?” he asked her.