Knight in Shining Suit (13 page)

Adam sucked in a deep
breath, as if he was bracing himself, and then he raised a brow.
“How well do you know this guy?”

I shook my head. “Other
than the fact that he’s providing a face for the Alpha Male
imaginary boyfriend that I’m showing off to everybody tonight, I
know that he works as a bartender. Although I have to tell you,
he’s really smart. Apart from that, I don’t know him at
all.”

“
Will you spend the night
with him?”

“
Yes. Doing nothing, Adam.
Maybe just talking.”

“
You’re not afraid that he
might be hiding a secret identity that you should be aware
of?”

I laughed. “Seriously,
Adam. Too much CSI.”

He arched a brow at
me.

I sighed. “I’ll be fine. I
don’t think he’ll rob me. I already told him that I couldn’t afford
his services again. You were the one who paid him. I doubt that
he’ll violate me in some way. A guy as hot as that could have his
pick of any girl, any time, so I don’t think he’ll even entertain
the thought of taking advantage of me. He’s not a serial killer of
some sort. We haven’t heard of serial killings in the last decade
in this city or in nearby states.” The last sentences were meant to
be a joke. Adam really was being too overprotective.

Adam sighed and shook his
head. “I’m not worried about any of that. I’m worried about you
falling for him for real.”

“
I gotta tell you, Adam,
it is easy. He’s… a wonderful guy. He’s smart, funny, charming. But
I just met him, and I doubt he’ll want to see me again after
this.”

Adam nodded. “Just be
careful, okay? He’s probably the best guy to replace Bryan with,
but only if he’s willing to share a piece of his heart with
you.”

I laughed. “Now, that’s
new!” Somehow, I couldn’t believe the same ruthless Adam could say
something like that to me. “Who are you and what have you done with
my brutal cousin?”

Adam laughed and then he
leaned forward and gave me a kiss on the forehead. “I love you,
Ash. Even if sometimes I have a weird way of showing it. I am so
happy to see you laughing tonight. You sparkle like a diamond that
even the bride herself is feeling like she is no longer the center
of attention.”

I stared back at Adam.
“What? Did she say that?”

Adam shrugged. “Well, I
danced with her and she basically asked me why you had to come. I
told her that family sticks together. And besides, she sent you an
invitation.”

“
What else did she
say?”

“
I think she’s more
irritated with the fact that people here are talking more about
you, admiring your courage, and being happy for your newfound
love.”

“
What did she say about
Ryder?”

Adam sighed. “She was
asking where you met him and how you met him. I said I don’t know.
She’s keeping tabs on you and Ryder
at her
own wedding
. This was a wicked plan,
Ash.”

I couldn’t help laughing.
“And it’s working.”

Adam nodded. “He’s already
won the hearts of our aunts. You might be up for competition. They
already fancy themselves twenty-five years younger and in love with
him.” My eyes drifted off to where Ryder was, dancing with one of
our young nieces. “And some of our nieces fancy themselves fifteen
years older and in love with him.”

Adam nodded. “I gotta hand
it to the guy, when it comes to charming his lady’s relatives, he’s
got a PhD.”

I smiled. “Yes, he does.
But I hope they won’t remember him soon enough.”

“
Why?”

“
Well, his name is Ryder
Woodson. Somehow, our relatives mistook him as Ryder Van Woodsen.
Apparently, the Van Woodsens are famous in New York.”

“
Oh. Is that
so?”

I nodded. “I mean, it’s
brilliant! That name tells the tale itself. But Uncle Reynolds
already asked him if he could get a reservation into one of the
restaurants that the Van Woodsens own. Ryder had to coolly say yes.
But what if Uncle Reynolds goes to New York next week? What am I
going to do?”

“
What did Ryder say?” Adam
asked with narrowed eyes.

“
He said he knows the crew
of some restaurants in New York. He’ll be able to pull it
off.”

“
Then maybe he’ll be able
to,” Adam said icily. Somehow, something in his voice told me that
he was also worried.

“
He should have corrected
Uncle Reynolds when he had him confused with someone else!” I
groaned silently.

“
Yeah. He should have,”
Adam said disapprovingly. His gaze drifted to where Ryder was now,
dancing with Nicole. “He really does know the way to your heart,
doesn’t he?”

I had to laugh, because I
thought it was actually cute of Ryder to dance with my best friend.
He and Nicole inched their way towards us.

“
Hey, Nic!” I smiled at
Nicole. “Great party!”

Nicole laughed. “Thanks to
the brilliant wedding planner!”

“
Yeah. Wedding of my
dreams!” I groaned.

“
You’re going to top this,
sweetie!” Nicole said to me positively. “A few years, maybe months
from now, you are going to do a lot better than this!”

Standing there, hearing
those words from Nicole, seeing Adam nod in agreement and Ryder
smile in encouragement, I felt I found a new hope in me. The hope
to rise above it all. To rise and triumph above Bryan and Geena. I
knew that the time to start pulling my act together was
now
. Here, with the
three people who stood as my allies.

7.

WEDDING GARTER

Worn by brides above the
knee. Nowadays, wedding garters can come in different materials,
and colors.

A
fter dancing with Adam, Nicole and I switched and I was back
in Ryder’s arms once again.

“
Hmmm… I thought you
weren’t going to dance with any other lady aside from me,” I said,
faking a cross expression on my face.

He chuckled. “Well, I
figured, I needed to score with the women in your life, starting
with your mother. I danced with the rest because I didn’t want them
to think I was only impressing your mother. Then I danced with your
nieces and the little girls because I thought you’d think that was
sweet. I danced with your best friend because I needed her
approval, too.”

“
What’s the
verdict?”

He leaned closer to me and
said, “Your soul is sold, love. I’m afraid I am the highest
bidder.”

I laughed as I stared up
at him. He leaned down and gave me a soft kiss on my nose before
leaning his head to the side to gently kiss my neck. Then he sighed
and pulled me closer towards him. I rested my head on his
shoulder.

“
Can you just be real?” I
whispered.

“
You mean… can I just be
rich, famous, and all these things I was pretending I am?” he
whispered in my ear. I couldn’t recognize the emotion in his voice.
For the first time tonight, he seemed uncertain. It was as if he
was afraid of my answer.

I shook my head. “No. Not
that. I wish you could really be the wonderful, funny guy who only
has eyes for me, and would dance with my mother, my aunts, my
nieces, and my best friend to gain their approval… for my sake. Not
for the sake of the fake rebound story of the year.”

It took him a while to say
something. I felt his arms tighten around me and his breath blew in
my ears, making my knees feel weaker than they already were. “Even
if I’m just your bartender, I am that man tonight,
Astrid.”

I hugged him back and I
sighed. “I know, Ryder. I hope you know you’re not just a bartender
to me. You’re my knight in shining armor.”

“
I’m not pretending,
love,” he whispered gently. “I told you… I am yours tonight. And
you are mine.”

I sighed. “Yes. I am
yours, Ryder.”

And somehow, I found
myself fantasizing that it was true. That he would want me to be
his. Not just because I asked him to. But I remembered what Adam
said. It would be easy enough to lose my heart along the way.
Especially, with a guy like Ryder. He didn’t have to be the rich
guy he was pretending to be. He’s smart and ambitious, sweet and
charming, yet, somehow, we… click.

Good thing I only have
this night to be with him. Only this night to have him exist in my
life. This night to believe that I am the apple of this wonderful
man’s eyes… the love of his life!

Ryder pulled away from me
slightly. He had a mischievous smile on his face when he leaned
forward and gave me a kiss on the lips. I indulged in his kisses.
How often would a god like this want to kiss me anyway?

Well, in real life, I
prefer to keep it real. I always thought a relationship with rich
guys would be complicated. I wanted to be the center of my man’s
world. It’s impossible to do that with a man who has the whole
world in his hands. But tonight… I was making fantasies come true.
Even though they weren’t really my own. But it seemed to be
everybody else’s. And it seemed Ryder just stepped out of the pages
of a fairy tale. So tonight, I got to have him. He was my knight…
regardless of how much money he had in his pocket.

And the more I kissed him,
the more convincing we were to the rest of my relatives, and to
Bryan and Geena.

We were interrupted by an
announcement by the host asking all the single ladies to line up in
the dance floor.

I rolled my eyes. “Do I
really have to go?” I asked Ryder.

He laughed and gave me a
kiss on the lips again. “Of course! You’re the fairest of all the
single ladies here. You should go.”

I watched with a bored
expression as Geena giggled and the guests cheered, then she threw
her bouquet with such force that it missed the eager bridesmaids
behind her and landed directly in front of me.

My initial reaction when I
saw the bouquet headed towards me was,
I
paid for those! I paid for those!
Maybe
that’s what made me catch it.

Geena rolled her eyes when
she saw her bouquet in my arms. The crowd cheered. I smiled widely,
pretending that I was ecstatic about catching it.

It was the guys’ turn to
catch the garter. I saw that Ryder was one of them. He winked at me
just as Bryan made the toss and I saw him fight his way to catch
it. He almost landed on one of the other guys, but he triumphantly
held the garter in his hand.

Soon, I was sitting on a
chair and nervously watching as Ryder took my leg and slipped the
garter on. He was told by the host to use his teeth to raise the
garter up my knees.

I knew I had a violet
blush on me. I could only squeal and cover my mouth with my hands.
After all, I had to pretend that this wasn’t the first time Ryder’s
lips were touching my legs.

The crowd cheered,
‘
Higher!’ ‘Higher!’

My heart pounded in my
ribcage.

Ryder laughed. He held the
lace in his mouth this time. His eyes sparkled as he slowly raised
the garter higher above my knees.

‘
Higher!’

‘
Higher!’

He continued to raise the
garter, watching the blush on my face spread to my neck, then
further down my chest.

I wanted to tell him to
stop but then I looked up and saw the frown on Bryan’s face and the
irritated look on Geena’s. So I looked back at Ryder and laughed
instead. He raised the garter higher towards my thigh and stopped
regardless of the cheers of the crowd. Then he bent down to kiss my
knee gently. He stood up, took my hand and pulled me towards
him.

We heard the people bang
their spoons against the crystal glasses, asking the bride and the
groom to kiss.

Before I could steal a
glance towards Bryan and Geena, I felt Ryder pull my chin towards
him.

“
I don’t think they just
meant the bride and the groom, love.” His eyes twinkled.

I giggled and stared up at
him as he bent his face towards mine and gave me one head-spinning
kiss. People cheered on and I think they were cheering for Ryder
and me louder than they were for the newlyweds.

Slow music played from the
surrounding speakers and I felt Ryder wrap his arms around my
waist. I rested my head on his shoulder. He kissed my forehead and
then he rested his chin at the top of my head. I knew we were the
picture of bliss. The perfect, happy couple.

How I wished it were true.
How I wished that I was totally over Bryan, that the impact of this
wedding didn’t hurt me a bit, that I could not care less that it
was him and Geena who would be sleeping in the matrimonial bed I
booked a couple of months ago. I wished that Ryder was really here
for me, that he was here…because he wanted to be, and not because I
paid him to be, but rather because he really did belong to
me.

“
Would you like to join me
outside?” I heard him say.

I stared up at him. His
handsome face was peaceful and at ease. I nodded. Hand in hand, he
led me towards the veranda. I was happy to finally be alone with
Ryder, to finally get away from prying eyes.