Legally Wed: A Lawyers in Love Novella (13 page)

I found a gorgeous wedding dress, exactly the one I wanted, one that made me feel absolutely beautiful. It was strapless, with a mermaid cut that hugged my curves, a dipped neckline, and a V-cut back. It was sewn with beautiful Chantilly lace that was soft to the touch, and I matched it with a lovely veil that attached to the crown of my head and fell to the middle of my back. I remember the Saturday I tried it on at the wedding boutique. All of my girls were there, including Abby, and everyone was ‘oohing’ and ‘ahing’ as I spun around in the mirror.

“Oh, Lily,” Abby gushed. “I can’t wait to see Adam’s face when he sees you dressed in that. You look so beautiful.”

“Thank you,” I said grinning like a fool.

“I’m sure he’ll be happy to see you out of it too,” Gab said, wiggling her eyebrows. “Don’t forget to get pretty lingerie.”

“Too much information,” Abby said making a face.

“Finally, someone who knows how I feel!” Beth said laughing.

I also found the perfect flower arrangement for my bouquet, with pale pink dahlias, dark pink roses and white lilies. I found gorgeous engraved invitations, the perfect little Lenox picture frames for wedding favors, delicious menu items, and mimosas to drink. The band came highly recommended, and Mr. Jonathan promised me that they would be able to play
Hava Nagila
at the reception, so that everyone could dance the hora around Adam and me. I made sure that I approved every detail that one could possibly need to approve of for their dream wedding. It wasn’t easy, but I faced down two Jewish mothers and a gay wedding planner to get exactly what Adam and I wanted.

Time flew by. I was fully moved in and Adam was even teaching me how to cook a little. I had gotten back into the writing groove and I would have another book coming out that spring. We were planning to do some research on our honeymoon. Before I knew it, New Year’s had come and gone and the wedding was only a week away. It was time to leave for Vegas.

We met at the airport on Friday morning. One of Braden and Gabrielle’s wedding gifts was chartering a private plane for us. It’s nice to have very wealthy friends. We would spend the afternoon together and dine together and then the guys and the girls would head off separately for a few hours and meet up again later. Our family and our other guests would be following us out Sat. morning. There would be a rehearsal dinner later that night, and then, Sunday at noon … I couldn’t stop smiling.

I looked around at our group while we waited. Cam and Jess were holding hands and laughing with Bruce and Jason, who had finally gotten some time away the hospital. Mark and Beth were having a conversation with Braden and Gabrielle, who was glowing with excitement. Everyone looked so happy, and it made me even happier, if that was possible.

Finally, we were able to board and our Vegas adventure got underway. The flight was five hours long, but the time didn’t drag. We were allowed to move around the cabin, so we gathered around and had fun reminiscing.

“Adam was so put out that Lily was coming along that night to Club 51 and that weekend to my parents’ place,” Braden said.

“But I remember that night at the club,” Gab chimed in. “Adam turned around and saw Lily in that red dress and did a double take.”

“Yeah, and then he went on to say, ‘I didn’t know they let you out at night,” Mark added with a laugh. “He’s such a charmer.”

“And she said, ‘Gentlemen … Adam’,” Gabrielle went on and everyone laughed.

“I was watching him when he put his arm around her to protect her from creepy Cousin Derek,” Jess said. “He was totally loving it!”

“I never said she wasn’t hot,” Adam teased, giving me a sexy smile.

“That whole weekend was like that,” Cam said. “Even though they kept arguing, I thought they were going to hook up that afternoon when they went in at the same time from the pool. There was something about
how
they were arguing, you know?”

“Yeah! I thought that too,” Mark said. “I was sure Adam was in there getting laid.”

“I almost did,” Adam said smugly.

“How can you be so sure?” I asked stubbornly, crossing my arms.

“For one thing, you’ve never actually denied it,” Adam said. “And for another, we were about two inches apart and moving closer when Gabrielle came up the stairs and you fled into your bedroom.”

“I can’t believe you guys didn’t hook up at that cabin,” Cam said.

“When Jess asked you what the two of you were doing up at 3 AM the look you gave each other was classic,” Gabrielle said.

“Damn interruptions,” Adam grumbled.

‘Tell me about it!” Braden agreed enthusiastically, which made everyone laugh. Braden and Gabrielle had been interrupted many times.

“That night at K2 when Lily saw Adam with that blonde, I thought she was going to crawl out a window,” Bruce said, putting his two cents.

“Bruce,” Jason said reprovingly.

“It’s true. I almost did,” I said, cracking everyone up. “I didn’t want to see him pick up some other woman.”

“He was there to pick
you
up,” Gabrielle said. “She probably went after him.”

“Did Gabrielle just come to Adam’s defense?” Mark asked incredulously.

“I think
so
,” Braden answered.

“I came to his
assistance
that night,” Gabrielle said. “And I was happy to do it, believe me. He was so freaking miserable by that point that I couldn’t stand it anymore.”

“Nobody in Judge Channing’s courtroom could stand it anymore, honey,” Jess agreed.

“Lily too!” Bruce said, rolling his eyes. “All she did was sit at home and make up dirty stories about him. That was her whole social life at that point.”

“Those dirty stories made good books,” I reminded him.

“Now that they’re getting married, Lily might hit the New York Time Best Seller list,” Beth said with a smile.

“Let’s sit down and rest for a while,” Adam said to me after we had chatted a little while longer. “We’re going to be busy later.” I nodded and followed him back to our seats. The others followed suit not long afterward. Adam and I held hands and stared into each other’s eyes while we spoke quietly to each other.

“When we get back home, we’ll be married.” He rubbed his thumb over my knuckles.

“I know. I was thinking that too.” I smiled. “Even if we missed all those chances before, at least we’ll never miss another one.”

He leaned down and kissed me, a soft, delicious cinnamon Tic Tac kiss that became a sensual, sexy, spicy kiss. We made out for a long time, occasionally whispering either very loving or very dirty things in each other’s ears.

“Are you sure you won’t be too tired to show me a good time tonight?” I teased, smiling and sucking gently on his neck.

“After a week? You must be kidding,” he said biting my earlobe. “Besides, didn’t you look at the pictures of the room? I’m going to play desert sheik and harem girl with you.”

“Let’s save that for our wedding night.” I giggled with anticipation. “I’ve been taking those belly dancing lessons and I bought an outfit to wear so I could dance for you then.”

“Oh my God. That’s better than Princess Leia and the gold bikini.”

It wasn’t all banter, though. We also talked about other things, details about the wedding, plans for the future, even just books and movies. Don’t ever think that Adam and I just argue and have make-up sex. We can talk for hours about mutual interests and issues that matter to us. I just don’t always describe those conversations because I’m not convinced that anyone else cares what we think about Twentieth Century literature, our favorite X-Files episodes or Middle Eastern politics.

We arrived in Las Vegas that afternoon and cars were waiting to take us to the hotel. I could feel Adam’s excitement, and not in the usual way. He was looking out the windows like a puppy dog. I half expected him to race back and forth from one side of the car to the other. When we pulled up to Marrakesh, the expression on his face looked like we had just discovered El Dorado.

There was a huge intricate stone arch that we drove through, and there were exotic-looking fountains just beyond. We circled up the drive and approached the huge entrance. Bellmen, dressed like Arabian palace guards, immediately swarmed. I didn’t point out that Arabia was a bit of a schlep from Morocco.

Adam had Vegas fever. He vaulted out of the car and looked around like he had just spent 40 years in the desert searching for this place. I was very happy to be there too, though. After leaving a bleak January day in Philly, the sun on my skin felt wonderful. Mr. Jonathan came out of the entrance and welcomed us enthusiastically.

“You’re all checked in! I have keys for everyone and the bellman will take your things up. The wedding party will have its own wing. Adam and Lily will have the honeymoon suite on their wedding night and a regular room before that.”

“Let’s get unpacked and check out the hotel,” Gab said, sounding excited.

“Let’s check out our room first,” Braden said, sounding excited in a different way. I had a feeling that all of the guys had an urge to play desert sheik and harem girl.

“After Braden and Gabrielle are done breaking in their bed, I say we hit that famous swimming pool,” Mark suggested.

“Okay, everybody, let’s do this!” Adam said, sounding like an excited kid. He grabbed my hand and practically skipped up the stone steps into the ornate lobby.

Having never been to Morocco, I had no idea what the real Marrakesh looked like, but it looked good to me. Actually, it reminded me of pictures I had seen of Moorish palaces in Spain. There were beautifully carved arches and vivid colors everywhere. The centerpiece of the lobby was a huge fountain painted gold. At least I think was painted. “Opulent” was the word that came to mind. It was quite a change from the place I had been living in just prior to moving in with Adam. “Tenement” was the word that came to mind with that place. I half expected to see Ali Baba come by on a flying carpet and I have to admit that while it might have been a little tacky, it was fun tacky.

Our rooms were well-equipped to support Adam’s role play fantasies. There was an arch leading to a private balcony and a sunken bathtub big enough for the whole harem. The bed was covered in brightly colored pillows and a sheer, dark purple canopy cascaded down from the ceiling, creating our own little harem tent.

“On our wedding night, I’ll dress in my costume and dance for you and feed you grapes and read to you from the 1001 Nights,” I said giving Adam a come-hither look and a hip wiggle.

“I’m so happy.” He sounded like he might cry.

An hour later, everyone met down by the pool. Because the weather wasn’t all that warm yet, it was enclosed and covered by a glass roof, but it was still breathtaking. There were fountains and exotic plants all over the place. There was even a swim-up bar. We found a group of lounge chairs together and settled in as waiters appeared out of nowhere to take our drink orders. I sat back for a chat with my girls and Bruce while Adam and the other guys headed off for a swim.

“Any word about what the boys have planned, Mata Hari?” Jess asked Gabrielle. Gabrielle was good at getting information out of Braden.

“They’re going to see Fantasy; it’s a burlesque type show at Luxor,” she answered.