Total pages in book: 69
Estimated words: 68882 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 344(@200wpm)___ 276(@250wpm)___ 230(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 68882 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 344(@200wpm)___ 276(@250wpm)___ 230(@300wpm)
“I’m glad.” And he’s right. There have been funny toasts, a sweet first dance between the newly married couple, and Liv and her dad actually performed a choreographed number for the father-daughter dance.
It was awesome.
“There’s not one helicopter overhead,” I hear someone say. “How did they pull that off?”
Ike and I share a smile. “Between Uncle Luke, Leo, and all the others that have celebrity status in our family, they have a lot of practice in fooling the media.”
“The press has been ramping up around me lately,” Ike says with a frown. “I’m getting calls, people waiting outside the training center when I leave… There’s always been a little of that, but they’re getting more insistent.”
“I would be shocked if they didn’t do that, babe. You’re hot news right now, with that new contract. Maybe things will mellow out again before the season starts in a couple of months.”
“I hope so. I’m not a media hound. I just want to play ball.”
“Part of the job,” I remind him with a shrug. “You’ve got this.”
“You have way more confidence than I do. Okay, let’s change the subject to something way better. Wanna dance?” Ike sets his napkin aside and holds his hand out in invitation.
“I thought you hated to dance.”
“It’s a wedding.” His smile is so damn sexy; how can I resist him? I don’t want to resist him. So, I place my hand in his and follow him out onto the floor.
It’s a dreamy slow song. All the parents are coupled up and dancing, including my own parents, who are staring into each other’s eyes.
“I used to hate it when they’d be all mushy in public,” I say softly so only Ike can hear. “I thought it was so embarrassing.”
“I think that’s probably a normal reaction from kids.”
“Hmm.” I watch them for a few moments until Ike spins me away. “Now I’m grateful that they still look at each other like that. Like the other hung the moon. I’m not stupid. I know that they’ve had rough patches, but they always seem to work it out.”
“You’re lucky,” he says. “I don’t ever remember a time when my dad looked at my mom like that. When he was just flat-out nice to her, you know? I don’t remember those days. Last week, when we were in Florida, I heard her laugh, like a big belly laugh, for the first time since I was a kid.”
“Wow.” I brush my fingers through the back of his hair, wanting to soothe him. “That’s really telling, Ike.”
“So, it’s different for me to be here, where everyone is happily married and enjoying themselves.”
“Don’t you think that a happy marriage is possible?”
“Yeah, I do.” He nods and narrows his eyes like he’s thinking it over. “I’ve just never witnessed one.”
“Well, you will now.”
Before he can reply, Keaton taps on Ike’s shoulder and grins down at me.
“Just because you’re dating her, doesn’t mean you can monopolize all the dancing,” Keaton says to Ike.
“I think that’s exactly what it means,” Ike says with a laugh. “But I’ll share. I wanted to go chat with Will, anyway.”
Ike kisses my cheek, and then Keaton spins me around the floor in a flourish. He always was an excellent dancer.
“You look good dressed up,” I inform him. “You should do that more often.”
“Right. Like I’m going to restore old cars in this getup. No thanks. You, however, look really nice tonight. I think all the uncles may have had a collective stroke.”
“I’m not the only one showing some skin, you know.”
“No, but you don’t usually show so much skin.”
I just shrug a shoulder, and then he twirls me around again, making me laugh.
“Do you know who she is?” he asks, gesturing to a woman who’s talking to Uncle Leo and looks totally flustered doing it.
“That’s Sidney, Gray’s sister. She’s a country singer. You’ve never heard her music? She’s become really popular in the past couple of years.”
“I’m not exactly a country fan,” he says dryly. “I’m more of a Nirvana guy. But she’s beautiful.”
I look her way once more and smile softly. Sidney blushes as Leo talks to her. She’s blonde with a gorgeous smile, and she’s rocking that gold minidress like she was born to wear it. Clearly, the sexy genes run in the Sterling family. “Yeah, Sidney is gorgeous. And famous. You always said you’d stay away from anyone famous, Keat.”
“No one said I was going to marry her. But I might just go say hi. There’s no law against that.”
“Is that the only reason you wanted to dance with me?” I scowl up at him. “You could have just gone and talked to her.”
“If she’s a Hollywood type, I’m not interested.”
“She is famous.”
“But she’s not an actress.” He winks at me. When the song is over, he quickly abandons me to go over to Sidney.