Moira Rogers: Two Weddings (and One Near Funeral)

“He what?”

Mackenzie was too tired for this. She grabbed the back of Jackson’s shirt and hauled him toward the door. “Tomorrow, Nick. Tomorrow, and then the next day, and then this will all be over, and life can go back to normal.”

“Such as it is,” the tiny brunette called after her.

Jackson huffed out a laugh and stroked the back of Mackenzie’s neck. “Such as it is.”

She shivered, the heat from before blossoming into something a bit more urgent. Suddenly she needed to get Jackson home—or at least to his truck, which was old enough to have a bench seat with plenty of room to maneuver.

Pushing open the front door, she hauled him into the night. “Why don’t we...” Carmen’s car sat a dozen feet away, a silhouette inside clearly visible. They’d taken Alec’s keys, but not Carmen’s. “Shit, we can’t let them dri—oh, they’re not driving.”

“No, they are not.” Jackson wheeled her around. “Should we...do something?”

She wanted to run like hell. “Are they going to get arrested? Can you make sure no one sees them?”

“Yeah, I think so.” He whispered a low incantation, then gingerly touched the hood of the car. It immediately ceased its subtle rocking. “Best I can do, darlin’.”

It would have to do. “Let’s get the hell out of here. And not have sex in the truck.”

His eyebrows shot up. “Aw, damn it. Were we going to?”

“Were.” And maybe someday she could get rid of the mental image of the ways Carmen had to bend to screw Alec in the front seat of a Camry. “Take me home, Jackson. I’m really tired of wedding stuff.”

“Your wish is my command, Kenzie.”

He found Mackenzie in front of the mirror, smoothing the fabric of the deep red bridesmaid dress over her hip. “It’s not so bad,” she murmured, meeting his eyes in the mirror. “For a bridesmaid’s dress, I mean.”

“No,” he whispered, sliding an arm around her. “You’re beautiful.”

“You’re biased.” But she smiled and leaned back against him. “Are you going to put on your tux so I can admire you?”

His lips brushed the side of her neck. “Last minute alterations. Gotta pick it up tomorrow before we head out to Alec’s.”

“Too bad.” She shivered and tilted her head, a quiet invitation he recognized by now. “Suppose it’s good, though. I’ve been a little unsteady. Don’t want to accidentally rip it off of you.”

He clutched her tighter for a split second. “Aren’t you supposed to be making Carmen’s life easier instead of ripping up the groomsmen?”

“Sera took her to a spa to hide from Alec’s mother.” Mackenzie’s eyes drifted open, bright blue and full of mischief. “If Geraldine Jacobson gets irritated that she can’t find her future daughter-in-law, I get to have at her.”

“Finally?”

“Maybe you should save her from herself. Help me get this dress off and distract me.”

Peeling the satin up her body would distract them both. Jackson eased the dress up her legs. “You gonna wear your hair up or down?”

“Up.” Every deep breath she dragged into her lungs pressed her breasts against the dress’s low-cut bodice. “Out of the way, in case a brawl starts. You know I’m hoping for one.”

“Better forgo the dangly earrings then.”

“Jackson?”

“Mm-hmm?”

“Will you marry me?”

The words stopped him stock still, and he stared at her in the mirror. “What?”

“Tomorrow,” she whispered, meeting his gaze. “After Carmen and Alec survive their ceremony. Can’t we just...get on a plane and go to Vegas?”

His mother would flip her shit, but Mackenzie had faced down enough mother-in-law crap to last a lifetime. “Just us?”

“Mmm.” She twisted in his arms and rocked up on her toes, lips sliding along his jaw. “I made friendly with Alec’s pilot buddy. I bet he’d fly us out there. He’s a spell caster too.”

“I know.” Jackson turned her and met her gaze evenly. “Do you really want to do this, or do you just not want what Carmen and Alec are getting? Because I swear, Kenzie, I wouldn’t let anyone make you.”

She swallowed hard. “I don’t know. I just...I want to already be married to you. I need to be already married to you.”

The emotion that welled at the thought threatened to choke him. “I know the feeling. If you really want to do it... Fuck it. Let’s go.”

Her brilliant smile was reward enough, but a second later she had both hands in his hair and her mouth crashed into his, kissing him like she couldn’t help herself, like she needed him more than life.

Like she needed him as much as he needed her.

“We’re crazy,” he murmured against her mouth.

“Always have been.” She bit his lip. “Get me out of this dress before we rip it.”

He tugged at the zipper and groaned when it held fast. “One problem. Zipper’s stuck.”

Mackenzie dropped her head to rest against his shoulder and whimpered. “I hate weddings.”

Carmen and Alec were married, and Mackenzie was going to be drunk before she accomplished the same thing.

She dropped her champagne glass on a passing tray and snagged Nick’s arm before the brunette could move past her again. “Nick, hold up a second.”

“Sure, what’s up?”

Mackenzie wet her lips, suddenly nervous. “I can’t find Carmen and Alec. Would you say goodbye to them, for me? Jackson and I are sneaking out early.”

“Can’t find the bride and groom, huh?” Nick rolled her eyes. “You haven’t stumbled into the master bath, obviously.”

A laugh bubbled up, and Mackenzie slapped her hand over her mouth. “Already?”

Nick giggled too. “Like a couple of goddamn teenagers.”

“Well, tell them congratulations for us.” Mackenzie hesitated, torn between a quick lie and the truth. But it was Nick—Jackson’s best friend, and the first friend she’d made in New Orleans. It felt wrong to drag him off to Las Vegas without telling any of the people in their lives.

She couldn’t remember deciding, but the words tumbled out anyway. “Alec’s friend is flying us to Las Vegas. Now.”

“What?” A frown crinkled her brow. “What’s going on?”

So much for a clean getaway. “We’re eloping, Nick. Tonight.”

“To Vegas?” She squealed and grabbed Mackenzie’s hands. “Forget Nelson’s tiny-ass little plane. Let’s steal my dad’s jet.”

She’d known better. She’d known better. “We can’t all disappear. Someone has to stay here to protect Carmen and Alec from the cream of shapeshifter society.”

“Screw that, we’ll staple their pants on and bring them with us.”

Mackenzie gazed among the crowd of well-dressed shapeshifters, all of them pressing in on her with an angry menace that made her long for claws and teeth. There were so many, it would take hours for Alec’s mother to notice they were even gone.

Served her right. “Fine, but hurry. I need to get out of here.”

Nick squealed again, this time with a little hop that made her look like a kid. “Don’t move. I’ll round everyone up.”

Everyone.

Jackson was going to kill her.

Ever After

You couldn’t go through a Vegas drive-thru wedding chapel in a jet. As it turned out, a stretch Hummer wouldn’t fit either, so they filed into the chapel itself. Damn near everyone he knew in New Orleans, along with a couple of plus-ones.

Carmen shoved her bouquet into Mackenzie’s hands and pointed her toward Jackson—and the officiant, who was doing a pretty damn good job of impersonating Elvis, the early years.

Mackenzie just stared at him, wide-eyed and clearly shocked at how fast it had all gone down, even after a year’s association with Nicky Peyton in a determined mood. She kept staring until Kat let out a whoop of triumph and held up her phone. A few seconds later, a wedding march spilled out of its tiny speakers.