She found herself next to Rey’s other cousin Erika, a sweet-faced twenty-year-old with dark blond hair. Erika whispered, “Watch out for Inga. She’s been trying to get her live-in boyfriend to propose for over a year. When Rey told everybody that she wanted you to catch the bouquet, Inga got a nasty little gleam in her eye.”
“It doesn’t matter to me if I catch the bouquet.”
“You don’t understand.” Erika grabbed her forearm. “Seeing Rey get married to a hottie like Marco has pissed Inga off. Ruining the bouquet toss is her bit of revenge.”
Inga stood at the other end of the front row, glowering at them. Meg gave her a sugary smile.
“Be careful.” Erika melted into the second row.
Meg sighed and tossed her sandals on a nearby chair. She couldn’t let Rey’s jealous cousin spoil Rey’s plans. Widening her stance slightly, she balanced on the balls of her bare feet.
“Are we ready, ladies?” the DJ hollered over the mike.
A halfhearted cheer came from the crowd. The other women traded uneasy looks at the deadly vibes zinging between the messy maid of honor and the bitchy bridesmaid and faded from hair-pulling range.
Rey glanced over her shoulder to see where Meg stood. She turned to the DJ.
“One! Two!” By “Three!” Inga charged toward Meg like a Chicago Bears defensive linesman.
The bouquet arched over Rey’s head, aimed straight for Meg. With one eye on the flowers and the other on Inga, Meg centered her breathing. Inga was almost on top of her, obviously planning to body-check her into next week. Meg turned into Inga’s path and grabbed her green satin sash.
Before Meg could step aside and let Inga crash to the floor, Meg slipped on some spilled ice cubes and fell.
Letting the bigger woman’s momentum push them both down, Meg rolled onto her back and flipped Inga over her head. The big blonde landed with a thud, her mouth gaping open and closed like a giant koi out of water.
Meg leapt to her feet and walked to the battered clump of flowers. An eerie silence fell over the ballroom. She hefted the bouquet high over her head. The guests went crazy, clapping and cheering.
Rey hurried over and scolded her cousin in angry Swedish. Marco laughed so hard he wheezed and had to wipe a tear off his cheek. “Remind me never to get on your bad side. What was that, karate?”
“No.” Meg shrugged. “Judo. I studied with my mom’s older brother for years.”
“Black belt?”
“Only second degree.” Meg looked over at Inga, whose failure-to-commit boyfriend helped her to her feet. She figured that it was the blond guy from the elevator. “I never thought I’d need it at a wedding reception.”
The DJ announced the garter toss. “By tradition, the winner is the next man to get married. So come on up to get fitted for your ball and chain!”
Several men headed for the exits, only to be corralled by their dates. Despite the DJ’s smarmy cajoling, only two extremely natty men sauntered onto the dance floor. Meg took a closer look to see Rey’s painter friend Leo and his life-partner Steve. Oh, well. At least Leo or Steve would wear the garter at some social occasion.
“Aaaand…” The DJ smirked at the crowd. “The lucky winner gets to dance with the lovely winner of the bouquet toss!”
Shit, shit, shit! She’d forgotten about that part of this embarrassing tradition. Leo, Steve, please save me. But the dance floor filled with men. Men as old as her dad, men barely old enough to vote. Fair-haired men, dark-haired men, but none with wavy brown hair streaked with red and gold. Rick must still be asleep upstairs, dead to the world and fortunately, dead to her humiliation.
Burlesque music blared through the ballroom. Marco winked and tugged Rey to a beribboned chair. The horns played the infamous “stripper” song while Marco ducked his head under Rey’s skirt. She squealed and batted at his shoulders, her pale cheeks turning bright pink. After several boom-badda-boom repeats, Marco reappeared with his bride’s garter dangling from his teeth. He slingshot the blue lacy elastic into the crowd of guys.
Meg thought women played rough. But men who broke into hives at the idea of dating the same woman for more than three weeks were fighting over the garter as if she were Miss America, Miss November and Miss Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue all rolled into one. The thuds of fists on flesh and grunts of pain were audible even over the cheesy music.
The winner popped up from the melee and strutted over to her. The losers glared at him, flexing trampled fingers and stomped toes. One man was helped to his feet after a vicious kidney punch.
“Hi, I’m Pablo, and I can’t wait to dance with you.” He stood only a couple inches taller than she was, even with his lizard-skin cowboy boots.
“Hi, Pablo.” Would this torture ever end? The photographer snapped some gruesome photos. Slow, dreamy music oozed from the speakers and the garter-catcher pulled her against his chest.
Meg stared over his shoulder, determined to avoid eye contact at all costs. It didn’t work.
Pablo leaned forward to breathe in her ear. “You must be very comfortable in your own skin.”
“What are you talking about?” She pushed away from him.
“You know.” His gaze drifted over her body. “Flipping that big chick over your head while you’re wearing that fancy dress…and nothing under it.”
“Oh, my God!” She’d flashed the wedding guests? “Who else saw?”
He leered at her. “Me and a few friends lucky enough to stand in the right place at the right time.”
Meg’s stomach roiled. In guy-speak, that probably meant that at least twenty guys had seen her bared to the waist. No wonder they’d been fighting over the garter. They probably thought she was the kind of bridesmaid-gone-wild that would sneak off for a wedding reception quickie. And for the first time ever, they’d be right. But not with anyone but Rick. “I hope you got a good look, because none of you is ever seeing that again.”
“Too bad. I really dig crazy chicks like you.”
“For my friend’s sake, I am going to finish this dance with you. Then I will walk away and try to forget I ever met you.”
The music ended, and Meg sprinted toward Rey and Marco, determined to say her goodbyes and escape home. At least Marco had been standing across the ballroom in the wrong line of sight. Meg didn’t need years of awkward Sunday brunches and Christmas parties.
As if to mock that wish, Pablo came trotting after her. “I’m in room 824 if you change your mind.”
“I’d have to lose my mind first!” After this evening’s festivities, she wondered if she had.
RICK JERKED AWAKE, blinking in the darkened hotel room. Hong Kong? His head cleared and he remembered he was in Chicago. The scent of sex rose from the sheets and he reached out, grabbing a handful of cool satin. “Michiko?”
The
