Free Unwrapped by Melody Grace Page A

like he’s
about to rip his head off.
    “Daniel drove Lacey,” Juliet explains, quickly
stepping between them. “Isn’t that nice of him?”
    Emerson regards Daniel with a threatening stare.
“Sure. Nice. Thanks.”
    “No problem, man,” Daniel regards him coolly.
“Happy to help out.”
    There’s a tense silence, the two guys staring
each other down, and I remember what Juliet told me about the last
time these guys met face-to-face: how it ended with an all-out
bloody brawl.
    Way to ruin the wedding, Lacey!
    Finally, Daniel sets down his cup. “I should hit
the road,” he says, leisurely, as if he has all the time in the
world.
    “Don’t let us stop you.” Emerson agrees. Juliet
rolls her eyes at him, and moves forwards to give Daniel a hug.
    “Thank you again for getting Lacey here. I don’t
know what I would have done without her.”
    “I didn’t do it for you,” Daniel gives her a
crooked smile, then looks past her to me. “Lacey, you take
care.”
    My heart twists. This is it, he’s leaving. After
everything that’s happened, I want to throw my arms around his neck
and make him stay somehow; at the very least, taste one last
bittersweet kiss.
    I fight the urge, with everything I have.
There’s no use humiliating myself now, when he’s made himself
perfectly clear.
    “Sure, you too,” I murmur, looking away. There’s
a pause, then Daniel pulls on his jacket. “Good luck, to the both
of you,” he tells Emerson and Juliet, and holds his hand out for
Emerson to shake. After a beat, Emerson takes it. “Take care of
her,” Daniel says quietly, and it makes the knife twist harder—that
even after all their drama, he can still be a good man about
it.
    Emerson nods, solemn. “With my life.”
    I busy myself with dishes at the sink, keeping
turned away until I hear the front door shut and Daniel’s engine
start up in the yard. There’s a pause, while I scrub hard at a
breakfast bowl, tears stinging the corner of my eyes. Then Juliet’s
voice comes, loud and clear.
    “You want to tell me what just happened
here?”
    ***

 
     
    I brush off Juliet’s question, turning back
to her with a bright smile. “Nothing, I don’t know what you mean.
Now, where do you want to get started: out in the yard, or in
here?”
    “Lacey …” Juliet gives me a knowing look, but I
refuse to crumple and make even more drama out of my own damn
stupidity.
    “The yard it is,” I decide. “That way we can get
the heavy lifting done before we change. You stay inside and keep
warm, but send me whoever you have free.”
    Juliet opens her mouth to protest, but she’s
drowned out by the clatter of activity in the hall as Emerson’s
groomsmen arrive in a hustle of hunky manliness: Hunter, Brit’s
fiancé, tall and blonde and strapping, and their friend, Garrett,
looking surprisingly smart with his usual wayward stubble shaved,
and a suit instead of his uniform plaid shirt and jeans.
    “Perfect timing!” I declare, greeting them with
hugs. “We’ve got some serious work to do!”
     
    I manage to keep away from Juliet’s questions
for the next few hours as I slip into full event-planning mode.
With Garrett and Hunter at my disposal, the mess inside the house
and out is cleared away into closets and the garage, and we set up
a small row of white folding chairs in the back yard, leading up to
an archway I wind with holly, winter wreaths, and red and white
ribbons. I hang tiny lanterns and twinkling white Christmas lights
on the tree branches and fence, and in no time at all, the back
yard looks like a glittering, snow-swept Christmas card scene.
    The activity is good for me: with so much to do,
I can almost force the thought of Daniel out of my mind.
    Almost .
    But as hard as I try, I can’t stop the memories
slipping into my mind. Flashes of him kissing me, holding me, our
bodies intertwined …
    “It looks great out here.” Emerson’s voice
breaks through my X-rated thoughts. I jolt back to reality to