In the suite which is used as the dressing room for the guys, Emma is not moving. She is staring at the sight of partially dressed guys. Felix and Jasper are removing whatever they had on top and reaching for their shirts and she could clearly see their muscular backs. Vincent was putting on his dress pants, which means that his legs were exposed, and Emma can tell that he is not skipping the leg day in the gym. Jeff and Russel had their shirts unbuttoned exposing their toned chests and abs… and Emma's mind conjured a mental image where all those hunks are parading in front of her while wearing only their underwear.
'Mother of all Gods! What kind of a gathering of handsomeness is this wedding!!?' Emma felt that she is on a verge of getting a nosebleed.
She jerked when she felt Brian's hand on her chin.
"You are drooling.", Brian dryly said.
"What? No way! Why would I drool at the sight of them when you are right by my side?", Emma said this and blushed immediately. Secretly she rubbed her chin, just to double check that there is no drool there.
Brian smiled at her words and gave her an approving nod which made Emma exhale in relief... She managed to pacify him.
"How come you are here to grace us with your presence?", Bradley asked Emma.
"I came for the dress." Emma pointed at Sarah's dress which was on the hanger.
"Oh, I thought you came to see how your partner looks all dressed up…" Bradley adjusted his necktie. "What do you think?" Bradley made a pose with his arms akimbo and that made Emma burst into giggles. He was all fancy dressed up, and then that silly pose… it was a funny sight.
"Partner?" Brian was scrutinizing Bradley, and his cold voice made Emma's giggles stop.
Emma cleared her throat. "Brian, this is Bradley. He is the groomsman who will walk with me during the ceremony." She turned to Bradley. "Bradley, this is Brian. My date."
Brian didn't look very friendly toward Bradley, and Emma noticed.
"Why are you hostile toward Bradley?", Emma quietly asked Brian.
Brian raised his eyebrow and his green eyes pierced into Emma's. "Today you are my date. It's my duty and honor to protect you."
Emma held her breath and blinked few times. His response was too intense, and she was not sure if she likes his protectiveness or dislikes his overbearing attitude. Bradley is just someone she met two days ago, and besides being friendly he never made any move on her… there was no need for Brian to be so intense. And she met Brian only last night… why is he so domineering? They are just dates for this wedding, right? Or does he actually like her and feels threatened by Bradley's presence? Emma's heart raced at this thought.
After some time, Emma nodded and used getting a dress as an excuse to break the eye contact.
She ushered Brian out. "We need to go."
They were at the door when Emma stopped. "Where is Sarah?"
Brian stifled a laugh. "You left her inside."
Emma rolled her eyes. "Seriously! Why can't she come by herself? Now I see why Anna told me not to come back without her." Emma didn't want to admit that she completely forgot about Sarah after Brian gave her that intense gaze.
Emma went back and had to remind Sarah to let go of Aiden because they really-really need to go.
Aiden's forehead rested on Sarah's and their noses touched while their eyes were locked on each other.
"See you at the altar.", she whispered.
He smiled in response.
…
"FINALLY!", JoAnna cried when Sarah entered the temporary dressing room.
"I'm here, the wedding can start!", Sarah cheekily said and nimbly avoided few random objects which JoAnna threw at her.
"Ignore her, she is nervous about the wedding.", Sophia told Sarah from the side. The hairstylist was braiding her hair.
Ellie, Bridgette, Jill, Sharon and Millie were also seated for hair and makeup. All the girls were undressed down to their underwear and covered in satin robes from the resort spa.
Sarah plopped on the chair next to Sophia and looked at the hairstylist who approached her. "Make me pretty!"
"You are in a good mood.", Sophia noticed Sarah's grin.
JoAnna's mouth twitched. She wanted to scream: 'of course, she is in a good mood!' , but she gave up on that idea. Sarah is here, everyone is here… they can finish getting ready and the wedding can start. JoAnna only hopes that Jeff is less nervous than she is.
"Oh, I met Madison Turner.", Sophia announced. "She wanted to get an internship at our company with a goal to get closer to Aiden."
Sarah's whole face twitched. "What?"
"You spoke in past tense.", JoAnna observed.
"Yup. I did.", Sophia confirmed. "I can tell you that intelligence is not her strong point, but she is making up for that with confidence." Sophia told them few points about her encounter with Madison. She didn't want to go into too many details considering that all the bridesmaids were there, eagerly listening to her story as latest gossip.
JoAnna laughed. "That woman has bad luck. Yesterday she mistook me for Sarah, and I sent her to a non-existent event downtown Los Angeles, and today she bluntly announced to the most protective older sister that she wants to snatch Sarah's man away…"
Sophia confirmed. "Yes, bad luck indeed. Her bad luck is that she is against Hill sisters. But she is not going to give up easily."
Sarah looked at JoAnna and Sophia gratefully. "I have the best sisters in the Universe! No matter how many mistakes Madison made, soon she will realize that you two are my sisters. And she will come at me..."
"What will you do?", Sophia asked.
"I will defend my right to be by Aiden's side." Sarah resolutely declared. "As to how I will do it… it will depend on her."
"If you need help, you know where to find us.", Sophia reminded Sarah.
"Yes. We are all in this together.", JoAnna added.
"Thank you, my sisters!", Sarah smiled.
The bridesmaids were dressed up, hair and makeup was done, and they were about to go down to the venue with few extra minutes to spare. Tom and Brian were already downstairs with the rest of the guests.
"Hey, we don't get to see the dress?", Sarah complained when she realized that JoAnna is still in her lacy underwear partially covered with a robe.
JoAnna grinned. "You get to be wowed when I show up with dad. Go, go… when you get out, I will get ready with help of these wonderful ladies." She gestured toward Ellie's design assistants.