“Wake up!”
“We’re up, Maia,” Logan called back.
“I’ve got coffee for you. Are you decent?”
He leaned down to brush my hair from my face and whisper in my ear, “Are we decent?”
“I am. You’re definitely not,” I mumbled, still refusing to open my eyes.
“In ten seconds I’m coming in!”
“d.a.m.n.” I opened my eyes, squinting against the light. “I feel like I’ve had three hours of sleep.”
“That’s because you have.”
I turned and sat up, watching as Logan got out of bed and quickly shimmied into a pair of jeans. He threw a T-shirt at me.
Oh, yeah, I was naked.
I started to pull it on when I noticed his tie still wrapped around my wrist. “s.h.i.t.” I tugged at it frantically, not wanting Maia to see it.
Logan laughed and sat back on the bed, pushing my hands away. “Give us just a few more seconds, Maia,” he called out to her.
“Ugh,” she said. “That told me more than I needed to know.”
“Get it off,” I whispered, as he struggled to untie the knot.
He was shaking with laughter. “Where’s the other one?”
I lifted my wrist and frowned. “You must have taken it off.” I glanced warily at the bedroom door. “I thought Maia was staying with Shannon last night?” Just the thought of her hearing what we got up to in this bedroom made me blush in mortification from head to toe. A few months ago I’d given up my flat to move into Logan’s, and we’d been very creative about s.e.x ever since, finding time to have amazing, very loud s.e.x whenever Maia wasn’t home. The times she was home were the times Logan loved to watch me bite my lip to keep the cries of pleasure inside.
“She was,” he a.s.sured me as he untied the tie.
As soon as he did that, I whipped on the T-shirt.
“I’m coming in before the coffee gets cold.”
“Come in,” Logan said once I was covered and the tie was hidden.
Maia pushed open the door and stepped in carrying two mugs of coffee. My lips parted at the sight of her. She was already dressed in her bridesmaid outfit.
“You look beautiful,” I said.
She grinned, handing me my coffee. “Now, don’t go getting all watery on me, Grace.”
“She’s right.” Her dad leaned up to press a kiss to her cheek as he took his coffee. “You look gorgeous, sweetheart.”
She blushed and smoothed her now-free hands down the pale pink dress. It was so subtle a pink it was almost oyster. It had little cap sleeves, a sweetheart neckline, and a slight swing in the skirt. The skirt hit her knees, so you could see the beautiful oyster-pink platform peep toes she was wearing. Her hair had been styled into this elaborate updo with coils and curls pinned in place with little pearls and diamantés.
“You look so grown-up.”
Maia smiled shyly at me. “Do you think Charlie will like it?”
Her father growled at the mention of the boy who had been seeing Maia for eight months now. I didn’t know what he was so concerned about. Charlie was the opposite of a bad boy if ever I had met one.
“I’m sure he will. What are you doing here? Clearly you’ve been at Shannon’s.” I gestured to her.
“Aye, the hairstylist and makeup artist did my hair and makeup first, so I thought I’d grab a cab and come back home to make sure you two were up. Thankfully I did, or you’d still be sleeping.”
“On that note, I’m going to take a shower.” Logan dumped his now-empty coffee mug on the bedside table and hurried out of the room.
“Is he nervous about walking Shannon down the aisle?” Maia said after he’d gone.
“Nope. He’s honored.”
I watched Logan walk his sister down the aisle a few hours later, my chest bursting with pride. I still thought it was incredibly brave of her to choose him over her father, and I was pleased to see that despite the upset it caused, her parents were still in attendance. Apparently, their father had come around, and understood why it meant so much to Shannon for Logan to be the one to give her away.
They’d also been there for Maia so far.
Not surprisingly, Maia, knowing what they were capable of, kept her defenses higher around them, having been taught too young what it was like to have someone care for you one moment and stop caring the next.
But the MacLeods were trying.
Shannon had only a flower girl, a bridesmaid, and a matron of honor. She had Maia as bridesmaid, Cole’s niece, Belle, as flower girl, and her friend Rae was matron of honor. I’d met her only once before. Rae worked with Cole at the tattoo studio, and she herself was a tattooed biker-looking chick who somehow made her dress look biker punk.
It might have been the motorcycle boots Shannon had allowed her to wear.
Both Shannon and Cole had written their own vows, so I had mascara blobs around my eyes by the time they were finished. I was glad to see I wasn’t the only one affected, however, as I could see Ellie, Jo, and Hannah dabbing away at their eyes. Only Olivia and Joss were dry-eyed, but their beaming smiles lit up the whole church.
I’d never known people like them, I thought as I stared around the room at the women and men and children who had invited Shannon and Logan into their lives and just as easily took in Maia and me.
“Need a hanky there?” Aidan whispered in my ear beside me.
Juno, who sat by his side, jabbed her elbow into his stomach to quiet him.