Chapter 29

**Blue**


I had only meant to tease Artemis by letting him see me in the lingerie they gave me to wear while I tried on all these ridiculous dresses. Then he watched me with this intense look in his eyes and suddenly I realized I might have made a mistake. When he told me not to get dressed, I debated whether or not to listen but after seeing the way he looked at me, I felt like being bold. We haven’t had time to set rules about things like sex, and I’m thinking that’s one of the most important topics we should have addressed.

Are we going to be fake married people with benefits? I mean we already sleep in the same bed together. Will we be able to do that and never touch? Okay, we’ve touched but that’s been innocent cuddling.

This is really something we need to discuss before one of us steps over the line. When we do there will be no going back.

It doesn’t take long for Artemis to come back and the dress he brings with him takes my breath away. I couldn’t have imagined ever wearing a dress like this but it’s perfect. It’s still white but the skirt has layers of an elegant sheer fabric that continues up to the sleeves. There is a fitted bodice top and the sleeves are loose like they’re meant to fall along the arms not sit on my shoulders. The top half of the dress is what makes it so much better. It looks like they took the dress and dipped part of it in blue ink.

It’s so amazing and definitely something I would have picked. How did he know? Seeing this dress and how he knew it would be perfect kind of makes me want to kiss him. Would that be too forward? I’m not very experienced in spontaneous kissing, so I might make a mess of things. But if he initiated things…

He’s crouched in front of me now and I don’t think I’m breathing any more. The way he’s looking up at me…I’m not sure how to react to it. He’s holding on to the dress and hasn’t let it go so I can pull it the rest of the way up.

“May I?” He asks, but I’m not exactly sure what he’s asking permission to do.

“Okay.” Is all I can get out since I’m barely breathing.

He slowly slides the dress up and as he does I can feel the back of his fingers gliding softly along my skin. It makes me shiver but otherwise I try to stay perfectly still. He continues all the way up to my hips and then stops. I wait to see what he’ll do next but he stays frozen like that for a few seconds and he’s not looking at me anymore. His eyes are on the small sliver of my stomach showing between my underwear and the corset thing I’m wearing.

What is he doing?

I gasp when he leans forward and brushes his lips along my skin. Goosebumps spread from that spot all over my body and a spark of pleasure ignites inside me. All from that from a brief moment of contact.

Holy shit.

He doesn’t lingerie second longer but doesn’t rush either. When he’s finally on his feet again and sliding the sleeves to my shoulders I’m a shaky mess. His eyes lock with mine and we stand there looking at each other like we’re caught in a trance. Then he smirks at me shattering the insanely tense moment between us. He slowly spins me around and reaches down to zip me up and I’m able to see us in front of the mirror.

Once I’m zipped in, perfectly I might add, he stands behind me and smiles.

“You look stunning Blue. Although I preferred you before.”

I gape at him and whirl to smack him but he steps out of the way just before my hand can reach him and starts laughing.

“Uh asshole.” I grumble and cross my arms. “Get out!”

He smiles at me and walks toward me again. I narrow my eyes at him but when he wraps his arms around me, I let him.

“Don’t pout.”

“I am not pouting.” I say scoffing with offense.

He shocks me yet again by leaning down and kissing the tip of my nose. “You are, and it’s cute. Now let’s go blow everyone away.”

I don’t have a chance to react to any of that because he grabs my hand and pulls me toward the curtain separating us from his family. As soon as I walk out onto the platform, I hear Rhea and Athena gasp.

“Oh my gosh Blue! You look like a water nymph.” Rhea says making me laugh.

I stand in front of the giant mirror and swirl the skirt around. It flutters like a wave and falls back down like waves sliding back into the sea. Rhea is right, I do look like a water nymph. The blue hair helps and I love the way it all comes together. When I look over at Artemis who is leaning in the doorway to the dressing room watching me, he’s smiling at me.

“So, what do you think? Is this the one?” The woman who has been helping us asks.

She joins me on the platform and looks genuinely happy with my choice. Not that her opinion matters.

“Well I don’t think this is-“

“She’ll take it.” Artemis says cutting his mother off.

“Wonderful! Do you think you will need any alterations? It looks like it fits perfectly.” The woman says walking around me and examining each part of the dress.

She’s right. It fits me like it was made for me. I have to say, Artemis has a good eye. Maybe I’ll have to take him with me whenever I go clothing shopping.

“It’s perfect just the way it is.” I tell her.

“Good. I’ll wrap it up for you.” She holds her arm out in the direction of the dressing room.

I nod and walk inside to change. Artemis moves like he’s going to join me but I smirk at him and close the curtain in his face. No way am I letting him tease me again. He’s smart enough not to barge in and I’m able to change clothes in peace. When I’m finished, I’m about to join the others when I hear them talking.

“Artemis this is ridiculous. She can’t wear that dress!” I hear his mother say.

“Why? It fits her perfectly.” Rhea says.

“Blue?”

“Why not? It’s who she is. Why can’t that be represented in her dress? She looked beautiful.” Rhea adds.

“She did mother.” I hear Athena say in her soft voice.

“This is about how things are done. A bride wears a white dress on her wedding day!” Their mom’s voice is rising and becoming more nasisily.

“Enough mother.” Artemis’s stern voice slices through the air. “She likes the dress and it looked nice on her. If she is happy with it, then that’s all that matters. It is not your choice to make. You have already chosen a cake that she doesn’t like, and you could do a lot of things that we don’t want for this wedding but not this. This one thing is about her, and I won’t let you take that away.”

I want to throw my fist up and say, “Hell yeah baby! Take that!”

Of course, I don’t but I do in my mind. Tell her Artemis!

“You make me sound like a villain. I’m just trying to give my son the best on his only wedding day.” His mother sounds close to crying.

Wow she’s good. The guilt trip is first class.

“You are doing this for yourself. I would have been fine having a court house wedding or even flying to Vegas to have Elvis marry us. What matters is me and Blue being married. All this other stuff…I don’t give a shit about.”

Okay that made me feel a little fuzzy inside even if it isn’t true. Well, the court house part maybe but not for the reason he’s saying. It would have been quick and messy, which is what he wanted from the beginning. That snaps me back to reality. We shared a moment between us when he helped me with my dress but lust isn’t the same as love even like. So, I have to be careful not to get the wrong idea.

Suddenly I don’t want to be here anymore. I walk out and walk over to their little group.

“I think I’m done with wedding planning today. Since I’ve chosen a dress I don’t think my input is needed for anything else. So, I think I’ll go home and rest for a while.” I tell them.

“Oh course. We’ll handle everything else. Get some rest.” Rhea says reaching out and giving my hand a squeeze.

I turn to face Artemis. “Thanks, for the help, but I don’t want to keep you from your work. I’ll see you at home.”

He looks confused or his version of confused but I don’t wait around to listen to whatever he wants to say. I walk out of the room and head for the front door. The other woman has a garment bag in her hands and rushes over to hand it to me.

“Thank you. My fiancé will be paying for this.” I tell her.

“Of course.”

She lets me pass and I walk out into the cool air of Seattle with a heavy heart. Reality hurts like a bitch.