Stark After Dark by J. Kenner

stress. My assistant was trying to protect you. I can’t say I blame her.”
    I laugh and push him away, then immediately pull him back into my arms. “You’re in a good mood.”
    “Of course I am. Haven’t you heard? I’m getting married tomorrow.”
    “Lucky man,” I say.
    “Very,” he replies, and the intensity of his gaze acts like an underscore to the word.
    “I have something for you,” I say, tugging him to the far side of the restaurant where all the women have piled our purses. I had brought a huge tote, and now I pull out the present wrapped in silver paper.
    He takes it, his expression so much like a boy on Christmas morning that I laugh with delight. “Go ahead,” I urge.
    He peels off the paper, studies the book, then slowly opens it. I know the first image he sees—a snapshot of the two of us in Texas six years ago. It was an offhand shot by a local news reporter and it never even made the paper. I lucked into it after a call to the paper’s morgue. “Nikki,” he says, and there is awe in his voice. He flips through the pages, and the love I see in his eyes makes my knees go weak.
    I watch as he examines every page, every memory. When he is finished, he closes the book with reverence, sets it gently on the table, and then pulls me close. “Thank you,” he says, those two words holding a lifetime of emotion.
    He kisses me gently, then leads me back to the crowd. “I have a gift for you, as well,” he says, then looks at his watch. “I need about fifteen more minutes.”
    My brow furrows as I wonder what he could be up to, but I nod. “That gives me plenty of time to make the circuit and eat more chocolate. Come with?”
    “Of course,” he says, then follows me to the chocolate fondue station. Alaine is there, and we chat for a while. Then Alaine and Damien go off to talk with Blaine and Evelyn. Since I have something to ask Evelyn, I almost follow them, but Ollie approaches, and I pause to give him a hug.
    “Hey, deposition guy. How goes the wild and woolly world of civil litigation?”
    “Wild and woolly,” he replies with a grin. “And over. At least for a few weeks.” He waves to Charles Maynard, his boss, then leads me into a corner. “Charles asked if I wanted a transfer back to New York.”
    “Really? Why?”
    “Courtney, I think. I asked for the transfer to LA originally to be closer to her. Now that we’re not a couple…” He trails off.
    “Are you going to take him up on the offer?” Ollie and I haven’t been as close lately, but I know that I will miss him if he moves.
    “Thinking about it. But I’m on the fence. I love Manhattan, but LA has its perks, too.” He looks at me as if there is something else he wants to say.
    “What?”
    He hesitates, then barrels forward. “Do you think there’s any chance of repairing the damage with Courtney?”
    I feel my shoulders sag. “You fucked up, Ollie. Big time. We all love you. Hell, she loves you. But I don’t know if that’s enough.”
    “No,” he says. “I don’t, either.”
    I squeeze his hand. “I’m here if you need me.”
    “I know,” he says, then hugs me. “I’m glad.”
    I return the hug tightly, thinking that this is another nice thing about weddings—it lets you clear out the last of the ghosts lingering in your past.
    I make the circuit, chatting with Ryan and Edward, with Steve and Anderson. Charles and Blaine come up and I try to get some sense of where Charles stands on Ollie’s move, but he’s saying nothing.
    Sylvia and Ms. Peters and others on Damien’s staff are here as well. And, of course, there’s Evelyn.
    “I’ve been trying to corner you all night,” I say to her.
    “Funny, I was just thinking that you were the popular one.” She steps back and examines me in that sentimental way folks have of looking at brides before the wedding. “You’re good for him, Texas. Hell, you’re good for each other.”
    “Yes, we are,” I say. “Did Damien tell you about my