The Wedding Date

He's Good For You

Dianne took a deep breath before trying to maneuver her short skirt and high heels out of the backseat of Andrew's car as it pulled to a stop in front of the restaurant where Penny's bachelorette party would begin. As Penny's Maid of Honor, Dianne had curated an entire party for her cousin over the last few weeks from her London flat...dinner in a private room, complete with naughty games and gifts, a limo ride into the neighboring town, concluding with a pub crawl until everyone was sufficiently plastered and Dianne could sneak away and go to bed...hopefully before midnight.

"Have fun, don't drink too much," Joe winked as she reached for her clutch that he was holding out for her. Her brothers had decided to drag Joe to Leo's bachelor party, which was a much lower key affair - beers at the local brewery. Dianne couldn't help but feel jealous at his casual jeans as she dropped her clutch back onto the seat to fix her mini skirt for the tenth time.

She felt her brothers eyeing their interaction from the front seat as Joe leaned in closer, presumedly to say goodbye, and her mouth suddenly went dry. They'd managed to keep the PDA to a minimum so far...a few hugs and kisses to the cheeks whenever it seemed natural and they'd felt her mum's eyes on them. Luckily she had the excuse of not wanting to show much affection around her brothers and dad...she never had, even with her exes. But, Dianne had noticed their comfortability had grown over the last few days, even when nobody was watching. They sat close together, they whispered jokes in each other's ears, and Joe's arm often found it's way behind her shoulders. It felt...normal. Which was a little scary when she let herself think about what it meant.

"Or do drink too much," Joe suddenly quirked an eyebrow, leaning forward all the way to brush his lips against her cheek in one of those rare cheek kiss, before raising his voice slightly. "I can take care of you later, baby."

Dianne's jaw dropped, aware of the loud laughter of her brothers from the front seat.

"Did you really," she muttered wrinkling her nose that was mere inches from his, "Just say that."

Joe smirked, whispering back, "Just doing my job."

Rolling her eyes, but unable to hide the smile that had begun to appear at the corner of her mouth, she straightened up, but not before shooting Joe a smoldering look, and murmuring, "Don't call me baby, wittle Joey."

---

"Dot! Yay, you're here!" Penny screeched as soon as Dianne entered the dim, air conditioned restaurant. The private room she'd secured was full. Though Dianne had joked to Joe that her cousin didn't have many friends, she had been in a sorority at university...built-in friends for life, who would never turn down the chance to party for a long weekend.

"Hi," Dianne smiled, waving at the few familiar faces of her other distant cousins that had been invited.

"You're just in time to have a...JOE?!" Penny exclaimed, and Dianne froze in place as she felt a familiar hand on her waist.

"Sorry to interrupt the hen do," Joe's smooth British accent cut into the loud chatter.

"Hen do!" Penny grinned. "I love that! Girls, we're now officially at a hen do! So British."

"A hen what?!" someone asked from across the room, and Penny waved distractedly turning her attention back toward the pair. Dianne peered up at Joe wondering why he had suddenly materialized next to her. She could have sworn she'd left him and his dangerous smirk in the car.

"Your purse, darling," he held up the clutch she had abandoned in the car during her flustered moment minutes earlier.

"Oh," Dianne blushed, "Thanks."