Dispute Resolution

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Summer giggled loudly. The champagne had obviously affected her senses. The stylist, Audrey had brought out a large, fluffy white wedding dress with pink lace trim and gigantic pink flowers all over it for Quinn's perusal. It was as though Spring had thrown up all over it. Quinn wrinkled her nose in distaste. Even Audrey had a smirk on her face.

"Trust me," she said, "it's all the rage in Japan. Don't worry, I have some more appropriate wedding dresses to show you over here." Audrey walked over to another rack of wedding dresses.

Quinn sank back on the leather chaise lounge and took a sip of her champagne. Kat and Summer did the same as they watched a dozen or so dresses paraded before them.

"These are all by renowned designers," Audrey said as she bought each one out. "They can, of course, tailor anything to suit your needs."

Quinn knew the dress she wanted as soon as Audrey showed it to her. It was a sheath style dress, strapless with a satin underlay and tulle lace over the top. It was perfect. It would match her complexion perfectly and it was different to all the other dresses. It was just what she needed. She needed wow factor without the cringe. Even though she and Gray had decided on a quiet celebration, especially given everything that was happening with his family, there would still be A-list celebrities and important business associates of Gray's in attendance, so she needed to look the part. She tried on several dresses at Audrey's urging, but it was when she stepped out in the sheath dress that everyone gasped.

"That is the one," Kat exclaimed. "It's like it was made just for you. Wait until Gray sees you in that, he'll go wild."

"I can't believe our best friend is getting married to one of Australia's sexiest men," Summer sighed dramatically. "Who would've thought?"

"We're all getting married to sexy men. Who would've thought we'd all be getting married within a month of each other," Quinn said as Audrey helped her from out of the dress.

"I believe we should have a toast to that," said Kat and they all clinked their glasses together. "To us, the most fabulous brides ever," she said and they all burst into fits of laughter.

"So," Audrey interrupted. "What do you think of the dress?"

"It's perfect, but the mother of the bride gets the final say. I'd better wait until our appointment next week before I make the final decision."

"Are you sure that's wise?" Kat asked. "She'll probably go for the pink flowers."

"No way. Your mum will love this one," Summer enthused. "Kat's just saying that because her mum wanted her to wear her wedding dress."

Kat shuddered. "It was from the eighties. It was horrifying."

Quinn laughed, then sighed. How could life get any more perfect than what it was right now?

****

Gray did go wild when he saw his bride-to-be in the wedding dress. But he'd broken the rules. He'd slipped into the room where she was getting dressed just before the wedding was about to start. Summer and Kat were nowhere to be seen and the wedding guests were assembled on the beach as they awaited the arrival of the bridal party. Gray had wanted to have their wedding on his island and Quinn had thought it was a perfect location. Of course, there was a huge veil of secrecy around the event and he'd gone to great lengths to ensure the paparazzi didn't follow them.

Everyone was here, well everyone that he'd invited anyway. His family had not been welcome today apart from Evie. But all of his friends were here including Taryn and Sim who was to be his best man today. Quinn's brother, Ronan, was going to be his groomsman since Dylan would not be standing beside him on his wedding day this time. It still left a hole in his heart, but today was all about moving forward, he wasn't going to think about his brother anymore. Today was a big day. There were a lot of his business associates, celebrities and all of Quinn's friends and family. He didn't need to be thinking negative thoughts.

Gray calculated he had a few minutes to see Quinn alone. He knew it was breaking with tradition but it was worth it. His breath caught audibly in his throat when he saw her, the noise making Quinn turn around to see.

"You can't be in here," she hissed at him. "Summer and Kat will skin you alive."

"They didn't see me," he said. "I just wanted to give you this before the party starts."

He held out a small gift, her beautiful eyes connecting with his as he handed it over.

"Another gift for our wedding day. Sweetie, you don't have to keep buying me things."

"This isn't for our wedding day. This is to congratulate you on winning the Walkley Award."

She looked at him. "You're sure you didn't pay the judges this time?"

He shook his head. "I had nothing to do with it. You earned it based on your talent."

She was convinced he had paid the judges to give her the prize. He was still trying to convince her today. She eyed him a moment longer before she tore at the paper, her eyes widening when she what it was.

"Wow, it's just what I've always wanted. My very own set of car keys."

"Cute. It's to open up your brand new car."

"I like my Toyota Corolla. It's very reliable," she teased.

"BMW's are also reliable," he said.

"So where is my new car?"

"It's parked in my garage back home. You can see it when we get back."

She smiled at him. "Thank you," she said.

"I like making you happy."

He drew her into the circle of his arms and dropped a light kiss on her lips, but Quinn pulled him in harder for a deeper, hungrier kiss. Gray allowed it to intensify for a moment before Quinn pushed against his chest as though to send him on his way, but she couldn't quite manage to disconnect her mouth from his. Finally their mouths broke off, both of them breathless.

"Go," she said, "or you won't make it to your own wedding day."

"I'm not that much a school boy," he protested. "I can control myself around you, sometimes."

"I'm more worried that my bridesmaids will murder you if they see you in here with me," she said, making him laugh.

"I'll see you down at the beach," he said as he slipped quietly and undetected from her room to wait for his bride.

Summer and Kat rejoined her moments later. "Ready to go?" Summer asked.

"As I'll ever be," Quinn replied as she walked down to the beach to marry the man she loved.