by Julie Benson
He tensed, and his fisted hands inside his front pockets twitched. When he gave his word, it meant something. He wouldn’t let Campbell say he was breaking it now. “I never promised.”
“Go then. I won’t beg you to stay.” Campbell shoved her empty glass toward McKenna.
Instead of refilling it, McKenna said, “I think we all need to take a break and eat something.”
“I want ’nother drink.”
When Campbell lunged for the bottle, McKenna scooted out of reach. “I’ll gladly refill your glass after you eat something.”
Campbell’s eyes narrowed, and her lips thinned into a white line. Her hand, not holding her glass, fisted. Hurricane Campbell was about to make landfall. “Listen, you—”
Zane stepped in front of McKenna, and his gaze locked on Campbell. “How about I select the next dress you try on?” He pried the glass from her hand, placed it on the coffee table, and cupped her elbow. As he guided her back to the clothes rack, he said, “The ones you’ve tried on haven’t done you justice. Let’s find one with a better neck.”
Campbell giggled, her anger blowing out faster than a grasshopper disappeared in a chicken yard. Then she leaned forward, giving him full view of her ample cleavage. “You don’t like the cowl neckline?”
“I see it has advantages.” He turned to the rack of dresses. As he rifled through the damn things, he swallowed a curse. So much for the easier and safer choice. This was a new form of torture. One AJ should use interrogating criminals. Picking a dress that looked pretty much like the rest, he handed the garment to Campbell. “This one.”
Campbell scooted closer and her thigh pressed against his crotch. An accident, he hoped, until she rubbed her leg against him.
While he enjoyed a good roll in the hay as much as any man, he wasn’t interested in it being a spectator sport.
Warning bells clanged in Zane’s head as he slid away. “I’m into a lot of things but putting on a show isn’t one of them.”
Chapter Six
“Let’s go somewhere. I’d love to hear ’bout LA,” Campbell crooned.
“Maybe later,” Zane mumbled before returning to park his ass on the love seat, where he caught McKenna’s eye.
Her right eyebrow rose. Could he make a quick exit while Campbell was changing? No. He wasn’t a coward and wouldn’t leave McKenna to weather the storm.
“Campbell, you best hurry if you want Zane to see you in the dress he chose. He has a conference call at two, and it’s one forty-five,” McKenna said.
He resisted the urge to stare at McKenna in shock. How had she known he’d reached his limit? “Thanks for reminding me. I’d forgotten about it.”
A second later, Campbell popped out from behind the screen and flounced over. She twirled and bounced in front of him while he plastered a smile on his face, pretended to give a flip, and said she looked great. He stood to go, but before he could scoot out, she grabbed his arm.
“Before you go, I want to ask you to join me at the Horseshoe tonight. There’s a great band playing. We can have margaritas, dance, and take it from there.”
No way. Not unless he lost everything north of his ears. He knew a woman bent on finding a man to fix her life, and Campbell had pegged him as her ticket to California.
“I’d love to, but McKenna and I are working on the budget tonight,” he said, straight-faced without a twinge of guilt.
“Do you have to? It can’t wait?” Campbell pouted and rubbed her hand over his arm. She should know her practiced feminine wiles wouldn’t work on him. “We could have fun like we used to.”
“We can’t put it off, can we, McKenna?”
“We do have to work, but the budget’s tomorrow. Tonight, we’re meeting Grace and AJ at the Horseshoe to help negotiate with the band for their reception.”
Why would she change his excuse for another? No matter. He was adaptable and one alibi was as good as another.
“That’s right. I got my days confused.” Then he said it had been good to see Campbell and Susannah and scurried out fast as he could.
As he closed the door behind him, he wondered what McKenna backing him up would cost him. Probably a good chunk of his hide.
*
After Susannah and Campbell left, McKenna stepped outside to cool off. The tranquility of the sprawling land around her, the melodic songs of cardinals and mockingbirds singing above her in decades-old trees failed to dampen her ire. The strain and stress of remaining calm and collected during the dress fiasco swamped her. Handling an entitled bride wasn’t a big deal, and while Campbell’s inconsiderate behavior annoyed her, McKenna had dealt with self-centered maids of honor before, too.
What left her fuming was Zane’s behavior. How dare he horn in? If he hadn’t been there, dealing with Campbell would’ve been simple.
Despite all the problems, pride filled McKenna over how she’d held together with Susannah leaving unaware how upset she’d been. Not even Campbell arguing over McKenna’s insistence she call someone to drive her car home made her to lose her cool.
I’m fine. I can handle my liquor. I don’t need a plain-Jane-nobody telling me what to do.
McKenna massaged her temples trying to ease her budding headache. Lord help her during the reception if today was an example of Campbell’s behavior. However, knowing the potential for difficulties allowed McKenna to short circuit them. Returning to the office, she opened a new document entitled Strategies to Deal with MoH and started typing. After compiling a healthy list, she saved the file to her Timmons wedding folder and turned her attention to her bigger problem. Zane.
Today, she’d been lucky with the outcome, but the situation could’ve morphed into a major disaster. Her anger reignited. When Campbell asked Zane to stay, he should’ve said an appointment to select a bridesmaid dress wasn’t the appropriate place for getting reacquainted. Instead, when Campbell batted her eyes, pouted, and snuggled against him, he’d folded like a tent in a Texas thunderstorm. Then, worse, he’d let her inappropriate behavior escalate to groping.
McKenna intended to make it clear amorous interactions such as happened today would not be repeated. Not while she worked for Lucky Stars Weddings. She had career plans, and no one would put those at risk. Unable to bear her pent-up exasperation and refusing to let her ire stew and fester, she stormed outside again to track down Zane.
Heading to the large, main ranch house, McKenna rang the bell. When the door opened, a tall, slender woman with high cheekbones and large turquoise eyes answered. Her golden blonde hair was pulled back into a ponytail, and her ample curves strained against her scrubs top, giving the cartoon dogs and words woof and dog lover odd, misshapen appearances.
While McKenna would have hired a mature nurse with whom Ginny would have more in common, someone she could chat with, who could be a companion, Zane’s choice looked as if she was still in high school.
After introducing herself, Amber said if she was here to see Ginny, she was with her physical therapist.
“Actually, I’m looking for Zane. Is he here?”
“He’s cleaning stalls in the old barn,” Amber said, referring to Lucky Stars original barn which housed the horses, both personal and those used for couples to arrive on horseback or via a carriage. A big smile spilled across the young woman’s face, and her eyes turned dreamy. “Zane is fabulous. How many grandkids would help out like he is? My cousins sure wouldn’t move back here for our grandma, and I can’t thank him enough for what he’s done for me.”
Of course, Amber thought Zane was fabulous. Had he bothered to check her qualifications and references? Or had the pretty blonde cozied up against him, heaped him with praise during the interview, and that was all she needed to get the job?
“Most people wouldn’t hire someone straight out of nursing school to care for Ginny. They’d want someone closer to her age with more experience. But Zane knew how much I needed the money with my daddy’s Parkinson’s getting so bad since Mama died and my younger brother and si
ster still at home. My job at the Horseshoe doesn’t pay all the bills. With the experience from working with Ginny, it’ll be easier to get a permanent nursing job.”
A twinge of guilt shot through McKenna. Okay, so she’d jumped far enough to give the state long-jump champ a challenge. There had been more to Zane’s decision than simply Amber’s looks, but that failed to excuse his behavior with Campbell.
After thanking Amber, McKenna headed for the barn. According to Ginny, when she started her business, the picture-postcard red structure would’ve been too expensive to renovate. Plus, with specializing in western and rustic weddings she needed it for horses, and instead built the larger, modern barn tailored to her wedding needs.
When McKenna entered the barn, dust and bits of hay floating in the air caught the sun, sparkling like minuscule stars.
“Hey, Chance. Life been treating you well today?” She followed Zane’s voice. The horse snorted and whinnied. “I miss you, too, pal.” More snorting and whinnying. “Even if I could take you, you’d hate California. It’s nothing like Texas.”
Surprised by the almost wistful tone in Zane’s voice and feeling as if she was eavesdropping, McKenna called out. He stepped out of the stall, glanced her way, then scooped up a pile of hay with a pitchfork and disappeared.
When she stood outside the door and peered inside, Zane dumped the hay into the feeding trough on the far wall, his biceps flexing with his movement. Her palms grew sweaty and a flush spread through her.
How could a man who played video games for a living have such remarkable arms? His faded maroon Texas A&M association of former students’ T-shirt dotted with darker spots from sweat clung to his broad chest. She shook her head. Why couldn’t Aggies simply say alums?
“Once I finished here, I intended to come to the office to see you.”
“I can’t believe you would return to the scene of the crime so soon.”
“Crime? What’re you talking about?” He stepped past her, leaned the pitchfork against the opposite wall, and shut the lower half of the stall door. “I meant to thank you for getting me away from Campbell before she tore off my clothes.”
At his lighthearted, joking tone, every muscle in McKenna’s body tensed. Secretly, she’d hoped he’d take responsibility for his actions. So much for that. “You think today was funny? Do you know how hard it was for Ginny to convince Susannah and her parents to have the wedding in Wishing rather than a fancy destination wedding? She feared the wedding would appear rinky-dink and hokey here. Since the invitations haven’t gone out, she can still change to a destination wedding. Doing that would be disastrous. Because of the number of guests, we’ll make three times more on this wedding. Lucky Stars can’t afford to lose that income.”
“You done? Ready to let me get a word in?” he asked as Chance poked his head out between them and shoved his nose under Zane’s hand.
She crossed her arms over her chest, leaned back on her right heel, and nodded for him to proceed.
“Don’t get your panties in a bunch worrying about Susannah cancelling. Mayor Timmons won’t let her. He likes being the big cheese, and he can only do that if the wedding’s in his kingdom.”
Considering what McKenna knew of the mayor, Zane could be right, but that didn’t mean she’d let him wiggle out of his actions. “However, he also gives Susannah anything she wants, which means we have to keep her happy. If she gets upset, so will her parents. That would get around town and would hurt our reputation.”
“Was Susannah upset when she left?”
“No.”
“Did they pick a dress?”
McKenna nodded. “The one you had Campbell try on.”
“Then what’s the problem? The bride left happy. The dress was picked out. Mission accomplished.”
How could he fail to grasp the seriousness of what happened? How could he laugh it off simply because of a good outcome? Unless they dealt with what caused the issue, they’d be in a similar situation again, and next time they might not be as fortunate. “It could have been a disaster if Susannah and Campbell had gotten into a major argument. Susannah could’ve claimed we didn’t handle the situation properly. She still might.”
McKenna shared the bride story she’d told Grace. “Darby discovered one bad review affected the business negatively for three months. Because of the risk, today’s behavior can’t be repeated.”
“I can’t control Campbell.”
“I was referring to your behavior.”
“I didn’t do anything wrong.”
“You’ve got to be kidding.” McKenna’s harsh, raised voice echoed around them.
Chance snorted, shook his head, and shifted nervously.
Zane smoothed a hand over the animal’s neck and crooned reassurances. “We need to take this outside. I don’t want Chance gettin’ upset. We don’t know what happened to him before we got him, but he was seized in a cruelty case, so it can’t have been good.”
What was wrong with her? How did this man so easily destroy her self-control? Now she’d scared a traumatized horse.
Before setting off to follow Zane, she turned to the animal. “I’m sorry, Chance. I didn’t mean to scare you.”
When she joined him outside by the corral, Zane stood with one foot on the lowest rail as he leaned against the top one. McKenna stopped a few feet away.
“What you need to focus on is the good outcome. Quit borrowing trouble. Be thankful you got the job done,” Zane said.
“That’s right. I got the job done. I cleaned up the mess you created and kept it from blowing up in the company’s face,” McKenna said, keeping her voice even, despite her rising ire.
“I didn’t do anything. Campbell did.”
“That’s where you’re wrong. If you’d hadn’t folded when she—”
“Let me tell you something, little lady. Campbell has a temper when she’s in a mood, and today she was in a doozy. Her nickname in high school was Hurricane Campbell. She was fixin’ to strike, and if she had, then you’d have had trouble. That was why I agreed to stay. Who knew picking out a dress could be that big a pain in the ass?”
“With brides and wedding details involved, nothing’s easy. However, when Campbell started flirting and getting amorous—” Heat rushed up McKenna’s neck, into her face.
Amorous? If Susannah hadn’t been seated on the love seat, Campbell would’ve tried to toss him down on it and climbed on top of him. “You should have immediately handled her, making it clear her behavior wasn’t appropriate.”
He laughed. “I kept her from wrestling me to the ground and jumping my bones. I also prevented her from giving you another shiner. All without setting off her temper. I’d say I did a pretty damn good job handling her.”
He thought she couldn’t protect herself? New kids often got picked on in school. She’d toughened up fast and learned some fancy footwork. “I didn’t need you protecting me. I’m not a delicate miss.”
“The appropriate response is thank you.”
“Thank you.” She paused, weighing whether she should continue pressing her case.
Technically, Zane was her boss, though temporarily, but she owed it to Ginny to watch out for her best interests. She knew the wedding industry, while Zane didn’t. She owed Ginny so much for giving her a job when she’d been at her lowest. “There is a rule in the wedding industry. Personal relationships with someone connected with the bride and groom is off-limits because it rarely goes well. I suggest you follow that while you’re managing Lucky Stars.”
“That’s gonna be tough at AJ and Grace’s wedding since I’m a groomsman,” he joked.
“You know I didn’t mean their wedding. You need to take this seriously. There’s nothing funny about what happened today.”
“While today wasn’t, why can’t a job be fun? Life’s too short to spend it being miserable eight or more hours a day.”
“I enjoy my job, but that doesn’t mean anything goes. There must be structure and rules. Incidents like
flirting with or dating bridesmaids, relatives, or friends of the bride or groom isn’t professional and can’t happen.”
“In a town the size of Wishing when there’s a wedding near everyone’s connected to the couple in one way or another.”
McKenna tsk-tsked in exaggerated sympathy. “I guess you’ll have to cowboy up and deal with it.”
“What is it with everyone’s fascination with my love life? First Ginny, then Grace, and now you,” he snapped, his voice tinged with frustration.
McKenna laughed. “Talk about a huge ego. Yours has to be the biggest around, but get this, Mr. Small Town Loverboy. I don’t give a flying flip about your personal life. What I care about is my job. What you did today caused problems for me. Can I have your word you won’t get romantically involved with anyone associated with our clients?”
Zane straightened, crossed his arms over his broad chest, and his mesmerizing gaze drilled into her. “No.”
Chapter Seven
A man had to draw the line somewhere, and Zane had reached his limit. Not that he wanted to date Campbell. Today’s performance had turned him off well and good, but that wasn’t the point. “My personal life is off-limits. No one tells me who I can and can’t see.”
“What?” McKenna asked, her voice high and squeaky, her face red from her anger.
“You heard me.” He was the boss in Ginny’s absence. McKenna only possessed the control he gave her, but anyone hearing their conversation would think their positions reversed. “I’m usually an easygoing guy—”
“Not that I’ve seen.”
“I am with people that are easy to get along with.” His strode toward her, but instead of backing up, she held her ground. “Let me make one point clear. You’re not in charge.”
Again, she remained unfazed. “I realize that, but you said I was responsible for clients, weddings, and receptions. I know what I’m talking about and behavior like today can affect the company’s bottom line. This should matter to you.”
“It does, but I think you’re wrong about weddings and folks here in Wishing.”
