Once Upon a Wedding

by Stacy Connelly

  Connor McClane had stepped to life from the photograph.

  From his form-hugging T-shirt to his worn jeans and boots to the sunglasses covering his eyes.

  Kelsey tried to swallow. Once, twice. Finally, she gave up and croaked out, “Mr. McClane?”

  “Yes?” He stopped to look at her, and Kelsey’s only thought was that she still didn’t know the color of his eyes. Brown, maybe? To match the mahogany of his hair and tanned skin. Or blue?

  A dark eyebrow rose above his mirrored sunglasses. A rush of heat flooded her cheeks. “Uh, Mr. McClane—”

  “We’ve already established who I am. Question is who are you?”

  “My name’s Kelsey Wilson.”

  He flashed a smile that revved her pulse.

  Had she known her aunt was going to assign her this mission, she would have worn something different—like full body armor.

  Dear Reader,

  I’m sure at some point in life, we’ve all had a moment or two of feeling second best. Maybe it’s a sibling or a friend or even a rival who has come out on top while we’re stuck at the bottom.

  My heroine, Kelsey Wilson, has felt this way her whole life, having grown up in her perfect cousin Emily’s shadow. It takes Connor McClane, Emily’s wonderfully imperfect ex-boyfriend, to bring Kelsey into the spotlight.

  I hope you enjoy Kelsey and Connor’s story, and here’s to all the people in our lives who help us shine.

  Happy reading,

  Stacy Connelly

  ONCE UPON A WEDDING

  STACY CONNELLY

  Books by Stacy Connelly

  Silhouette Special Edition

  All She Wants for Christmas #1944

  Once Upon a Wedding #1992

  STACY CONNELLY

  has dreamed of publishing books since she was a kid, writing stories about a girl and her horse. Eventually, boys made it onto the page as she discovered a love of romance and the promise of happily ever after.

  When she is not lost in the land of make-believe, Stacy lives in Arizona with her two spoiled dogs. She loves to hear from readers and can be contacted at stacyconnelly@cox.net or www.stacyconnelly.com.

  To all my friends—

  Thanks for being as excited about my dream coming true

  as I have been.

  Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter One

  Ican’t believe I’m doing this, Kelsey Wilson thought as she hurried through the airport as fast as possible in her straight skirt and low-heeled pumps. Her oversized purse thudded against her side with every step. The shoulder strap caught a lock of red hair that had escaped her sensible bun, and she felt as though someone had reached out and grabbed her. Holding her back from the job she had to do.

  The family is counting on you, Kelsey. Her aunt’s voice rang in her mind. You know what can happen when a woman falls for the wrong kind of man.

  Kelsey hadn’t needed Aunt Charlene’s reminder. She had her mother as an example. Olivia Wilson had thrown away everything for a man who left her with nothing. Olivia had been eighteen when she met Donnie Mardell—Kelsey’s father, though she never thought of him in those terms. Donnie had promised Olivia a love of a lifetime, as well as freedom from her too-strict parents, and she fell for every word. When her father made her choose between Donnie and her family, Olivia chose Donnie. But while Olivia may have had stars in her eyes, Donnie had dollar signs in his. When the Wilsons offered him money to leave town, he took it without a glance back at his girlfriend or unborn child.

  But Kelsey’s cousin Emily hadn’t fallen for the wrong man. She was engaged to Todd Dunworthy. The only son of a wealthy Chicago family, he’d come to Scottsdale to start his own company and add to his already considerable fortune. Todd was handsome, charming, and Charlene couldn’t have handpicked a better son-in-law.

  Kelsey had worked nonstop for the past two months to put together the perfect wedding. The dress, the flowers, the music, the cake, everything wove together like the hand-stitched Irish lace in Emily’s veil. But Kelsey knew how delicate that lace was. One wrong pull, and it could all fall apart.

  She refused to let that happen.

  She needed this wedding to be amazing. She’d staked her reputation on the success of the ceremony, certain her cousin’s wedding was the spotlight that would make her business shine. She’d been so sure of that she’d put most of her savings into a down payment for a small shop in Glendale. Kelsey had felt confident making the huge step. After all, her aunt and uncle were wealthy, influential people with wealthy, influential friends. Once the guests saw the job she’d done, Weddings Amour would flourish.

  Even more important, her aunt and uncle would see that she, too, could succeed, that she was more than the poor relation they’d taken into their home. She’d been sixteen when her mother died, sixteen when Olivia finally admitted she was not an only child as she’d led Kelsey to believe. Olivia had an older brother, a sister-in-law and two nieces…total strangers who became Kelsey’s only family.

  Hold your head high, Olivia had whispered to Kelsey only days before passing away. Her face pale and gaunt, her blond hair long gone, her mother’s eyes still blazed with the pride that empowered her to walk away from her family when she’d been pregnant at eighteen. You may not have been raised as one of the wealthy Wilsons, but you’re going to show them what an amazing young woman you are.

  Tears scalding her throat like acid, Kelsey had promised. She’d had no idea how difficult—how impossible—keeping that promise would be.

  Finally, though, after eight years, she would have her chance to make good on her word. As a wedding planner, Kelsey had found her niche. She was organized, efficient, detail-oriented. Lessons learned as she scheduled her mother’s doctor appointments, oversaw her medications and dealt with the insurance company served her well as she juggled caterers, musicians, photographers and the occasional Bridezilla.

  Every wedding that ended in I do was a tribute to her mother’s memory, and Emily’s walk down the aisle would mean more than all the previous weddings. But before Emily could say her vows, Kelsey had to deal with one serious snag.

  A sudden attack of nerves cartwheeling through her stomach, Kelsey swung her purse off her shoulder. She unzipped the center pocket and pulled out her day planner where, along with every detail of the wedding, she’d written the flight information. According to the listed arrivals, the plane from Los Angeles was on time.

  Connor McClane was back in town.

  Kelsey flipped to the front of the day planner and pulled out a photograph. Her aunt had said the picture was ten years old, which could account for the worn edges and creased corner. Kelsey feared there might be another reason. How many times had Emily stared at this photograph and wondered what might have been?

  Kelsey had never met her cousin’s ex-boyfriend, the bad boy from the wrong side of the tracks, but the snapshot said it all. Connor McClane leaned against a motorcycle, dressed head-to-toe in black—from his boots, to the jeans that clung to his long legs, to the T-shirt that hugged his muscular chest. His arms were crossed, and he glared into the camera. A shock of shaggy dark hair, a shadow of stubble on his stubborn jaw and mirrored sunglasses completed the look.

  Kelsey could tell everything she needed to know from that picture except the color of Connor McClane’s eyes. The man was trouble, as bad a boy as Donnie Mardell had ever been. Kelsey knew it, just like she knew Connor was better looking in a
two-dimensional photo than any living, breathing man she’d ever meet.

  Stuffing the picture and her day planner back in her purse, she hurried to the waiting area, where she focused on every man headed her way. He’d be twenty-nine by now, she reminded herself, four years her senior. Kelsey didn’t suppose she was lucky enough that he’d aged badly or gone prematurely bald.

  A beer belly, she thought, mentally crossing her fingers. A beer belly would be good.

  But at the first glimpse of the dark-haired man sauntering down the corridor, her heart flipped within her chest and her hopes crashed. No signs of age, baldness or overhanging waistline…just pure masculine perfection. Her mouth went as dry as the surrounding desert.

  Connor McClane had stepped to life from the photograph. From his form-hugging T-shirt, to his worn jeans and boots, to the sunglasses covering his eyes, every detail remained the same. A plane took off from a nearby runway, and the low rumble reverberating in her chest could have easily come from a motorcycle.

  Kelsey tried to swallow. Once, twice. Finally she gave up and croaked out, “Mr. McClane?”

  “Yes?” He stopped to look at her, and Kelsey’s only thought was that she still didn’t know the color of his eyes. Brown, maybe? To match the mahogany of his hair and tanned skin. Or blue? A bright, vivid contrast to his coloring.

  A dark eyebrow rose above his mirrored sunglasses, a reminder that she had yet to answer him. A rush of heat flooded her cheeks. “Uh, Mr. McClane—”

  “We’ve already established who I am. Question is, who are you?”

  “My name’s Kelsey Wilson.”

  He flashed a smile that revved her pulse. His head dipped, and she sensed him taking in the red hair she struggled to control, the freckled skin she tried to cover, and the extra pounds she sought to hide beneath the khaki skirt and boxy shirt. She saw her reflection in his mirrored glasses, a much shorter, much wider version of herself, like a carnival funhouse distortion.

  Kelsey didn’t feel much like laughing.

  Had she known her aunt was going to assign her this mission, she would have worn something different—like full body armor. The image of what Emily might have worn to meet her former boyfriend flashed in Kelsey’s mind. She shoved the pointless comparison away. Too much like trying to force Strawberry Shortcake into Barbie’s wardrobe.

  “Well, what do you know?” Connor stood in the middle of the corridor, mindless of the sea of people parting around him. “The Wilsons sent out a welcoming party. Heck, if I’d known I’d get this kind of reception, I might have come back sooner.”

  “I doubt that,” Kelsey muttered.

  Connor McClane had planned his return perfectly, coming back to ruin Emily’s wedding. Aunt Charlene was certain of it. Kelsey knew only one thing. Her cousin had nearly thrown her future away once for this man, and she could see how Emily might be tempted to do it again.

  “Don’t underestimate your appeal,” he told her, and though she couldn’t see beyond the reflective sunglasses, she had the distinct impression he’d winked at her.

  Kelsey straightened her spine to the shattering point. “My appeal isn’t in question. I’m here to—”

  Keep him away from Emily, Kelsey. I don’t care how you do it, but keep that man away from my daughter!

  “To do what, Kelsey Wilson?”

  His deep voice made her name sound like a seduction, and suddenly she could think of all kinds of things to do that had nothing to do with her aunt’s wishes. Or did they? How far would Aunt Charlene expect her to go to keep Connor away from Emily?

  “To give you a ride from the airport,” she answered with a saccharine smile. “Baggage claim is this way.”

  Connor patted the duffel bag slung over one shoulder. “Got everything with me.”

  Eyeing the lumpy bag, Kelsey wondered how dress clothes could survive such careless packing. Maybe he planned to ride his motorcycle up to the church in leather and denim, the same way he’d ridden out of town ten years ago? Unless—

  “You didn’t bring much with you. You must not plan to stay long.”

  Something in her voice must have given away her hope, because Connor chuckled. He adjusted the duffel bag and headed down the corridor, his strides so long Kelsey nearly had to jog to keep up.

  “Oh, I’ll be here as long as it takes,” he told her with a sideways glance, “but I won’t need more than a few days.”

  A few days. Did she really want to know? Did she really want to throw down the verbal gauntlet? Kelsey took a deep breath, partly to gather some courage, partly to gather some much needed oxygen. “A few days to what?”

  “To stop Emily from marrying the wrong man.”

  Connor hadn’t known what to expect when he stepped off the plane. He’d given Emily his flight information with the hope she might meet him at the airport. He’d wanted a chance to talk to her away from her family and her fiancé. He was realistic enough to know the whole Wilson brigade might be lined up at the gate like some kind of high-fashion firing squad. But he hadn’t expected a petite redhead. He’d never imagined the Wilson genes could produce a petite redhead.

  “So who are you anyway?” he asked, only to realize the woman was no longer at his side.

  He glanced back over his shoulder. Kelsey Wilson stood in the middle of the corridor, her brown eyes wide, her lips adorably parted in shock. She didn’t look anything like the other Wilsons, and curiosity stirred inside him. He couldn’t picture her at the elegant country-club settings the status-conscious family enjoyed any more than he’d imagined himself there.

  A Wilson misfit, he thought, on the outside looking in. Their gazes locked, and the momentary connection rocked him. Shaking off the feeling, he circled back around and asked, “You coming?”

  The flush of color on her cheeks nearly blotted out her freckles. “You don’t actually think you can come back here after ten years and expect to take up where you left off? You weren’t right for Emily back then, and you aren’t right for her now!”

  As far as insults went, the words were pretty tame, especially coming from a Wilson. And it wasn’t as if he had any intention of taking up where he and Emily had left off. He’d made his share of mistakes, and some—like thinking he and Emily had a chance—didn’t bear repeating. Emily had been looking for someone to rescue her from the life her parents had planned for her, and he’d been young enough to think of himself as a hero.

  Connor knew better now. He was nobody’s hero.

  Still, Kelsey’s reminder stirred long-buried resentment. Worthless. Good for nothing. Troublemaker. Gordon Wilson had shouted them all when he’d discovered his younger daughter sneaking out to meet Connor. After being knocked around by his old man during his childhood, he knew a thing or two about male aggression and had arrogantly faced down the older man.

  But Charlene Wilson’s clipped, controlled words had managed to pierce his cocky facade. “From the moment Emily was born, she has had nothing but the best,” Charlene told him with ice practically hanging from her words. “We have given her the world. What could you possibly give her?”

  He’d tried to give her her freedom, the chance to live her life without bowing to her family’s expectations. If someone had given his mother that same chance, things would have been different, and maybe, just maybe, she would still be alive. But when Emily made her choice, she didn’t choose him. She took the easy way out—and in the end, so did he, Connor thought, guilt from the past and present mixing. But he wasn’t going to fail this time. He was here to help Emily, no matter what the redhead standing in front of him like a curvaceous barricade thought.

  “Look, whoever you are,” he said, since she’d never explained her relationship to the Wilsons, “you didn’t know me then, and you don’t know me now. You don’t have a clue what I’m good for.”

  He ducked his head and lowered his voice, not wanting to attract attention, but the words came out like a seductive challenge. He stood close enough to catch a hint of cinnamon coming f
rom her skin. The color faded from her complexion, and her freckles stood out clearly enough to play a game of connect-the-dots. He shoved his hands into his pockets rather than give into the urge to trace a five-point star over one cheek. He tried to imagine Kelsey’s reaction if he touched her. Would she recoil in shock? Or would he see an answering awareness in her chocolate eyes?

  Right now, sparks of annoyance lit her gaze. “I know all I need to know. You’re no good for Emily. You never were—What are you doing?” she demanded when Connor leaned around to look over her shoulder.

  “Amazing. You can’t even see the strings.”

  “What strings?”

  “The ones Charlene Wilson uses to control you.”

  “Aunt Charlene does not control me.”

  Aunt Charlene, was it? He didn’t remember Emily talking about a cousin, but they hadn’t spent time discussing genealogy. “Funny, ’cause you sure sound like her.”

  “That’s because we both want to protect Emily.”

  Protecting Emily was exactly why he was there. Adjusting the duffel bag on his shoulder, he started toward the parking garage. “So do I.”

  “Right.” Kelsey struggled to keep up with him, and Connor shortened his stride. “Who do you think you have to protect her from?”

  “From Charlene. From you.” Before Kelsey could voice the protest he read in her stubborn expression, he added, “Mostly from Todd.”

  “From Todd? That’s ridiculous. Todd loves Emily.”

  Yeah, well, Connor had seen what a man could do to a woman in the name of love. Seen it and had been helpless to stop it from happening…Shoving the dark memories of his mother and Cara Mitchell aside, Connor said, “Todd’s not the golden boy the Wilsons think he is. The guy’s bad news.”