Once Upon a Wedding

by Stacy Connelly

  True, Matt had startled her, coming out of the shadows the way he had, but he’d lost the power to hurt her long ago. And despite Connor’s warning that she should be more careful, hewas the most dangerous threat around. His lethal charm tore through her defenses, and a question that should have come to her much, much sooner sprang to mind. “What are you doing here, anyway? How did you even know we’d be having dinner tonight?”

  Connor glanced at the front of the restaurant. A frown darkened his expression before he shook his head and blew out a breath. “Well, I was following Todd.”

  “What!”

  “That’s how I knew he was at the restaurant,” he explained slowly, as if she had trouble keeping up. “So, tell me about dinner.”

  “Not so fast. You first.”

  “Okay,” he said agreeably. “I haven’t had dinner yet, and I’m starving!”

  “I meant, tell me what you found following Todd.”

  “I will, but I really am starving. Come on.” With a last look at the now-empty spot in front of the restaurant, he caught Kelsey’s hand and said, “Let’s go.”

  “Go where?” she demanded even as she followed alongside, far too aware of the tingle that raced up her spine as his fingers entwined with hers. The innocent touch certainly shouldn’t have weakened her knees, but Kelsey could barely concentrate beyond the heat of his skin pressed to hers.

  “To find someplace to eat.”

  Despite the extreme heat during the day, the temperature had lowered with the sunset. A gentle breeze carried the scents and sounds of nearby shops: gourmet coffee, decadent chocolate, the rise and fall of laughter and the faint strains of jazz music.

  A group of girls walked toward Kelsey and Connor, heading in the other direction. Tall and beautiful, long limbs left bare by short skirts and tank tops, their not-so-subtle glances at Connor quickly turned to confusion as they shifted to Kelsey.

  She didn’t need a thought bubble over their heads to know what they were thinking: What is he doing with her? And after the run-in with Matt, Kelsey couldn’t stop that question from digging deeper and deeper.

  “Hey.” Connor tugged at her hand. “You still with me?” he asked, as if he had somehow lost her interest.

  “I’m here,” she said. Now if she could only focus on why she was there. “Did you find anything on Todd?”

  Connor took his time answering, waiting until he’d found a casual dining restaurant with outdoor seating. Cooling misters hissed overhead, the sound blending with the distant strains of an acoustic guitar being played on an outdoor stage. After giving the waiter his order, Connor leaned back in his chair and said, “If I’d found anything, you’d be the first to know. Unfortunately, all he did was shop.”

  “All afternoon?”

  He laughed at her startled response. “I thought you’d be impressed.”

  “Surprised is more like it,” she muttered, thinking of Todd’s excuse. Still, she hesitated before confessing, “Todd was late for dinner. He said it was because of a business meeting.”

  “What? That five-second trip to his office this morning?” Connor scoffed.

  “Maybe he didn’t want to tell Emily he’d gone shopping for her.”

  “Except he was shopping for himself—unless Emily’s taken up imported cigars.”

  “Um, no.”

  After a waiter dropped off glasses of ice water and Connor’s steak sandwich, he said, “What else?”

  “It was dinner, Connor, not an inquisition,” she said as Connor dug in with both hands.

  Truthfully, Kelsey hadn’t wanted to find anything. She wanted to believe Todd and Emily would have a beautiful wedding followed by a happy marriage. “It’s probably nothing but—” she paused, not believing her own words “—none of Todd’s family are coming to the wedding.”

  “Did he say why?” he asked, sliding his plate of fries her way.

  Kelsey shook her head at the offer and said, “His parents already had a trip to Europe planned, and his sister is pregnant and didn’t want to travel.”

  Connor shrugged. “So it could be nothing.”

  She blinked. Connor had jumped on even the slightest inconsistency in Todd’s behavior. She couldn’t believe he was letting this one go. “Are you serious? Can you imagine my aunt and uncle not showing up to Emily’s wedding?”

  “Not every family is like yours.”

  “Okay, fine. Forget the Wilsons. You might be the P.I. expert, but I’m the wedding expert, remember? And families always come to weddings!”

  Connor’s gaze cut away from her as he balled a paper napkin between his fists, and Kelsey knew. This wasn’t about Todd’s family or her family or families in general. It was about Connor’s. A family she knew nothing about, one she couldn’t recall Emily ever mentioning.

  “You know, I don’t think Emily’s ever talked about your family.”

  “Why would she?”

  Because, at one time or another, Emily had told Kelsey nearly everything about Connor. So much that Kelsey felt she’d known him long before she first caught sight of him at the airport. But she certainly couldn’t tell Connor how she’d listened to those stories the same way a teenager might pore over celebrity magazines for the latest gossip on the current Hollywood heartthrob.

  “I don’t know. Maybe because if things had worked out like you’d planned, they would have been her family, too.”

  Connor gave a rough bark of laughter. “Emily had enough family to deal with without adding mine to the mix. Besides, my parents died before I met Emily.”

  The abrupt comment hit Kelsey in the chest, and she felt ashamed for pushing. She ached for his loss, an echo to the pain she still felt over the death of her own mother.

  “Oh, Connor.” Her defenses crumbled to dust, and with her heart already reaching out, her hands immediately followed. The heat of his hands—strong, rawboned, and masculine—sent an instant jolt up her arms. Her heart skipped a beat at the simple contact, but it was the emotional connection that had her pulse picking up an even greater speed. For a second, as their eyes met, Connor looked as startled as she felt.

  Taking a breath deep enough to force her heart back into place, she focused on the reason she’d dared touch him in the first place. “I’m so sorry. I lost my mom when I was sixteen. Do you want—”

  “It was a long time ago,” he interrupted, jerking his hands out from hers in a pretense of reaching for his wallet to pull out a few bills. “I should get going. I’ll walk you back to your car.”

  Stung by his abrupt withdrawal, Kelsey ducked her head before he could see the embarrassed color burning in her cheeks. Focusing on her purse, she searched for the keys she knew perfectly well were in the outside pocket.

  “No need. I’ll be fine,” she insisted, and started walking. But if she thought she could out-stubborn Connor, he quickly proved her wrong.

  “You will be fine,” he agreed, his light touch against her lower back a complete contrast to the steely determination in his voice. “Because I’m walking you to your car.”

  Kelsey didn’t argue, even though Matt was probably long gone. Thanks to Connor, he’d learned his lesson. Too bad she had yet to learn hers. Because no matter what Connor said about how beautiful she was, actions spoke louder than words, and all the compliments in the world couldn’t erase the hurt of reaching out to Connor only to have him pull away.

  Chapter Six

  Early the next morning Kelsey stood outside her shop, gripping the key tightly enough to dig grooves into her palm. The unexpected phone call from her landlord couldn’t have come at a better time. She still had plenty left to do for Emily’s wedding, but she couldn’t think of Emily without thinking of Connor. And Kelsey definitely did not want to think of him. Last night, she’d felt a connection—that loss and difficult childhoods gave them something in common. But Connor didn’t want common.

  He didn’t want her.

  With the morning sunlight glinting off the windows, she couldn’t see ins
ide, but in her mind’s eye she pictured her shop. The subtle green and pink colors, the faded rose wallpaper, the shabby-chic-style parlor where she would meet with clients. Romantic without being overblown; classy while still being casual.

  It was going to be perfect. Excitement jazzing her veins, Kelsey stuck the key in the lock, opened the door and blinked. With her dream office so firm in her thoughts she could practically smell her favorite peach potpourri, reality hit like a slap to the forehead.

  No soft colors, no floral wallpaper…Shabby, yes, but chic?

  “Not even close,” Kelsey muttered as she flicked on the lights and stepped inside.

  The landlord had shown her the space a few weeks ago, when it had been a struggling craft store. Shelves and bins had lined every wall, filled with yarn and cloth, paints and silk flowers. She’d focused on the space, knowing everything else would go when the other store closed. But she never stopped to think about the mess left behind.

  Holes from the now-absent shelves marred the walls with peg-board consistency. The carpet had a two-tone hue thanks to the areas exposed to foot traffic, and the bare fluorescent bulbs overhead buzzed like bug zappers in August. No wonder the landlord had left the key hidden outside instead of meeting Kelsey.

  But Kelsey hadn’t spent her childhood living in sub-par apartments without learning a thing or two from her mother. “Wilson women against the world,” she murmured as she pulled the phone from her purse and called the landlord.

  If there was one thing Connor hated, it was being wrong. The only thing worse was being wrong and knowing he had to apologize. Meeting his own gaze in the mirror, he knew he owed Kelsey a big apology. He’d seen the hurt in her chocolate eyes at his abrupt withdrawal and he felt like a jerk. She’d reached out to him—physically and emotionally—and he’d pulled away.

  He could justify his actions with the same excuse he always used when thoughts of the past intruded. That time was over and done, enough said. And yet, the sympathy and understanding in Kelsey’s expression made him want to talk about the past. He’d wanted to turn his wrist, take her hand into his and hold on tight. That completely foreign desire had so rattled him, that he’d locked his jaw and put an early end to the evening.

  After showering and throwing on some clothes, Connor called Kelsey’s cell. The phone rang four times before she answered, sounding breathless and sexy and—“Where the hell are you?” he demanded before he could keep the words from bursting out.

  And what was she doing to give her voice that husky, bedroom quality?

  “I’m…working.”

  She was lying. Before he could remind himself what Kelsey did or who she did it with was none of his business, he heard a loud clatter followed by an abbreviated scream and a thump that sent his heart racing. “Kelsey!” Silence filled the line, giving Connor plenty of time to imagine half a dozen dangerous possibilities. “Kelsey!”

  “I’m here. I’m fine,” she said after what sounded like a scramble for the phone. “I knocked over a ladder and a bucket of spackle went flying.”

  Ladder? “Spackle?”

  “You know,” she said, her voice sounding slightly muffled, and he imagined the phone held against her shoulder. “That compound stuff you use to patch walls.”

  “I know what spackle is. The big question is, why do you know what it is?”

  “I’m just handy that way,” she said a little too brightly, and Connor flashed back to the hurt in her eyes. Her answer might have been different if he hadn’t pulled away the night before. “Kelsey—”

  “I’ve found an office space to rent. That way I’ll have more room to sell my lies about happily-ever-after to unsuspecting brides and grooms.”

  Connor flinched despite her light-hearted tone. Seemed as if he might have even more to apologize for than he’d thought. “What’s the address?”

  “Why?” she asked, as if she thought he planned to come by and torch the place.

  “Because,” he said after a deep breath and a ten count for patience, “I owe you an apology.” Kelsey didn’t respond, and in the silence, Connor knew she wanted more. That need rose up again, pressure building inside him as words he’d held back for years struggled to get out. “I owe you an apology,” he repeated, “and an explanation.”

  “I’m an idiot,” Kelsey muttered as she washed spackle from her hands in the tiny bathroom. She would have liked to look herself in the eye as she spoke those words, but the bathroom was missing a mirror, had no hot water, and a questionable-at-best toilet.

  Why had she given Connor the address? Why had she invited him to invade her place? The dream office that filled her thoughts so strongly that morning had faded over the past several hours of hard work. The last thing she needed was Connor’s presence to overwhelm what was left of her lace-and-roses dream in a deluge of cotton and denim.

  Not to mention his cynicism.

  Yet she’d been unable to resist the demand in his voice or his promised apology.

  The ring of the bell above the front door alerted her to her first visitor and saved her from her own thoughts. “Kelsey?” a familiar female voice called out.

  She banged on the faucet handle a few times to turn off the water and hurried out, shaking her hands to get them dry. “Lisa? What are you doing here?”

  Walking through the shop with a bouquet of gerbera daisies in one hand and a bottle of wine in the other, her friend cast a dubious look around. “Not quite what I expected,” she said as she met Kelsey at the back of the shop.

  “It needs work,” Kelsey admitted. “But I called the landlord and talked him into reducing the first month’s rent if I handle the repairs.”

  “And that’s why I’m here,” her friend announced as she set the wine and flowers on the ladder. “I know you too well. You’re always willing to help your friends, but you never ask for help. Of course, I had no idea you’d need this much help, but it’s a good thing I called Trey, too.” Trey Jamison was another good friend, and she frequently hired him as a DJ for her weddings.

  “You didn’t have to do that,” Kelsey told Lisa.

  “Yes, I did because you wouldn’t. I knew you’d be here all alone with no one to help you and…”

  Lisa turned as the bell announced another arrival, her words trailing away. Kelsey couldn’t blame her friend. She felt pretty speechless as Connor stripped off his reflective glasses and locked that green gaze on her from across the shop. “Hey.”

  “Hey,” Kelsey responded, the word far more breathless than she wanted to admit. Her stomach did a slow roll at the sight of him. Just as she’d feared, he shrank the space until it encompassed only the two of them. Thoughts of lace and roses fell away, overwhelmed by Connor’s masculine presence. Her senses took in every bit of him—the faded gray T-shirt that stretched across his chest, the jeans that clung to his muscular legs, the low murmur of his voice.

  Lisa’s silence didn’t last nearly as long as Kelsey’s. Her friend gripped her arm and whispered, “Who is that?”

  “Connor McClane,” Kelsey murmured back.

  “Connor—” Lisa’s eyebrows rose. “Emily’s ex? What is he doing here?”

  Emily’s ex. Kelsey’s heart cringed at the description. “Good question,” she muttered as his promised apology and explanation rang in her mind.

  Before she had the chance to ask, Trey pushed through the doorway. With his long hair caught back in a ponytail, and wearing an oversize T-shirt and raggedy cutoffs, he looked ready to work. But after gazing around, he said, “Way to go, Kelse!” Walking over, he spun her in an exuberant hug. “This place is great.”

  “You think?” she asked, with a laugh at her friend’s enthusiasm.

  “Well, it will be when you’re done with it, right?” He glanced at Lisa and Connor for confirmation, and only then did Kelsey realize she had yet to introduce them.

  “Oh, I’m sorry. Trey, Lisa, this is Connor…”

  The introduction faded away as she caught sight of the scowl on Con
nor’s face. Instinctively she stepped out of Trey’s embrace, which was crazy. Because Trey was just a friend and crazier still because Connor could not be jealous.

  Could he?

  Still, Connor was less than friendly as he crossed the shop to greet Trey. The handshake the two men exchanged seemed more like a prelude to battle than a customary introduction. “Good to meet you,” Trey said, his smile growing wide even though Kelsey thought she saw him subtly flexing his hand once Connor released it.

  “Pleasure,” Connor said, the word sounding anything but.

  “Okay, let’s put all this testosterone to use,” Lisa said, bringing a heated blush to Kelsey’s face. “Where do we start?”

  “Yeah, give us the list,” Trey said, holding out his hand.

  “You guys don’t have to do this. You can’t give up your weekend to help me out.”

  “Like the time you filled in for me when I got snowed in back East and didn’t have anyone to open up the flower shop?” Lisa challenged before glancing at Trey expectantly.

  Immediately he picked up where she’d left off. “Or the time you shoved chicken soup and hot tea down my throat to get my voice back in time to DJ that last wedding?”

  “That’s different,” Kelsey protested.

  “Why? Why are you the only one allowed to help?” Lisa demanded. “When do we get to return the favor? And hey, we’re not dummies. We all know helping you helps us.”

  “Yeah, as long as she doesn’t forget her friends when she’s off coordinating weddings for the rich and famous,” Trey whispered in an aside to Lisa.

  Overwhelmed by their generosity, Kelsey blinked back tears. Growing up, it had always been Kelsey and her mom—Wilson women against the world. But maybe that was only because Olivia hadn’t had friends as amazing as Lisa and Trey.

  “All right! All right! I give in. And I promise to remember all the little people,” Kelsey laughed before grabbing the list as well as a handful of paint swatches, wallpaper samples and various store ads from her day planner.