Wedding Date Rescue

by Sonya Weiss

  “Oh.” She put her hand to her throat and blinked. “Someone I know?”

  “Yes,” he said, hoping he didn’t sound like he was about to face a firing squad.

  “Who?”

  “Casey…” Please don’t let this backfire.

  “Why didn’t you say something?”

  “I wasn’t ready to go public with it yet.” Understatement of the year.

  Tears pooled in his mom’s eyes. “Oh, son. To love someone that you’ve been friends with for so long is the best kind of love.”

  Alarmed, he raised his eyebrows. “I didn’t say anything about love.” He should have known better than to grab a tiger by the tail.

  “Stop protesting. I know you’ve been keeping it a secret, because it hasn’t been that long since Casey’s wedding. But you don’t have to. Everyone in town would understand.” Lynn dabbed at the corners of her eyes. “I’ll get my things and lock up.”

  Waiting outside, Kent wondered exactly what everyone in town would understand when he didn’t have a clue himself. He lifted his face toward the sun, hoping his little white lie would put an end to his mother’s matchmaking schemes as well as keep the past where it belonged. He just hoped that he hadn’t made things worse.

  Chapter Three

  Hundreds of tiny white lights hung in swags from the ceiling of the banquet hall. Each of the tables was covered with silver linen and held a crystal vase full of flowers. The chairs were draped in white cloths that were tied back with turquoise bows. Casey thought she, Josie, and her brothers had done a great job.

  The place had been transformed into a magical wonderland. But…uh-oh…her mother didn’t have a magic wonderland expression on her face. Instead of a happy celebration face, she wore her interrogation expression. Given the amount of trouble Casey had gotten into growing up, she could spot that look a mile away.

  “Oh, boy,” Josie said, gathering the folds of her dark blue dress while tilting her head toward Casey’s mom at the same time. “Not good.” Josie recognized the look as well, since she’d been involved in most of her childhood exploits.

  Beverly Bradford slipped through the crowd, gracefully acknowledging people who greeted her, but didn’t waver in her walk toward Casey. In her floor-length, off-white evening gown with her hair artfully arranged on top of her head and threaded with sparkling gems, her mother was glamorous and still as eye-catching in her mid-sixties as she had been when Casey was a little girl.

  “Oh, Casey,” her mother said, her voice a mixture of reproof and excitement. “Why didn’t you tell me what was going on between you and Kent?”

  “What’s going on between me and Kent?” Casey parroted, trying to figure out what important information she’d missed between loading her car and the drive to the hall.

  “I had to hear it from his mother first.”

  “What did you hear?” Josie asked, looking as bewildered as Casey knew she did.

  “Don’t act like you don’t know.” Beverly shot Josie a reproachful look. “You and Casey have always been as thick as thieves.” She took a deep breath and put her hand on Casey’s arm. “After your almost wedding, I’d say it’s not wise to rush into anything because it’s too soon, but this is Kent. I always suspected he was the reason your wedding didn’t work out. You were never meant to be with Dominic, and everyone in town knows that.”

  Casey burst into laughter to squelch the heated feeling that rushed through her at the thought of Kent. She gave a slow, disbelieving shake of her head. “Mom, Kent and I—”

  “Are finally dating. I know. I heard the news. You didn’t have to sneak around with your love for each other. I would have understood.”

  Her mother’s words hammered into her as hard as nailing wood into a stud. She and Kent were buddies. They were friends only because they’d been forced into each other’s company from the time they were both in diapers. She’d done time behind crib bars with him. Had shared space at the kids’ table every Christmas. She gave him her roll, and he gave her his sweet potatoes.

  “Love? Dating?” she finally sputtered when she found her voice. “You were given wrong information. We’re not sneaking around.”

  Her mother’s smile had a strange satisfaction to it. “Oh, good.” She turned her attention over her shoulder. “I promised your father I’d be in my chair in time for the toasts to begin. We’ll talk afterward.” She hurried off, Casey still gaping at her.

  “Why would she think something was going on between you and Kent?” Josie asked.

  “I don’t know, but I need to talk to him. We’ll sort this out.” In the crowd of over two hundred people who’d turned out for the celebration, it wasn’t going to be easy to pin him down, but she was going to get to the bottom of this. She hoped he’d changed his mind about helping her. Threading her way around a trio of women who worked at the firehouse, she kept her focus on the search. Her and Kent and their love for each other? She almost snorted at that thought.

  Her mother as well as her father had always had a soft spot in their hearts for Kent. They’d even taken his side the night of her tenth birthday when she’d drawn a permanent-marker mustache on his upper lip while he’d been sleeping—he’d done it first to her dolls and had never paid for the act.

  If her mother thought she and Kent were really together, she’d join forces with his mom, and their goose would be cooked. How his mother had taken the news of a tree rescue and turned it into love, she didn’t know. There was no way that Kent would have claimed such a thing.

  Spotting Lincoln in a conversation with some of his fellow firefighters, she hurried over to wait for him to finish up. As always, her brother could tell when something was bothering her. He immediately glanced down, wrapped his arm around her shoulders, and steered her away from his friends.

  “What’s wrong?” His jaw set, he looked around, searching the crowd intently. “Don’t tell me Dominic had the nerve to show up here.”

  Casey shook her head, glad for that, since Lincoln still wanted to give her former fiancé the pounding of his life. “No, it’s worse. Mom thinks I’m in love with Kent and that we’re dating.”

  “Oh.” The tension left his shoulders, and his lips curved into a smile. “Is that all?”

  “Is that all? She got the idea from Kent’s mom. His mom plus our mom—”

  “Equals the two of you at the wedding planner’s office.”

  “Right. Could you see me and Kent together?” Her in a wedding dress, Kent in a tuxedo, I dos all around and the promise of happily ever after hovering in the air. Kent certainly had the build for a tux. Broad shouldered— She blinked and regained her focus when her brother raised his arm.

  Lincoln rubbed his hand through his closely cropped hair. “All right. What do you want me to do?”

  “Grab Dad and explain Kent and I aren’t dating. I don’t want Kent’s mom to believe there’s any truth to it.” She took a breath. “It’s not going to happen. I already asked Kent to be…my whatever, and he said no.”

  “Your whatever?” Lincoln looked confused. “What are you talking about?”

  Casey snagged a glass of champagne from a roving waiter and took a healthy swig. She felt jittery from nerves and usually got that way when a situation was about to spiral out of control. Usually because she caused it to spiral.

  “I needed a man, so I asked Kent.”

  Now Lincoln looked uncomfortable. “Sis, there are some things I don’t want to hear about.” He narrowed his eyes. “Kent didn’t…he wouldn’t—”

  Blushing to the roots of her hair—because she thought, what if Kent would?—Casey downed another swallow and lowered her voice to keep from being overheard. “I’m not talking about sleeping with Kent. I’m talking about keeping my business.”

  “I swear, Casey…the things you get into.”

  “This is not my fault,” she defended herself. “Brandon said if I don’t come up with a man to show potential clients that I can find love myself, I could lose my investors
.” She bit her lip. The idea of her business failing was making it increasingly hard to sleep at night. It wouldn’t be her first failure, and she couldn’t face her family or herself if it happened again.

  “Brandon’s an—” He pulled the word he’d started to say and nodded at the elderly couple passing by.

  “No, he isn’t…he’s worried, and he has a right to be. I need new clients. To turn a profit and fast.” If she asked her brothers, they’d find a way to come up with the money she needed. But the money Brandon and the others had invested was substantial, and she didn’t want her brothers or her parents, either, for that matter, wiping out their savings for her.

  “Relax. I’ll get Dad to talk to Mom,” Lincoln promised.

  “Thank you.” Casey breathed a sigh of relief and turned her attention to Josie as she approached.

  Josie looked up at Lincoln. “Rafferty says he needs your help in the parking lot.”

  “I’ll head out there. You sure you’re okay, Casey?”

  “I’m fine, but if you see Kent, tell him I have to talk to him.” As soon as her brother left, Casey nudged Josie. “The way you look at my brother is obvious. I don’t know how I missed it before now. Why not take a chance and tell him how you feel?”

  Josie paled as if Casey had asked her to watch a horror movie—something they both hated. “I could never do that. Besides, saying something wouldn’t do any good. Your brother will never feel the same way about me. Now, can we drop it?” She reached her hand out for the rest of Casey’s champagne, drained it, and passed the flute back.

  They both turned at a commotion at the front of the room. The guy who’d been the best man at her parents’ wedding stood up and tapped his fork against the side of his glass to get everyone’s attention. Casey and Josie scurried to their places at the table reserved for them.

  Her mind wandered as the speech began. She got lost in thought trying to come up with a miracle if Kent stuck to his no.

  Cheers and clapping erupted as the best man finished his speech, and the crowd raised their glasses. Casey pushed her worries to the side and raised her glass as her mom stood.

  “Thank you all for coming and making this event so wonderful.” Her eyes misted when she located Casey. “I know my children put in a lot of hard work to make this all happen.” She mouthed an “I love you” at Casey, who returned the words, then wiped the corners of her eyes.

  “I’d always hoped my children would follow in our footsteps.” Beverly reached for her husband’s hand and squeezed it. “More than anything, I wanted them to know what love with the right person feels like. Which is why I’m thrilled that Casey and Kent have finally found love with each other.”

  Shock grabbed Casey around the chest, tying her up in knots as surely as if she’d been thrust into a straitjacket. The cheers became louder, almost but not quite drowning out the sound of Casey’s heart beating in her ears. She sought Lincoln out in the crowd after he returned, noting the guilty look on his face as he gave a slight shake of his head. He hadn’t made it to their dad in time. Kent was beside him, looking as unhappy as he had years ago when he’d woken up to discover the marker mustache she’d drawn.

  …

  He’d screwed up. Big-time. He’d thought he could get to Casey first. So much for that… Kent’s gaze met Casey’s. He expected her to loudly say her mother’s announcement was wrong, but she moved toward him in a daze.

  When she reached him, Casey flung her arms around his neck. “Dance with me.”

  He put his hands on her waist, and awareness rippled through him. He forced himself to concentrate on dance moves and not Casey as they joined her parents on the dance floor. “I didn’t mean to spring this on you.”

  “What happened?”

  “I told my mom I was interested in you and taking you to the wedding.”

  “But you were so adamant you didn’t want to fake it.” She shook her head. “Why did you tell her that?”

  “Because Rebecca is back. I didn’t want everyone’s pity.” He clenched his teeth together. He hated thinking about the past. Hated the vulnerability he’d felt back then.

  “Not everyone will pity you. I never have,” she said softly, lifting her arm to put her hand in the center of his chest. “Not even at your darkest moment. I knew you’d bounce back.”

  He gave in to the sudden need to look at her lips, but not the urge to taste them. “Nothing keeps me down for long.”

  “That’s the spirit, boy toy.” She squeezed his biceps.

  “That’s fake boy toy to you.” He swung her around a couple and found them a spot with more room so they could talk without being overheard. “What do we do next?”

  “We pretend we’re crazy about each other. The investor will go back to his life, the business will pick up, and we’ll get through your cousin’s wedding. We’ll have to figure out how to handle questions you know people are going to ask, as well as how and when to stage our breakup.”

  “I understand,” he said. What he didn’t understand was the way he felt like he’d been touched with a live wire everywhere Casey’s body brushed against his as they danced. He looked away from her to get his thoughts back on the right track.

  “Everything will work out. You’ll see.” Her voice had a breathy quality to it, and he couldn’t help but turn his gaze to meet hers. “We can’t tell people that we’re joining forces in mutual need.”

  “Right.” He thought about the warmth of her waist beneath his hands and slid them upward to her back, a much safer zone.

  “Do you have any ideas what we can say when people tease us about finally getting together?”

  “I don’t know.” He smiled at her. “We can figure that out as we go along. Just focus on pretending you’re mine, and I’ll do the same.”

  Her eyes sparkled with excitement. “I’m so relieved I could kiss you!”

  Casey kissing him. Him kissing her back. His smile faded. Slow down, his smart side said, and don’t think about that. Or her smoking-hot body moving beneath that dress. The side of him that didn’t care about being smart thought about it. He stepped on her toe.

  “Sorry, my bad.” Clearing his throat, he said, “Let’s leave the kissing and anything else physical out of this arrangement.”

  A teasing light glinted in her eyes. “Are you worried I’ll try to cash in your bachelor card?”

  “Something like that. Up close, I’m hard to resist,” he teased back.

  “Maybe for other women. Trust me, Kent, you won’t ever find me chasing you.”

  “Same here,” he said. “You’re not the girl for me.”

  She beamed and pursed her lips in a fake kiss. “I think that’s the sweetest thing I’ve ever heard you say.”

  He laughed, feeling the tension leave his shoulders. Now that he and Casey had joined forces, he could go to his cousin’s wedding in peace, and as an added bonus, he could sit at home on his days off without anyone trying to find him a blind date again.

  When the celebration finally wound down, Kent walked Casey to her car, then headed to his truck. He stopped with a groan when he realized he’d left his lights on. After he tried twice to start it, he gave up. The battery was dead, and his jumper cables were at home in the garage. Great place for them to be when he needed them.

  The headlights of Casey’s car swept over him as she pulled up beside him and got out. The wind blew at the hem of her dress, and beneath the lights in the parking lot, he caught a quick glimpse of her thigh. Any more of that and forget the truck, he’d need his brain jump-started.

  “It won’t start. The engine. ’Cause the battery’s dead,” he said, then gave himself a mental thump upside the head. Pull yourself together, man.

  She put her hands on her hips. “I don’t have cables. You want me to give you a ride?”

  Did she have any freaking idea how hot she looked standing there? “Home?” he asked.

  “No, to Switzerland.” She lowered her arms. “You’re giving me a funny look.
What’s wrong?”

  What was wrong was that Casey wasn’t supposed to affect him. He wasn’t supposed to think of her as beautiful or get hot all over every time her thigh flashed into view. He raked a hand through his hair. What did I get myself into?

  She arched her brows, giving him the “well?” look.

  “Thinking about work,” he lied, figuring that was a safer bet than, “Damn, girl, you look good.”

  “Oh. Well, I can give you a lift to get your cables.”

  He locked up his truck and followed those swaying hips to her teeny little car. Boxed together for the agonizing ride to his house, he thought it was going to kill him. Every time she took a breath, smiled, or shifted her leg to press the brake, need slammed into him. Who knew such mind-blowing temptation could come in the form of a friend?

  “Bro code, bro code,” he muttered.

  “What?” She swiveled her head to look at him.

  “I asked if you were cold.” He faked a smile.

  “Not really.” She frowned and reached over to put her hand on his forehead. “Are you coming down with something?”

  More like coming up with something. “Probably.”

  Lowering her hand, she pulled into his driveway and grabbed his arm before he could dive from the car. “Wait a second. Are you having second thoughts?”

  He should yell yes loud and clear. He should bail. He should get out and not look into her eyes. But he did, and the worry and the vulnerability and the hope mixed in them made him open his mouth and say in the friends-only voice he suspected would become a crock if he wasn’t very careful, “Not at all. I’ll be right back.”

  In his garage, he grabbed the cables from a bench. When he turned around, he came face-to-face with Casey. She had her hand stuck in the top of her dress and an annoyed expression on her face.

  “Bra strap broke. Can I use your bathroom for a second?”

  “Sure.” He cleared his throat, giving himself kudos for not gaping at the soft skin she’d exposed when she’d pulled at her dress. “Go ahead.”