‘At the moment. We still fight, but it’s different now.’ Claire smiled. ‘Sean’s not quite as regimented as I thought he was.’
Ashleigh laughed. ‘Not with you around, he won’t be.’
‘And he’s stopped calling me the Mistress of Chaos.’
‘Good, because you’re not.’ Ashleigh hugged her again. ‘I can’t think of anyone I’d like more as my sister-in-law. I’ve always thought of you as like my sister anyway.’
‘We haven’t been together long,’ Claire warned, ‘so I’m not promising anything.’
‘I think,’ Ashleigh said, ‘that you’ll be good for each other.’
‘Promise me you won’t say anything? Even to Luke?’
‘It’s a bit too late for Luke,’ Ashleigh said, ‘but I won’t say anything to Sean.’
‘Thank you. And you’ll be the first to know if things move forward. Or,’ Claire said, ‘when we break up.’
* * *
In the two weeks before the wedding show Claire was crazily busy and had almost no free time for dates. Sean took over and brought in takeaways to make sure she ate in the evenings; he also made her take breaks before her eyes started hurting, and gave her massages when her shoulders ached.
Even though part of Claire thought he was being just a little bit overprotective, she was grateful for the TLC. ‘I really appreciate this, Sean.’
‘I know, and you’d do the same for me if I had an exhibition,’ he pointed out. ‘By the way, I’m in talks with a couple of manufacturers about joint projects and licensing. Talking to you and brainstorming stuff like that,’ he said, ‘really helped me see the way I want the company to go in the future.’
‘Following your dreams?’
‘Maybe,’ he said with a smile, and kissed her.
* * *
The week before the wedding show, Claire took Sean to meet her family—her father, her grandmother, Aunt Lou and her cousins. Clearly she’d talked to them about him, Sean thought, because they already seemed to know who he was and lots about him. Then he realised that they knew Ashleigh and his background was the same as hers.
Even though they were warm and welcoming and treated him as if he were one of them, chatting and laughing and teasing him, he still felt strange. His grandparents would’ve been older than Claire’s and had died when he was in his teens. This was the first time for years that Sean had been in a family situation where he wasn’t being the protective big brother and the head of the family, and it made him feel lost, not knowing quite where he was supposed to fit in.
It didn’t help that Claire’s father grilled him mercilessly about his intentions towards Claire. Sean could understand it—he shared Jacob’s opinion of Claire’s previous boyfriends, at least the ones that he’d met—but it still grated that he’d be judged alongside them.
And he could also see what Claire meant about her dad not believing in her. Jacob didn’t see the point of spending time and money making six sets of wedding clothes that hadn’t actually been ordered by clients, and he’d said a couple of times during the evening that he couldn’t see how Claire would possibly get a return on her investment. Claire had smiled sweetly and glossed over it, but Sean had seen that little pleat between her brows that only appeared when she was really unhappy about something. Clearly she was hurt by the way her father still didn’t believe in her.
Well, maybe he could give Jacob Stewart something to think about. ‘I always do trade shows,’ he said. ‘They’re really good for awareness—and it makes new customers consider stocking you when they see the quality of your product.’
‘Maybe,’ Jacob said.
‘I don’t know if you saw the dress Claire made for my sister, but it was absolutely amazing. She’s really good at what she does. And what gives her the extra edge is that she loves what she does, too. That gives her clients confidence. And it’s why they tell all their friends about her. Her referral rate is stunning.’
Jacob said nothing, but raised an eyebrow.
Sean decided not to push it any further—the last thing he wanted was for Jacob to upset Claire any further on the subject and knock her confidence at this late stage—but he had to hide a smile when he saw the fervent thumbs-up that Claire’s grandmother and aunt did out of Jacob’s viewpoint.
Though he was quiet when he drove Claire home.
‘I’m sorry, Sean. I shouldn’t have asked you to meet them—it’s too early,’ she said, guessing why he was quiet and getting it totally wrong. ‘It’s just, well, they’ll all be coming to the wedding show and I thought it’d be better if you met them before rather than spring it on you then.’
‘No, it was nice to meet them,’ he said. ‘I liked them.’ He wanted to shake her father, but judged it not the most tactful thing to say.
‘They liked you—and Dad approved of you, which has to be a first.’
He couldn’t hide his surprise. ‘Even though I argued with him?’
‘You batted my corner,’ she said. ‘And I appreciate that. I think he did, too. Dad’s just...a bit difficult.’
‘He’ll come round in the end,’ Sean said. ‘When he sees your collection on the catwalk, he’ll understand.’
‘Hardly. He’s a guy. So he’s not the slightest bit interested in dresses,’ Claire said, though to Sean’s relief this time she was smiling rather than looking upset. ‘I just have to remember not to let it get to me.’
‘You’re going to be brilliant,’ Sean said. ‘Come on. Let’s go to bed.’
She smiled. ‘I thought you’d never ask...’
* * *
Over the next week, Claire worked later and later on last-minute changes to the wedding show outfits, and the only way Sean could get her out of her workroom for dinner was to haul her manually over his shoulder and carry her out of the room.
‘You need to eat to keep your strength up, and you can’t live off sandwiches for the next week,’ he told her, ‘or you’ll make yourself ill.’
‘I guess.’ She blinked as she took in the fact that her kitchen was actually being used and something smelled gorgeous. ‘Hang on, dinner isn’t a takeaway.’
‘It’s nothing fancy, either,’ Sean said dryly, ‘but it’s home-cooked from scratch and there are proper vegetables.’ He gave her a rueful smile. ‘And at least you have gadgets that help.’
‘My electric steamer. Best gadget ever.’ She smiled back and stroked his face. ‘Sean, thank you. It’s really good of you to do this for me.’
‘Any time, and you know you’d do the same if I was the one up to my eyes in preparation for a big event, so it’s not a big deal.’ He kissed her lightly. ‘Sit down, milady, because dinner will be served in about thirty seconds.’
But when he’d dished up and they were eating, he noticed that she was pushing her food around her plate. ‘Is my cooking that terrible? You don’t have to be polite with me—leave it if you hate it.’
‘It’s wonderful. I’m just tired.’ She made an effort to eat.
He tried to distract her a little. ‘So do you have a dream of a dress?’
‘Not really,’ she said.
‘So all these years when you’ve sketched wedding dresses, you never once drew the one you wanted for yourself?’
‘I guess it would depend when and where I got married—if it was on a beach in the Seychelles I wouldn’t pick the same dress, veil or shoes as I’d pick for a tiny country church in the middle of winter in, say, the far north of Scotland.’
‘I guess,’ he said. ‘So which kind of wedding would you prefer?’
‘It’s all academic,’ she said.
He could guess why she wasn’t answering him—she was obviously worried he’d think she was hinting and had expectations where he was concerned.
‘Is that why the outfits in your wedding
collection are so diverse?’
‘Yes—four seasonal weddings, one vintage-inspired outfit, and one that’s more tailored towards a civil wedding,’ she explained.
‘That’s a good range,’ he said. ‘It will show people what you can do.’
‘I hope so.’ For a second she looked really worried and vulnerable.
‘Claire, you know your stuff, you’re good at what you do and your work is really going to shine at the show.’ He reached over to squeeze her hand. ‘I believe in you.’
‘Thank you, though I wasn’t fishing for compliments.’
‘I know you weren’t, and I was being sincere.’
‘Sorry.’ She wrinkled her nose. ‘Ignore me. It’s just a bit of stage fright, or whatever the catwalk equivalent is.’
‘Which is totally understandable, given that it’s your first show.’ He cleared their plates away. ‘Let me get you some coffee.’
She gave him a tired smile. ‘Sorry, I’m really not pulling my weight in this relationship right now.’
‘Claire, you’re so busy you barely have time to breathe. I’m not going to give you a hard time about that; I just want to take some of the weight off your shoulders,’ he said.
‘Then thank you. Coffee would be lovely.’
He made two mugs of coffee and set them on the table. ‘This is decaf,’ he said, ‘because I think you’re already going to have enough trouble getting to sleep and the last thing you need is caffeine.’
‘I guess.’
And he hoped that what he was about to do would distract her enough to let her fall asleep in his arms tonight and stop worrying quite so much about the wedding show.
He rescued the box he’d stowed in her fridge earlier—a box containing a very important message. He checked behind the door that he hadn’t accidentally disturbed the contents of the box and mixed up the order of the lettered chocolates, then brought them out and placed the box on the table in front of her.
She gave him a tired smile. ‘Would these be some of your awesome salted caramels? Or are you trying out new stuff on me as your personal focus group?’
‘Open the box and see,’ he invited.
She did so, and her eyes widened as she read the message. When she looked back at him, he could see the sheen of tears in her eyes. ‘Sean.’
‘Hey. They say you should say it with flowers, but I know you like to be different, so I thought I’d say it in chocolate.’ He’d iced the letters himself. I love you Claire. He paused. ‘Or maybe I just need to say it.’ He swallowed hard. Funny how his throat felt as if it were filled with sand. ‘I’ve never said this to anyone before. I love you, Claire. I think I probably have for years, but the idea of letting anyone close scared me spitless. You know you asked me what scared me? That. Deep down guess I was worried that I’d end up losing my partner like I lost my parents, so it was easier to keep you at a distance.’
‘So what changed?’ she asked.
‘Capri,’ he said. ‘Seeing the way you just got on with things and sorted out the problems when Ashleigh’s dress went missing. And then dancing with you. I really couldn’t take my eyes off you—it wasn’t just the song. I tried to tell myself that it was just physical attraction, but it’s more than that. So very much more.’
‘Oh, Sean.’ She blinked back the tears.
And now he just couldn’t shut up. ‘And in these last few weeks, getting to know you, I’ve seen you for who you really are. You’re funny and you’re brave and you’re bossy, and you think outside the box, and—you know your speed dating question thing, about what you’re looking for in a partner? I can answer that, now. I’m looking for you, Claire. You’re everything I want.’ He gave her a wry smile. ‘Though my timing’s a bit rubbish, given that you’re up to your eyes right now.’
‘Your timing’s perfect,’ she said softly. ‘You know, I had a huge crush on you when I was fourteen, but you were my best friend’s older brother, which made you off limits. And you always made me feel as if I was a nuisance.’
‘You probably were, when you were a teenager.’
She laughed. ‘Tell it to me straight, why don’t you?’
He laughed back. ‘You wouldn’t have it any other way, and you know it—I love you, Claire.’
‘I love you, too, Sean.’ She pushed her chair back, came round to his side of the table, wrapped her arms round him and kissed him. ‘Over the last few weeks I’ve got to know you and you’re not quite who I thought you were, either. You’re this human dynamo but you also think on your feet. You’re not regimented and rule-bound.’
‘No?’
‘Well, maybe just a little bit—and you do look good in a suit.’ She smiled at him. ‘Though how I really like you dressed is in faded jeans, and a white shirt with the sleeves rolled up. It makes you much more touchable.’
‘Noted,’ he said.
He could see that she was so tired, she didn’t even have the energy to drink her coffee. So he carried her to bed, cherished her, and let her fall asleep in his arms. He wasn’t ready to sleep yet; it was good just to lie in the dark with her in his arms, thinking. How amazing it was that she felt the same way about him. So maybe, just maybe, this was going to work out.
CHAPTER TWELVE
ON THE MORNING of the wedding show, Claire was up before six, bustling around and double-checking things on her list.
Then her mobile phone rang. Sean couldn’t tell much from Claire’s end of the conversation, but her face had turned white and there was a tiny pleat above her nose that told him something was definitely wrong.
When she ended the call, she blew out a breath. ‘Sorry, I’m going to have to neglect you and make a ton of phone calls now.’
‘What’s happened?’
‘That was the modelling agency.’ She closed her eyes for a moment. ‘It seems that the six male models that I booked through the agency are all really good friends. They went out together for a meal last night, and they’ve all gone down with food poisoning so they can’t do the show.’
‘So the agency’s going to send you someone else?’
She shook her head. ‘All their models are either already booked out or away. So they’re very sorry to let me down, but it’s due to circumstances beyond their control and they’re sure I’ll understand, and of course they’ll return my fee.’
The sing-song, patronising tone in which she replayed the conversation told Sean just how angry Claire was—and he wasn’t surprised. She’d been very badly let down.
‘I’ll just have to go through my diary and beg a few favours, and hope that I can find six men willing to stand in for the models.’ She raked a hand through her hair. ‘And I need to look at my list and see where I can cut a few corners, because I’ll have to alter their clothes to fit the stand-ins, and...’ She shook her head, looking utterly miserable.
He put his arms round her and hugged her. ‘You need five. I’ll do it.’
She stared at him as if the words hadn’t quite sunk in. ‘You’ll do it?’
‘Well, obviously I don’t know the first thing about a catwalk,’ he said, ‘so someone’s going to have to teach me how to do the model walk thing. But everyone’s going to be looking at the clothes and not the model in any case, so I guess that probably doesn’t matter too much.’
‘You’ll do it,’ she repeated, sounding disbelieving.
‘Is it that much of a stretch to see me as a model?’ he asked wryly.
‘No, it’s not that at all. You’d be fabulous. It’s just that—it’s a pretty public thing, standing on a catwalk at a wedding show with everyone staring at you, and it’s so far from what you normally do that I thought you’d find it too embarrassing or awkward or...’ She tailed off. ‘Oh, my God, Sean. You’d really do that for me?’
‘Yes,’ he said firmly.
‘Thank you.’ She hugged him fiercely. ‘That means I only have to find five.’
‘You’ve already got enough to do. I’ll find them for you,’ he said. ‘I reckon we can count on Luke and Tom, and I have a few others in mind. Just tell me the rough heights and sizes you need, and I’ll ring round and sort it out.’
‘Your height and build would be perfect, but I can adjust things if I need to—the men’s outfits are easier to adjust than the women’s, so I guess I’m lucky that it was the male models and not the female ones or the children who had to bail out on me. Sean, are you really sure about this?’
‘Really,’ he confirmed. ‘I’m on Team Claire, remember? Now go hit that shower, I’ll have coffee ready by the time you’re out, and I’ll start ringing round.’
She hugged him. ‘Have I told you how wonderful you are? Five minutes ago it felt as if the world had ended, and now...’
‘Hey—you’d do the same for me,’ he pointed out.
Half an hour later, Sean had it all arranged. Luke and Tom agreed immediately to stand in, plus Tom’s partner. Sean called in his best friend and his sales manager from the factory, and they all agreed to meet him and Claire at the wedding show two hours before it started, so Claire could do any last-minute necessary alterations to their outfits. Then he made Claire sit down and eat breakfast, before helping her to load everything into the van she’d hired for the day.
‘Sure we’ve got all the wedding dresses?’ he asked before he closed the van doors. ‘Though I guess we’re going to Earl’s Court rather than Capri, so we should be OK.’
‘Not funny, Sean.’ She narrowed her eyes at him.
He kissed her lightly. ‘That was misplaced humour and I apologise. It’s all going to be fine, Claire. Just breathe and check your list.’
‘Sorry, I’m being unfair and overly grouchy. Ignore me.’ She looked over her list. ‘Everything’s ticked off and loaded, so we’re ready to roll.’
‘At least we’ve got the bumps out of the way this side of the catwalk. It’s all going to be fine now.’ He kissed her again. ‘By the way, I meant to tell you, I’ve got some extra giveaways for you. Will from the office is bringing them to the show.’
Harlequin Romance April 2015 Box Set Page 69
