The Beach Wedding

by Lucy Kevin

  Somehow she needed to let him know it was all too much. Too fast. Because even though he’d promised not to overwhelm her again, couldn’t he see that he already had?

  She felt so topsy-turvy inside, in fact, that the only words she could get out were, “We need to focus on Amber’s wedding.”

  For a long moment, he remained silent. Finally, he nodded and said, “You’re right, again. Amber’s wedding is the most important thing of all right now.”

  But even though he’d just agreed with her about their priorities for the next ten days, something told her he wasn’t going to make any similar promises about his intentions after the wedding…

  Chapter Eight

  He’d shocked her. Jason understood that it would take Liz time to process what he’d said about the two of them trying again. Time for her to realize how good they could be together—a million times better than they’d been before.

  So even though he wished he could find some way to convince her right there and then that they should be together again, as she walked him out to the parking lot, he forced himself to stay quiet and give her room to think. He definitely didn’t want to make the mistake again of suffocating her with his love.

  Unfortunately, as soon as they stepped outside, he saw a camera flash. It was instinct to turn around to look directly at the flash, which unfortunately gave the photographer a better shot. The young woman holding the camera was wearing jeans and a denim jacket, her hair cut spiky short. As she leaned against a motorcycle to get more shots, he was tempted to run toward her to grab the camera, but he knew she would probably just leap on her bike and ride away before he could get close.

  “Damn it,” Liz said beside him. “Travis was supposed to stop things like this from happening.”

  Sure enough, Liz’s big security chief came stalking around the side of the building. He expected the woman to run. Instead, she walked forward with a cocky gait.

  “Laurel Kingston, LA Fame Scene blog,” she said. “I thought that was you, Jason Lomax. Are you here about your niece’s wedding?”

  “Miss Kingston,” Travis said in a stern voice before Jason could reply. “You’re trespassing on private property. I’m going to have to ask you to leave and to please hand over your camera.”

  “Touch my camera, and I’ll sue you. Hey!” She yelped as Travis grabbed the camera and quickly deleted the pictures. “You can’t do that!”

  “As I said, you’re trespassing.” He handed the camera back to her.

  “You still can’t do that, and you can’t dodge the question,” she said as she pointed at Jason. “Are you here about Amber’s wedding? You might as well just answer me, because otherwise I’ll… Hey! Get your hands off me!”

  Travis hadn’t actually touched the woman, but he was good enough at his job to maneuver the reporter back toward her motorcycle just from the sheer scale of his presence.

  Unfortunately, even without the pictures, the damage was already done. Just the fact that the blogger had spotted Jason at Married in Malibu would be enough to start rumors flying. There would soon be hosts of photographers trying to find proof that Amber was having her wedding there instead of at the château.

  If Jason were writing this, someone might just “disappear.” But this was real life…which meant Jason needed a better idea.

  In a flash, it came to him.

  He reached out and took Liz’s hand, pulled her in close and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Don’t worry about her, baby. Everything’s going to be fine.”

  Both Liz and the reporter looked confused for a moment, but the reporter recovered first. She got on her bike, then said, “You haven’t heard the last of me. I’m going to find out what’s going on here.” She shoved on her helmet, then sped off, but Jason held on to Liz’s hand as long as she would let him.

  For a moment, it felt as if Liz were enjoying being in his arms, but too soon, she pulled back from his grip and said, “What was that? What did you just do?” She didn’t give him a chance to answer before she turned to Travis. “And how did she get in? We’re supposed to be keeping the press out, no matter what.”

  “We will,” Travis replied. “We’re just not quite set up yet.”

  Jason could see that she was frustrated, even a little bit angry, but instead of blowing up at Travis, she simply said, “Please hurry.”

  “I’ll get right on it,” Travis assured her. He hurried inside, and it was strange to see such a big man moving so fast. Clearly, he understood just how delicate the situation could be.

  Lord knew Jason certainly understood it when Liz turned back to him. “You still haven’t told me why you grabbed my hand and why you… You kissed my forehead!”

  “It was for the reporter. To throw her off Amber’s scent.” It wasn’t the whole reason, of course, but after the way Liz had reacted to his suggestion that they try again, he was wise enough to guess that she didn’t want to deal with the whole reason just yet. “If enough people read her blog—especially if the right people read it—then they’ll know that Amber is having her wedding here.”

  Liz ran a hand through her hair and blew out a breath. “But I still don’t get why you thought you should hold my hand and kiss me.”

  Jason raised an eyebrow. “Was it really that bad?”

  Frustration rushed forth on her face again. “You know that’s not what I meant. It’s just… We haven’t held hands, or kissed, in ten years.”

  Jason had dreamed of her kisses for ten long years. But he knew that moving too fast couldn’t possibly be good. Fortunately, it looked like it could be the right time for another approach entirely.

  “The reason I held your hand and kissed you is because I needed to convince the reporter that I was here for myself, not Amber. You and I both know that the press doesn’t need real proof of anything—just hints and suggestions—to go running with it.”

  “Wait a minute. You want me to pretend that I’m dating you?”

  “Seems to me it’s the best way to deal with the security problem right now. Because if we don’t do anything, they’ll soon realize Amber is having her wedding here.”

  “Whereas if we give them the impression that we’re together…”

  “Then they’ll soon find out that we do have a history,” he finished for her. “And if you and I give them a show to watch—if we let them see us on romantic dates around town—then hopefully they’ll believe that everything going on here is just about you and me.”

  “We get followed by the paparazzi so that Amber doesn’t have to?” She frowned. “It actually does make sense, but we have a lot to take care of here, and that could get in the way of the wedding preparations.”

  But Jason was afraid of far worse than that. “Honestly, I’m not sure there will even be a wedding if the paparazzi get hold of the truth.” Amber had been so upset by the way things had been going in France, that another round of being stalked by photographers might be enough for her to break.

  “Okay,” Liz finally agreed, “but only if Rose and RJ also think it’s a good idea. I don’t want them to get angry that I’m doing the wrong thing for their new business.”

  “Well, there’s only one way to find out,” Jason said, and this time he took Liz’s hand simply because he wanted to, walking back with her in the direction of her office.

  A few minutes later, he sat on the far side of Liz’s desk while she called Rose, and listened to her explain what had happened with the reporter.

  “No,” Liz said. “It definitely wasn’t Travis’s fault. The reporter was just really good at getting into a place where she shouldn’t be. I don’t think things are ruined, however, because Jason and I have come up with a solution.”

  Liz detailed the plan to Rose in calm, simple bullet points: It was simply what they needed to do to keep the wedding a secret. It was the best way to divert attention and give everyone at Married in Malibu the best opportunity to put together the wedding of a lifetime. Fortunately, Rose agreed that it was the be
st course of action.

  After Liz hung up, she turned back to him. “Okay. So it looks like this is a go. What now?”

  “We need to start going out on romantic dates. They have to believe we’re very much in love and potentially planning our wedding at Married in Malibu. We also have to make sure that our dates take place in public places where lots of people can see us.” Although he would much prefer being alone with her, he knew spending time with him in public would likely feel more comfortable for Liz. At least for their first few dates.

  “I know you’re right. It’s just…” She sighed, but instead of saying more about the two of them, she refocused on the job they had to do. “What do you have in mind for our first ‘date’?” She put the word in air quotes as if to reinforce that it wasn’t actually real.

  He tried to hide how badly he wished it were as he said, “How about I make it a surprise?” He wanted some time to make sure that it would be the perfect first date after ten years of being apart.

  “A surprise?” Liz had always loved surprises, but then again, his bursting back into her life had already come as a big surprise, hadn’t it?

  “Trust me, Liz. Please, just trust me.” Though he knew it was too soon to ask her to do that, she simply nodded, then looked back at her long list while rubbing the back of her neck the way she used to when she was feeling stressed. “I know you have a lot to take care of, so I’ll let you go. I’ll give Amber a ring to fill her in on everything.”

  There were no reporters around this time when he walked out into the parking lot. For the entire drive home, he was consumed by thoughts of Liz. She had always been beautiful, intelligent, and captivating. But now, she was so much stronger and wiser. And every time they were together, she took his breath away.

  When he pulled up outside his house, the blogger was waiting.

  “I don’t know why you’re so intent on pestering me and Liz,” he said, keeping up the pretense that he’d started in the Married in Malibu parking lot. “But I would appreciate it if you’d leave the two of us alone.” With that, he went inside and called Amber.

  “Uncle Jason, is everything going okay?”

  “Actually, something has come up. A blogger appeared at the venue and when she saw me in the parking lot, she took some pictures and made some assumptions.”

  The horrified look on his niece’s face on his computer screen was enough to let him know that he’d done the right thing by pretending to be with Liz.

  “Oh no, she guessed that I’m getting married there, didn’t she?” Amber sounded like she was about to burst into tears.

  “Honey, it’s okay. I fixed it.”

  “Fixed it? How could you have fixed it?”

  Jason explained the situation, telling Amber about holding Liz’s hand and pretending to be a couple.

  “And Liz is okay with this?”

  “She is,” Jason assured her. “She truly does want to do whatever is necessary to make sure that you have the perfect wedding.”

  “That’s really nice of her,” Amber said. “But this isn’t just about that, is it? I know you, Uncle Jason. I can see how much you care about her. You don’t want this to just be fake dating, do you? You want this to be the real thing.”

  “Am I that obvious?”

  “Only to me.”

  “I think I still love her,” he told his niece, needing to say the words aloud to the person he was closest to. “That’s the simple truth of it. I saw her again, and I realized my feelings for her had never gone away.”

  “Oh, Uncle Jason. I can’t pretend I’m not worried about you, but I—” She sighed. “I can’t believe I’m going to say this, but if you feel half as much for Liz as I do for Robert, then I think I actually understand. And I hope things work out for the two of you this time, but…”

  “Don’t worry, honey. We won’t mess up your wedding.”

  “I know you would never do that. I really don’t want you to get hurt again.”

  “I’ll be careful,” he promised Amber, but even as he said it, he knew that was a promise he wouldn’t be able to keep. Because this wasn’t about being careful. It was about so much more than that.

  It was about love.

  Chapter Nine

  Only Jason could have persuaded Liz to go hiking on such a warm afternoon, especially when she had so much work to take care of back at the office. But as they made their way hand in hand to keep each other steady on the steep trail, she was so glad he had. Two waterfalls shimmered in the sunlight, and all around them the canyon was in bloom, the air perfumed with delicious fragrance.

  Even better than their gorgeous surroundings? Getting to spend time with Jason again.

  Neither of them had said much so far today, especially not when it was taking most of her lung power just to get up the mountain. But she loved being with Jason nonetheless, appreciated the way he noticed every bird, every flower, every brightly colored butterfly, and made sure she saw them, too.

  Below them, Liz could still see the photographers who had followed them to the hiking trail. A few hardy souls had hiked with them for a while, but as the going got rougher, they soon gave up, leaving Liz and Jason to make their way to the top of the falls alone.

  When they got to the top, Jason put his arm around her. It might have been just for the benefit of the photographers’ telephoto lenses, but she still felt warmed all over by his gentle strength.

  “Oh my,” she said as she looked at the way the hills formed a natural frame around the view and the ocean shimmered blue and serene in the distance. “It’s beautiful.”

  “I’ve always thought this is one of the most beautiful views in the world.”

  “Really?” she asked. “After all the places you’ve been?”

  His eyes were now on her instead of the view. “Yes, really. The most beautiful by far.”

  Liz knew that they were just there to put on a show. Even so, she couldn’t resist putting her arms around him and holding on for a few precious moments. “Thank you. This has been wonderful. Exactly the kind of heart-pumping break I needed.”

  “I’m enjoying it, too, Liz. A lot.”

  As she drew back to look into his eyes, she wished that they could stay like this forever. But they couldn’t. Not only because the others were waiting for them back at Married in Malibu to help with a hundred and one different things, but because she should know better than to walk down this road with Jason again…only to end up heartbroken once more.

  Slowly, she made herself move all the way out of his arms, then turned around and headed back down the hill toward the photographers.

  * * *

  “There are too many points where things aren’t connecting up,” Nate said, his legs tangled in wires in the alcove where he was working.

  “Are you sure you should be doing this?” Margaret asked. “Liz seemed pretty insistent that you should get all the IT stuff in place before you worked on any more handyman jobs.”

  “Hooking up these cables is part of getting the IT stuff in place,” Nate explained, then swore softly as he got a minor shock from one of the cables.

  Margaret wished Travis and Daniel were there, because they were a lot better at talking Nate out of doing things that could electrocute him. But Travis was talking to the security team of one of Amber’s guests, and Daniel was on the beach taking shots of the cove. Kate was elbow-deep in soil, of course, and Jenn was busy at a wholesaler’s setting up an order for the wedding. Liz had left Margaret in charge, but since she was usually the one following orders, not the other way around, she honestly didn’t have a clue how to redirect Nate.

  Fortunately, a few minutes later, Liz came back with Jason in tow. Margaret swore all it took was Liz’s confident, smiling presence for the room to seem instantly calmer.

  “Thanks for keeping an eye on things, Margaret. Nathan, get out of there before you electrocute yourself—we’ll get RJ to take care of that when he’s done on the other side of the building. Margaret, do you still
need Jason to run into town to collect Art Deco supplies for you?”

  “Yes, I have a list.”

  Things always seemed to go faster and better when Liz was around, but, at the same time, Margaret could see that there were good reasons why Liz needed to be away, too—and not just the ones that involved keeping the wedding a secret. It was easy to see just how much Jason cared for Liz.

  Actually, it was obvious that he loved her, but Margaret was just Liz’s employee, and she hadn’t been working for her that long, so she didn’t feel it was her place to say anything. But as she went back to her office to get the list for Jason, she couldn’t help but hope that everything would turn out okay—not only for Amber and Robert’s wedding, but for Liz and Jason, too.

  * * *

  The Getty Museum had one of the most beautiful art collections in the world. People came a long way to see not only the works hanging on the walls, but the stunning building itself.

  Today, as Liz and Jason walked through it, holding hands felt perfectly natural—not at all as though they were simply putting on a show for the photographers who had been outside snapping pictures of their every move.

  “They have really strict restrictions on photography in here, don’t they?”

  “Don’t worry,” Jason replied, squeezing her hand. “They’re wily. They know how to pretend it’s not for commercial use. I guarantee whatever pictures they take of us won’t have any artwork whatsoever in the shot.”

  It was amazing how quickly teasing the paparazzi had become a game. A fairly fun one, actually. And as they headed over to the museum’s restaurant, where they had reservations for dinner, she realized she was enjoying herself at least as much as she had on any date with Jason ten years ago. Maybe even more.

  “I like to come here sometimes for inspiration,” Jason told her. “For that feeling of being surrounded by the work of great artists. It reminds me that people have been doing creative work for as long as we’ve been on the planet and that, at one point, each of these brilliant works of art hadn’t even existed yet. It’s a really nice reminder that while there are always new ideas out there, the past is important, too.”