Catch Him If You Can

by Jennifer Shirk

  “Well, maybe I’ll surprise you.”

  “Well, then maybe I’ll consider calling you back. And maybe in between all these silly phone calls we’ll actually have a minute or two to get some work done.”

  He grinned. Something about sparring with Arden always lifted his mood, and now more than ever he wanted to see her again for more than the reasons he’d mentioned. “So, you’ll stop by today and play the devoted fiancée?”

  She hesitated, then let out a heavy breath. “Yes, I’ll stop by. The devoted fiancée will even bring lunch.”

  “Have I mentioned that I love being fake engaged to you? What are you bringing?”

  She chuckled. “Oh, you’ll see. It’ll be a surprise.”

  “Why am I not surprised at that?” he said with a laugh. Knowing Arden, he wouldn’t even try to figure out what she had in mind. She liked to keep him on his toes, and he liked that she liked doing that. And as Wade hung up and made his way down the hallway to check on his next patient, he found himself still smiling.

  Wade finished up with his last patient of the morning, a cat named Sadie, whose owners were still trying to wrestle her back into the carrier. The cat was a handful and still meowing its own version of feline profanity as he slipped out of the exam room.

  He washed his hands, then walked up to the reception desk. “Arden here yet?” he asked, scanning the area.

  Jane raised an eyebrow. “Not yet. But considering this is the fourth time you asked, I’ll be sure to signal the flares at the first sighting.”

  “You’re a riot,” he said with a straight face.

  “And you’ve been very covert. You and Arden seem perfect for each other. I don’t know why you’ve kept your relationship a secret for this long.”

  “To avoid conversations like this.”

  Becky came up behind him and placed the cat’s file in front of him. “Leave him alone, Jane. Wade can’t help himself. I’m sure he wanted Arden all to himself. He’s in looove.” The two women shared a giggle.

  Love? Wade wanted to straighten the two women out and tell them emphatically that he was not in love with Arden—or with anyone for that matter. But that would defeat the purpose of their fake-engagement charade. Besides, what did it matter anyway? Let them believe what they wanted. He knew deep down that he was simply anxious to see Arden because she was his friend. And she was bringing him lunch.

  See? He was hungry. Nothing more to read into than that.

  The door to the clinic flew open and Arden stumbled in, a large backpack hung over her shoulder. She was carrying a pizza box. Wade rushed over and took the box out of her hands.

  “Thanks,” she said, smiling up at him. She gestured to her backpack. “I have sodas and iced tea in here for us, too.”

  She shimmied out of her coat and unwrapped her scarf. His gaze collided with hers and he felt something like an electric jolt. She looked extra attractive today, wearing a black turtleneck sweater that seemed to hug her in all the right places, the color a dramatic contrast to her honey-blond hair.

  Remembering he had an audience, Wade leaned in and kissed Arden on the mouth. She blinked as if startled, and he had the satisfaction of seeing her pretty face blush. It made him want to kiss her again.

  Arden looked at Jane and Becky and gave a slight wave. “Hi, guys.”

  Becky smirked knowingly. “Hi, yourself. Nice to see you, Arden. Wade’s been waiting for you like a little boy anxious for Christmas morning to arrive.”

  Arden glanced up at Wade with her eyebrows raised. “Really? How sweet.”

  Wade glowered at his coworkers. “Clearly, they’re exaggerating,” he said, ushering Arden toward his office. He had originally invited Arden over for show, but now that she was here, all he wanted was to keep her to himself, away from prying eyes.

  “We’re not exaggerating,” Jane called after them.

  Wade slammed his office door on his employees’ chuckles. “Don’t mind them,” he said, placing the pizza box onto his desk. “Me having a woman come to the clinic seems to be their catnip.”

  “I know what you mean,” Arden said with a laugh. “My office is no better than yours. It’s amazing how many people’s lives depend on interfering with ours.”

  Roxy sprang up from her bed, tail wagging, and walked to Arden to greet her. Arden hunched down to give his dog a hug and run her fingers through her shaggy fur. “Who’s the best girl ever?” she cooed.

  Roxy sat in response and barked once.

  “Wow, did you train her to do that?” Arden asked, standing.

  Wade smirked. “Don’t be too impressed. She’s on her best behavior right now because she smells food.”

  He positioned the pizza box so he could work through the taped closure. The aroma of the cheese and baked bread made his mouth water. “So, I guess your big surprise lunch is pizza, huh?”

  “You could say that,” she said with a wicked grin.

  He opened the box and was greeted with a vision so foul, he swore under his breath. “Seriously? Pineapple and ham?”

  “Surprise!” She chuckled. “And don’t go and make that face at me. You said you would try this topping and I’m holding you to it.”

  He looked down at the perfectly good but now ruined pizza and shook his head. “But it’s so…so un-American.”

  “Actually, they call it Hawaiian style, but you’re right. I think it was first created in Canada.”

  “Figures.”

  “Oh, stop being such a baby and try a slice.”

  Wade reluctantly picked up a slice and took a bite. Surprisingly enough, the sweet and salty combo wasn’t half bad. He swallowed and took another bite to be sure.

  “You like it, don’t you?” Arden said, picking up a slice for herself and sitting down. “I knew you would. You just have to be willing to step out of your comfort zone every once in a while. Lucky for you, I’m just the woman to help you do that. Wait until you taste my penne pasta with anchovy sauce.”

  As Arden chewed, she looked pretty pleased with herself. Arden and Kinsley did seem to be regular foodies. Probably one of the reasons they’d been friends for so long. Funny how Miranda hadn’t quite shared that quality. She was an extremely picky eater, eating more for health than for taste, as she used to put it. As a result, going out to restaurants wasn’t something she and Wade did all that often. Not that his wife’s healthy eating habits translated to fantastic health for Miranda. Looking back now, Wade wished she had enjoyed herself more and had eaten a cheeseburger or a slice of pizza once in a while. He liked the fact that Arden didn’t look at food as merely fuel for the body but as something to socially share and have fun with.

  He took the bottle of iced tea Arden held out for him. “I have to admit. This topping might be a new favorite even though it’s not Doctor Who approved.”

  “Oh, no, you’re wrong about that. The Doctor doesn’t like pears, not pineapple. He says pears are ‘too squishy and they always make your chin wet.’”

  Wade’s mouth dropped open. “You do watch the show!”

  “Oops.” She laughed, her face turning bright pink. “Yes, you got me. I do watch the show, ever since you mentioned it to me and Kinsley a few months ago.”

  “I’m touched. It’s nice to see you’re humble enough to take such wise advice from your elders.”

  She rolled her eyes. “I’m sure it was only because you were always blubbering on and on about it. I had to check it out for myself and well, I accidentally got hooked.”

  Wade smothered a smile. It was so like Arden not to want to admit he’d been right. “You should have told me earlier. We could have been having TV dates.”

  “Really? Getting together with Damon and Kinsley for movie night twice a month isn’t enough for you?” she said with a light laugh.

  “What?” He shrugged. “I like you.”

  “Gee, it’s nice to hear you finally admit that. It’s only taken, what, like twelve years.”

  “I’ve always liked you, Arde
n.”

  Beneath the superficial teasing and the jabs they’d given each other throughout the years, he had always admired Arden’s dedication to running on the cross-country team back in high school, her snarky sense of humor, her passion and hard work for her wedding planning business and making brides’ dreams possible, and he always loved her loyalty to his sister.

  Arden frowned at the pizza in her hand. “It was kind of hard to tell back then. You were always with Miranda.”

  “Yeah, she had an active social life, which meant I had an active social life.”

  “Well, that’s because everybody liked Miranda,” Arden said, placing her pizza slice on the box lid. “That’s for sure. She was a really nice person.” She bit her lip, hesitating. “It’s hard to take when bad things happen to good people like that.”

  He swallowed, his throat suddenly feeling tight. “She handled it well. The sickness.” He didn’t want to go into the treatments she’d endured after diagnosis, the nausea, the hair loss, the multiple surgeries. She remained as positive as possible throughout it all. Then after the agonizing months of doctor visits, hand-holding, and praying, it had finally come to an end.

  And in essence, so had his own life.

  She died, and there was nothing more to do—except pick up the pieces. But when he had finally cajoled enough energy to put his life back together, it had been in a way that was different from before. He held a part of himself back. Not the way his life had been before Miranda, and certainly not the way his sister or anyone else in this town thought his life should be. But they hadn’t experienced what he had, first with Miranda and then not long after with his dad. He did what was necessary to protect himself after that.

  Arden placed a hand on his arm, yanking his gaze back to hers. “Is that why you don’t want to date anyone?” she asked gently. “You still miss her?”

  Her frankness surprised him. Although it shouldn’t have. Nothing should surprise him about Arden. She was in a different class by herself. Most people swerved away from in-depth conversations about his late wife, but Arden not only acknowledged the elephant in the room, but she invited it to tea as well. A trait they shared.

  “I’ll always miss Miranda, but it’s not that I haven’t dated. She’s only been gone four years, but I’ve dated. I’m just not ready to jump into any serious relationship.” Or willing. His sex life was decent. His romantic life was nonexistent. On purpose. No need to get entangled with anyone. Less complication and heartache that way.

  Obviously he had issues over losing people he cared about. He could admit that much now. It was easier to not get involved and be the one to walk away first.

  “Besides,” he said, “I’m already committed to one girl: Roxy. I have her for company.” He took a piece of crust and gave it to his dog, then smiled into Arden’s concerned eyes. “And now I have you.”

  “Yeah…now you have me,” she murmured. She was quiet a moment, then brushed the crumbs from her hands and cleared her throat. “So why did you want me to come down here again? You mentioned something about a new board member?”

  “Oh, right. A week or so ago, I had a client come in with her dog. Judy Tavish sent her as a potential date for me. I turned down her dinner offer. She’s now on the board of the Happy Paws and I don’t think she’s convinced that we’re really engaged.”

  “Well, that’s because we’re not engaged,” she said with a wink.

  “You know what I mean. I think if she finds out I lied to her, she could cause problems for the shelter. It’s already on shaky ground with the board.”

  “Is the shelter in some kind of financial trouble?”

  Wade shrugged. “Donations have been down this year, for one thing. And I don’t think any of the current board members have any new ideas for fundraising. Apparently, there’s been talk about merging with a shelter in the next county and closing it down.”

  “Oh, I’m sorry, Wade. I know how much the shelter means to you.”

  “It does. But more so, it had meant a lot to Miranda. I’d hate to see it close down for her sake. She’d put a lot of work into saving it back when we were in college. There’s even a plaque with her name on it in the cat room.”

  “Well, since Kinsley’s wedding is practically on cruise control now and I’m only dealing with Milena’s and Elena’s wedding at the moment, I could help you organize a fundraising event. If you want, I could even check with Kinsley and see if there are any banquet room openings at the Harbor Light. Maybe we can schedule something around the Valentine’s Day holiday. A ball… Only, we can call it a ‘Fur-Ball’ or something catchy like that. Kinsley and I would handle the party planning and I’m sure we could keep it at minimal cost. You and the board would just have to handle selling the tickets and getting the word out.”

  Wade sat up, feeling a renewed hope in helping the shelter. “Wow, that sounds awesome. You’d help me to do all that?”

  “Well, of course,” she said with a mocking flick of her wrist. “What are fake fiancée event planners for?”

  He let the silence stretch. Arden was trying to make light of her offer to help, but he knew deep down that even if they weren’t helping each other with pretending to be engaged, she still would have done whatever she could to help the shelter if he’d asked. He couldn’t express properly how much that meant to him. She would be as loyal to him as she would to his sister. He’d forgotten how nice it felt to be able to depend on another person. Not one to normally ask for help, he was used to shouldering responsibilities himself, especially after his father passed away two years ago.

  “Thanks, Arden. I don’t know what else to say.”

  She smiled. “There isn’t anything else to say.” She broke eye contact and glanced at her phone. “Speaking of party planning, I need to take off. I’m meeting with a new baker in Ventnor.”

  She rose to her feet and Wade got to his, disappointed she couldn’t stay a little longer. Once they reached the door, he pulled it open for her. Becky happened to be walking past the open doorway and winked at them.

  “Thanks for lunch,” he said. He automatically wrapped his arms around Arden and pulled her in close. He took the opportunity to breathe in her fresh floral scent that lately seemed to make his head spin and held on an extra moment before letting her go.

  “Anytime.” She smiled up at him.

  His gaze dropped to her mouth. About to kiss her goodbye, Arden placed a firm hand on his chest, stopping him. “It’s okay, nobody is watching now,” she whispered.

  “What?”

  “I just saw Becky go into the exam room. The coast is clear,” she said, backing out of his embrace. “I’ll call Kinsley later this afternoon and let you know the dates available in February.”

  His mind went blank. “What dates?”

  “Oh my gosh, Wade, we just talked about this.” She laughed. “The dates for the shelter fundraiser. Once I find out, I’ll email you a proposal that you can take to the board.”

  “Oh right. Thank you. Again.”

  She flashed him a pretty grin. “No problem. See ya later.”

  He watched Arden go, feeling hazy and just a bit unsteady as if his world suddenly decided to operate on one giant slant. He hadn’t really thought about what he was doing at the time, but he hadn’t pulled her into his arms just then because he thought his coworkers were watching them. He’d pulled her into his arms because he’d wanted to. It felt as natural as anything else he’d normally do. So natural that his body had simply acted on its own accord. He had wanted to kiss her. Remembering the way she felt against his chest triggered other things he wanted to do with her as well.

  He blew out a hard breath and went back into his office.

  The truth was she made him feel things he didn’t want to feel. Hadn’t felt in a very long time.

  This wasn’t good. He couldn’t let himself grow attached to Arden like that. He wouldn’t allow himself to grow attached. There’d be no point to it. He wasn’t committing to anyone eve
r again. He’d already come to the realization years ago that he had nothing left to offer any woman. Not that Arden was looking for anything more than a fake fiancé for a few months and to get her business back up and running like it once had been. So, as long as he kept himself under control, he had nothing to worry about.

  Now that he knew the issue, he would tread more carefully around her. Make sure the time they spent together was more in public than in private. And only when necessary. Which meant no more dinner dates alone at her condo. And he would only touch her if he was absolutely sure people were watching. Yeah, it made good sense. He could handle that. With everything settled in his mind, he shoved his hands through his hair and turned back to clean up the leftover pizza.

  And wondered why he was suddenly feeling so depressed.

  Chapter Nine

  Sometimes it was hard for Arden to decide who went through more stress: the wedding planner or the bride. In this particular case, she was winning. It was extra stressful for her, since the bride happened to be her dear friend.

  Kinsley had finally found her dream gown—after many months of searching—but was concerned the dress wouldn’t be available in time for her wedding in March. As a result, Arden had been on hold with the dress designer in Los Angeles for what seemed like more time than what was needed to create the earth.

  “I just checked with Eva,” the woman finally answered. “She said she’s not happy about the rush, but she’ll have the gown ready and shipped by next week.”

  Arden let out a quiet breath. Thank goodness. Still time for alterations, if needed. “Thank you so much. Please tell Eva how much I appreciate this.”

  “Well, Eva only would do this for loyal clients like yourself. We appreciate your referral business. You have a good day, Ms. Pearson.” And with a soft click the call ended.

  Arden placed the phone down and proceeded to check one more thing off her to-do list. Kinsley would be thrilled when she found out. After dress shopping with Milena last week, Arden remembered how important it was to have that “wow factor” when the groom first saw his bride. She thought of the look Wade had given her when he’d seen her in that wedding dress and couldn’t help wondering if it had been just good acting on his part or maybe something more.