The Best Man Problem

by Mariah Ankenman

  “I know. I just like hearing you say it.”

  “Yeah, yeah.” She stood, extricating herself from the emotional display. “I’m going to take a shower and change into something more comfortable.”

  “Ooooh, is that what you said to Mr. Sexy last night?”

  Her face flamed. “Mo!”

  “Oh, calm down. I promise your walk on the wild side is safe with me. No one but me and your showerhead will ever know.”

  “Why do I live with you again?”

  “Because you love me and I let you take the last of the coffee,” Mo said as she finished pouring the pot into Lilly’s mug. “Now go take that shower. Remember, we share it, so maybe try not pleasuring yourself to the memories of last night’s sexcapades.”

  She was going to need a second job, since her rent would increase soon, due to the fact that she was going to kill her roommate.

  “Oh, stop staring daggers at me and go.” Mo blew her a kiss. “Have fun! I’ll just scrub the shower down later.”

  Shaking her head, she moved down the hall without argument, but only because a nice, steamy shower sounded like heaven right about now. She would most certainly not be thinking about Lincoln and his amazing hands, tongue, and—dammit! No. She had her fun, and now it was over. Time to get back on track.

  No pining over a hot one-night stand that could never go anywhere. She had a business to run, friends she loved, and maybe, if there were time, she would search out a suitable man who fit into her life. A compatible one. Someone she could depend on.

  That was key. Not sparks. After all, sparks started fires, and fires could destroy your entire world.

  Chapter Two

  “Hey, Lil.” Moira rose from her small desk in the corner of their office. “I’m going to head out to grab some lunch. You wanna come?”

  Lilly glanced up from the yellow folder she had open on her desk. “Can’t. Kenneth and Marie will be here in ten minutes.”

  “Oh right, the Buller-Lin wedding.” Mo’s nose wrinkled. “Did we have a meeting with them scheduled for today?”

  “No. Marie texted me this morning asking if they could come in for a quick minute.”

  The woman had sounded a bit harried but not as frantic as some brides tended to be. Lilly liked Marie and Kenneth. So much so that after the sweet couple insisted on her calling them by their first names at their initial meeting seven months ago, she’d complied. Normally she preferred to keep a strictly professional relationship. Especially after “the incident.” But the charming couple who owned and ran a small coffee shop in the Santa Fe arts district were so genuinely kind, she hadn’t been able to deny their request.

  “I hope nothing is wrong.”

  She did, too, but even if something terrible had occurred to derail their dream wedding, Mile High Happiness could handle it. Lilly wasn’t worried. In fact, she thrived on solving problems. Wedding-related problems. For other people.

  Her own problems? That was another story entirely.

  “I’m sure everything is fine. Marie didn’t sound too stressed.”

  “Good.” Mo stood, grabbing her patchwork tote and slipping it over her shoulder. “That poor woman deserves every bit of happiness life can throw her way.”

  When people came to them, in love, giddy about joining their life to their soul mate’s, they tended to share their life stories. Sometimes the job felt like being a part-time therapist. Lilly had heard hundreds of proposal stories over the years—it was the first question they generally asked a prospective couple. Some made her laugh, some made her smile, a few made her cringe, and almost all of them made her shed a happy tear or two. But Marie and Kenneth had been put through the ringer—involving Marie’s battle with a vicious cancer that almost took her from this world—and come out more in love than ever.

  They were a true love story and a joy to be around.

  “Do you need me to stay for the meeting?”

  She waved a hand, pushing her glasses up as they slipped down the bridge of her nose. “No, but bring me back a sub, will you?”

  “Ham and cheese, double the cheese?”

  “You know me so well.”

  Mo winked, blowing her a kiss as she left their office. Lilly turned back to the folder that contained all the details for Kenneth and Marie’s upcoming nuptials. They were down to the wire. A month away. The only items left were a few fittings, dance rehearsals, and the pre-wedding parties. Not much could go wrong now.

  Way to jinx yourself, Lilly.

  She took a settling breath, knowing she would do whatever she could to help her clients, as the door swung open again and Marie’s smiling face popped in.

  “Hey, Lilly.”

  “Marie.” Returning the infectious smile, she stood, motioning for the woman to enter. “Come on in. Where’s Kenneth?”

  Oh God, please don’t let this sweet, wonderful woman say they’d called it off. She swore if that man had done anything to hurt Marie, Lilly would use her prized Kate Spade heels to create some very painful new orifices in his body.

  “He’s parking the car with our best man. He didn’t want me slipping on the ice in the parking lot, so he let me out at the front door.”

  Of course Kenneth would look out for her. How could Lilly think differently? The man clearly cherished the ground Marie walked on. You could see it in the way he stared at the woman he loved. With pure, unfiltered adoration. Sometimes it hurt to see, because a small, ugly, jealous part of Lilly ached to have a man glance at her with even an ounce of the love Kenneth showed Marie. He would never put her in danger, not even inadvertently, by letting her take a risky walk on the ice. January in Colorado meant cold temperatures and wet snow, the perfect storm for black ice. Lilly had already almost eaten it three times this week on the slippery sidewalks of the city.

  “Can I get you some coffee or tea while we wait for them?”

  “No thanks.” The small woman with the closely cropped jet-black hair took a seat in one of the plush chairs facing Lilly’s desk. “Thank you for seeing us today on such short notice. We won’t keep you long, I promise. We just wanted to stop by and introduce you to our best man.”

  “Oh?” Lilly retook her seat as well.

  “Yeah, with the shop being so busy right now and us planning on taking a week off for our honeymoon, we’re trying like mad to train our weekend manager, Max, to handle any emergency that might arise during our absence, so our friend agreed to come out a month early and pitch in with any wedding stuff we needed in case we can’t make a meeting or something.”

  “Not a problem. We often deal with various members of the wedding party. If he has your approval, then Mile High Happiness is happy to work with him.”

  Better a best man than a momzilla. People often thought brides were the worst, but after eight years in the business, Lilly knew the real PITAs were the mothers.

  “Oh good, because he has carte blanche as far as we’re concerned. We’ve all been friends for years. He was my lab partner in college. In fact, that’s how Kenneth and I met. They were roommates, and one night we were studying in the dorm. Kenneth came in with pizza, and boom!”

  Lilly felt her lips curl up in a smile. “Love at first sight?”

  “Duh. The guy had pizza!” Marie laughed.

  Lilly joined in with a chuckle of her own. “Yes, I say any man who brings you food is one worth keeping.” Especially if that food came in a cheese variety.

  “Anyway, we were the three musketeers after that. Been best friends ever since.” A blush rose on the pale woman’s cheeks. “Well, more than friends for Kenneth and me, obviously.”

  Warmth filled Lilly’s chest. Yet another reason to love this couple. Marie’s story of college friendship lasting the years reminded her of her own college roommates, who were also her business partners. She, Mo, and Pru had all met freshman year, and though the thre
e women were very different, they formed a bond nothing could break. They were more than friends. They were sisters—sisters of the heart.

  “Well then, I cannot wait to meet him.”

  “They should be…” Marie turned in her seat to face the door. “Oh, here come Kenneth and Lincoln now.”

  Lincoln? A small sense of trepidation filled her belly, but she shrugged it off. No. It couldn’t be. Lincoln was a pretty common name, wasn’t it? She was simply projecting because last weekend had been so amazing.

  Lilly glanced up, the smile on her face faltering, the warmth in her chest freezing into an icy cold block of panic, because as Kenneth walked through the door, heading straight for his fiancée, the man behind him came into startling, horrifying focus.

  Dark brown hair, pale hazel eyes, more than a hint of dark scruff along his sharp jaw, and sinfully full lips. Lips she vividly remembered caressing every inch of her body just last weekend…

  Oh shit!

  Lincoln No-last-name. Her one and only one-night stand.

  Why couldn’t it have been a momzilla?

  …

  Lincoln Reid stopped short two feet into the office of his best friends’ wedding planner. Well I’ll be damned. If it wasn’t the woman who’d blown his mind—along with other parts of his anatomy—and then blown out of his life before he could grab her number. Lilly No-last-name. What were the odds? He had a math minor; he should know. Whatever the odds were, he didn’t care. He was just happy to see her again. When he’d woken up satisfied but alone in his hotel room a week ago, a keen sense of loss had poured through him.

  Sure, they hadn’t made any promises or even exchanged personal details, but he’d been hoping Lilly would want to repeat their amazing night together. He knew he sure did.

  “Lilly Walsh, this is our friend and best man, Lincoln Reid.” Marie stood, cuddling up to Kenneth’s side as she made the introduction.

  Lincoln opened his mouth to inform his friends he was already acquainted with their wedding planner—intimately, but they didn’t need to know that much—when he noticed the infinitesimal shake of Lilly’s head and the pure panic in her bright green eyes. So she recognized him as well but didn’t want Marie or Kenneth to know.

  Ouch.

  Couldn’t say that didn’t sting, but he wasn’t the type to ignore a lady’s wishes. Even if they weren’t spoken—more like screamed at him with her eyes.

  He quickly changed course, smiling as if he’d never met the woman before in his life. Hadn’t seen every beautiful, perfect inch of her naked body. Didn’t know the sweet moans she made when reaching completion.

  “Hi, Lilly. Nice to meet you.”

  “Lovely to meet you too, Mr. Reid.”

  Ooooh, Mr. Reid. He liked the sound of that. Maybe he could convince her to say it again when they were naked and— Whoa! He needed to put thoughts like that on the back burner or he was going to test the strength of the zipper on these jeans. Besides, it seemed Ms. Walsh didn’t want anyone to know of their liaison. Why would he assume she’d be open to another round?

  “We just wanted you two to meet in case—” Marie was interrupted by the loud peal of “Cake by the Ocean.” His friend sighed, pulling her phone from her purse and grimacing at Kenneth. “It’s Max. Sorry,” she addressed Lilly. “We have to take this, but it won’t be more than a few minutes.”

  His friends hurried out of the office, leaving him and Lilly alone.

  Perfect.

  He smiled at the woman who had taken her seat and was suddenly extremely absorbed in whatever paperwork was contained in the file on her desk. He took a seat in the plush high-back chair in front of her.

  “So, Lilly,” he began, not deterred in the slightest when she refused to look up. “Was I that bad?”

  Now she glanced up, a confused expression filling her green eyes. “Huh?”

  He shrugged. “I must have been a pretty shitty lover for you to run out on me before the sun rose, no goodbye kiss, no note, not even a complimentary coffee.”

  Her eyes narrowed behind black, thick-rimmed cat-eye glasses. She hadn’t been wearing glasses the night they met. Though she had been wearing a fancy dress, the kind one might wear for a wedding. Perhaps she’d worn contacts for the festive occasion. She looked great either way, but he liked the glasses. It brought attention to her amazing gem-like eyes. And paired with the bright white button-up blouse and dark pencil skirt she wore, it gave her the look of a woman in power. A sexy woman in power.

  He always did enjoy strong women.

  “The sun was up when I left, I assure you. I can’t help it if you laze about all day. And the hotel gives every guest complimentary coffee.”

  “What about the note?”

  Some of her pique dissipated, pearly white teeth biting down on her plump, siren-red bottom lip in a seriously sexy move he knew was in no way intended to be one. A small amount of guilt filled her gaze.

  “I am sorry for not saying goodbye, but honestly”—she took a deep breath, letting it out before continuing—“that was my first one-night stand, and I wasn’t sure of the rules.”

  He leaned forward, placing an arm on her desk. “Can I confess a secret? It was mine, too.”

  She raised one dark brow as if she didn’t believe him. Let her think what she wanted. He hadn’t had sex with a woman in over two years before Lilly. Probably one of the reasons why her disappearing act hit him so hard that morning.

  “Hmm, well, I am sorry if I hurt your feelings in any way.”

  Hurt his feelings was a bit much. Wounded his pride? Sure, but she couldn’t hurt his feelings. No woman could do that anymore. Lincoln had made sure of it.

  “You’re forgiven.” He leaned back in the chair again. “How about you make it up to me by letting me take you out to dinner tomorrow night?”

  Her face got that panicked look again. Damn, he did not like seeing it there.

  “Oh, no, I can’t… I, um, I don’t engage in relationships with clients.”

  Solid rule, considering her clients were couples about to plunge into wedded bliss, but…

  “I never said anything about a relationship.” He’d been there, done that, got the broken heart and divorce papers to prove it. Not doing that shit again. “It’s just dinner. And I’m not your client.” Marie and Kenneth were.

  “Yes, but you’re a part of the wedding party, and we have a strict rule at Mile High Happiness not to fraternize with any member of an active wedding party.”

  Did that mean they could fraternize all they wanted once Marie and Kenneth said “I Do”?

  He chose to save that question for later because he figured he knew the answer she would give right now, and it wasn’t the one he wanted to hear. He was saved from asking anything further when the office door swung open to reveal his friends.

  “Sorry about that.” Marie laughed, holding up her phone. “Max is a great manager, but I think he’s stressing out about us being gone for a week. He’s on a trial run by himself this morning and freaking at every little thing that goes wrong.”

  “I understand.” Lilly smiled at his friends.

  “Did you guys get to know each other?”

  Lincoln barked out a laugh, quickly morphing the sound into a cough at the death glare from Lilly. “Um, yeah. Little bit.”

  “Great!”

  “We should really be getting back to the shop, sweetheart.” Kenneth wrapped an arm around Marie’s waist, nuzzling her ear with his lips.

  He loved his friends, but sometimes their happiness felt like a dagger being plunged straight into his heart. What happened with him and Jessa wasn’t their fault. But he’d learned his lesson. Falling in love and giving someone that kind of power wasn’t something he wanted.

  His gaze traveled back to the woman sitting across from him, his mind conjuring up memories of her smooth skin,
flush and glistening with sweat as she rode him hard, dark hair loose and flying down her back like a shadowy waterfall.

  Lust. Now that was something he trusted. And Lilly might be able to deny a lot of things about them, but he’d bet every penny he had that, before this wedding was over, the sensual woman wouldn’t be able to deny that together, they were explosive.

  Chapter Three

  Somehow, Lilly managed to last another ten minutes in Lincoln, Marie, and Kenneth’s presence until the trio said their goodbyes, mentioning something about seeing her at the final tux fitting in a few days. Honestly, she could barely hear past the booming voice in her head.

  You slept with the best man!

  Again!

  How stupid could one woman be?

  That wasn’t entirely fair. Technically she hadn’t known Lincoln was the best man for Marie and Kenneth’s wedding. How could she have known he’d be acquainted with her current wedding clients? It’s not like she walked around with a questionnaire for prospective one-night stands. She never had one-night stands in the first place.

  She’d never been so glad for a slow season. Since it was January, they were done with all the holiday-themed weddings, and things wouldn’t really pick back up until spring, so the only wedding she had to focus on at the moment was this one. No way could she handle another. Not when she slept with the best man…again.

  The line kept repeating in her head, an annoying earworm she couldn’t shake. The polite smile seemed frozen to her face, hurting her cheeks with the forced, contented expression she couldn’t for the life of her drop. They were gone now. She could unclench, relax, even freak out if she wanted to. Then why was she still standing behind her desk, placid grin stretching her lips, internal screaming going full blast?

  “Hey.” Mo pushed her way through the office door, glancing into the plastic bag in her hands. “They didn’t have any salt and vinegar chips left, so I got you BBQ. I hope that’s—”