A White Wedding Christmas

by Andrea Laurence

  She was officially on the other side now. She’d passed the curtain where only brides went. It made her stomach ache.

  “I’ve pulled these three dresses to start with. I think you’re pretty close to the sample size, so this should be a decent fit. Which would you like to try first?”

  Natalie looked over the gowns with apprehension. She needed to think like Lily. Everything else about the wedding had turned out to be Natalie’s choice, but when it came to dresses, it seemed wrong to pick something she liked. “It doesn’t matter,” she said. “I’m going to let her brother choose.”

  “Then let’s start with the ruched satin gown.”

  Natalie slipped out of her blouse and pencil skirt and let Ruby slip the gown over her head. She was fully aware how heavy bridal gowns could be, but for some reason, it seemed so much heavier on than she had expected it to.

  She held the gown in place as Ruby tightened the corset laces in the back. Looking in the mirror, she admired the fit of the gown. The corset gave her a curvy, seductive shape she hadn’t expected. She never felt much like a sex kitten. Her shape had always been a little lanky and boyish in her opinion, but the gown changed that. The decorative crystals that lined the sweetheart neckline drew the eyes to her enhanced cleavage.

  “Do you like the snowflake?”

  Natalie narrowed her gaze at her reflection and noticed the crystal design at her hip that looked very much like a snowflake. Perfect for the theme. “It’s nice. It’s got a good shape and the crystals give it a little shine without being overpowering.”

  “Let’s go show him.”

  There was more apprehension as Natalie left the dressing room. This wasn’t about her, but she wanted to look the best she could when she stepped onto the riser to show him the gown. She focused on her posture and grace as she glided out into the salon.

  Her gaze met his the minute she cleared the curtain. His golden hazel eyes raked up and down the length of the gown with the same heat of appreciation she’d seen that night at the engagement party. Natalie felt a flush of heat rise to her cheeks as she stepped onto the pedestal for his inspection.

  “It’s beautiful,” he said. “It’s very elegant and you look amazing in it. But I have to say that it’s not right for Lily at all.”

  Natalie sighed and looked down. He was right. “Ruby, do we have one that’s a little more whimsical and fun?”

  Ruby nodded and helped her down. “I have a few that might work. How fun are we talking?” she asked as they stepped back into the dressing room. “Crazy tulle skirt? Blush-or pink-colored gowns?”

  “If she was here, probably all that and more. But she should’ve shown up herself if she had that strong of an opinion. Let’s go for something a little more whimsical, but still classically bridal.”

  The minute Ruby held up the gown, Natalie knew this dress was the one. It was like something out of a winter fantasy—the gown of the snow queen. It was a fitted, mermaid style with a sweetheart neckline and sheer, full-length sleeves. All across the gown and along the sleeves were delicate white-and-silver-stitched floral designs that looked almost like glittering snowflakes dancing across her skin.

  She held her breath as she slipped into the gown and got laced up. Ruby fastened a few buttons at her shoulders and then it was done. It was the most beautiful dress she’d ever seen, and she’d seen hundreds of brides come through the chapel over the years.

  “This gown has a matching veil with the same lace trim along the edges. Do you want to go out there with it on?”

  “Yes,” she said immediately. Natalie wanted to see the dress with the veil. She knew it would make all the difference.

  Ruby swiftly pinned her hair up and set the veil’s comb in. The veil flowed all the way to floor, longer than even the gown’s chapel-length train.

  It was perfect. Everything she’d ever wanted.

  Natalie swallowed hard. Everything she’d ever wanted for Lily, she corrected herself. Planning a wedding in the bride’s place was messing with her head.

  She headed back out to the salon. This time, she avoided Colin’s gaze, focusing on lifting the hem of the skirt to step up on the pedestal. She glanced at herself for only a moment in the three-sided mirror, but even that was enough for the prickle of tears to form in her eyes.

  Quickly, she jerked away, turning to face Colin. She covered her tears by fidgeting with her gown and veil.

  “What do you think of this one?” Ruby asked.

  The long silence forced Natalie to finally meet Colin’s gaze. Did he hate it?

  Immediately, she knew that was not the case. He was just stunned speechless.

  “Colin?”

  “Wow,” he finally managed. He stood up from the velour settee and walked closer.

  Natalie felt her chest grow tighter with every step. He wasn’t looking at the gown. Not really. He was looking at her. The intensity of his gaze made her insides turn molten. Her knees started trembling and she was thankful for the full skirt that covered them.

  Just when she thought she couldn’t bear his gaze any longer, his eyes dropped down to look over the details of the dress. “This is the one. No question.”

  Natalie took a breath and looked down to examine the dress. “Do you think Lily will like it?”

  Colin hesitated a moment, swallowing hard before he spoke. “I do. It will look beautiful on her. I don’t think we could find a dress better suited to the theme you’ve put together.” He took a step back and nodded again from a distance. “Let’s get this one.”

  “Wonderful!” Ruby exclaimed. “This one really is lovely.”

  The older woman went to the counter to write up the slip, completely oblivious to the energy in the room that hummed between Natalie and Colin. Natalie wasn’t quite sure how she didn’t notice it. It made it hard for Natalie to breathe. It made the dress feel hot and itchy against her skin even though it was the softest, most delicate fabric ever made.

  Colin slipped back down onto the couch with a deep sigh. When he looked up at her again, Natalie knew she wasn’t mistaken about any of this. He wanted her. And she wanted him. It was a bad idea, they both knew it, but they couldn’t fight it much longer.

  She also wanted out of this dress. Right now. Playing bride was a confusing and scary experience. Before Colin or Ruby could say another word, she pulled the veil from her head, leaped down from the pedestal and disappeared behind the curtains into the dressing room as fast as she could.

  Six

  “I’d like to take you to dinner,” Colin said as they walked out of the shop with the gown bagged over his arm. “I’m serious this time. You really bailed me out on this whole dress thing.”

  It was a lame excuse. It sounded lame to his own ears, but he couldn’t do anything about it. There was no way he could look at Natalie, to see her in that dress looking like the most beautiful creature he’d ever set his eyes on, and then let her just get in her car and go home. It no longer mattered if they were incompatible or had no future. The taste of her already lingered on his lips, the heat of her hummed through his veins. He wanted her. End of story.

  Natalie stopped and swung her purse strap up onto her shoulder. “Dinner? Not a date?”

  This again. You’d think after their kiss, and after the intense moment they’d just shared in the salon, that she wouldn’t be so picky about the details. “No, it’s not a date, it’s a thank-you. I believe that I have yet to meet your stringent qualifications for a date.”

  Natalie’s lips curled into a smile of amusement. He expected her to make an excuse and go home, but instead she nodded. “Dinner sounds great.”

  Colin opened the door of his truck and hung the gown bag up inside. “How about the Italian place on the corner?”

  “That’s perfect.”

  He closed up the truck a
nd they walked down the sidewalk together to the restaurant. Colin had eaten at Moretti’s a couple of times and it had always been good. It was rustic Italian cuisine, with a Tuscan feel inside. The walls were a rusty brown with exposed brick, worn wood shelves and tables, warm gold lighting and an entire wall on the far end that was covered in hundreds of wine bottles. It wasn’t the fanciest place, but it was a good restaurant for a casual dinner date, or a thank-you dinner as the case was here.

  It was a pretty popular place to eat in this area. Typically, Moretti’s was super busy, but coming later on a Monday night the restaurant was pretty quiet. There were about a dozen tables with customers when they arrived and no waiting list.

  The hostess immediately escorted them to a booth for two near the roaring fireplace. Nashville didn’t get very cold in the winter, but with the icy December wind, it was cold enough that the fire would feel amazing after their walk down the street. Colin helped Natalie out of her coat, hanging it on one of the brass hooks mounted to the side of the booth.

  The waiter arrived just as they’d settled into their seats, bringing water and warm bread with olive oil. He offered them the daily menus and left them alone to make their choices. After a bit of deliberation, Natalie chose the angel-hair primavera and Colin, the chicken parmesan. They selected a bottle of cabernet to share and the waiter returned with that immediately.

  The first sip immediately warmed Colin’s belly and cheeks, reminding him to go slow until he ate some bread. He’d had a quick sandwich around eleven, but he was starving now and wine on an empty stomach might make him say or do something he’d regret, like kissing Natalie again. Or maybe he’d do something he wouldn’t regret, but shouldn’t do. At the moment, Lily’s suggestion that he indulge himself in something casual with Natalie was sounding pretty good. He took a bite of bread as a precaution.

  “Well, this is certainly not how I envisioned this evening going,” Natalie noted as she tore her own chunk of bread from the loaf.

  “It’s not bad, is it?”

  “No,” she admitted. “But when I woke up this morning, I didn’t figure I’d be trying on wedding dresses and having dinner with you.”

  It hadn’t been on his radar either, but he was happy with the turn of events. There was something about spending an evening with Natalie that relaxed him after a stressful day. “Did you have plans for tonight that I ruined?”

  “Not real plans. I’d anticipated a frozen dinner and a couple chapters of a new book I downloaded.”

  “I was going to grab takeout and catch up on my DVR. We’re an exciting pair. Are you off tomorrow?”

  Natalie shrugged, confusing him with her response to a simple question. “Technically,” she clarified. “The chapel is closed on Tuesday and Wednesday, but I usually go in.”

  “That means you don’t get any days off.”

  “I don’t usually work a full day. And I only work half of Sunday to clean up.”

  Colin shook his head. “You sound as bad as I used to be when I took over Dad’s business. I worked eighteen-hour days, seven days a week trying to keep afloat. Is that why you put in so many hours? How’s the wedding business?”

  If the bill he’d received for the upcoming wedding was any indication, they were doing very well. He’d told her money was no object and she’d believed him. It was well worth it for Lily, but he’d been surprised to see so many digits on the invoice.

  “Business is great. That’s why it’s so hard not to come in. There’s always something to do.”

  “Can’t you hire someone to watch the place and answer the phones while you all take time off? Like a receptionist?”

  Natalie bit her lip and took a large sip of wine as though she were delaying her response. “I guess we could. Anyways, I’m the only one without a backup, but I’m the only one of us without a life. It’s kind of hard to swap out the wedding planner, though. I’m the one with the whole vision of the day and know all the pieces that have to fall into place just perfectly.”

  “Getting a receptionist isn’t the same as getting a backup planner. It just frees you up so you’re not answering the phones and filing paperwork all the time. You should look into it. Of course, that would require you not to be such a control freak.”

  Natalie perked up in her seat. “I am not a control freak.”

  At that, Colin laughed. “Oh, come on now. Your office is immaculate. You’re always stomping around with that headset on, handling every emergency. I’m beginning to think you run a one-stop wedding company because you won’t let anyone else do any of it.”

  She opened her mouth to argue, then stopped. “Maybe I should look into a receptionist,” she admitted.

  “If you had one, you could spend the next two days with me instead of sitting alone in that lonely office of yours.”

  Natalie’s eyebrow raised in question. “Spend the next two days with you doing what?”

  “Working on the house. Helping me decorate. What we discussed last week. I’ve turned over the reins of the company to my second-in-command to manage our remaining projects through the end of the year so I can focus on what I need to do before the holidays.”

  “Oh.”

  That wasn’t the enthusiastic response he was hoping for. “Oh, huh? I guess I should sweeten the deal, then. Spending time with me to help your childhood best friend isn’t enough incentive.”

  “Quit it,” Natalie chided. “I told you I’d help you with the house. Since I work on weekends, it makes sense to come over tomorrow, you’re right. And I will. I was just expecting something else.”

  “Like what?”

  “I don’t know...a trip to the Opryland Hotel to look at the Christmas decorations and visit Santa, maybe?”

  Opryland! Colin silently cursed and sipped his wine to cover his aggravation. The hotel in central Nashville was practically its own city. They went all out every holiday with massive decorations. They usually built a giant ice village with slides kids could play on. They even hosted the Rockettes’ Christmas show. That would’ve been perfect, but of course he couldn’t do it now that she’d brought it up. He refused to be predictable.

  There wasn’t really time for that, either. When he’d made that impulsive bet, he hadn’t given a lot of thought to how much they both worked and how incompatible their schedules were. Between their jobs, working on the house and the wedding, there wasn’t much time left to reintroduce Natalie to the holiday magic. He’d find a way, though. He was certain of it.

  “I figured it was something related to the bet, although I don’t know why you’d bother after that kiss we shared at the cake tasting. I’m not sure the one you’ll win will be better than that.”

  Colin smiled wide. “Are you serious?” he asked.

  She looked at him blankly. “Well, yes. It was a pretty good kiss, as kisses go.”

  “It was an amazing kiss,” Colin conceded. “But it won’t hold a candle to the kiss I’ll get when I win.”

  Natalie sucked in a ragged breath, her pale skin growing a more peachy-pink tone in the golden candlelight. “I guess as a teenager I never realized how arrogant you were.”

  “It’s not arrogance when it’s fact. I intend to make your pulse spike and cheeks flush. I want you to run your fingers through my hair and hold me like you never want to let me go. When I win this bet, I’ll kiss you until you’re breathless and can’t imagine ever kissing anyone else.”

  He watched Natalie swallow hard and reach a shaky hand out for more wine. He hid away his smile and focused on her so she knew he meant every word.

  “Y-you’ve still g-got to win the bet,” she stammered. “I’m pretty sure you’ve run out of Christmas stuff to mail to the office.”

  “Don’t underestimate me,” Colin said. “Those holiday gifts were just to get you in the right mindset.” There were a lot of sensory e
lements to Christmas—the smell of pine and mulling spice, the taste of peppermint and chocolate, the sight of bright lights and colorful poinsettias. “I wanted to...prime the pump, so to speak. When you’re ready, that’s when I’ll move in for the kill.”

  The waiter arrived with their salads, but Colin had suddenly lost his appetite. He knew what he wanted to taste and it wasn’t on the Moretti’s menu. A part of him knew it was a mistake to let himself go any further with Natalie, but the other part already knew it was too late. He needed to have her. Knowing nothing would come of it going in, he would be able to compartmentalize it. Just because he rarely had sex for sex’s sake didn’t mean he couldn’t. What they had was a raw, physical attraction, nothing more. Natalie was certainly an enticing incentive to try to start now.

  Perhaps if he did, he could focus on something else for a change. He had plenty going on right now, but somehow, Natalie’s full bottom lip seemed to occupy all his thoughts.

  As they ate, Natalie shifted the conversation to the wedding and his sister, even asking about his business, but he knew neither of them was really interested in talking about that tonight. They just had to get through dinner.

  It wasn’t until they were halfway through their pasta that she returned to the previous discussion. “I’ve been thinking,” she began. “I think you and I started off on the wrong foot at the engagement party. I’d like us to start over.”

  “Start over?” He wasn’t entirely sure what that meant.

  “Yes. When we get done eating, I’m going to once again ask if you’d like to go someplace quiet to talk and catch up. This time, since you’re not dating anyone, I hope you’ll give a better response.”

  Was she offering what he thought she was offering? He sincerely hoped so. He finished his wine and busied himself by paying the bill. When the final credit card slip was brought to him, he looked up at Natalie. She was watching him with the sly smile on her face that she’d greeted him with the first time.

  “So, Colin,” she said softly. “Would you be interested in getting out of here and finding someplace quiet where we could talk and catch up?”