Now that her nuptials were going to be photographed for the public’s enticement, a full-on fantasy wedding was called for. Was the dress in front of her the one, as a bride who’d thought about it for years and poured over magazines and websites might know? Audrey didn’t have the slightest idea. But it was worth a try.
Jesse zipped her into the mermaid-style dress with its slim line from the bosom to the knee where it then flared out down to the floor. Audrey examined herself in the three-sided mirror he had carried in.
The look was only okay. With her own curves above and below her waist, the extra slant outward at the bottom of the dress seemed out of proportion. Too zigzaggy.
Standing behind her in the mirror, Jesse gave a hoist up from under the arms and then a tug at the knee. After thorough consideration from every angle he concluded, “Not our dress.”
The next one he helped her into was a tea-length lacy dress with sleeves and a very full skirt. The under layers crunched with every move she made. Once she saw herself in the mirror, it was an easy vote. She was completely lost in all the volume. It even made her head look disproportionately large.
“All gussied up in big-girl clothes, yeah?” Jesse joked, in complete compliance with the veto.
After that came a cream-colored gown that fit her like a glove. It was a strapless silk shantung number with plenty of structure meant to hold all of a busty girl’s parts in place. It cinched at the waist with a band of fabric, then hugged her round hips and fell straight to the floor. A thigh-high slit would allow for movement while dancing.
In keeping with that swinging early 1960s Vegas look the hotel evoked, the dress could have been worn by any of the va-va-voom movie stars of that era. Although Audrey guessed those great ladies had a little more height than she did at her shrimpy five-foot-two.
Still, she felt gorgeous in it.
“Now that is your dress.” Jesse knew it, too.
“Aw,” Natasha called over from the shelves where she was stocking salon products.
Jesse fluffed out Audrey’s hair to give it some bounce. And a pair of pumps he brought perfectly matched the gown. Audrey couldn’t take her eyes off her reflection in the mirror. Her heart banged against her chest, as if it was fighting to break out.
She’d helped when needed with weddings at the hotels, knew a little about everything from invitations to ring pillows to emergency shoe repair.
But now that it had finally come to her own? Would Audrey wear this spectacular dress to consecrate a marriage in which she’d never have to risk putting love and trust to the test?
That was what she wanted. Wasn’t it?
* * *
“Shane showed me his heap of half-baked notes,” she told her dad in his office before the Murphys arrived. She’d come over after the dress fitting. The brothers had asked for an evening meeting.
“Pun intended.” Daniel couldn’t resist, but quickly turned serious. “We need all of these pieces to come together.”
Everything was riding on this hotel. They had sunk a lot more money than they had intended to into its overhaul. The Girards were in debt.
“We’ll be on top again,” Daniel said softly.
“I let you down.” Audrey chewed her lower lip. “Three years ago when I was at the helm, a lot of things started to go wrong for us.”
“No. I’m so proud of how much you handled. It was me. I neglected my personal relationships with some our investors. We lost good staff at the other properties because I wasn’t on top of their needs. Then we got a later start on this project than we should have. It all added up.”
The time leading up to Jill’s death would always be a thorn in both Daniel and Audrey’s sides. When his wife got sick, Daniel became unable to concentrate. He let deadlines pass on important decisions and abandoned the constant follow-up that kept the hotels at the high benchmarks Girard was known for.
Audrey had clearly seen what was happening and jumped in. She temporarily stepped into his shoes, even operating from his corner office at the Philadelphia headquarters. Knowing enough about each department to provide a stopgap, she kept the company afloat.
Running the company provided her a perfect excuse to distance herself from her dying mother, who had made it clear that she didn’t want Audrey around. “I don’t want you to see me like this,” Jill had told Audrey during one of their few visits. That was ironic given that her mother had never let Audrey truly see her. Jill had spent most of her life in the top floor of their townhouse in Philadelphia’s exclusive Rittenhouse Square, hiding behind a veil of alcohol and pills.
Daniel saw his wife in a different light. He had loved her so completely he always held on to the belief that he could fix her. As if she were one of the faded grand hotels they were able to revamp with enough care and repair. He never comprehended how unwanted Jill had made Audrey feel. But Audrey would always know. She’d carry it with her for the rest of her life. It had shaped her into the person she was. A person who wasn’t going to love or expect to be loved by anyone.
Therefore, during those grueling months of Jill’s demise, Daniel chose one path and Audrey chose another. Once Jill died, Daniel wallowed in grief for a few months, and then his enthusiasm for the hotels gradually returned.
“Regrets?” she asked her dad.
“Of course not.” He nodded. “You?”
“A sky full.”
She’d said the same thing to Shane last night when they shared a heart-to-heart talk that lasted into the wee hours. Granted, it was with cardboard Shane. But he really seemed to understand her.
The brothers arrived. Reg told them about the turmoil in New York and his decision to leave the next day.
Then he confessed his feelings about his assistant bar manager, Brittany. “I’m in love with her. I am so sorry, Audrey.”
What? Who was Brittany? He was calling the marriage off?
Blood palpitated through every vein in Audrey’s body. She had just picked out a wedding gown! Worked day and night to tie up loose ends in Philadelphia so that she could shift her operations to Las Vegas in time to not only open the hotel but to plan a lavish wedding! And he was in love with someone else?
“I flew out here with an open mind to seeing the plan through with you.” Reg rubbed his palms back and forth. “But I can’t go through with it. It wouldn’t be fair to either of us. I seem to have only just realized that I was missing something important in my life. Something I want to make room for.”
“Lo-ove. You want love. You fell in love.” Stunned, Audrey repeated herself like a babbling idiot.
Shane shifted in his armchair without taking his eyes off Audrey. He’d obviously already known what Reg had come to say. It was so humiliating to have Shane in the room while this bombshell was being dropped on her! She directed a piercing stare right back at him.
Once she wrapped her mind around it, the news provoked a confusing mix of emotions in her. Rejection. More rejection for her to endure. But also liberation. In reality, Reg had been off-kilter since he’d arrived, and Audrey had sensed that something was amiss. Their fathers had agreed on this match a long time ago but she didn’t know Reg all that well. She’d assumed they were kindred spirits in their desire for pragmatic companionship and nothing more.
Perhaps he was committed to fulfilling his family duty. But had secretly longed for love and for children all along. He was entitled to that, which he surely wasn’t going to find with her. Ever.
She wouldn’t want to be responsible for holding him back from what he wanted.
Audrey could no longer deny that the agreement had been like a safety net that she had been relying on. In the back of her mind she’d had a long-standing engagement to a pleasant man and she hadn’t had to give her personal life any further thought. Her heart belonged to the hotels. Audrey had it in her plans for so long that she was going to end up with Reg, s
he hardly knew who she would be without this pact.
Yet, returning Shane’s penetrating stare, she was suddenly, oddly, keen to find out.
Maybe Vegas was where she would discover herself. After all, she was out here in the boundless new frontier, in the Wild West.
Daniel uttered the same words to Reg as she would have. “I wish you every happiness. We can’t wait to meet Brittany.” After all, she no longer had claims to him.
“Thank you, sir. I’ll bring her back with me for the opening.”
“Forgive me for sounding callous—” Daniel looked to Reg and then to Shane “—but the plans we had for the hoopla and engagement events to open the property were critical to bringing in bookings. That leaves a big hole in our promotional campaigns. I know you need a strong launch as much as we do.”
Shane remained silent, elbows on the arms of the chair and his legs spread wide apart. Still looking at Audrey. She felt naked under his gaze, having to remind herself that it was only his photo and not he who had seen her flitting around her bungalow in her undies earlier. His attention was unrelenting. Was he pitying her now that she’d essentially been jilted at the altar?
And now everyone was on to the next piece of business? She couldn’t catch up.
“What about a substitute fiancé?” Reg suggested.
“Hmm...” Daniel weighed the idea. “Even though it wouldn’t tie the hotel to the restaurant, it would still generate buzz about the property and we could show off how much we have to offer for special occasions.”
“Then you can just break the engagement off after a year or so when it has faded in the public’s memory.”
“Who then? Befitting hotel royalty, it would be ideal if it was someone in the industry.” Daniel rubbed his chin as if massaging a pretend beard.
Reg rubbed his own chin the same way. “What about Dean Ryder, the catering manager at the Bellagio? He’s single.”
“I think he’s gay,” Daniel answered.
“Does that matter in this setup?” Reg asked.
“Brian Haywood, maître d’ at Scallops is single,” Daniel suggested.
“But, then again, would it behoove us to partner with someone from another hotel?” Reg questioned.
“It should be someone in house,” Daniel agreed.
“I’m right here, folks!” Audrey finally erupted. “Don’t talk about me like I’m not in the room!” First her arranged marriage was called off and then, within minutes, they were talking about a replacement.
Shane let out a huge belly laugh, the first sound out of him.
He winked at Audrey. Then rested his hand on the inside of his thigh.
The sight of which halted her breathing and caused her lower jaw to drop open.
Just as Daniel and Reg both froze and stared at Shane.
“What about...?” Daniel mused.
“Nah,” Reg rejected the thought.
“Think about it,” Daniel insisted.
“It might work...” Reg slowly nodded at the possibility.
“You couldn’t ask for a spicier publicity match-up,” Daniel pressed.
“The beautiful hotelier and the sexy chef,” Reg continued.
“No way!” Shane and Audrey both shouted in unison when they realized what the other two were devising.
Even if it was just for publicity, she couldn’t pose alongside Shane Murphy as the happy couple. He was far too moody and complicated. She couldn’t possibly handle the way he made her feel. He made her feel. Always had.
Reg didn’t make her feel anything. Audrey wasn’t ever going to take a chance again on feeling. She’d let herself go from a hurt child to a wounded adult. Any more pain and she might not be able to get out of bed in the morning. The “no feel” principle was her trump card.
Finally Shane leaned forward in his chair and spoke up. “Absolutely not. I don’t have the time to get into shenanigans surrounding a phony engagement.” He was clearly as against the idea as she was, thank goodness. “Look, we’re going to have to turn the cookbook project into our prime strategy. That’s going to be the focal point of the campaigns. My first book. International distribution. Promoted with TV tapings at the new restaurant and all over the property. Hotel Girard Las Vegas as the place to be!”
They were all surprised to hear Shane talk about things from such a businessman’s point of view.
“Let’s be honest,” Reg said, “The editor quit. You fired our public relations coordinator as well as your literary agent. You’ve been struggling with the book all along.”
Shane exchanged a heartfelt unspoken moment with his brother. “Well I’m going to have to change my tune, aren’t I?”
“Thank you,” Reg said softly, obviously knowing how hard this was likely to be for Shane.
“I’m here to help,” Audrey chimed in.
“You’re going to do more than help, Sugar.” Shane pointed his finger at her. “Clearly, I can’t direct and manage this by myself. We’re doing this together. As a matter of fact, you’re in charge!”
CHAPTER FOUR
INTRODUCING MR. AND MRS. SHANE MURPHY. Yes, Audrey and Shane Murphy will attend. Hello, have you met my husband, Shane Murphy?
Whaaaaat?
The following day, Audrey couldn’t stop playing images in her head as she skirted from meeting to meeting. What if she had agreed to a fake marriage with Shane?
The toasts of Las Vegas, the Murphys returning to town and descending the steps of their private jet after a quick weekend in Geneva where Shane received an award for restaurant excellence. The Murphys partying the night away at Vegas’s newest exclusive club, Shane graciously allowing handsome movie stars to salsa dance with his wife. The Murphys sailing around the Greek Islands on their second wedding anniversary. Is Mrs. Murphy sporting a baby bump above the teeny triangle of designer bikini she wears?
That’s publicity and public relations for you. Even Audrey’s fantasy mind knew how to put a spin on everything.
The reality wasn’t as pretty. First, her riskless and sane arranged engagement had fallen apart. Second, she was set to work closely with a man who made the ground she stood on shaky every time she was near him.
Shane ignited her, gave her a sense of something spontaneous and out of her control. She worried he could blow her “no feel” policy to smithereens.
But they were both professionals and this was critical business. All she had to do was get him through the cookbook and publicity needed for a successful opening. Then she could back away from him. Easy peasy.
The evening was spent in her bungalow toiling on her laptop, finishing up work on the summer events she had planned at Hotel Girard Cape Cod. Looking at photos of the Atlantic Ocean shoreline gave her a bit of a shiver, replaying again that brush with Shane ten years ago in the Caribbean Sea at St. Thomas.
It was almost midnight when she powered down her computer. Her dad knew that Audrey liked to swim and had mentioned that the employee pool was in operation. It was late, but the idea sounded too refreshing to pass up. Quickly changing into her bathing suit, she stuck her tongue out at cardboard Shane as she left her bungalow.
The pool area was completely empty. No lights had been left on so Audrey treaded carefully. She put her towel down on a chair and removed her bathing suit cover-up and flip-flops. With a brave plunge, she dove straight into the deep end. The water felt divine as she sank into it, cool but not cold. In Philadelphia, she swam indoors, so it was a treat to be out under the bright moon. The midnight desert winds were strong and warm.
Swimming was an activity Audrey did as often as she could, both for exercise and as meditation. While her arms and legs rotated rhythmically through the water, lap after lap, one after the next, she could contemplate her day. Set goals for the next. And, occasionally, she could get a glimpse into the bigger pictures of life.
Each time she reached the edge of the pool, she turned and pushed off with both feet to start in the next direction. Back and forth. Back and forth.
Reg, she contemplated, was not the slightest bit attractive to her. That would have been good. Not sexy would rank as the number one quality she’d be looking for in a man if she ever did decide to wed. In the meantime, she’d have to steer clear of men like Shane, who stoked the fires she kept contained inside of her.
He was gorgeous. She spelled out each letter in time with an arm stroke as she swam. G, stroke, o, stroke, r, stroke, g-e-o-u-s.
Although her laps were smooth, she seemed to be cutting a lot of water because she felt waves of vibration moving across the pool.
She could see one day getting married to a man who could accept her limitations. No love. No trust. No need. She’d been down that road. Just because it was with her mother and not a romance didn’t change the blackness in her heart. Anything more was out of the question.
Her past had shaped her into the person she was now, and her future was determined. Audrey wasn’t going to care for someone or expect to be cared for in return. If a man even hinted at wanting that, he’d be off the list immediately.
It had seemed like it was going to be so easy with Reg. Darn.
As she swam, she thought about a time a decade earlier in St. Thomas. It had been the summer before she started college. Celebrity chef Shane, only twenty-four then and not yet married, had been contracted to cook a special seasonal menu in the dining room for two weeks while the Murphys were opening their Lolly’s outlet. There had been huge hype for his appearance. The hotel was at capacity, the kitchen bustling with activity and food deliveries.
Shane was not only a hotshot, he was a hothead. She’d never heard a voice so loud it could rattle stacks of dishes in the kitchen. A boom that overpowered the clamor of pots and pans, of chopping and frying and grilling. Eighteen-year-old Audrey had somewhat understood that he was volatile because he was a perfectionist, uncompromising, expecting excellence in himself and others.
At the time, though, to her Shane was downright daunting. Scary, yet utterly thrilling in the way he’d hulk into the kitchen and throw down his motorcycle helmet and leather jacket. How he refused to don the Hotel Girard chef’s coat, instead wearing T-shirts bearing the names of heavy-metal rock bands. His impossibly broad shoulders leading the eyes to a solid wall of chest and muscular arms. He was raw manpower, something young Audrey had never been exposed to so nakedly.
Her Las Vegas Wedding Page 5