“Boyfriend? When did this happen?” Sterling demanded. “I was just getting used to you going out with Joseph Hurst.”
“Let’s go inside, and I’ll tell you all about it.” Expertly, Sienna nudged her father aside, took Craig’s hand, and led both men into Sterling’s sitting room.
After Sterling closed the door, Craig once again found himself facing the man who seemed larger than life, even in the informal setting of a hotel suite. Mustering his courage and trying not to think about the fact that this was one of the most famous men in the world, Craig continued to grip Sienna’s hand and extended his right hand to Sterling. “It’s an honor to meet you, sir.”
“Craig Simmons, this is my father, Sterling Blake,” Sienna said to ease the introduction.
Sterling waited two heartbeats before shaking hands.
“Why don’t we sit?” Sienna suggested.
Sterling conceded by lowering himself onto the love seat, strategically ensuring that Craig and Sienna couldn’t sit together. Sienna sat beside her father, and Craig took one of the two chairs facing them.
“Where did the two of you meet? And how long have you been dating?”
“I guess you could say George introduced us,” Sienna answered without missing a beat. “Craig has been helping me get ready for my next movie.”
“How so?”
“He’s been teaching me some of the moves I’ll need for my character.”
Sterling relaxed marginally. “And how is that going?”
“Very well,” Craig answered. “Your daughter is a natural.”
Sterling’s phone rang, and he answered it. As expected, it was William. They already knew the gist of the conversation: William was making plans with Sterling for their trip to the White House that evening.
As soon as their plans were set, Sterling handed his phone to Sienna. “Your grandpa wants to talk to you.”
Sienna took the phone and stood. “Hi, Grandpa.”
She listened for a moment before saying, “Just a minute.” She then turned her attention back to her father. “I’m going to take this in the other room so you two can talk.”
Craig watched her disappear into the bedroom. When he turned his attention back to Sterling, the man was sizing him up once more.
“My daughter said you’re helping her prepare for her movie role. Have you been working in the industry long?”
“Actually, no. This is my first time.”
“Then how did you come to George’s attention?”
“I guess you could say he didn’t have a choice but to notice me.” Not wanting to elaborate on his first encounter with Sienna and her bodyguard, Craig changed the subject. “I understand you’re going to tour the White House today.”
“Yes. We’ll have a tour and an informal dinner with the president and his family.”
“I hadn’t heard that. I wasn’t aware you knew the president.”
“I met him once when he was campaigning in California. Senator Whitmore actually arranged for our visit when he found out we were coming into town.”
“I’m sure it will be an experience to remember.”
Not easily distracted, Sterling steered the conversation back to Craig. “If this is your first time working in the film business, what do you normally do for a living?”
“I’m a farmer.”
The man across from him didn’t utilize his acting talents to hide his surprise. “A farmer?”
“Yes, sir.”
“I see. And exactly how does a farmer gain the expertise needed to train an actress for an action movie?”
“Ten years of martial-arts training didn’t hurt,” Craig said.
“I wouldn’t think farmers would have easy access to that kind of thing.”
“I started learning from my dad. He was in the navy for a few years when he was younger. When I got into high school, I started driving to Des Moines to train.”
Sterling shifted forward in his seat and pinned Craig with a hard stare. “What exactly are your intentions toward my daughter?”
Craig didn’t have to pretend to be nervous. He clasped his hands together tightly in his lap, remembering that he was only playing a part . . . Never mind that he was making his first acting debut in front of a man who had ruled Hollywood for decades.
“Actually, I hope to marry her.”
“What?”
“Sienna and I are here to ask for your blessing.” Craig forced the words through his mouth. He wondered if they would have been any easier to say if William and Sienna hadn’t fed them to him. He seriously doubted it.
Sterling’s jaw hung open, and it took him a moment to recover. When he did, he opened and closed his mouth twice before any words came out. “You expect me to give you my blessing when I had never even heard of you before today?” He pushed to a stand and paced across the room, circling the limited space until he once again stood in front of Craig.
“I know it may seem sudden,” Craig said, judging that Sterling had worked off the worst of his shock. “We’ve actually known each other for some time. We just wanted to keep our relationship private until we had a chance to talk to you.”
“Exactly how long has that been?”
“Fourteen months,” Craig recited his next line. “I hope you can support us in this,” he continued. “I love your daughter very much.”
“Do you love my daughter or her bank account?”
Craig bristled now, no longer acting. He stood in an effort to put himself back on equal ground with the man across from him. “I can’t say that I’ve ever met Sienna’s bank account, nor do I see any reason why I would need to.”
“You can’t seriously expect me to believe you plan to support her on a farmer’s income.”
“I have a few other plans for my future that go beyond farming.” Craig shoved his hands in his pockets, fisting them there. He heard the bedroom door open and saw Sienna enter once more.
As Sienna had predicted he would, Sterling rounded on her. “You can’t honestly expect me to believe you want to marry this guy.”
“Of course I can.” Rather than move to the couch, she crossed to Craig, linked her arm through his, and adopted a wounded look. “I thought you wanted me to be happy.”
“Of course I want you to be happy, but I don’t know anything about this guy.”
“Grandpa knows him.”
On cue, a knock sounded at the door. Sterling stomped to the door and threw it open to reveal William standing in the hall.
William evaluated the situation in about three seconds. “I gather Craig has already talked to you.”
“What is it with you?” Sterling demanded. “This is twice you’ve known my girls were dating seriously without telling me.”
“Sorry, son, but you tend to meddle in your daughters’ lives.”
As Sterling blustered, William stepped inside and tapped at his watch. “I think we may need to table your discussion with these two until later. We don’t want to keep the president waiting.”
“Did you know they’re planning to get married?” Sterling demanded.
“I had a feeling.” William put his hand on his son’s arm. “Come on. We can talk on the way.”
Sienna gave her grandfather a kiss on the cheek and repeated the gesture with her dad. “I’ll go make sure Kendra and Charlie are ready to go.”
“It was good to meet you, sir,” Craig said. He thought about offering to shake hands again but decided against it. Somehow he didn’t think Sterling was feeling particularly friendly toward him at the moment. He followed Sienna to the door. “I hope you all enjoy your evening.”
“Aren’t you coming with us?” Sterling asked, stunning everyone in the room.
“I don’t think I was included on the invitation.”
William stepped in before Sterling could respond. “Secret Service is very strict on having advance notice of everyone visiting the White House. I’m afraid we didn’t know Craig was going to be able to join us this weekend
until a few days ago.”
“Come on, Craig.” Sienna tugged on his arm. “You can keep Charlie company while Kendra and I finish getting ready.”
Craig followed her into the hall, not saying a word until they were well away from her father’s suite. He looked over his shoulder. “I think I deserve hazard pay for that.”
“But it worked.” Sienna grinned and held up her father’s cell phone. “My dad was so distracted he totally forgot I had it.”
“That’s fine for you. I’m the one who had to face an irate father who isn’t ready to give up his little girl.”
“Just think of it as practice for when you do decide to get married.”
“That’s not funny.”
Sienna stopped and looked up at him, a smile still on her face. “Yeah, it was.”
“It would have been funny . . . had it been someone else going through it.”
“That’s the price you pay for being the only single guy on your squad.” Sienna reached up on her toes to kiss his cheek. “I’ll see you later.”
The gesture was so natural Craig almost forgot he and Sienna had been playing out a scene. She was halfway down the hall by the time he recovered, and he wondered again if there was a chance something could develop between them beyond friendship.
11
Sienna thought of the night before at the White House, of the history of the building and the novelty of dining with the president. Her father had clearly been as impressed with the intimate dinner party as she had been. Otherwise, there was no way he would have made it through the evening without noticing his cell phone was missing.
She considered it a good sign that he hadn’t mentioned anything about his phone when they had left the resort that morning. Logically he should have realized he didn’t have it when he went to bed last night since that’s when he normally took the time to charge it. She could only imagine that the excitement of touring the White House had thrown his routine off enough that he had been too tired to worry about such things.
She supposed the news of what their real plans were for this morning distracted him further. Now she sat with her parents inside a rented limousine, the glory of the Washington D.C. Temple rising into the blue sky behind them. Any moment, Kendra and Charlie would emerge for the first time as husband and wife.
The privacy window between them and their driver was raised, even though their driver was Damian, a member of the Saint Squad. In keeping with the engagement story Sienna had invented, Craig sat beside her, both of her parents across from them.
“I still can’t believe no one told us,” Monica Blake said.
“Mom, I’m sorry, but it was really important to Kendra and Charlie that their wedding day not turn into a media circus.”
“How would telling us have made a difference? We wouldn’t have told anyone,” Monica insisted.
Sienna let that comment linger in the air.
“And I want to know who is handling security. We should bring in extra personnel to make sure everyone is safe.” Sterling reached into his pant pocket and then the other one, a wrinkle of confusion appearing on his face when he didn’t find what he was looking for.
“First of all, Grandpa took care of security. Second of all, your incessant need for more bodyguards is why you only found out about the wedding an hour ago.”
“What does that have to do with anything? What’s wrong with having extra security?” He patted his shirt pocket. “And where is my blasted phone?”
Sienna ignored his last question and zeroed in on his previous ones. “If you knew about the wedding, you would have told your head of security why we needed extra bodyguards. Undoubtedly, someone would have leaked it to the press.”
“You don’t know that,” Sterling insisted. “My people can be trusted.”
“You can trust them all you want, but today is about Kendra and Charlie,” Sienna countered. “Please help them enjoy it. They went to a lot of effort to make sure you would be here.”
“I need to at least call my publicist to make sure he knows I’ll have a press release to send out tomorrow,” Sterling said. He patted his wife’s knee. “Monica, let me borrow your phone.”
She picked up her purse and started rummaging through it.
Craig reached over and took Sienna’s hand, giving it a squeeze in silent communication. Sienna looked up at him, seeing the same question reflected on his face as the one running through her mind. When would her parents realize they had taken their phones?
She gave a little shrug and decided it was time for some distraction. “Mom, you are going to love the dress Kendra had made for you for the reception tonight. This new designer Kendra discovered is amazing.”
Monica gave up on her search. “I hope it fits. You know how hard it is for me to get things to fit me right in the waist.”
“Don’t worry. The designer is going to meet us back at the resort in case anyone needs any alterations made.”
Sterling redirected his wife’s attention. “Your phone?”
“Sorry, honey. I don’t see it in there. I must have left it in our room.”
“Sienna, let me borrow yours.” Her father held out his hand.
“I don’t have mine either.”
“What about you, Craig? Are you going to tell me you aren’t carrying your cell phone either?”
“No, sir.” Craig pulled his phone free of his pocket, unlocked the screen and, to Sienna’s surprise, handed it over.
“Finally.” Sterling took the phone, prepared to dial, and hesitated. He turned to his wife. “What’s Nate’s phone number?”
“I don’t know. I have it in my phone.”
“Great,” Sterling muttered and handed Craig his phone back. “I guess I can call later.”
Craig pocketed the phone once more.
“Kendra and Charlie should be coming out soon. Should we go wait by the door?” Sienna asked.
“Good idea,” her mother agreed.
Craig exited first. Sienna took the hand Craig offered her and let him help her from the car. They walked toward the temple, taking up a position where they could see through the glass doors into the lobby. They were there only a few minutes before she caught her first glimpse of Kendra.
“Look, here they come.” She shifted closer to Craig as her sister emerged in a vision of white, hand in hand with her husband.
Something tugged inside her, an unusual combination of joy, wonder, and longing. When Craig rubbed his thumb over the back of her hand, the wonder dominated. The magic of the moment, seeing such happiness on Kendra’s face, gave her hope that someday she too could find someone she would want to spend eternity with.
Within moments, they were all exchanging hugs while the photographer Charlie had hired captured their emotions on film.
* * *
“Smile.”
Craig forced himself to comply with the photographer’s direction, not terribly happy with the prospect of having his picture taken, even if he was standing next to one of the most amazing women he’d ever met. He was clean-shaven tonight, a small attempt to alter his appearance for the cameras. Sienna shifted closer to him, her arm hooked loosely around his waist, his own hand resting on her shoulder.
He wished he could enjoy simply being with her, but he had a job to do, and the constant barrage of people to meet made it difficult to appear casual as he surveyed the other guests. The impromptu photo shoot was one in a long line of interruptions.
After what felt like forever, the photographer gave them a nod of approval. “Thanks so much.”
“Are we done now?” Craig whispered to Sienna.
“For the moment.”
“I don’t know how you do it.”
She looked up, curiosity in her eyes. “What?”
“Deal with the constant attention.” Craig led her to the side of the room where he could survey the guests more easily. “I don’t think there’s a single person in this room who hasn’t made a point of talking to you tonight.”
>
She tucked her arm through his. “Maybe they all want to meet my handsome boyfriend.”
He looked down at her and adopted a wounded expression. “I’ve been demoted to boyfriend? I thought I was your fiancé.”
“That’s right. I keep forgetting.” She held her left hand up as though examining her new manicure. “I guess that’s why men give women engagement rings. To remind them of those promises.”
“I don’t think your dad is quite ready to see me put a ring on your finger.”
“We could have been together for three years and he wouldn’t be ready,” Sienna countered.
Instinctively Craig did a search of the crowd until he located Sterling. He and Monica stood at the edge of the dais across the room, along with Senator Whitmore and his wife. The large clock mounted on the wall revealed that the time was drawing near for Kendra’s and Charlie’s families to focus everyone’s attention on the real reason they had all gathered together.
A heightened level of activity stirred near the main entrance, a short distance from where the happy couple’s parents were standing.
“Wait here,” Craig instructed.
“What’s wrong?” Sienna asked, but Craig had already walked away.
Craig strode across the room, taking position behind Sienna’s parents as a man standing right outside the door called out, “Sterling! Over here!”
“Do you know that man?” Craig asked Sterling.
Sterling’s response was more to himself than to Craig. “I didn’t know Carter Wells was going to be here.”
“Carter Wells? The actor?”
“Yes. We’ve been in several projects together over the years,” Sterling answered. “I haven’t seen him in much lately.”
Before Craig could ascertain why Sterling’s old friend was being denied admittance, William arrived and spoke directly to the security officer at the entrance. “What’s going on here?”
“Mr. Wells said he is here with the Blake family, but he isn’t on the guest list.”
William glanced down at the list and looked up at the new arrival. “No, he isn’t. Do you have an invitation?”
“Well, no, actually,” Carter said. “I heard through the grapevine that Sterling was going to attend Senator Whitmore’s anniversary party. I arrived here today, on my way to Virginia Beach to shoot a movie with his daughter, and thought I would stop in to see the family before Sterling leaves town.”
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