Caroline strode past Archie and held out her hand to the pristinely dressed woman with a stunned expression on her face. Her chestnut hair was in a chignon, her makeup was understated in its perfection and her black suit screamed money. Caroline suddenly felt grubby.
“Caroline Patterson. I’m marrying Josh.” She stumbled over the words. They sounded completely ludicrous. To her credit, if the woman had any thoughts on the mismatch between Caroline and Josh, it didn’t show on her face.
“Millicent Price. Wedding planner and event coordinator.”
“We’re planning the wedding’s theme,” Archie told Caroline. “We figured that ‘grey’ and ‘orderly’ were the two words that summed you up most. And what’s more grey and orderly than the navy? So how about a naval-themed wedding?”
He looked so proud of himself that Caroline almost agreed to avoid disappointing him.
“I made a collage.” James held up a large piece of grey paper. “My grandson helped me.” There were pictures of naval boats and submarines, grey balloons, a cake in the shape of a naval destroyer and several suggestions for music—all of which seemed to centre around the war music of Glen Miller’s band.
Caroline took a deep breath. “I don’t know what to say.”
The men patted each other on the back.
“Told you she’d be impressed,” Hamish said.
“I still say we need something more girly. Weddings are girly,” Brian said.
“We can girly it up,” Hamish said. “Anyone know any grey flowers?”
Caroline had to put a stop to this before they’d ordered the flowers and hired a boat. “As much as I appreciate the work you’ve put in, I don’t really want a naval-themed wedding. And I would like to hear what Millicent has to say.”
They looked like she’d shot their puppy. Caroline ignored them. They got the same expressions when she filled the biscuit tin with biscuits that weren’t chocolate coated.
Millicent flicked on her iPad. “Let’s start with the basics. Where would you like to get married?”
“Church,” Caroline said at the same time as Josh said, “Here.”
He was leaning against the kitchen counter sipping coffee out of a mug shaped like Mickey Mouse’s head.
“You want to get married in the castle?” Caroline wasn’t sure what she thought of that.
He shrugged. “I thought it would be fun.”
She chewed her lip. “The restoration won’t be done in time.”
“We could postpone the work until after the wedding.”
Her eyes narrowed. “Nice try, but I don’t think so.”
“How about a church ceremony followed by a reception in the castle garden?” Millicent said. “We can set up a glorious marquee. That way we can control which aspects the guests see of the castle, and you both get the venue you want.”
Josh shrugged. “Works for me.”
Caroline nodded.
“I think you should get married beside the loch,” Archie told them.
Caroline helped herself to a cup of tea from the pot on the table in front of her. “The loch will be full of midges.”
James bit into a biscuit and spoke with his mouth full. “With any luck they’ll only bite the foreigners.”
Millicent blinked at the man before turning back to Caroline. “How about photos at the loch? That way you can have loch, castle and church.”
“Sounds great to me.” Caroline took a sip of her tea. “Josh, what do you think?”
“Whatever you decide is fine.”
He couldn’t have come across less interested if he’d tried.
“Now, the gentlemen were talking about having a grey colour scheme.” Millicent was clearly horrified by the idea. “What do you think?”
They all looked at Caroline, who was wearing yet another second-hand grey skirt suit. Although Caroline had never bothered with fashion, she was beginning to think she might have to wear some other colours.
“No, I don’t want grey,” Caroline sighed. “I like lavender.”
“Lavender it is,” Millicent said. “Any thoughts on flowers?”
“Heather,” Caroline said.
Archie threw up his hands in disgust. “You can get heather on the damn hill. Pick something he has to pay for. The man is a gazillionaire. What’s the point in marrying him if you can’t splash out?”
Caroline looked at Josh. “What kind of flowers do you want?”
Josh was munching his way through a giant bag of chips. “I really don’t care about flowers.”
Caroline felt her blood pressure rise. “Do you care about the wedding at all?”
“Of course I do.”
“Well, what ideas do you have for it?”
“Fine.” He pushed himself away from the counter and sauntered towards them.
Caroline bit the inside of her cheek to stop from commenting. Everything the man did was so unhurried. It was beyond irritating.
He pulled up a chair, swung it around, straddled it and leaned on the back with his forearms. He was so close Caroline could feel the heat coming off him.
“Okay, this is what I think.” Josh spread his hands wide. “I’m thinking a couple of hundred of our closest friends, large dance floor, great band. I might sing, but we can get someone else in too. Lots of food. I want steak. Apart from that, I don’t care what colour the thing is or what type of flowers we have.”
“So, you’re going to leave the details up to me?”
“Isn’t this what women do?”
The men gasped. “Ooh, you’re in trouble now,” Brian sang.
“I need a word in private.” Caroline’s voice was ice. She stood and tugged down her suit jacket. “In the hall. Now.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Josh saluted her.
As soon as they were outside the kitchen door, Caroline confronted Josh. “This wedding is your idea. You need to be more involved. I have a lot on my plate right now, what with the community centre, the committees I’m involved with and the restoration of the castle. You need to pull your weight.”
Josh scratched his head as though the idea of planning a wedding was a bewildering one. “I thought women dreamed about this sort of thing. Don’t you have a plan somewhere? A list of stuff you want at your wedding? Don’t you have a scrapbook?”
“You’ve been watching too many romantic comedies. I haven’t spared a thought about getting married since I was nine, and back then my fantasy wedding involved riding on a unicorn and having a bubble machine at the ceremony.”
“We can do the bubbles, but the unicorn might be hard.”
“You’re not taking this seriously.” She folded her arms. “I’m beginning to think that you don’t take anything seriously. Do you have any idea how maddening that is? We have less than three weeks to organise a wedding. People need to be invited. Accommodation needs to be sorted. Where will two hundred guests stay? Have you thought about that? Would your Hollywood friends like to spend the night in the local B&B? I need to find a dress. I don’t even know where to look for a dress. Then there’s registering for gifts. Where would we do that? Here? America? Do we even want gifts? Not to mention the other little things that need to be sorted, like the ceremony, the best man, maid of honour, rings. There isn’t enough time to do everything and I have no idea how you expect this wedding to go.”
Josh took a step towards her, crowding her space. “You’re really cute when you’re panicking.”
“I am not panicking. I’m trying to organise a wedding. A wedding you have to help with—”
Before she could continue her lecture, she saw a flicker of desire in his eyes. He moved towards her like a cat on the prowl. Without thinking, Caroline stepped back and felt the wall behind her.
“We need to sort this out.” She was ashamed of the tremor in her voice. “I’m serious here.”
“I know.” Josh closed the distance between them. “You spend far too much time being serious.”
Caroline grew anxious as he put his h
and on the wall beside her head. “What are you doing?”
His free hand cupped her cheek. Far too gently for a man who towered over her, making her feel small at five foot six.
“I don’t know you well enough for this.” Caroline’s breathless words were at odds with the nervous flutter in her stomach.
His impossibly blue eyes smiled at her. “About time you did, then.” His words were a breath on her lips.
“Did what?” Caroline’s voice was a whisper.
He smiled a slow, knowing smile. “Get to know me, of course.”
And then his lips were on hers.
CHAPTER SIX
Fireworks went off in Josh’s head. He was pretty sure it was his synapses frying from the sensation of Caroline’s lips on his. She tasted exactly how he’d imagined her to taste. Like peach cobbler and something else. Something uniquely Caroline.
He ran his tongue along the seam of her lips and felt, rather than heard, a gasp escape her. He gently bit at her bottom lip, and her rigid posture crumbled. Josh moved the hand he’d placed on the wall down to the small of her back. He sucked on her bottom lip. Slow. Gentle. Caroline trembled. She tentatively grasped the cotton of his T-shirt above his heart.
“Yum,” Josh murmured against her lips.
He leaned back to look at her, holding her tightly lest she escape. Heavy eyelids blinked open as she turned her face up him. What he saw made his breath stutter. Gone was the woman who delighted in ruling the universe. She’d been replaced by someone softer. Someone more vulnerable. Someone who knew desire. And that desire was directed at him. Before she could wake from her daze entirely, he captured her mouth again.
He clasped the back of her head. Gently, but firmly angling her mouth against his. This time, his tongue met no resistance as he slid into her mouth. He sighed against her. Delicious. Caroline’s fingers clung to his shirt. Her nails scraped his chest. Josh pressed into her, holding her in place against the wall.
He felt the shivers of need rack through her body as her tongue tentatively found his. Josh’s hand slid to her hip as one of his knees made space between her legs. Josh’s senses were being consumed by her. He didn’t know if it was the lack of sophistication in her touch, or the fact she’d metamorphosed in his arms, but he’d never felt anything like this before. It was mind-blowing. Addictive. And he wanted more.
He wanted all of her.
Caroline had lost her mind. No. Josh had stolen it. With his touch. With his kiss. With the heat and the strength of him. She was drowning in the man, and there was nothing to hold on to except him. She didn’t know if she could take much more. At the same time, she didn’t know if she could bear for him to stop.
As his tongue traced lazy circles around hers, she flattened a palm against the wall of his chest. His muscles clenched beneath her touch. It was overwhelming to be that close to so much power. To have it tremble for her. Because of her. The musky scent of him was heady. It enveloped her. She was cocooned in him. In his arms. In his scent. In his heat. There was only Josh. Everything else had disappeared as if by magic.
Something creaked in the corner of her mind. A noise intruded.
“Oh for Pete’s sake,” someone said.
Caroline blinked out of her dream.
Josh muttered a curse against her lips.
“Get a bucket of water,” Hamish shouted. “The cats are in heat.”
As if someone had waved a magic wand, Caroline’s back snapped straight.
“This isn’t over,” Josh rumbled in her ear before stepping away from her.
Caroline realised her fingers were woven into his T-shirt. She snapped her hands away as though burned. Josh raised an eyebrow at her. She cleared her throat, resisting the urge to touch her lips. Self-consciously, she tugged at her grey suit jacket.
Hamish cackled. “Why bother with a wedding? Why not go straight to the honeymoon? That’s what I’d do if I was getting hitched again.”
“I’ll just go find the bathroom,” Caroline mumbled.
She couldn’t look at Josh as she passed him. Her cheeks were burning from more than lust as she walked down the hall to the powder room. Once inside, she ran icy-cold water into the porcelain sink and splashed her face with it. Shaky fingers reached for a towel. Patting her skin, she examined her reflection in the mirror above the sink. She was wanton. Lips swollen. Cheeks flushed. Her skin still tingled from Josh’s touch. And every inch of her body resented being away from him. If he’d been behind her she would have sunk into his embrace without a second’s hesitation.
She took a deep, shaky breath. She thought she’d be able to control everything about this wedding pact. Now, she had a niggling feeling that she may be out of her depth. So far out that she couldn’t even see the shore.
Andrew had been silent during the whole drive up from Glasgow. Helen had spent years monitoring his moods like the weather, and she knew something was bothering him. Fortunately, his moods weren’t her responsibility anymore. So instead of trying to coax the problem out of him, she spent the time soaking up the scenery.
According to her guidebook, they were in the Trossachs. It claimed to be one of the most beautiful areas in the world. Helen thought they’d undersold it. From the crystal-clear lochs to the rolling hills that burst with colour, it took her breath away.
“You didn’t need to shove it in my face.”
It took Helen a minute to come to terms with the fact Andrew had spoken. Without being coerced, no less.
“Shove your face in what?”
He frowned at her before snapping his eyes back to the winding single-lane road. “You know fine well.”
There was a time Helen would have felt distress at his words. A time when she would have spent hours trying to figure out what he meant. Not anymore. In fact, being away from the US had made her feel freer than she’d felt in years. Her need to tiptoe around her husband’s moods wasn’t as strong as it once was. She smiled at the thought.
“I don’t have a clue what you’re talking about,” she said. “And frankly, I don’t really care.”
His knuckles went white on the wheel. Helen turned back to the view. Andrew’s anger never bothered her. He wasn’t the type to strike out.
They rode in silence for a few miles. Helen had thought the conversation was over, but he shocked her by speaking again.
“The guy on the plane. You flirted with him for almost eight hours. Under my nose.”
Helen felt her heart lurch inside of her. Was that jealousy? No. It couldn’t be. “I wasn’t flirting. I was having a conversation. A very pleasant conversation with someone who actually thought I was interesting.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You can work it out yourself, Andrew McInnes.” She turned back to the glorious view. “Now if you don’t mind, I want to enjoy being here. In fact, stop at the next hotel you see. I want to spend a night here before we go to Invertary.”
“And if I don’t want to spend the night?”
“You can drop me off and I’ll see you at the castle tomorrow.”
She thought she heard a growl, but when she looked back at him he was still staring at the road. Helen felt a zing of exhilaration course through her. This was the person she remembered being. The person she’d been years ago. She wasn’t sure if it was the scenery or the attention of the man on the plane, but she felt more like herself than she had in years.
A few more miles and Helen relaxed back into her seat, letting the blues and purples of the Scottish highlands wash over her. She wished she’d made Andrew take her to Scotland years ago. It should have been something they’d enjoyed together.
“It isn’t right to flirt in front of your husband.” His low voice rumbled through the interior of the car.
Helen smiled as she looked out over a picture-perfect loch. And for the first time in her life, she was the one who stayed silent.
“Where’s the bride?” Mitch said to Josh as he came into the kitchen.
&nb
sp; “Around,” Josh snapped. Hiding. The coward. One little kiss and she’d fled like the hounds of hell were on her tail.
Mitch grabbed some chips from the cabinet.
“What’s with the group meeting?” Mitch pointed at the wedding planner and the domino boys.
“Would you believe we’re planning the wedding?”
“By committee?”
Millicent snorted, then covered her mouth as she pretended to cough. Josh frowned at her. At all of them. His famous sense of humour absent for once.
“Right.” Caroline swept into the room and took the chair opposite him at the table—as far away from his as she could get. “Let’s get on with this.”
Her back was rigid again. Her chin was in the air and her tone was icy. She was back in control. If it weren’t for the fact she wouldn’t make eye contact with him, Josh would have wondered if the whole episode in the hall had actually happened.
“We need to decide on the submarine,” James said.
Mitch almost choked on his chips. Josh shot him a glare.
Caroline turned to the domino boys. “Not. One. Word. I already told you that this would not be a naval-themed wedding.” Her tone cold enough to freeze alcohol. They visibly swallowed and, one at a time, lowered their eyes.
There was a moment of heavy silence. Josh glanced at Mitch, whose eyebrows had travelled up his forehead.
“Now”—Caroline spread her hands on the table—“we are going to sort this wedding. Anyone have a problem with that?”
“Not me,” Mitch said as Millicent and the boys shook their heads.
At last, Caroline looked directly at Josh. The air sizzled between them. Josh wanted nothing more than to clear the room and carry on where they’d left off. Instead he gave her a lazy smile imbued with promise. He took great delight in the fact her breath hitched and her cheeks warmed. “You’ve got my attention, baby.”
Her eyes went wide and she frowned. “Don’t call me baby.”
Caroline turned her attention on Millicent. “Order a marquee. I want heather and snowdrops as flowers. Book any band Josh thinks is good. I want a wooden dance floor. Lavender and silver are the colour scheme. I want everything to be simple, tasteful and elegant. You are in charge. No one else. I want menu ideas by end of day tomorrow. I need a recommendation for a dress. And you will have to organise mobile accommodation for the guests. I’m thinking luxury trailers in the castle grounds. That is unless the guests wish to stay in Glasgow or Edinburgh and travel up for the ceremony. We don’t want gifts; suggest that the guests make a donation to a charity instead. I’ll send you a list for them to choose from. I’ll sort out my maid of honour. I’m assuming Mitch will be best man.” Mitch nodded. Her attention moved back to the wedding planner. “I’ll talk to the minister about the ceremony. Josh?”
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