“Don’t bother her now,” Tessa said. “She’s on a call.”
“Of course.” Ashley gave a put-upon sigh. “I really need to ask her a question. Doesn’t she have a meeting starting?”
“Yes, so she won’t be long. Get her when she’s on her way.”
Ashley leaned against the wall and smiled. “Guess I’ll camp.”
“So,” Tessa said. “How are things with Marcus?”
“Actually, things are…” Her gaze slipped down to Tessa’s neck. “Whoa, is that what I think it is?”
Immediately, Tessa whipped her hair over the offending mark.
“WTG, Aunt Tess.” She held up her knuckles for a tap, but Tessa didn’t reciprocate. “So the rumors that you two were making out in the kitchen are true.”
“We were not…” She rolled her eyes instead of lying. “Don’t delay your mom too long, Ash. I’m going to head into the restaurant.”
Ashley made a tiny clap of happy-fun over her grin. “Yay for you.”
This would be all over the resort in no time, Tessa thought as she made her way toward the restaurant. She’d be employee-gossip fodder for a week. But did that stop Tessa from scanning the whole room, looking for one pair of steel-blue eyes and that sexy smile? No.
Except he wasn’t there.
Jocelyn sidled up next to her. “Lacey’s on the phone with Willow Ambrose from the AABC,” she said. “Something big. She told me to start the meeting.”
“Holler if you need backup,” Tessa said, sliding into a corner table in the back of the room, where she could see the main entrance and the kitchen door. Not that she was waiting breathlessly for John or anything.
That breath came out in a whoosh when he walked in, stood perfectly still, and searched every table, finally landing on Tessa. For what seemed like thirty seconds but was probably a nanosecond, they held eye contact. Then he smiled, all slow and sexy and crazy, crazy hot, and headed toward her, so focused on his target she actually felt herself back up at the power of his stare.
When he reached her table, he stopped right there and leaned in close enough that she could smell a hint of shampoo and see that he’d recently gotten out of the shower, as she had.
Shower. Wet. Naked.
Oh, this was going to be a long meeting.
“Can’t we blow off this business and go for a bike ride?” he whispered. “It’s gorgeous out.”
It was gorgeous in, too.
“We’re already in trouble with the boss and the talk of the break room, so no.” She gestured to the other seat at the two-top. “You can sit here if you don’t distract me.” Like that was remotely possible.
He dragged the other chair close to her, sitting so his leg brushed hers under the linen tablecloth. Reaching over to her face, he pushed back the lock of hair she’d wound over her neck. His fingers tickled her skin, the move pure possession and sex.
“Whoops.” He sounded more proud than apologetic. “Did I do that?”
She slid him a sideways look. “I owe you one.”
“More than one, I hope.”
She laughed softly, shaking her head. “What am I going to do with you?”
“I can’t believe you have to ask that question.” He pressed his thigh against hers under the table. “But since you won’t leave this meeting, how about a late dinner tonight? Walk on the beach in the moonlight? We could find your junonia.”
“We’ll see.”
“I want to ask you something.”
“What do you want to ask me?”
“Not here. Somewhere romantic.”
Her pulse skyrocketed, along with her curiosity. “Ask me now.”
He settled his large hand on her thigh and gave a squeeze. “Patience.”
“Like you had in the pantry?”
He gave a sly smile, but Jocelyn called for everyone’s attention with a clap.
“Lacey wants me to get things started, team.” Jocelyn stood with the windows behind her, the cobalt water and baby-blue sky as her backdrop, her dark hair pulled into its usual ponytail of perfection, not a stray hair out of place. Still, Jocelyn wasn’t the uptight life coach she used to be, thanks to Will and a nice life running the spa at Casa Blanca.
“So since Lacey’s not here, let me take a minute to tell you all how amazing this opportunity is. We have a chance to really kick this resort to the next level and it’s going to take some work. I’ll start with…”
Ian leaned closer and stroked the inside of Tessa’s thigh. “So, tonight?” Goose bumps rose on her bare arms and he nodded to them. “Is that a yes?”
“Depends on what you want to ask me, but we better pay attention. This is an important meeting.”
“So is the one I’m proposing…” He drew out the last word, the emphasis so obvious and powerful enough to fire one seriously unholy heat through her.
Why did he say things like that? He didn’t want what she wanted. He wanted sex in the kitchen; she wanted a baby in the belly. Or did he? Sometimes she’d swear he wanted more. Was that possible?
She didn’t take her eyes off Jocelyn to look at him. She was almost scared she’d find out that thought was wrong. Or maybe she was scared it was right.
Either way, she was scared.
Jocelyn walked across the front section of the restaurant, handing out some papers to be passed around. “In case you haven’t had a chance to do your homework on the American Association of Bridal Consultants, this will tell you what we’re dealing with and how important this weekend will be for our budding destination-wedding business. If we are selected as one of their AABC-approved resorts, that means many of the country’s wedding planners will be bringing brides for site visits and, of course, we can plan on a steady stream of destination weddings.”
A buzz of response hummed through the room as she continued. “Those weddings will fill our rooms and villas, keep our kitchen running full speed, pack the spa to capacity, lift the hot-air-balloon business to an all-time high, and kick up our entire event and catering business.” She paused to take a breath and let it all sink in. “In other words, this is the most important weekend we’ve ever had that could make or break this resort.”
The staff reacted with the appropriate cheers and claps and a barrage of questions, all so fast and furious that Jocelyn held up her hands “Hang on, troops. Lacey will answer everything when she’s off the phone.”
John leaned closer, his face so, so close to hers. “You thinking about it?”
She was certainly thinking about something. “The weekend with the wedding consultants?” she asked, trying—and failing—to keep the smile off her face. “I am, and so should you, since it’s the only reason we hired you.”
“The only reason?” He feigned a hurt look. “I thought it was my boyish charm and irresistible kisses.”
“And because we need you to cook when they’re here. Shh.” She jutted her chin toward Jocelyn. “She’s going to talk about the menu any minute.”
He moved closer, kicking up the assault of a soapy scent and a warm, comfortable hand, reminding her of how it felt on her breast, on her backside.
“Now you’re thinking about sex.”
She straightened guiltily. “Speak for yourself.”
“I am.” He drummed his fingers on her thigh, way too high, way too close to a spot that grew warmer and damper by the moment.
“Is that what you want to ask me tonight? To have sex with you?”
“Not exactly.”
Not exactly? “What does that mean?”
“It means come out with me tonight and I’ll tell you.” He slid his hand one more inch up her thigh, heat pressing through her jeans. “Please?”
“Maybe.” Who was she kidding—maybe? She was already thinking about what she’d wear: black or red undies?
As if he’d read her mind, he flicked his thumb right between her legs, making her gasp the very second things quieted down. At the next table, a nail tech in the spa shot them a curious look. Tessa
tried to smile and cross her legs. Impossible.
“Of course, we were thrown a huge monkey wrench,” Jocelyn continued. “When we found out they wanted to move up their visit from next summer to later this month.”
“That’s not the only monkey wrench that hit us.” Lacey bounded into the restaurant, her eyes bright, the cell phone still clutched in her hand. “I just got walloped with one more.”
Tessa sat up, and the chatter in the room quieted down.
Lacey took a moment to cross the room, set the phone dramatically on one of the tables, and put both hands on her hips to make her announcement. “It seems that the whole site visit is now contingent on one thing.”
The entire room hushed to silence.
“We need to have a wedding that weekend.”
Instantly, John pulled his hand away and sat forward. “What?” he asked.
“I know,” Lacey replied, nodding his way. “It’ll be a challenge for the kitchen, but I promise you we’ll bring in help, Chef Brown. We’ll get a pastry professional and more hands for you in the kitchen.”
“Just what you need,” Tessa mumbled under her breath. “More hands.”
But he didn’t laugh, his attention still on Lacey. “Do we have a wedding scheduled that weekend?”
Lacey threw her hands up. “That’s the problem. We do not, nor do I have any couples that could possibly be coerced into changing their date. Unfortunately, our competition in Naples does have a wedding scheduled and the planners are considering moving their weekend visit there.”
Jocelyn stepped forward, frowning. “Why didn’t they mention this to us when they were here?”
“It came up when they met with the regional directors,” Lacey replied. “Because we are so new and untested, the directors feel that the only way they can make a real recommendation is if they witness a ceremony, sample a wedding dinner, and assess how we handle logistics, decor, staffing, everything.”
“That’s crazy,” Tessa said. “We can’t pull off a wedding in two weeks.”
A few disappointed moans of agreement traveled through the room, then the nail tech at the next table called out, “Zoe! It’s your time.”
“Yeah, Zoe!” A few others agreed. “You’re engaged.”
“Move your date up with Oliver!”
“Can it,” Zoe said, standing up from her seat in the front to turn and face her colleagues. Rubbing her small but distinctive baby bump, she shook her head. “I’m not walking down the aisle until my baby of honor can be there.” When Jocelyn and Lacey gave her pleading looks, Zoe shook her head. “Oliver and I agreed, and there’s no way I’m throwing my one and only wedding together in two weeks, sorry.”
“So what do we do?” someone asked, giving voice to the question on everyone’s mind.
Next to her, John’s body language had changed as he leaned forward, his torso tight, his jaw set. He must realize how important this weekend is, Tessa thought with a rush of affection.
Lacey sighed audibly. “She did tell me we could back out and maybe get rescheduled for next year, but this is the end of her tenure as president, so there’s no telling where the next board will want to go. So I guess we have to—”
“Have a wedding.” John pushed back and stood so fast his chair toppled.
Everyone in the room turned to him, and Tessa drew back an inch, that affection soaring now. He really, really cared about the resort.
“Suggestions are welcome,” Lacey said. “You have any ideas?”
“Yes.” A slow, broad smile broke over his face, turning it from merely handsome to unspeakably hot. And then he looked down at Tessa, expectantly. “I have a capital idea.”
A capital idea? The foreign-sounding phrase was the least of the things that sent a blast of heat through her. The warmth in his eyes, the certainty, the overwhelming sense that he meant…
No, no, no. That was her overactive imagination at work.
“A perfect solution,” he continued, kind of shaking his head like whatever idea had just occurred to him was too good to even be contained there.“It’s the answer to everything.”
The entire room stared at him, including Tessa.
Very, very slowly, he lowered himself, bypassing the toppled chair and landing right on—one knee.
The whole room drew in one loud, collective gasp, but not Tessa. Gasping would require breathing, which, right then, was physically impossible.
“You’ll marry me,” he said.
Not a question, not a joke, and not a fantasy.
“Are you out of your mind?” she whispered.
Someone squeaked—Zoe, no doubt—and a few people hooted and somebody else shouted “Say yes!” but mostly the room tilted so far off center Tessa thought her own chair might topple with her in it.
“You’ll marry me,” he repeated, still on one knee, as if those three words made any sense at all.
He took her hand and looked right into her eyes, his voice barely audible over the room noise and the thunder of blood in her ears. “You know it’s going to happen. It’s inevitable.”
Inevitable? “It is?” Her voice cracked again.
“What do you think I was going to ask you tonight?”
Her jaw dropped, but he pulled her right into him and kissed her, and the whole room, along with Tessa’s head, exploded.
Chapter Eighteen
Ian could taste the shock in her mouth. Shock and mint and raw confusion sparking in her open lips that didn’t exactly respond to his. Unless her response was to tense every muscle and use all her power to whip away. But he held her firmly and kissed her solidly until the noise in the room and the buzzing in his head abated.
The answer had been handed to him and he wanted a celebratory kiss.
Finally, he let her win and pop backwards, her mouth still hanging open in disbelief. “What the—”
“It’s for the resort,” he insisted in a whisper.
“No, I wo—”
He put his fingers on her lips, still warm and so soft. “Don’t say no.”
She blinked at him. “No.”
“No, you won’t consider it, or no, you give the idea a chance?”
“Are you nuts?”
He grinned. “Do I have to state the obvious? I’m nuts about you.”
Behind him, he was aware that Lacey had walked over to the table and he had no doubt the other two in Tessa’s entourage would be here in a moment. The question was, Would her friends be on his side, or the sane side?
He had to move fast. “Tessa, give me a chance.”
“A chance? You’re asking for…”
“You don’t mean a real wedding?” Lacey asked from behind him.
Tessa looked up at her, relief and gratitude on her face. “I’m sure he doesn’t.”
“Of course I…” He finally got up from his knee, taking the chair someone had righted for him, scrambling for the best strategy. “Don’t,” he finished.
For the first time in a minute, Tessa breathed.
Okay, let her think it was pretend. Until the very last possible second, then, somehow, as part of the act, he’d get her to sign the papers. Henry could pay off a justice of the peace and she wouldn’t even know she’d signed a real marriage certificate. Or…or…
Or nothing. He didn’t have another idea, but he’d think of one. All that mattered was that this cut so much precious time out of the process and he could be married in two weeks, meeting the Canadian board’s ridiculous time line.
“You mean like a re-enactment?” Zoe came in the other side.
“That’s not a bad idea.” Jocelyn flanked the left.
“What do you think?” Lacey asked Tessa.
“I don’t know.” She dragged the words out, searching his face. “I mean, it seems kind of…impulsive.”
“It’s a great solution,” he said quickly.
“A fake wedding.” Tessa’s words weren’t a question, and they were thick with disgust.
No, not fake.
&
nbsp; Lacey dropped into a chair across the table. “I guess we don’t have to tell the AABC board that it’s fake. They want to see a wedding and we can re-create what we did for Gloria and Slade’s wedding last month. We still have a lot of the decorations, so everything will be real except—”
“Except it won’t be,” Tessa said flatly.
“Unless you want it to be,” Ian replied, his voice low, but the other women heard him.
“Awww,” Zoe said, balling her hands up under her chin. “So sweet.”
Tessa mowed her down with a look. “He’s kidding.”
Not exactly.
“We could do it,” Lacey said, getting a lot of nods and “Yeah”s from the staff. “Honestly, it wouldn’t be that hard.”
“But you have to run the kitchen,” Tessa said to John. “You can’t be the groom and the head chef. If we’re going to do a faux wedding, we should have someone who’s not so critical to the resort and restaurant.”
“Sure I can.” He shoved confidence into every word. “Marcus will back me up and I’ll organize and plan everything ahead of time. Lacey said we’ll add temporary staff and all I have to do is quick supervision. We can do it easily.”
“We need guests,” Tessa said, grabbing metaphorical bricks to build this wall and stop the train.
“Invite the whole town.”
“And cake.”
“New pastry chef, right, Lacey?”
“And…” She was running out of ideas. “A dress.”
“I thought you’d picked one out,” he replied.
That silenced all the questions and sent every eye directly to Tessa, who was still staring at him, her face bloodless and blank. “I was just…looking.”
He rescued her by taking her hand and laughing. “Don’t worry, Tess. It’ll be fun, and think of how important this is to the business.”
“He’s right,” Lacey agreed, beaming at him. “If we don’t come up with a solution to this problem, we may never have this opportunity to impress the AABC again.”
Tessa nodded. “I mean…can’t it be…someone else?”
“I’ll do it.” Everyone turned at the sound of Ashley’s voice. At the attention, her face reddened. “I mean, if you want another stand-in bride, I’ll do it.” A few feet behind her, Marcus straightened from the wall he leaned against, his eyes wide.
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