“We just did.”
“Yes, and I appreciate your putting my safety ahead of your libido, but what does that mean? I’ve told you how I feel about maintaining a professional distance with all members of the wedding party, especially the best man.”
A raised eyebrow mocked her. “I remember.”
She gritted her teeth. “Well, you’re a touchy-feely guy and I can’t deal with that in a professional relationship.”
A stunned expression flashed across his well-defined features but was quickly replaced with a contemplative mask.
“You have my promise I’ll try to keep my hands to myself.”
“The problem with that sentence is the word try.”
He ran a hand over the back of his neck, kneading the muscles and nerves as if to relieve tension, studying her the whole time. Then he flexed his shoulders and faced her.
“Here’s the deal. I’m not a touchy-feely guy. Not normally. I go after what I want, but I respect boundaries and I can handle being told no.”
Yeah, like that happened.
“For some reason it’s different with you. I like my hands on you, like the touch and taste of you to the degree it’s instinctive to seek it.”
OMD. That is so hot.
“So, yes. I promise to try.”
She gulped. “Okay.”
His eyes flashed dark fire. “Is that okay you’ll stay or—”
“Yes. Okay, I’ll move in.” It may be insane to move in with him, but she would feel safer. Plus, it solved her work problem. “But I’m keeping my room at the hotel. Space is already at a premium here in Monte Calanetti and I need a place I can retr—uh...go to if things don’t work out.”
“Fair enough. And as a gesture of my commitment, I’ll pay for the room since you won’t be using it.”
“That’s not necessary.”
“It is to me. I’ll feel better with you at the villa, and I want you to know you can trust me.”
She slowly nodded. “Okay. I’ll go pack.”
* * *
“I had your boxes delivered up here, but if you choose this space, you’ll need a proper desk. It has a bar and a billiard table, but that’s it.”
“I don’t need anything new,” Lindsay protested.
“I doubt the owners will object to us leaving behind an extra piece of furniture.”
“That’s not the point.” He’d warned her that the space lacked a desk or table for her laptop. But, seriously, she didn’t see the problem; she sat with it in her lap half the time.
“Pixie.” He stopped in the upper hallway and swung to face her. His hand lifted to touch but he caught himself and curled the fingers into a fist that he let drop to his side. “Didn’t you look at the numbers? The government contract will lift me to billionaire status. I can afford a desk.”
He opened a door she’d thought was a linen closet. It revealed a staircase of stone steps. His hand gestured for her go ahead of him.
“First of all—” she paused in front of him “—congratulations.”
A pleased smile lit his eyes. The simple expression of joy made her glad she’d put that first.
She got the feeling he received very little positive reinforcement in his personal life. The business world recognized and respected his genius, and his employees obviously appreciated his success and most likely his work ethic. But as an only child whose parents ignored his personal business interests in favor of their own agenda for him to join his father in politics, who did he have that mattered to tell him job well done?
She shook the thought away. He was not a poor, unfortunate child, but an intelligent, successful man.
And he’d hate her pity.
“Second—” she started up the stairs “—it’s not for you to buy me a desk.”
“The duties of a best man are unlimited. But you could be right. Do you want me to call Tony and ask him? Because I can pretty much guarantee his response will be, ‘If the wedding planner needs a desk then buy her a desk. And don’t bother me with such trivial things.’”
Aggrieved, she rolled her eyes, making sure he saw as she rounded the bend in the stairs. “Please, even if he blew off the request that easily, he wouldn’t add that last bit.”
“Not only would he say it, Pixie, that was the clean version. Tony doesn’t have a whole lot of patience these days.”
“He must be dealing with a lot—oh, I love, love, love this.”
She strolled into the middle of the bright room and did a slow turn. The room was a long octagon. Three walls were made of glass and windows, two others were of stone and one held a fireplace. The last was half stone, the other half was a stained-glass mural of a Tuscan hillside; a bar with brown-cushioned stools ran almost the full length of the wall. At the far end there was a door. She checked it out and found it opened onto another spiral staircase that led to the terrace below.
“A separate entrance.”
“Yes, I’ll give you a set of keys. When your assistant gets here, she can still have access if we’re gone.”
“That’d be great but my assistant won’t be coming.”
“What happened?”
“My practical, poised, ever-efficient assistant finally landed a part in a sitcom.”
“Ah, the joy of proprietorship in Hollywood.”
Still feeling deserted, Lindsay nodded. “It’s the third time it’s happened to me. Of course, I’m thrilled for her. But seriously? Worst timing ever.”
“Hey, listen. I’m the first to admit this wedding stuff is not my thing, but I’ll help where I can.”
“Thanks, but you’ve done enough by offering me this space. I’ll finally be able to put up my wedding board. And the help I need involves a hundred little things, well below your pay grade.” She really couldn’t see him playing secretary. And she may appreciate the space and assistance, but the last thing she needed was to have him constantly underfoot.
“There’s no help for it. I’ll have to hire someone local. Maybe Alonso knows someone he can recommend. On the plus side, it will be good to have someone who knows the area and the people, who speaks the language and knows the cost of things.”
“Alonso will know someone. In the meantime, I’m sticking with you. I’ll get a locksmith in to reinforce the locks on all the doors.”
She wanted to protest the need for him to shadow her. Instead she nodded, knowing he was reacting out of concern for her. And she was happy to have the extra security for the dress. It might seem a bother for something they’d only have for another week, but she’d be more comfortable knowing the villa was secure.
She strolled further into the room. In soft beige and sage green, the furniture looked sturdy and comfortable. A U-shaped couch invited her to sit and enjoy the amazing view. The billiard table Zach had mentioned was on the right and her boxes were stacked on the green felt. Past it was the fireplace wall with a bookshelf that offered a wide selection of reading material. Another door hid a bathroom.
The ceiling was high, the beams exposed, and a large fan circulated the air in the room.
There were only two low-slung tables. One in front of the large couch and one between the swivel chairs near the fireplace.
“Oh, yeah, I can work here. No hardship at all.”
She’d totally make do.
Hands on his hips, Zach surveyed the room. “You’ll need a desk.” He repeated his earlier decree. “And you mentioned a wedding board. Is that a whiteboard?”
“A whiteboard would be nice, too. My wedding board is usually a corkboard. I need to be able to tack things to it.”
He had his phone in his hands and was making notes. She sighed, knowing there’d be no shaking him until she hired an assistant. In one sense it was reassuring to know she wasn’t on her own, but it made h
er plan to avoid him a no-go. It was almost as if fate were working against her.
“I guess we have our shopping list, then. What do you want to do now? Unpack your boxes? You said earlier that you wanted to check out the palazzo.”
“Yes. The boxes can wait.” Better to have the boards when she went to do that, anyway. “But, honestly, there’s no need for you to accompany me. Stay. Enjoy your day.”
“I’m coming with you.”
Of course he was. At this point, it was easier to agree than to argue. “Fine. Let me call Louisa and remind her I’m coming then we can go.”
“Who’s Louisa?”
“The owner of the palazzo. We’ve spoken a couple of times. She seems nice. Did you hear they discovered a fresco when they were restoring the chapel?”
“No. That’s quite a discovery. It has to add to the property value.”
“You are such a guy.”
“Pixie, were you in any doubt?”
* * *
“Hello, Louisa, it’s so nice to finally meet you. Thank you for allowing us to tour the property today.” Lindsay greeted the owner of the palazzo.
It surprised Zach to see Louisa was an American. The two women were close to the same age but dissimilar in every other way. Louisa topped Lindsay by four or five inches and wore her white-blond hair in a messy knot on top of her head. Her willowy frame and restrained posture gave her a brittle appearance.
Funny, she held no attraction for him because she fit his type to a tee: long, lithe, and blond. Sure he recognized she was a beautiful woman, but she appeared almost fragile next Lindsay’s vibrancy.
“Louisa, I have to say I’m a little concerned. I thought the renovation would be further along.” Lindsay swept her hand out to indicate the overgrown vegetation and construction paraphernalia strewed through the courtyard and surrounding grounds.
“I can see why you’d be confused.” Louisa’s smile was composed. “But we’re actually right on schedule. They’ve just completed the interior restoration. The construction crew will be back today to finish clearing out their equipment and trash. The next step is the landscapers, but I was actually thinking of hiring some men from town first, to just clear all this out.”
“That might be a good idea,” Lindsay agreed. “Just level it and start fresh.”
“Exactly. I can see some rosebushes, lavender and a few wild sunflowers. But it’s so overgrown it’s hard to know if they’d be worth saving if we took the time and effort to clear the weeds around them.”
Lindsay nodded as the other woman talked. “I think you have the right idea.”
Zach enjoyed watching them interact. He liked how Lindsay’s ponytail bobbed as she talked and the way the sunshine picked up golden highlights in her hair.
He almost forgot his purpose in shadowing her every move.
Mostly because it was against his nature to be covert, to be less than helpful. Case in point: this morning. When he saw Lindsay being intimidated by the press, he jumped right into fix-it mode and invited her to move into the spacious villa. And he’d provided her with a prime workspace. Hell, he fully intended to get her a desk.
All of which went against his prime objective of keeping Antonio from a life of misery. With that thought Zach took out his phone and texted his friend, tagging him for a meeting time.
Right now his biggest problem was the blurring line between his mock flirtation with Lindsay and his honest reactions. There’d been too much truth in his arguments to get her to stay at the villa. She was too comfortable to be around, too soft to the touch, too easy to imagine in his bed.
And too dangerous to succumb to.
He hadn’t felt this way about a woman since...ever. And he wasn’t going there.
From here on out he was back on his game.
“Thanks for talking it through with me.” Louisa folded her arms in front of her. “I’m very grateful to the monarchy for doing the renovation of the palazzo and chapel. I certainly couldn’t have afforded anything this elaborate all at once. Probably never, come to that. But it’s been a pretty intense process. It’s good to have someone to discuss a decision with.”
“I bet.” Lindsay grinned. “Call on me anytime. I’m great at discussion.”
“I can see you are.” A friendly sparkle entered Louisa’s light blue eyes. “And probably pretty good at decisions, too.”
Lindsay rocked on her heals. “Yeah, it’s kind of part of the job description.”
The composed smile held a little more warmth as Louisa gestured to the chapel. “Shall we do a walk-through? I’m afraid we’ll have to make this fairly quick. I have an appointment in Florence tomorrow. I’m driving over tonight so I’ll be there in the morning. I’ve booked passage on the two o’clock ferry.”
“That’s fine. Today I just want to get a feel for the place and take some pictures so I know what I’m working with. And—oh, this is beautiful.” Lindsay surveyed the interior of the chapel with a mix of wonder and calculation on her face. “So charming with the arched windows and the dark wood pews. I can come back on another day to get actual measurements and check out the lighting. I love how the jewel colors flow over the stone tiles from the stained-glass windows. Christina has chosen an afternoon wedding and evening reception. She wants to have it outdoors, so the landscaping will be important.”
“I won’t be able to hire the workers to clear the grounds until I return from Florence,” Louisa informed her, “but I’ll make it a priority when I get back.”
“Why don’t I handle that for you?” Zach offered, seeing an opportunity to cause a few days’ delay. He’d simply tell the workers to be careful to preserve any original flowers. “I’ll talk to the mayor to get some referrals.”
“Thank you. I appreciate it. They did a wonderful job with the restoration,” Louisa stated. “It was quite a mess in here. Stones were missing, the stained-glass windows were broken and some of the walls had wood covering them. Here’s the fresco that was uncovered.” Louisa moved to a shallow alcove and Zach followed Lindsay over.
He understood her gasp. The ancient painting of Madonna and child took his breath away. The colors were vibrant, the detail exquisite. It was almost magnetic—the pull of the fresco, from the pinky tones of Jesus’s skin and the color of Mary’s dark blue robe, to the white and yellow of the brilliant beam of light encasing them and the greens of the surrounding countryside bright with orange and red flowers. The details were so exact, every brush stroke so evident, it seemed it could have been painted a week ago rather than five hundred years.
“Look at the love on their faces.” Lindsay breathed. “The artist caught the perfect expression of Mary’s unconditional love for her child and Baby Jesus’s childlike wonder and awe for his mother. It shows the full bond between mother and child. This will certainly add to the ambience of the wedding.”
With the beauty and love inherent in the fresco, Zach could see how she’d think so. But with his friend’s future and happiness at risk, he couldn’t take that chance.
Zach surprised Lindsay with his patience and insight the next day as they toured four nurseries. She had a whole list of requirements from bouquets and boutonnieres to centerpieces and garlands and more.
Lindsay planned to use roses for the groomsmen, sunflowers over linen chair covers for the reception and a combination of the two for everything else.
To bring about a sense of intimacy in the courtyard and to define the separate areas for eating and dancing, she planned to have rustic scaffolding erected. Lights, flowers and silk drapery would blend rustic with elegance to create a sense of old and new. She actually appreciated Zach’s male point of view and his logistical input.
The helicopter came in handy as they buzzed around the countryside. Deciding on the second vendor she spoke with, Lindsay asked to return to the nursery to p
ut in her order. Zach made no argument. He simply directed the pilot and helped her aboard.
* * *
Zach waited patiently in an anteroom of the magnificent palace. He stood at the terrace doors overlooking a section of the rose garden. Curved benches spaced several feet apart created a circle around a marble fountain of a Roman goddess.
Lindsay would love it. He had to hand it to her, that woman worked. He could practically hear her discourse on what a lovely venue the rose garden would be for a wedding, how the circle represented the ring and the ring represented the commitment made between bride and groom, who once joined together there became no beginning and no end, just the unity of their bond.
“Yeah, right.”
“Talking to yourself, amico mio?” a gruff voice said before a hand clapped on his shoulder.
“Just keeping myself company waiting for you.”
“I’m glad you came.” Tony pulled Zach into the hug he’d learned to endure through the years. Tony was a demonstrative man, how could he not be with such passionate parents?
“Yeah, well, it became clear if I wanted to see you, I’d have to come to you.”
“I only have thirty minutes. I wish I had more time to give you. Hell, I wish we were at Clancy’s eating wings, drinking beer and catching a game.”
“We could be there in fourteen hours,” Zach said, hoping it would be that easy.
Tony laughed. “I’m tempted.” He opened the terrace door and stepped outside. To the left stood a table with comfortable chairs. And a bucket of beers on ice.
“What, no chicken wings?”
“They are on the way.”
Zach sat across from his friend and leaned back in his chair. Tony looked tired. And harassed. Zach knew Tony had to be busy for him to put Zach off. They were as close as brothers, too close for the other man to brush him aside.
“How are things going with the wedding?” Tony asked.
“Let’s just say I could tell you in excruciating detail and leave it at that.”
Tony grinned. “Thanks, bro. I mean that.”
The Best Man & The Wedding Planner Page 10