by Raine Thomas
Rosemary had been balancing her hectic days at Petit with arranging dress shopping and fittings for her bridesmaid’s dress, avoiding the paparazzi that had unexpectedly been hanging around the Petit office and her apartment since she got back to L.A., and doing her best to keep her family from driving Lily crazy.
That last task was nothing new to her. One of her most important tasks as a wedding planner was doing whatever it took to keep the couple calm and happy, which often meant running interference with overzealous family members.
Lily had mentioned a couple of weeks ago that Rhonda kept harassing her for a meeting to discuss the wedding and House of Archer. Rosemary had done her best to try and deflect Rhonda from the idea, telling their mother that Lily was incredibly busy and Rosemary could answer any questions she had.
So far, Rhonda hadn’t been able to be swayed. Lily had told Rosemary the day before that she was probably going to break down and schedule the meeting just to get Rhonda off her back. Rosemary had offered to be there but Lily had given her a reprieve.
“You’ve done enough,” Lily had said. “And I’m keeping you plenty busy. I’ve got this.”
Admittedly relieved, Rosemary had told her sister to let her know if she changed her mind. With Rhonda temporarily off her plate, it had allowed Rosemary more time to focus on her real work.
“Did Lily confirm the party pairings?” Monique asked, her fingers hovering over the keyboard on Rosemary’s laptop. She had been filling in the details on the timeline as Rosemary consulted her notes.
“Yes. Keith and Sydney as BM and MOH. Me and Sage. Xander and Aria. Peter and Noelle.”
Monique’s lips thinned when Rosemary mentioned being paired with Sage. She refrained from comment as she typed the information into the timeline.
They’d had numerous conversations about Sage, including what it was going to be like—totally unbearable—for Rosemary to be by his side throughout the wedding. Rosemary had to put Lily’s happiness over her own discomfort. There was no way she couldn’t after Lily’s touching invitation to stand up for her.
As the weeks passed with no word from Sage, Monique had held Rosemary’s hand, listened to her, cried with her, and then had ultimately taken it upon herself to convince Rosemary to move on. There were days when Rosemary was more open to that idea than others.
“Okay,” Monique said. “The basics are entered. Let’s take it from the top. Has it been confirmed that Lily and Archer are both getting ready at the venue?”
“Yes. Lily has the Orchid meeting room and Archer will be in Palm. Hair and makeup will begin for the entire bridal party at eight a.m.”
Rosemary barely registered the chime of the front door as they continued entering details. The only reason she tuned into it at all was because she knew it was late in the day. She figured it was probably Harriett returning from her errand.
Then she heard Ines say, “Hello, Mr. Strickland. Welcome to...”
Rosemary didn’t hear another word. All of her blood rushed up to her head, drowning out every other sound.
After a couple of seconds during which she didn’t think any synapses fired in her brain, she suddenly turned to Monique and grabbed her by the shoulders.
“Help me,” she insisted.
Monique’s eyes narrowed. “There’s no way I’m letting you talk to him.”
“Monique.”
On the other side of the wall, Ines was saying, “Let me see if she can break away for a few minutes.”
Rosemary gave her best friend a pleading look. Huffing out a sigh, Monique gave her a quick scan. She reached over and pulled out the pencil Rosemary had used to stick her hair in a messy bun. She ran her fingers through Rosemary’s hair to fluff it out and frame her face, then she opened the top drawer of the desk and pulled out the compact and lip gloss they kept there in case they needed to meet with a walk-in client on the fly.
When Ines appeared on their side of the wall, Rosemary was swiping the gloss over her lips while Monique strategically applied the powder to Rosemary’s face. “I assume you heard who just walked in,” she said in a low voice.
Rosemary nodded as she resealed the lip gloss and tossed it back into the drawer.
“Do you want to speak with him?” Ines asked.
Nodding again, she got to her feet and smoothed her skirt. The action had the side benefit of drying her now-damp palms.
Monique also rose. “Not without me, you’re not.”
Knowing when to pick her battles, Rosemary nodded a third time. Then she took a deep breath and headed for the stairs leading down to the office’s main floor. Because the area was open, Rosemary spotted Sage the moment she stepped out from behind the shrubbery wall. He was sitting on the sofa in the small waiting area beside Harriett’s desk. His attention was on the series of wedding photos decorating the walls, so she had a moment to just look at him.
His hair had gotten longer, she noted. The thick waves were getting a little unruly. Something about that charmed her. He was normally so carefully groomed.
Oh, who was she kidding? Everything about him charmed her. The geeky Green Lantern T-shirt he was wearing. The high-top sneakers he’d paired with his torn jeans. The way his knee bounced, reflecting his nerves.
And when she started down the stairs and those beautiful golden eyes moved to her, the smile that spread across his face charmed her most of all.
It took everything within her to remind herself how hurt she’d been by his silence these past three weeks. There was no knowing why he was there now. She needed to steel her heart for the possibility that he wanted to discuss Noelle’s wedding plans...or worse, plans for a wedding to Kaila.
Would he really be that clueless?
That cruel?
He got to his feet as she reached the bottom of the stairs. He started forward to meet her, then seemed to sense that visitors weren’t meant to walk beyond the reception area without someone escorting them. It was adorable how uncertain he looked as he stopped and shoved his hands into his pockets.
Stop it, she thought. Get a grip.
She stopped a few feet from him, fearing that a hug or even a handshake might make her lose all control of herself. The pressure on her chest when she got close enough to smell his aftershave was excruciating. She couldn’t even command her voice to issue a greeting.
“Hi,” he said. His gaze moved from her to Monique, who was standing at her elbow with her arms crossed over her chest. “You must be Monique.”
“What are you doing here?” Monique coolly replied.
“Monique,” Ines said in a warning voice as she reached the bottom of the stairs.
Monique lifted a hand in her mother’s direction. “No. This is not me talking to a client. This is me talking to the man who broke my best friend’s heart. I want to know why he dragged his sorry ass in here three weeks after sleeping with her and then dropping her like a two-dollar hooker, acting as though she owes him so much as a minute of her time.”
Ines heaved a sigh over her daughter’s behavior. Rosemary would typically have been just as appalled to hear Monique address someone this way in the office, but it was hard to take exception when Monique was standing as her champion.
Sage seemed thrown off by Monique’s directness. He blinked several times. His face flushed with color. It took him a moment to look again at Rosemary. When he did, she saw regret in his eyes.
Did he regret hurting her...or sleeping with her?
“I’m so sorry, Rose,” he said.
Hearing the nickname had Rosemary’s throat closing up on her. There was so much she wanted to say to him, but she hadn’t anticipated this overwhelming wealth of emotion surging through her. She’d had no time to prepare for this.
“No,” Monique said again, now moving between them. “You can address your lame-ass apology to me.”
“Look—”
“Nope.” Monique waved her entire arm to punctuate the single word. “My girl is too sweet to ever tell you off like she
damn well should. You don’t deserve to know just how much pain you caused her.”
“God, I’m so sorry,” Sage said, moving to try and see Rosemary only to be deterred by Monique’s bobbing and weaving. “I can’t stand that I’ve hurt you, Rose. I was an idiot. I agreed not to communicate with you because Kaila asked me not to. These three weeks have been the hardest of my life.”
“Oh, please,” Monique scoffed. “You expect us to believe that three weeks of monkey sex with the love of your life is a hardship? Give us a break.”
“No!” Sage exclaimed. “It hasn’t been like that. Kaila and I aren’t—we haven’t—”
Rosemary’s eyes burned with tears of relief. She believed him when he said he and Kaila hadn’t been having sex. The thought of them together had caused the most gut-wrenching part of the pain she’d been living with since leaving Vegas.
“Rosemary, please,” Sage said, stepping closer so she could see him over Monique’s shoulder. “Please listen to me. I can never tell you enough how sorry I am for hurting you. You need to know how much you mean to me. I couldn’t go another day without telling you how wonderful I think you are.”
The words were what her heart had been craving to hear. She parted her lips to reply.
“I simply cannot believe this guy,” Monique said first with a shake of her head. She looked at Rosemary over her shoulder. “You and I have to have a serious conversation about your taste in men.”
“Hey,” Sage said with a frown.
“Don’t ‘hey’ me,” Monique rounded on him. “You were just talking about Kaila in the present tense. It ‘hasn’t’ been like that. You ‘aren’t’ having sex. Answer me this, lover boy. Are you and Kaila still together?”
Sage looked momentarily confounded. His hesitation was damning.
“Unbelievable,” Monique said, tossing her hands up as though he was a lost cause.
Rosemary couldn’t argue with her. Had Sage really come to see her while he and Kaila were still together? What did that mean? That he only wanted to be her friend?
“It’s not what you’re thinking,” Sage backpedaled. “I just...I left in a hurry. I had to talk to you, Rosemary, to let you know how I feel.”
“Oh, really?” Monique said. “Suddenly you’re in an all-fired hurry to tell her how you feel after three weeks? How convenient that you still have Kaila to go back to so if Rosemary tells you to stick it like she should, you have a backup.”
“You’re putting words in my mouth,” Sage accused.
“Well someone ought to, ‘cause you suck at it,” Monique snapped back. “You can take your pitiful excuse for an apology with you on your way out the door. I just got my girl here back in the right headspace and convinced her to start dating again. I don’t need you getting her all confused while you dangle her and Kaila around on strings.”
“Jesus,” Sage said, shoving his hands through his hair. “That isn’t at all what this is. I’m trying to tell Rosemary that I love—”
Rosemary stiffened.
“Oh, hell no,” Monique interrupted, grabbing him by the shoulders and physically ushering him towards the door. “You don’t dare come in here throwing the L word around when you know damn well you have no business doing so. You want Rosemary to know how you feel about her? You figure out a way to show her. And you make damn sure you’re single and your head is on straight. ‘Cause this right here was a hot freakin’ mess.”
She pushed the office door open and sent Sage right out onto the sidewalk. Rosemary started to go to him, seeing the devastated look on his face. Ines stepped forward and put her hands on her shoulders, keeping her from moving.
“You want to get to Rosemary?” Monique concluded. “You have to get through me. Good luck with that.”
She yanked the door closed and turned the lock, then twisted the blinds covering the door until they were closed and Sage was no longer visible. When she was done with that, she turned and walked over to Rosemary, drawing her into a hug.
Rosemary immediately burst into tears.
“I know, sweetie,” Monique said gently, running her hand along Rosemary’s hair. “He’ll figure it out eventually.”
“And if he doesn’t, Monique will kick his ass,” Ines offered, rubbing Rosemary’s upper arm.
That prompted an unexpected laugh from Rosemary. Ines hardly ever swore.
“It was a rather prime ass,” Monique allowed. “I can see why you’re eager to bounce against it naked again.”
“Mon Dieu,” Ines muttered, followed by a string of French that Rosemary figured translated to her daughter having the manners of a pig.
“Come on,” Monique urged, starting in the direction of the stairs with her arm still around Rosemary. “We’ll go finish this draft of the timeline and then print out the least attractive photo of Sage Strickland we can find on the internet and throw darts at it.”
Rosemary mopped at her face and gave Monique the smile her friend was seeking. “I love you, you know.”
“I love you too. See? It’s so easy to say. Maybe I should offer to give lessons to a thick-headed sound specialist.”
Elbowing her friend in the side, Rosemary said, “I think you’ve done enough, thanks.”
Monique winked at her. “You’re welcome.”
Chapter Thirty-Five
The dreaded day had finally come...Lily’s meeting with Rhonda.
It had taken a few weeks to schedule largely because Lily really, really hadn’t wanted to do it. She also needed to make sure there were no lingering wedding plans left that Rhonda could conceivably meddle in. Eventually she had come to the conclusion that any interaction with her mother would be good for the show, so she had arranged to meet with her at the dress shop Rhonda specified to help give input on her Mother of the Bride dress. The dress had already been bought and paid for, as the wedding was only eleven days away. Rhonda had suggested that Lily could offer feedback on the final fitting regarding her hem length and any other last-minute alterations.
One of Lily’s conditions for agreeing to the meeting was that the House of Archer cameras needed to be there. As expected, Rhonda had readily agreed. Now here Lily was, wishing the ground would open up and swallow her whole as she sat in a frilly downtown boutique while her mother modeled her dress.
“I know they say that guests shouldn’t wear white to a wedding unless it’s requested,” Rhonda said, turning to admire herself in the mirrors near the dressing room. “But this is really more of an ivory. I just fell in love with it.”
Nothing Rhonda did shocked Lily anymore, including choosing to wear white—so not ivory—to her wedding. She couldn’t even generate enough pique to throw a fit about it for the sake of the show.
“It’s lovely,” Lily said.
Oddly, she meant it. Lily had never been to this boutique. It was located on the second floor of a newly renovated plaza just off Melrose. From what she had seen as Ryan escorted her up to the shop, only about half the stores were currently filled with merchants. Construction was still taking place on part of the building, and she had to guess the rent for the area was prohibitive for many small business owners.
The dresses in this particular store reflected the quality that should accompany such high rent. Lily hadn’t been sure what to expect with her mother’s usually tawdry taste. The boutique’s inventory was stylish and the staff professional. The two co-owners had been happy to close the shop to the public for the hour Lily and Rhonda would be there...with the agreement that the shop would be mentioned on the show, of course.
Lily had been ushered to one of two plush chairs near the dressing room and handed a glass of champagne, which she’d downed almost immediately. Rhonda had headed straight for the dressing room. When she emerged, Lily saw that she’d chosen a classy A-line dress with a lacy bodice and flowing chiffon skirt.
In white, of course.
“You really like it?” her mother asked, turning again and smoothing the dress so it conformed even more to her swoll
en bosom. “What do you think, Specialist Westbrook?”
Lily pressed her hands together where they were folded in her lap. She noted out of the corner of her eye when the House of Archer camera held by Spence moved from Rhonda to Ryan. Ryan had only to give Spence a warning look to have the camera operator swiveling back to Rhonda. The show wasn’t supposed to air any footage of The Void’s security team to help keep their identities from the general public so they could more effectively do their jobs.
“I don’t think it needs any alterations,” Lily said, pretending her mother hadn’t just completely disregarded her warnings against interacting with Ryan.
The seamstress standing near Rhonda nodded in agreement.
“I think the hem needs to come up to about here,” Rhonda said, reaching down and lifting the skirt several inches until it didn’t even reach her knees.
“I disagree,” Lily said. “It’s a formal venue, so the length is perfect.”
Again, the seamstress nodded.
Rhonda made a face in the mirror. “You just don’t want everyone looking at my legs instead of you. You can’t stand having the attention on anyone else.”
Lily saw the look the seamstress gave Rhonda. It was all Lily could do not to break character and start laughing.
That’s right, lady, she thought. She’s really like this.
“Is it really too much to want the attention on me on my own wedding day?” Lily asked out loud, going for exasperation in her tone.
“You always want the attention on you,” Rhonda said. “And I suppose you’re right. The bride should be the focus.”
Lily’s eyebrows shot up.
“But before you even get out there for the ceremony, I’ll be escorted down the aisle by your brother and everyone will be watching me,” Rhonda added with a satisfied smile.
Agreeing to allow Rhonda to process before the bridal party had been an earlier concession Lily had made when Rhonda pitched a fit about no one but Rosemary representing their family in Lily’s bridal party. Since Lily had already planned on asking Dane’s parents to process—which meant Rhonda would need to process too—it hadn’t really been a concession on her part.