Jack laughed as he and Emerson headed out the sliding glass door to the patio in question, Cosmo happily following in their wake.
Xander called after them, “It all starts with some lounge chairs.”
And then they were alone in the kitchen. Grace decided to look at everything but Xander. She took in the counters that Jack had recently replaced with a light gray granite. She noticed the cabinets that Emerson wanted to paint white. She even looked down at the worn-in pair of Sperrys she was wearing on her feet.
“So,” Xander said.
“So,” she countered with an eyebrow quirk for good measure.
Then, silence. They both stared at each other, then she rolled her eyes. Finally, he cleared his throat as if to speak. She could tell he was choosing his words carefully. “I happen to really like Emerson.”
She crossed her hands over her chest.
“Seriously,” he said. “She’s awesome. And I was only teasing them.”
“Hmm.” Grace supposed she could take his word for it.
Xander leaned back against the counter and took a long swig of his beer. Grace’s gaze was drawn to his lips. Those smooth lips that had almost been on hers the other night...
“Moving on,” he finally said, cutting off that train of thought. “How was your day, dear? How’s the wedding biz?”
Grace mirrored his stance by leaning up against the opposite counter. “Quite busy, actually.”
She talked about a recent bridesmaid brunch she’d put together on the fly, as well as an upcoming bridal shower and two different bachelorette parties. Then she regaled him with the hotel contract woes she’d experienced today, and threw in a couple of nightmare stories of her dealings with florists for good measure.
Finally, Grace finished her wedding overload. She had to bite her lip from laughing at Xander’s blank expression.
“Well,” he said. “That’s a lot for one day in a couple’s life. I mean, I’ve been to plenty of weddings, but I never really thought about what went on behind the scenes. You really take on a lot of responsibility.”
“Some couples want to make sure everything is perfect,” she said with a shrug.
He nodded his head. “I guess. But it still seems like a waste of money.”
She growled under her breath. “It’s a special day. Think about your own wedding.”
He let out a mirthless laugh. “Never going to happen.”
“What do you mean? You’re never getting married?”
“Nope. I don’t believe in marriage. At all.”
* * *
The look on Grace’s face was priceless.
He would have laughed. But Xander had a feeling if he did, Grace wouldn’t take too kindly to it. Telling this particular wedding planner that he didn’t believe in marriage was probably akin to telling a cartographer that he didn’t think the earth was round.
Yes, he wanted to get under her skin, but he happened to be telling the truth. After his experience with his parents, not to mention what he saw every single day at work, there was no way he could be all rah-rah about the idea of weddings and commitment. Because he didn’t believe in them at all.
Frankly, he never should’ve started this conversation. Jack hadn’t mentioned Grace would be coming to dinner until he’d already arrived and popped open a beer. Smart man. Once they were comfortably catching up on the latest Nationals win in the kitchen, there was no way he could make an excuse to get out of the evening. And it definitely hadn’t taken long for the usual disagreements between him and Grace to surface. Xander considered himself a fairly patient man, yet when this raven-haired beauty came around, any semblance of patience flew out the window.
Even with the shocked expression on her face, she was beautiful, especially with her thick, dark hair piled on top of her head. He’d love to get his hands in it and mess it up even more. Watch it fall around her heart-shaped face before he kissed her...
Her mouth opened and then closed as she seemed to struggle for words. “You really don’t believe in marriage?”
Jack walked into the kitchen, heard Grace’s question, looked between the two of them, grabbed another beer and quickly backed out.
Xander shook his head. “No.”
“No marriages?”
“Nope.”
“I’m not just asking about you personally. I get that marriage is a personal choice. By all means, feel free to not want to get married.”
“Thanks,” he said dryly.
“But you don’t believe in marriage at all? Like, between any two people?”
“That’s what I said.”
“But...why?”
Xander had the impression that he could have said he threw kittens over cliffs and she would have reacted less harshly. If she only knew what he’d grown up with. What he continued to see transpire between his parents—two people whose marriage was the foundation for some of the worst fights on the planet.
“It’s hardly a shocking thing, Grace. A lot of people don’t believe in marriage.”
“Oh, yes, I see that every day in my line of work. That’s why I have a waiting list to plan those big, fancy parties that you think cost too much money.”
“They do cost way too much. Come on, it’s one single day.”
She shook her head and ignored his comment. “What about children?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know if kids are for me. But I don’t have anything against children. Besides, you don’t need a piece of paper to have children.”
“What about commitment?” she persisted. “Showing the person you love that they can trust you?”
“Again, you don’t need that little piece of paper to show you’re committed. If you even choose to be ‘committed.’” He used air quotes when he said the word committed.
Her eyes narrowed and she pointed a finger at him. “What does that mean?”
“You can say some words in front of your friends in a church or a hotel ballroom or under a chuppah or wherever. Doesn’t mean squat. That’s what I see every day in my job.”
“Not everyone gets divorced.”
“Half of married couples split up.”
“Half of married couples stay together,” she countered, stepping close to him. They were nose-to-nose. “Do you have any idea how much love I see on a daily basis?”
He had to stifle a groan. She was beyond delusional. “Love? You see wedding dresses and china patterns and dollar signs.”
Her mouth dropped open and an indignant huff escaped. “You know nothing about my job. I happen to see couples who want to celebrate their love with the people in their lives.” She returned to the other side of the kitchen, picked up her wineglass and took a long drink.
“Oh, please,” he snorted. “Just this morning, I met with a couple who had one of the biggest, grandest, most extravagant weddings of all time. You know when they got married? Three years ago.”
Grace narrowed her eyes. “Is that the marriage I overheard you talking about? The one you were so thrilled had ended?”
Xander felt his face fall. He would have cast his gaze to the floor, only there was no way he was letting Grace win this round. She was glaring darts at him, but she had no idea what she was talking about. There was a very important reason why he was happy to assist with this particular divorce.
“No,” he said slowly. “What I saw today was the end of one of the worst unions I’ve ever witnessed.”
He’d known Jess since college. She’d dated his roommate. She had always been a fun, outgoing and kind person. The relationship with his roommate hadn’t worked out, but Jess had stayed in touch, even after she got married to someone else. She’d always been a bright light in his world.
Unfortunately, Xander had no idea that while she was smiling on the outside, her world had been falling apart.
Xander ran a hand through hi
s hair. “Today, I finalized a divorce for an old friend. Her scumbag of a husband had been abusing her, both physically and verbally.”
Grace gasped.
“She’d felt trapped, alone,” Xander said.
“That’s awful.” She bit her lip. “I’m sorry. I guess... I can see why you were so happy it ended.”
Progress, he thought. “I’m not a monster, Grace. I don’t believe in marriage, but that doesn’t mean I get some kind of perverse joy out of seeing people’s happiness crushed when a union ends.”
She put her wineglass on the counter. He thought she was going to walk to him, but in the end, she stayed where she was. She did meet his eyes though.
“I’m glad to hear that. I guess it’s the optimistic part of me that wishes everyone could be happy all the time.”
Xander actually loved that aspect of her. Sometimes, he wished he could be more positive in life. Only, he’d seen too much, witnessed too many unhappy endings.
“Unfortunately, life isn’t a fairy tale, Grace. The world has evolved.”
“You might not believe it, but I do understand that.” She offered a small, sheepish smile. “I guess I just hate the idea that someone might never plan to find your soul mate and fall in love. That you’ll never know what it feels like.”
She raised her arm in emphasis, and Xander’s eyes were drawn there. He searched, but didn’t see any of the bruise from the other night.
“Now that we’ve talked about my unwillingness to settle down, I wanted to find out how you’re feeling after the other night.”
Confusion crossed her face. “The other night? You mean, when we ran into each other?”
“Yeah.”
“When you almost kissed—”
“When Derek was a total jerk to you.” Xander pointed his beer bottle at her arm. “I see the bruise has faded.”
“Ah.” Her cheeks reddened. “That part of the other night.”
“Well, yeah. I don’t know him well, but what I have heard of Derek hasn’t been all that complimentary.”
What he didn’t tell her was that their almost kiss had shaken him up more than he wanted to admit. Even now, he had to actively work to keep the desire to press his lips to hers from surfacing again.
“Has he contacted you since the party?” Xander asked, pushing the unbidden need to the back of his mind.
She shook her head. “Nah. I don’t expect him to.”
“Let me know if you do hear from him.”
Her eyes widened. “Why?”
“Because I don’t want him bothering you.”
“Are you trying to protect me, Xander Ryan?”
Was he? Xander wasn’t sure. All he knew was that seeing Derek grab Grace had set something off inside him.
“I think you proved the other night that you are perfectly capable of protecting yourself.”
She grinned. “Thank you for saying that.”
“You’re welcome.”
Silence engulfed the kitchen for a few moments. Something had just shifted between them. Xander could feel it as clearly as he felt the cold bottle of beer in his hand.
“Are we getting along right now?” Grace asked.
“We might be.”
“Shocking,” she said, her eyes sparkling.
“It is shocking,” he agreed. “Who would have thought that we could stand in Jack’s kitchen together and have a civil conversation.”
Grace raised her glass. “How about a toast to getting along for five whole minutes.”
“I’ll drink to that.”
He closed the gap between them, his gaze shooting down to Grace’s enticing lips. He could see her chest rising and falling as he tapped his beer bottle to her wineglass.
Xander wasn’t sure how they came to this point. Maybe—just maybe—they’d learned something about each other tonight. All he did know—and he knew for damn sure—was that just like the night he’d walked her home, he wanted to kiss her more than he wanted air to breathe.
The door opened and the aroma of charred beef and cheddar cheese wafted over to them. Cosmo let out a little yip right before Emerson poked her head in. They sprang apart, guiltily. “Hm, I don’t see any blood or guts,” she said. “Is it possible you two are getting along?”
“We even toasted each other,” Grace said.
“The temperature did drop pretty drastically outside,” Emerson said.
“Really?” Grace asked.
Emerson rolled her eyes. “Oh yeah, when hell froze over.”
“Clever,” Xander said.
“Thank you. In any case, the food is ready. Want to come out here and eat? Cosmo is dying for one of us to drop something.”
“I got your back, Cosmo,” Xander said.
Slowly, Xander made his way onto the patio. Grace was facing the other way and Emerson was whispering something to her.
“Are we one big, happy family yet?” Jack asked wryly. He swiveled and cocked his head at his fiancée and Grace. Then raised an eyebrow in question at Xander.
Xander shrugged. He may not have the answers to life’s biggest questions, but there was one thing he knew for sure. Things had just gotten interesting between him and Grace.
Chapter Five
Grace hated fidgeting when she was with a client. And today’s client was no ordinary bride. It was Emerson.
She wanted everything to be perfect for her best friend. Even if she had to work twenty-four hours a day from now until the wedding, she would make sure that every table looked perfect, each flower petal was pristine and all i’s were dotted on the invitations even if she had to write them out in her own hand.
If only she could concentrate.
She’d been having issues all week. Unfortunately, she knew the cause. Xander Ryan. She blew out a long, frustrated whoosh of air.
“You okay over there?”
She offered Emerson a smile. “Sorry. Yes, I’m fine. Where were we?”
“We were right in the middle of squashing my most recent wedding-induced panic attack.”
“Right.” Notebook poised on her lap, Grace nodded at her best friend. “Okay, let’s review the choices that you’ve made already. I’m telling you, you’re ahead of the game.”
“Venue, check.” A big smile blossomed on Emerson’s face. “I still can’t believe we got that space. It’s my dream wedding site.”
“A spring wedding in a vineyard,” Grace said dreamily. “It’s going to be amazing.”
Emerson scrunched up her nose. “You don’t think the timing is weird? I know most people do the whole autumn-in-a-vineyard thing.”
Grace squeezed her hand. “The timing didn’t work out unless you wanted to wait another couple of months.”
“No way,” Emerson said. “I’m way too excited to become Mrs. Wright.”
Both women laughed, as they did every time Emerson’s new surname came up. After all, who couldn’t help grinning at the thought of marrying the real Mr. Wright? “That’s what I thought. Spring wedding it is. The cherry blossoms and dogwoods will be in bloom. It’s going to look beautiful.”
Grace continued down her checklist. “You’ve picked your dress. Which the groom has already seen,” she added as she narrowed her eyes at Emerson.
“I’m sure he doesn’t remember that. And, anyway, it’s not like he’s seen me all done up and ready to walk down the aisle.”
“Fine, fine. I’ll let it go for now. But you have to promise not to break any other cardinal prewedding rules.”
“Hate to break it to you, Gracie, but Jack and I have already done it.”
Grace stuck out her tongue. “How about you commit to not spending the night before the wedding together?”
“I’ll consider it.”
“Let’s see. The save-the-date cards are ready to be maile
d.” Grace scrolled down the page in her notebook. “You’ve already picked out the invitations. We’ve narrowed it down to two caterers. Jack is taking care of the honeymoon.”
“We have to pick out your maid-of-honor dress,” Emerson said excitedly. “My mom got in this really cute line of bridesmaids’ dresses last week at her shop. We should get over there and take a look.”
As Emerson began leafing through a bridal magazine and dog-earing pages with different dresses she liked, Grace’s mind began to wander again. To her dismay, it found its way right back to Xander.
She was still processing the two times she’d seen him recently. How she’d been so upset at not being kissed by him after that awful party!
Then there was the other night at Jack’s house. They’d started off at odds, but in the end, something changed.
Hearing about his client had affected her. Not to mention his concern over her after the party. Not even the hosts had called or emailed to make sure she was okay.
Xander was right. He wasn’t a monster. Far from it. He was actually turning out to be...kind of a nice guy.
She felt so confused. Did she like Xander or not? Did she want to kiss him or not?
“I almost kissed Xander,” Grace blurted out.
Emerson stared at her for a long moment before blinking once, twice. Then she coughed delicately and closed the bridal magazine. “I was going to bring up the idea of tea-length bridesmaid dresses but let’s talk about your news instead.”
Grace dropped her head into her hands and groaned.
“I assume we’re talking about the one and only Xander Ryan, your nemesis here?”
Grace acknowledged this with a long groan. Was he still her nemesis? “I don’t even want to talk about it.”
“Uh-uh, you have to spill now. You can’t drop a bombshell on me like that and just clam up. Let’s start with where this almost kiss happened. Was it the other night at Jack’s?”
Grace sat up straight. “Actually, I saw him at that horrible party I went to with Derek earlier this week.”
Emerson held up a hand. “Excuse me, that was several days ago. Why didn’t you tell me this earlier?”
“I was in shock, I think. I don’t know what happened.”
The Wedding Truce Page 5