by Lizzie Shane
Sidney looked up as Victoria walked into the back office of Once Upon a Bride. “Positive. What’s wrong?”
“Another cancellation.” Tori tossed herself onto one of the chairs facing the desk. “Parvati has started calling it the Curse of Mister Perfect.”
Sidney cringed and Tori’s expression softened.
“She’s kidding. Every business goes through ups and downs. There’s no way you going on that show is causing all our brides to suddenly decide they don’t believe in marriage.”
“I don’t know,” Sidney said. “I scoffed in the face of love. Maybe the universe is taking revenge.”
“You didn’t scoff in the face of love. And the universe taking revenge is about as likely as all our financial woes being solved by hopping backwards around the block until our luck changes, like Lorelei suggested.”
“Are our finances really woeful?”
Victoria made a face. Considering she was the one who balanced the books each month, it was not a comforting face.
“If you think me being Miss Right would help…”
Thankfully, Victoria was already shaking her head. “God no. If things get dire we’ll try hopping backwards around the block, but for now—”
The phone at Sidney’s elbow rang. “Maybe that’s someone wildly famous who wants nothing more than to book us for a ridiculously lavish wedding.” She picked up the phone, but the caller-ID told a different story. “It’s Caitlyn.”
Victoria frowned. “The Suitorette?”
Sidney nodded, connecting the call. “Caitlyn! It’s so good to hear from you! I wanted to talk to you after the reunion special, but you just vanished.”
“I had plans to make. Had to win back the love of my life.”
“Daniel?” Sidney asked, incredulous. He had seemed far from the love of Caitlyn’s life at the reunion special.
“No. My neighbor, actually. Here in Tuller Springs, if you believe it. And I have some big news. We’re getting married. And I was hoping you might plan it.”
Sidney was glad Caitlyn couldn’t see her jaw fall. “Don’t tell me you’re marrying the firefighter all the tabloids were talking about.”
“Yeah, that’s Will. I’m sorry I couldn’t talk to you about it—you know how the show is with the confidentiality crap. But I was really hoping you’d forgive me.”
“Caitlyn, there’s nothing to forgive.”
“So will you plan my wedding? You’ll have to deal with my mother—which is a trial in itself. And all of Will’s sisters will want to help.”
“Don’t worry. I’m great at dealing with bossy in-laws.”
“So you’ll do it?”
“Of course.” It was practically the celebrity wedding they’d been praying for. And even if it hadn’t been, it was Caitlyn.
“Oh, thank goodness. I didn’t even know where to start. Will and I thought we’d just do a quiet thing here in Tuller Springs, but my mother was pushing for a splashy New York society wedding and somehow we found ourselves compromising with something tasteful but private on the beach, and I know you said you do beach weddings sometimes—”
“There’s a gorgeous resort here in Eden. It might be just what you’re looking for, if you’d like to fly out and take a look.”
“Will and I were thinking of flying out in a couple weeks—and I think my mother will probably invite herself along. But there’s one other catch you should know about. The show will have to approve the venue.”
“Marrying Mister Perfect? What do they have to do with it?”
“Crud, did I forget to tell you that part? I don’t know what has happened to my brain lately. Marrying Mister Perfect offered to pay for the wedding—with a bonus for Will and me. I thought Will would balk at the idea and at first he did, but then he said if they want to pay me to marry him, we should take the money and have an amazing honeymoon with it. We negotiated so they won’t be able to televise the ceremony or anything on the actual day and the photos will be limited, but in order to get them to agree to that, we had to promise them a special.”
“What kind of special?”
“A Making-a-Mister-Perfect-Wedding special. They want to record us doing all the prep—picking the perfect dress, finding the perfect venue, perfect caterer, cake tastings, the whole nine.”
Greed and terror mixed in equal parts in her gut, her heart beginning to race. That kind of exposure could take Once Upon a Bride to a whole new level. She’d joked about a big celebrity wedding landing in her lap, but that was exactly what this was. She would plan Caitlyn’s wedding if it was a private ceremony of five people on top of a mountain in Colorado, but if MMP was footing the bill it was going to be an event.
The kind of event The Veil magazine paid attention to.
It would completely wipe the slate clean from her early departure. But if she had to be on camera again… “Us?”
“You, me, and the MMP wedding rep. They want to have their person there to make sure everything is being done the MMP way, but I figure if anyone knows how to keep the MMP people from shoving them around, you do.”
She’d been so relieved when she thought her time on camera was over, but this was too good to pass up. The entire country would get to watch her being the fairy godmother. She may not know shit about being Cinderella, but this she could do. And if she had to suffer through a few awkward on-camera moments, she would.
“It’s going to be perfect, Caitlyn.”
Her friend laughed. “I’m not looking for perfect. I’m just excited to be marrying Will.”
*
“Josh! How’s my favorite client?”
Josh grimaced at his agent’s familiar greeting. The cheer in his voice sounded like just another layer of Hollywood bullshit shellacked over the suckage of his real life. “I’m hoping you’re calling with good news.”
“Good news? Try great,” Harry bragged. “The network wants to re-up your contract. Lock you in for four more years.”
Relief shuddered through him—heavily laced with dread. “I’m guessing the focus group data came back in my favor.”
Harry laughed, smug arrogance resonating in the booming sound. “Turns out no one gives a shit if you’re married or not. You’re the face of Marrying Mister Perfect and they adore you. I’m probably going to be able to get you more money, thanks to those fucking focus groups.”
Josh heard a horn blare in the background and realized his agent was probably screaming down the highway as they talked.
“Awesome.” He’d wanted this, but the words felt thin.
“I’m still negotiating the details,” his agent charged on, blissfully oblivious to his misgivings. “Fair warning, it looks like the morality clause is gonna be tighter than a nun’s ass—but we’re talking eight more seasons. That kind of job security is unheard of in this town. I couldn’t get Tom Cruise this deal. They just want you to do one little thing while we’re working out the fine print.”
“Of course they do.”
Chapter Seventeen
The Los Angeles Bridal Expo tried to be elegant and refined—with champagne and canapés for the girls who paid up for the VIP experience—but the result was more tulle-covered feeding frenzy than tea time at the Plaza. Sidney had been to the smaller bridal shows in Santa Barbara and Malibu, but this was the first time she and Victoria had ponied up the big bucks for a vendor’s slot at The Big One. It was exciting—and mildly terrifying.
Victoria had brought along their as seen on Marrying Mister Perfect banner to decorate their booth, along with their sample binders and buckets of promotional items.
Thanks to Sidney’s recent brush with celebrity, the booth was jumping—though most brides wanted to talk about the show more than they wanted to hire her as a wedding planner. Even so, Once Upon a Bride was making contact, being remembered, and building their brand. The brides ran them out of logo pens and fridge magnets in record time—and they kept coming.
By noon, Sidney’s eyes were glazing over with exhaustion,
but she was still smiling—the plan was working. Between Caitlyn’s wedding special and the exposure she’d already gotten from her experience on the show, their luck was turning around.
Her phone buzzed on her hip when she was talking to a bride who had driven up from San Diego just for the Expo. She checked the caller-ID on auto-pilot and, seeing Caitlyn’s name, excused herself. “I’m sorry, it’s one of my brides. I should take this, but my partner would be happy to answer any other questions you have about weddings in Eden.”
She directed the San Diego girl toward Victoria and stepped to the back of the booth to connect the call, smothering her panic. There could be dozens of reasons why Caitlyn was calling—she’d called at least once a day ever since hiring Sidney to talk about her vision for the wedding, the definition of an eager bride—but Sidney couldn’t help her nerves that the other shoe was about to drop.
“Caitlyn, how are you? Did you and Will have any more thoughts on possible dates?” she asked, as if leading with talk about dates could forestall any bad news. Please don’t be calling to cancel. She’d been the recipient of too many of those calls lately.
“Sorry to bother you! I know you said you were doing a bridal expo today, but the dates are actually what I wanted to talk to you about,” she said, with a short laugh. “Turns out we might need to rush things a bit. I’m pregnant.”
Four thoughts flashed through Sidney’s head in rapid succession—Is it Will’s or Daniel’s? Are you still getting married? When are you due? Will you still want a big public wedding if you’re showing?—but thankfully the right thing somehow came out of her mouth. “Oh wow, congratulations.”
“Thank you! But please keep it quiet. We’re trying to keep it out of the tabloids as long as possible.”
“Of course.”
“I had to tell the show people—of course they were thrilled until I told them there was no way in hell I was doing an on-air ultrasound. I thought they were going to drop the wedding bills on us, but turns out they like the idea of moving the wedding up to May—as far as they’re concerned, the faster I get married the better because I’m trendy now and they want to capitalize on that as much as possible.”
“May?” Sidney’s heart thudded hard. That was only two months away.
“We were thinking Memorial Day weekend. And I know that’s asking for miracles, but if anyone can do it, you can. Will and I are moving our trip out to plan things up to next weekend, if that works for you.”
“That’ll be perfect. Everything will need to happen fast,” Sidney agreed, already mentally mapping out a whirlwind weekend of tastings and viewings and dress shopping. The major resorts would already be booked solid for Memorial Day, but if she thought outside the box for the venue she might be able to come up with something even better.
“My thoughts exactly,” Caitlyn said. “Which is why the MMP wedding rep is going to meet you at your booth at the bridal expo at two.”
“That sounds perfect. I’ll keep an eye out for one of Miranda’s many minions.”
Caitlyn laughed. “Do that.”
Sidney hadn’t heard anything from Miranda, but the MMP wedding rep was almost definitely the wedding planner they had on retainer. She wasn’t overly excited about having to co-plan the wedding with someone else, but giving Caitlyn the wedding of her dreams would be worth any battles she had to fight to keep Will and Caitlyn’s vision intact when the show consultant tried to hijack the wedding and make it more commercial.
She ended the call with Caitlyn moments later and moved back to the front of the booth where Victoria was enjoying a rare lull. She grinned when Sidney approached. “We have a new client from San Diego.”
Sidney’s eyes widened in surprise. “You landed that bride? I didn’t think she was seriously looking for a wedding planner.”
“She wasn’t, but she was so impressed that you refused to ignore a call from one of your brides, even in the middle of the expo, that she said she wanted someone who took care of her like that. So, technically, you landed her.”
Sidney returned Victoria’s grin. She didn’t want to jinx it, but it certainly felt like the tide was turning.
For the next two hours the traffic in the booth was slower, but the brides who did stop by almost all signed up for their newsletter—and at least half a dozen took advantage of the Expo Special Rates to hire them on the spot. Several even said they trusted her as their wedding planner because they felt like they knew her from the show—and all of them respected her decision to hold out for true love rather than trying to force things with Daniel.
Leaving the show was turning out to be the best business decision she’d ever made.
Her life was finally getting back on track. She was starting to feel downright cocky.
So of course Josh Pendleton chose that moment to walk into her booth.
Of all the booths in all the bridal expos in all the world…
His host persona was firmly locked in place. Nothing wry or cynical touched the cheesy smoothness of his smile. A cluster of women just beyond the booth snapped pictures of him on their cell phones, whispering among themselves. “Sidney, it’s good to see you.”
“Josh,” she returned his fake smile. “This is unexpected. I didn’t figure bridal expos were really your thing.”
“Believe it or not, I’m a regular at these events. This is the heart of our demo, so MMP likes to have a presence here. And I am ordained, after all. You’d be surprised how many people want me to perform their ceremonies.”
“I forgot the show had you ordained so you could perform ceremonies on the spot at the reunion specials.”
“Always be prepared, that’s the MMP motto. Or the Boy Scouts. They’re so similar.”
And there it was. The wry little glint in his eyes, self-deprecating and devastatingly hot. Why did she have to find him so attractive? “It’s nice of you to drop by for a visit while you’re here…” The rest—but what the hell are you doing here?—remained unspoken, but Josh seemed to hear it, eyebrows arching.
“I thought you were expecting me.”
“Expecting…?”
“MMP sent me. I understand we’re planning a wedding together.”
Sidney’s jaw fell open in gauche shock—right as one of the onlookers grew bold and rushed forward to snap a picture of the two of them. Within seconds, that single shot had triggered a hurricane of selfies and cell phone snapshots. Everyone wanted their picture with Josh and her. Sidney smiled, her face feeling rubbery and strangely cold as picture after picture was snapped and those words echoed in her head. The death knell of her hopes that she might be able to get over him soon.
I understand we’re planning a wedding together.
Chapter Eighteen
By the time the photo frenzy died down, Sidney had most of her composure back. She was a professional and he was only a man—even if he was an extremely distracting one. She was perfectly capable of planning an amazing wedding with him. It would probably even be easier than if she’d had to work with another professional wedding planner. Josh was unlikely to try to overrule her.
When the last of the cell phone wielding fans finally gave them a few feet of breathing room, Sidney was feeling remarkably optimistic about the entire situation. And then he spoke.
“Why don’t we have dinner tonight?”
“Dinner?”
Dear God. Was Josh Pendleton asking her out? She felt her face flush as her heart rate accelerated.
He was half-turned away from her, aiming a smile at a group of giggling fans. “It’s obvious we aren’t going to have any privacy as long as we’re here and I expect you’ll be famished when you’re done. I know a great Italian bistro not far from here where we can discuss what needs to be done to get this wedding rolling.”
“Right.” Business. “Of course.”
Not a romantic candlelit dinner for two, but a business meeting during which he was being considerate and efficient by grabbing food at the same time. She needed to stop
seeing romance at the drop of a hat with him. She couldn’t keep being flustered by every innocent sentence he uttered because her hormones were out of whack where he was concerned. Who cared if he smelled amazing and made her stupid heart race when that rare wicked glimmer appeared in his eyes? This was business. End of story.
“That sounds logical.” She flipped open her card case and plucked out a business card. “Why don’t you text me the directions and I’ll meet you there at five-thirty?”
“Excellent.” He pocketed her card and extended one of his own.
The exchange was very businesslike and put her feet back on the ground. He was just a guy.
She barely even remembered how he kissed.
*
Josh flicked idly through the emails on his phone, killing time as he waited for Sidney at Mama’s. She was already ten minutes late, but he wasn’t worried about being stood up. She’d probably been held up at the expo. Though from the look on her face when he’d told her they would be planning the wedding together, she might be on her way to the airport to catch the next flight to Brazil.
Obviously she still wasn’t completely comfortable with him—and he couldn’t blame her. He needed to find some way to erase their past and start over. He could try ignoring their odd history, but maybe he needed to come at it head on. The last thing he needed was for things to be awkward between them for the next two months. They were going to be working together, since Miranda had officially left the show and the higher-ups wanted him to produce the wedding special as the face of the brand.
The front door of the tiny Italian bistro flew open and Sidney rushed in, looking harried, flushed, and sexy as hell.
Josh slammed the brakes on that line of thinking, rising from his chair to catch her attention as she scanned the small restaurant. The tightness in her expression eased when she saw him and she began to wend through the small tables with their checkered plastic table cloths.
“Sorry I’m late,” she said as she shrugged out of her light jacket and hung it over the back of her chair. “I drove past here three times. I wasn’t expecting the great Josh Pendleton to frequent a restaurant in a strip mall.”