Once a Bridesmaid

by Courtney Hunt

  Was this what being on a date was like? Then she shook her head at herself. Despite their passionate activities last night, they were still just friends. They’d been very clear this morning about it not being a date. She glanced at Kyle through her lashes. The wind tossed his dark hair and put color in his cheeks. He grinned at the woodland animals frolicking in the early snowfall. She didn’t want more, did she?

  He pointed the lens at her and snapped her photo before lowering the camera to his lap. He leaned over and claimed her lips. She cradled his face in her mittened hands as the kiss turned slow and heated, leisurely exploring each other. He wrapped an arm around her, pulling her close against his side. They broke apart, breathing hard, their breath white puffs floating in the still winter air. She dropped her head to his shoulder, content to be together and in each other’s company.

  When she shivered from the cold, they stood and ambled back the way they’d come, the paths now crowded with people out enjoying the holiday snowfall. Slowly, they made their way to the car and drove back to Lauren’s apartment.

  “Come on upstairs. I’ll make tea and we can have leftover lasagna.” Lauren held out a hand to Kyle. He stepped closer and she stood on her tiptoes to press a kiss to his mouth. “Besides, Christmas isn’t over yet.”

  Chapter Ten

  On Boxing Day, Kyle woke to the late morning sunshine in his face. He lay in Lauren’s bed, entwined with her, nestled together under a pile of colorful quilts. Kyle raised his head, watching her sleep, her flame-colored hair spread across the pillow. Usually when confronted by so much beauty, he itched for his camera, wanting to capture it with his lens forever. But this image was just for him so instead, he looked his fill, treasuring his beautiful, skittish Lauren asleep in his arms, inhaling her vanilla and citrus scent, warm and comforting.

  “Not mine.” Kyle whispered, reminding himself. Despite spending the holiday together, Kyle suffered no illusions that Lauren would welcome more with him. They’d had a wonderful day together yesterday, two people chasing away their loneliness together. Though he’d been doing photo walks since he’d picked up his first camera, he’d never shared one with someone before, always preferring to amble around in solitude, just him and his glass. But, he enjoyed just being with Lauren and talking to her, and there was no denying the intensity they created together in bed, becoming hotter together each time.

  She shifted in her sleep, cuddling closer to his warmth. He wrapped an arm around her, stroking her side, debating about waking her up, when his phone made the decision for him. The ringtone echoed through the silent room and she jolted against his side. He watched her lovely eyes blink open before scrambling to pick it up.

  “Rawlings.”

  “It’s Ben.”

  “Good morning,” Kyle said, cautiously, not daring to hope yet. He hadn’t expected to hear from his former editor ever again, certainly not within a week of his desperate phone call to him from the beach. Could he have some assignment for him? A chance to get back in the field?

  “No time for that. Get your gear and head for Logan. Kabul awaits.”

  “What’s the assignment?” Kyle sat up on the side of the bed, raking his hand through his hair and swiping his palm over his face, trying to wake up enough to focus.

  “It’s normally Jamie Carmichael’s beat, but he’s on R&R in Phuket. His backup has appendicitis. Need you to fill in.” When Kyle didn’t answer immediately, Ben continued. “Rawlings, I didn’t think I needed to say this, but it took me pulling in quite a few favors to get you this. If hadn’t been an emergency, I don’t think I’d have been able to get you another chance. You gonna take it or what?”

  Kyle glanced at Lauren, who watched him from the bed, her gray-blue eyes wide. He would much rather stay with Lauren than go back to the dusty, danger-filled streets of Kabul. But this was his one chance to get back into the field with his camera and his glass. He had to take it. He sighed. “Okay.”

  “Thanks, Rawlings. Knew you’d do it. I’ll text you your flight info.” Ben hung up without so much as a farewell.

  Kyle stood, rummaging for his jeans. “I’ve gotta go.”

  Lauren sat up, the sheets straining over her lush breasts. Kyle looked away quickly before he crawled back into bed and loved her again. Blowing off this assignment would sink his career—or what was left of his career. As he pulled his shirt over his head, he realized that he’d never had even a second’s hesitation about dashing off to some exotic locale on assignment before. But then, he’d never left someone behind before, and never had anyone waiting for him at home.

  His last girlfriend, Kelly, had been an up-and-coming journalist he’d met in the field. They’d fallen into a convenient, mostly physical relationship that ended when he’d been injured a second time. While he laid in the hospital, recovering from his second encounter with a roadside bomb, he’d waited for her to visit. His buddy finally told him that Kelly was enjoying her vacation with her husband and kids in sunny Hawaii. Kyle hadn’t known she was married. He hadn’t seen her since.

  “My editor friend called. The main reporter’s backup is down with a medical emergency so he’s sending me to Kabul.”

  “That’s great. You wanted to get back out in the field, right?” Lauren crossed her arms over her knees, her messy hair curling around her shoulders and tumbling down her back. Kyle turned away to grab his shirt and yank it over his head. He stuck his feet in his boots, leaving the laces undone, and grabbed his jacket from over a chair.

  “Thanks for a lovely Christmas.” Before he could overthink it, Kyle leaned over and brushed a kiss over her mouth. She cupped his cheek, running her fingers over his morning stubble, deepening the kiss, sucking his lower lip lightly and exploring his mouth with her talented tongue.

  He wrapped his arms around her and indulged himself in kissing her goodbye. Finally, he tore his mouth away and gently unwrapped her arms from his neck. While he still could, he headed for the door but stopped and turned back. He tapped the doorframe once and then sucked in a deep breath. “Can I write you?”

  She smiled then, pure sunshine, and nodded. “I’d like that.”

  “Okay.” He smiled back, a wide, goofy grin, and tried not to examine the bubbly, floaty feeling spreading through him. “See you around.”

  Three days after Christmas, Lauren sat on the sofa, her laptop propped on her lap as she added watermarks to Kyle’s photos to place in his online store. Since he’d been gone, he’d emailed her a packet of what he considered his best photos. She’d built a website and an online store, eager to get it up and running before he returned, whenever that might be. Now she just needed to populate it.

  She loved seeing Kyle’s work and getting to see the world through his eyes. He was a gifted photographer, playing with light and shadow to create stunning images of ordinary things. She studied a picture of a stairwell, shot in shadow and half-light, the intricate filigree work on the bannisters making shadowy lace. She might blow this one up to put over her bed. Wouldn’t Kyle be surprised to see it when he came home?

  Lauren’s fingers stilled on the keyboard as she realized she planned to see him again. Of course, she’d planned to see him and walk him though the simple website she built for him. But she wanted to sleep with him again, wake up with him again, and spend time with him again. What did that mean?

  She stared blankly at the autumn canvas hanging over the TV trying to decipher what that meant. Erin burst out of her bedroom, bright spots of pink coloring her cheeks. She tossed her phone down on her desk and raked her hands through her hair before stomping her foot.

  “What ruffled your feathers?” Lauren asked, her attention still mostly on the canvas in front of her.

  “Matthew,” Erin bit off. “He’s the most stubborn, most infuriating, most…”Lauren’s heart sank for her friend. They’d been together less than a month and were already fighting. Not a good sign. “Want to talk about it?”

  “His current project is ending in the spring. He�
��s got to pick where he wants to go next so…” Erin paced in front of the windows so the late afternoon sunlight danced over the highlights in her blonde hair.

  “So?” Lauren said, when Erin didn’t continue.

  “So, we’re trying to figure out if he should move here or we should both move to Savannah or pick somewhere else.”

  Lauren’s heart tripped in her chest. Move to Savannah? Erin was leaving her?

  “Isn’t that awful fast? You just met.” Lauren blurted and then bit her lip. She’d met Kyle less than two days after Erin met Matthew. If he asked her to move in with him, she’d run far and fast. Though, she might miss him, just a bit.

  Erin turned to her, smiling. “Yeah, but it’s real.”

  “You’re fighting already and…” And what about me?

  “We’re not really fighting. We’re just having a discussion,” Erin corrected, tapping her fingers on her desk as she glared out the window.

  Lauren, having witnessed her parents having many such discussions, stared at her in dismay.

  “He wants to come here.”

  “And you don’t want that? You don’t want him here?”

  “I want us to be together and to live in the same city. I don’t love all this flying back and forth we’re doing.” Erin said, “But, I think we should settle in Savannah, where we could raise a family.”

  “A family?” Lauren echoed, stunned. “Erin, you’re moving way too fast.”

  “I’m not picking out my china or anything but…” Erin shrugged. “It’s going that way. He’s the one. I know he feels the same.”

  Lauren stared at her. Erin, her serious, focused best friend, wanted to up and move hundreds of miles to be with a man she’d known less than three weeks. Where had her sensible best friend gone? “What about Always a Bridesmaid?”

  “You sound like Matthew.” Erin shook her head. “We do weddings all over the country as it is.”

  “But most of our business is here,” Lauren pointed out.

  “I’d be starting over in Savannah.” Erin crossed her arms over her stomach. “I know you’re focused on your art and all but would you be willing to consider running things here for a while, while I get things off the ground in Savannah?”

  Lauren smiled stiffly. Though she wanted nothing more than to support herself from her painting, it didn’t pay enough yet. She needed other part-time paying work and being a professional bridesmaid was a great gig. Briefly, she thought of telling Kyle about her dream of becoming an illustrator, smiling at the snowy memory.

  “Will you at least think about it?” Erin asked and Lauren nodded. “Plus with Dylan coming on board as the world’s first professional groomsman, I still think Savannah makes more sense. He hates Boston. It’s too cold for him. He wants to live in Georgia. I think it makes more sense to move to Savannah and set up a headquarters there.”

  “But Matthew would rather move here?”

  “He’d rather be in Savannah, too, the stubborn ox.” Erin rubbed her forehead before dropping into her desk chair. “He’s from there.”

  “Okay, so if you both want to move to Savannah, what’s stopping you?”

  “He doesn’t want me to risk moving the business. He lived here before, for graduate school.”

  “So he’d come here,” Lauren said. “Will his work agree to that?”

  “He’s a top architect in his firm. He can have his pick of projects anywhere his firm has an office. They have one here, downtown, and one in Savannah.”

  “So that doesn’t help with the decision,” Lauren said.

  “He’d like to have his own firm eventually, though, which he could do if we just moved to Savannah.”

  “And will you move in with him?”

  “Maybe not officially, not at first, but…” Erin said. “I hate to be away from him so, probably, eventually.”

  “Without a ring?” Lauren asked. Erin always swore she’d be engaged before she lived with a man.

  “He said he’d buy me a ring tomorrow. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s already bought it.”

  Lauren’s jaw dropped. “Would you say yes?”

  Erin smiled. “Of course.”

  Lauren blinked. Erin and Matthew were moving at light speed. When she’d seen them together before Christmas, she’d known it was serious. But to already be talking marriage and babies... Lauren sucked in a breath as she imagined Kyle on one knee before her. She blew out her breath in a whoosh. This wasn’t about her and Kyle.

  Lauren bit her lip and glanced around the apartment. It’d been hers first and then Erin moved in several years ago, when she’d been struggling to put her brother through Georgia Tech. Lauren could make the rent on her own now, with her online sales, though it would be tight. She’d miss Erin’s warmth and company. It would be the end of an era, though she’d always known that Erin would meet someone and move out eventually. Lauren would be the one left behind and alone. Maybe she’d get a cat.

  Still, she wanted to be happy for her friend so she pasted on a smile. “I’m sure you’ll be able to persuade him. You seemed to have him wrapped around your finger when he was here.”

  “We’ll figure it out, I’m sure. We’re both a bit stubborn.”

  “You don’t say?” Lauren said and then laughed. “For what it’s worth, he adores you.”

  Erin blushed. “And how are things with your handsome Kyle?”

  “He is not mine.” Erin raised a single eyebrow and Lauren continued, “He’s in Kabul.”

  “Kabul?”

  “On assignment.”

  Erin wrinkled up her forehead in confusion.

  “He’s not really a wedding photographer,” Lauren said. “He’s a photojournalist. He’s just doing the wedding thing temporarily.”

  As she said it, Lauren reflected that she’d once said she was doing the wedding thing temporarily. Six years ago. Maybe not all changes were bad. Maybe she should research becoming an illustrator while she was online. Maybe some dreams were just delayed in life. And with Dylan coming on board as the world’s first professional groomsman, maybe Always a Bridesmaid could use one less bridesmaid.

  “You better come visit me in Savannah.”

  “I will.” Lauren promised. “Probably to be your bridesmaid, I’d bet.”

  “And I’d bet you’ll be bringing your gorgeous photographer.”

  Lauren shook her head and went back to work.

  “Hey, beautiful.” Kyle greeted her, his voice raspy, even over the crackly internet connection, the best they could get on a snowy night in Boston. Behind him, out the open window of his hotel, dawn crested over the mosques, gilding the golden onion domes and turning the white walls rosy. She wondered what it would be like to see dawn on the other side of the world. Her fingers itched for her sketchbook and paintbrush so she could capture the amazing colors in the sky, far more intense than Boston’s diluted wintery dawns.

  She smiled at the grainy image of Kyle, his cheeks shadowed with stubble and circles under his eyes. “I saw the website. You’re amazing. Guess what! I made my first sale.”

  “You did? Congrats!” Lauren beamed back at him. She didn’t tell him that she purchased his stairwell photo, even now being fashioned into an oversized canvas to hang over her bed. “I’m so happy for you.”

  “Is there anything you can’t do? Painting, cooking, web design, bridesmaid-ing.”

  “Bridesmaid-ing is not a word.” Lauren laughed, shaking her head.

  “Hey, give me a break. I haven’t had my coffee.” He grinned, that slow, sweet smile that made her heart flutter. She’d always scoffed at her friends when they said things like that and chalked it up to lust and raging hormones. Now, experience taught her differently. Even halfway around the world, Kyle made her heart race and her hands tingle. She tucked her hair behind her ear and grinned back at him, happy just to get the chance to talk to him, happy to see him safe and sound, happy to see his smile.

  “I saw your photos on the Globe website this
morning. I liked the Christmas camels.”

  “I thought the camels looked very merry with their tinsel halters.” Once again, Kyle managed to find the perfect angle for his shot, photographing six camels lined up at a watering trough, castoff Christmas decorations adorning their halters and reflecting the brilliant midday sun in Afghanistan. “Thankfully, it’s been quiet here so far. Not a lot to photograph.”

  “I’ve been flipping through your portfolio. I found quite a lot online.”

  “And an internet sleuth, too?” Kyle teased. “What’d you think, Nancy Drew?”

  “Your photos are amazing, Kyle. You’re really talented.” He smiled bashfully at her, his long lashes hiding his incredible brilliant eyes. “But the most interesting photo I found was this one.”

  With the press of just a few buttons, she sent him the photo she’d found, tucked away on a military website. An artsy black and white shot of him, Kyle lay on his back, light pouring over his sculpted chest, his hands behind his neck. He looked down, away from the camera, his lush lashes hiding his gorgeous eyes. His unbuttoned jeans hung low on his hips, like he was just about to slide them off and reveal the glory that lay beneath.

  “Oh my, you found the calendar shots.” He covered his bright red face with one hand, not really able to conceal the blush that stained even the tips of his ears.

  “Calendar? You’re a centerfold, Mr. July.”

  “It was a fundraiser for Walter Reed. Injured vets.”

  “Yet you seemed to be the only one without a shirt on.” Lauren teased and he blushed harder, turning a shade close to cherries in mid-summer. “You’re a man of many talents, Kyle. Photography, cooking, modeling.”

  “I can sing, too. Mostly in the shower.”

  “That I want to hear.”

  “I assure you that you don’t.” Kyle shook his head, his cheeks still stained red. “I’ve gotta go, beautiful. Talk to you soon.”