“Okay, so you’ve got a woman here clearly in need of some attention or lacking something in her life, so she decides to throw a wedding party for herself and instead of making it say . . .” Vin’s eyes went skyward for a moment before he trained them back on Lily. “Say, a birthday party like some grand fortieth blowout, she decides to turn it into a media spectacle. And now you’re telling me that you want to do the same thing, here in my place?” He let out a long, soft sigh and shook his head. “Woman, I had you all wrong.”
Lily felt the heat of anger rise faster than she could tamp it back down. Who the hell was he to judge her or the woman in the article so quickly and to be so ungodly and frustratingly dismissive? He had a lot of nerve. She snatched the iPad from his hands and shoved it into her bag. Lily pushed her chair back, making a loud noise against the floor as she got up.
She towered over Vin in a fit. “And it looks like I had you pegged just right when I said good-bye to you last year. You’re nothing but a small-minded townie who thinks of women in one of two ways—either in the kitchen or on their backs, but never as being accomplished in their own right. Back then I was good for a quick afternoon and nothing more, but for you to see me or any other woman for that matter as being successful and something beyond chasing after a man, well, you and your small mind can’t even handle it. I’m great just as I am, just as the woman in this article is. Women like her and women like me don’t need ridiculous pieces of paper like a marriage license and the validation of the government and another person to cosign on our worthiness. We’re good just as we are.”
Lily watched his brows draw together, and his nostrils flare. His mouth started to open, but she didn’t want to hear whatever was about to come out. Screw him and his cute, rustic beachside restaurant. She’d have her day, and she’d have it in a better place than the dive she was standing in. She was doing him a favor anyway by helping to put his place on the map. But there was no way she needed to patronize some sort of chauvinistic asshole. She turned to walk away when she felt his hand on her arm, stopping her in her tracks.
Lily looked down at his big hand and slowly over to his face. “I’d move that hand if I were you. That is, if you don’t want to lose it.” Her tone was low and steady despite her agitation, the monster in her head quaking. But Vin immediately let her go, looking up at her with his eyes wide.
“Listen, I’m sorry,” he said. The straightforwardness, clarity, and—she couldn’t tell but she suspected—sincerity of the apology gave her quick pause.
Lily was skeptical. “Sorry for what? Sorry for your stupid assumptions, or are you sorry because I’m walking out the door with my business?”
Vin looked down for a moment, then his eyes came up, meeting hers as he started to stand. She would’ve preferred that he just stayed seated. Standing brought his body way too close to hers and brought back memories of their last encounter and the real reason she chose his restaurant. “Would you hate me all the more if I told you honestly that I was sorry for both?”
Lily let his answer and his deliciously masculine scent roll over her for a moment or three. She knew she wasn’t walking out anytime soon. Not when he was so close and she had come so far. She pretended to mull things over when in truth her answer was set as soon as he’d apologized. And it was sealed when he stood and she’d gotten another whiff of him. Lily cocked her head, then tipped her tongue over her top lip for a second, and finally raised her left brow. “No, Vin, I won’t hate you, at least not anymore. How about we just let this little moment go and continue on with our business?”
He smiled that smile that she remembered from the wedding, and she let her mind go to the first time she saw it on the beach. That damn smile was her kryptonite. It hyped her up like sunshine after too many cloudy days, and she was starting to think he knew it. When she let out a low breath he walked around her and went for her chair, putting his hand out to offer for her to sit once again. “Thank you. Now let’s get down to work and you tell me more about this wedding you plan on having. What can I do to make your day perfect, Miss Perry? Your wish is my command.”
Chapter 5
“Your wish is my command.” Vin’s words were echoing in Lily’s head as she and Tori merged onto the highway heading back to the city. He’d said them lightly, supposedly coming out all sweet and innocent, but the implication of the words held so much more.
“So that went well,” Tori said from the passenger seat, bringing Lily out of her musings.
Lily shot her a quick glance before turning back toward traffic. “You think so?”
“Of course not. That was an absolute disaster.” The high-pitched tone of Tori’s voice was completely out of character and had Lily swiveling her head quickly back in her assistant’s direction.
“What are you talking about? It went fine. We have our date set and we have a venue set on the first day of planning. I say we’re way ahead of the game. Not to mention we got in some tasty appetizers. The afternoon was a complete win.” Once again she looked back at traffic, then did a quick check of her gauges as she said a silent prayer that the car would hold up as she continued on. She felt a little hint of niggling discomfort. Maybe Tori had a point. Part of her felt she shouldn’t have been quite so impulsive when it came to planning this wedding. Her car was barely chugging along, and though a smarter, less sentimental women would just let it go, she wasn’t prepared to do that. So her only option was getting it repaired, which meant putting further strains on her funds.
Yeah, she knew what Tori was talking about, but she didn’t want to face it. Facing their almost disastrous meeting would make what she was embarking on too real and, for at least the ride home, she wanted to live in la-la land.
“Oh, come on, Lil. I know I’m just your assistant, but being that it’s now after five o’clock, I’m going to put it out there and tell it like it is. You could have warned me that we were heading into the lion’s den over there.”
For a moment, Lily’s eyes went skyward. “Tori, it’s not all that bad. We’ve dealt with difficult vendors before, and Vin is new and eager, but with me as a client this should be a piece of cake.”
“It’s the you as a client that I’m worried about, not to mention the eager. Yes, he’s eager, all right. I just wished you would have given me a heads-up that you and he were, well, acquainted. The fact that you were holding a wedding for yourself just about sent him into a fit, and it was worse when he thought you were marrying someone else. The poor guy looked completely blindsided. In the future I would just prefer to know a little bit more about how to handle the situation.”
Lily let out a sigh. Okay, so Tori didn’t have it wrong. Lily hadn’t prepared her and she should have, and really she would have if she had known how to prepare herself. She was flying by the seat of her pants and, if truth be told, though she laughed everything off and put on a great air of confidence, the whole thing had her unnerved. Seeing Vin, then hearing his tone of disapproval, had her practically wanting to back out of the whole married-to-herself situation all the way. If she couldn’t convince him of what she was doing, then how did she expect her family to get it and jump on board?
Part of her told herself she was doing the right thing, but the other part told her she was about to make herself a total farce, the laughingstock of Long Island. And this went for both personally and professionally. If she was going to pull this off and make it a viable part of her business, she had to get a handle on herself.
Lily quickly glanced over at Tori, who was looking at her phone, tapping and scrolling as usual, her brows pulled tightly together, her expression one of total consternation. “Do you think I’m making a huge mistake?” The words came from Lily low and quiet.
Tori looked up at her boss, her eyes softening, her brow smoothing out. She gave Lily a half smile and shook her head. “What do I know?” the younger woman said. “Who knows, you could be making a mistake, but for the record I don’t think you are. Despite this afternoon’s little hiccups,
in the time I’ve worked with you I’ve never known you to doubt yourself when it comes to business and I’ve never known you to take a wrong step.” Tori’s smile grew more reassuring. “Hey, I have total faith and complete confidence in you, and I’m sure that you’re doing the right thing. As long as it feels right for you, I say go for it. Besides, I think what you’re doing is fantastic, and if what you said to Vincent Caro back there is truly what you believe in your heart about a woman being enough without the cosign of a man, then I’m all for it. We’ll make this the biggest event of the year and in the process put your name on the map.”
Lily let out a groan as she thought about the idea of solidifying her status in such a way. It wasn’t as if she was doing anything as outlandish as a sex tape, but she knew her family and the splash she’d be making. She sighed. A sex tape would possibly be less scandalous. Lily slowed, pumping the brakes as the usual evening traffic started to back up before them. Maybe she should hit the brakes on this whole situation? Echoing her feelings, she said them out loud. “I don’t know, maybe I should just slow this whole thing down. It’s not like I gave it a lot of think-through time. It seemed so carefree and fun the other night, so wrong that it just had to be so right. But one look in Vin’s eyes and everything seemed to waiver.”
“Come on now, Lily. Like I said, I’ve never known you to waiver, and you can’t let one guy and his small-mindedness take you off your vision. That’s just ridiculous. Besides, his location, for all of its rusticity and quaint charm, is still a great spot. Not to mention the fact that his reviews as a chef are phenomenal. He’s hot, and I don’t mean just as a dude du jour. But I mean he’s getting quite the reputation for his location and fierce cooking.” Tori cocked her head to the side a little bit. “And my research is telling me he’s also getting press for his bad-boy good looks. Not that you don’t already know that, but I’m just saying, you need to have this celebration and you need to have it with him.” Tori raised a brow and lowered the treble in her voice. “Now, if there’s another reason you don’t think you’ll be able to work with Vin Caro, then maybe it is a mistake.”
Lily raised a brow back, getting the challenge in Tori’s voice. She turned and focused back on the traffic. “Of course I’ll be able to work with Vin. We have a merest of histories, but you know me when it comes to business. There won’t be any problems.”
Lily was focused on the SUV in front of her but could still hear the smile in Tori’s voice when she spoke. “Great! Then it’s a win all the way around.”
Lily nodded but inwardly frowned as she considered Tori’s words. She knew she had a gem when she found Tori straight out of school. The girl wasn’t around just for filing. She was a whiz when it came to marketing and had a wonderful eye when it came to style and design, but she really had something when it came to finding the right angle. And at the moment, Lily needed all the angles she could get if she planned on taking her business to the next level instead of staying stagnant. There was nothing sadder and no quicker way to bankruptcy in this fast-paced New York events business than becoming predictable.
She gave herself a confidence boosting nod just as traffic started to pick up again. “You’re absolutely right, and this is just like the gut feeling that I had last night. This is a win, or at least it will be, and I’ll just have to go for it. Sure, there will be more people who won’t understand it, like Vin didn’t, but in time he’ll see that it is not just good for me but an excellent opportunity for him.”
“And this looks to be a good opportunity for the two of you to possibly get a little closer,” Tori said slyly.
Lily let out a slow breath as she tried to squelch the immediate tingle that the idea of being closer to Vin brought on. “I don’t know about that. It’s probably best to not mix business and pleasure together in this case. Smarter to keep things professional.” Lily hoped she sounded convincing to Tori, because in that moment she sure as hell didn’t sound convincing to herself. She realized that she was screwing up royally. What sort of an example was she being as a boss to Tori, acting like a giddy girl crushing on a hot guy? “Besides,” she added, trying to bring lightness to her voice, “I’m an engaged woman now, so I’m no longer on the market.”
Tori shook her head and leaned over, reaching for her boss’s ring finger on her left hand. She playfully tapped it before she leaned back in her seat. “Well, I don’t see no rings on your magic finger, and you know what they say: If you like it, then you’d better put a ring on it.”
It was Lily’s turn to shake her head. “All right, Ms. Smarty, I wouldn’t go daring me if I were you. Just say the word, because it’s no skin off my teeth when it comes to treating myself right.”
As traffic really opened up, Lily lost herself for a moment in the speed and thoughts of her big day at the beachside restaurant, all the most important necessities taken care of by Vincent “Your wish is my command” Caro.
* * *
Of all the ridiculous things.... It was getting to be late afternoon and he was still considering his meeting with Lily as he prepped for the evening crowd. What he had gotten himself into? Was securing a little time with Lily Perry really worth the inevitable aggravation that was sure to come? Seriously getting married to yourself? The woman had now proven herself to be a complete nutter. Sure she may be good-looking—hell, may tip the scale over to the totally hot column—and she was constantly in his thoughts since they had that encounter at her sister’s wedding, but was going in on this job, one that his gut told him was sure to send his life into a tailspin, really worth the money? Of course it was, dummy.
Vin shook his head as the answer came to him quicker than he could get the thought fully out of his head. But marrying herself? He just didn’t get it. What was she trying to prove? The only women he’d ever heard of who got married without a groom were nuns, and even they came strutting hard with the Jesus groom card. This deal he had a hard time wrapping his head around. Vin let out yet another growl as he surveyed the vegetables Manny had prepped for the night’s specials while he trimmed and marinated the beef.
“You gonna go on like that all night, boss?” Manny said from over his shoulder.
Vin eyed him with a hard stare. “Go on like what?”
“Go on with the growls and the sighs like some bear in need of Pepto.”
“I wouldn’t start with me if I were you, Manny. You may be good at what you do and you may be my friend, but just because I need you here in the kitchen doesn’t mean I won’t pop you one right quick.”
The shorter Manny only laughed, throwing his head back as if it was the funniest thing he’d heard in a while. The sound infuriated Vin all the more, and he just shook his head as he decided the beef could use some pounding to soften it up a bit. At his taking out the mallet and pounding the beef, Manny laughed even harder before walking over to pat Vin on the back. “Man, you’ve got it bad. This I thought I’d never see. Wish I put some money on it. Then again, maybe not. I probably would have lost. Vincent Caro whipped just like that.”
Vin shot him another look. “Like I said, you are really pushing it.”
“Pushing what?”
Vin’s eyes went skyward. So the gang was all there. Vin let out a breath as two of his waitstaff came in—Felix and his cousin, Terry, who was better known as Punchy on account of his physique growing up. It wasn’t the nicest of nicknames but hey, those type of things stuck in town. It was just how it was. It was Felix who chimed in first. “What’s going on? Manny at it again?” he asked with his usual jovial laugh.
Manny started to open his mouth when Vin gave him an elbow right into his side. “I wouldn’t if I were you,” he said ominously. He guessed something in his tone let Manny know that he meant it, since Manny looked at the cousins and just shook his head, a smile still playing on the corner of his mouth. “Nothing. Just giving the boss the business.”
“Yeah,” Vin added. “But I persuaded him to stop and be a good little employee if he knows what’s good for
him.”
“Oh, I know it’s good for me, all right. The question is, do you know?”
Vin let out one last growl and directed the guys to start setting up in the dining area. They had a bit of time but really he just wanted the heat of the attention off of him. He needed time to process the whole encounter with Lily.
Soon the other staff came in. Their waitress, Tracy, came in quietly. She was a single mother whom Vin knew from the neighborhood and who didn’t mind the hours because she had her mom watching her six-year-old son during the dinner shift. She was followed by their other sous chef, Ricky, whom Vin suspected had been falling for her, because his offered rides had gotten more frequent. Though he didn’t fail to notice a few side glances that went her way from Paunchy. Vin smiled to himself. At times running the restaurant, he felt like the head counselor at a summer camp in charge of a bunch of overgrown CIT’s. At least tonight the restaurant was more than half booked with reservations, so Vin was expecting a busy evening between bookings and drop-ins. Therefore he had no more time to worry about Lily Perry and her outrageous plans for her wedding for one.
Vin ran upstairs for a quick shower and change of clothes, and he was back down in fifteen minutes, ready to face the busy evening ahead. Lily Perry with her luscious curves, determined eyes, and crazy ideas would just have to wait until the dinner shift was over. And when it was, he’d deal with her but good.
Chapter 6
Vin felt a lot more clearheaded when he came back ashore the following morning. After wedging his surfboard down in the sand, he turned back toward the surf, inhaled, and took in the beautiful vision of the sun breaking through on the horizon. Leaning back, he unzipped the top of his wetsuit, bringing his arms out, exposing his chest and letting the warmth hit his body. He felt his skin pebble a bit but still welcomed the feeling. Summer was a little ways away, but he could feel the anticipation of it in the air and it buoyed his spirits even though it brought on a bit of melancholy, since he knew tranquil mornings like this would quickly fade and be few and far between.
To Me I Wed Page 8