He nodded and then leaned in close to her ear, the feeling of his breath on her giving her an immediate thrill. “See anything you like?”
“Don’t answer that. Trust me, it’s a trap.”
Lily grinned as she turned from Vin and looked toward the handsome man with the teasing warning. She immediately recognized him as Aidan Walker, television exec and fiancé of Eva Ward. “Thanks. I think I know not to fall into his trap.”
“You know you’re wrong for that,” Vin said as a word of warning to his friend.
Aidan came over and slapped Vin’s hand, giving him daps. “You know I’m just messing with you, man. Somebody needs to.” He turned to Lily. “You must be Lily. I’m Aiden. Nice to finally meet you.”
Lily couldn’t help the confused look that she knew crossed her visage. “Finally? Nice to know I’ve been spoken of. I hope all good things.” She gave Vin a glance, which Aidan no doubt caught.
“Yes, Eva’s spoken of you highly.” He looked around. “You didn’t hear it from me but, with the way she speaks of you, I’m sure your touch could have helped this party.”
Lily smiled at the compliment as she glanced around the room. “The space is lovely and everyone seems to be enjoying themselves. Whomever Eva used is doing a great job.”
Aidan tilted his head. “Well said and so diplomatic. I’ll be sure to keep you in mind for things at the station. If I go to one more dull meet and greet where the food is about as bland as the vision for the casting, I may lose it.”
Lily laughed. “Thank you for that, and I totally understand. Please call on me anytime. Where is Eva? I’m sure she’s busy, but I’d love to thank her for the invite.”
Aidan pointed to a flight of stairs. “She’s up in the VIP making sure that the talent doesn’t have too much fun tonight, at least not until all interviews are given and paparazzi cleared. Come on and follow me.”
On the way up, Lily pointed to the row of lights and elegant vases with single orchids in each that ran the length of the bar. “That would look great in your place,” she directed to Vin. “Or at least something similar for the bar area. If you don’t mind, I’d like to have my lighting guy come and check it out.”
She got a small grunt as a reply from Vin’s side of the conversation.
“Is there an answer somewhere mixed in with that grunt?”
He gave her a sideways look. “Why do I feel like I’ve agreed to a total overhaul of my place when it comes to your wedding?”
Lily gave him an easy pat on the chest, silently taking note of his hard pecs and coming up with a fine mental picture, before continuing up the stairs. “Now, don’t go getting all sulky on me. It’s not going to be that bad, and I promise to put it all back the way that I found it, if not better. By the time I’m through, you’ll be better than you started.”
Vin’s telling brow raised again. “Why do I feel like you’re not just talking about my restaurant?”
Lily shook her head. “Don’t go reading into that too much. I’m definitely talking about the restaurant.”
They were cleared into the VIP easily. The area was large and opulently appointed with tufted leather couches, and large leather ottomans served as both coffee tables and chaises for the perfect backdrop to the artfully arranged model/actresses. Of course, with her luck, one of the first people Lily saw was Thomas. He was standing off to the side in his usual dark gray suit, custom tailored so it fit his tall, slim frame perfectly. He had a full week’s worth of them in his immaculately organized closet. She was surprised, because against his usual grain, he had opted to go tieless. As usual, the collar of his pristine white shirt was perfectly creased and his cuffs showed just enough at the edge of his jacket to show off his silver monogramed cufflinks. He was talking to another dark-suited guy, and they both shared the same starched, analytical look that let Lily know the other guy probably worked in Crystalline’s marketing or finance department with Thomas.
Lily’s eyes clicked with Thomas’s at the same time one of the club’s servers came over to him and his companion with a couple of drinks. The pretty brunette said something to the men and added a discreet pat to Thomas’s chest that would no doubt help her tip later. Or maybe not, Lily thought, when a petite brunette with hair down to her waist in a barely there white stretch slip dress sidled up to Thomas soon after. Lily held back a frown, originating either from the fact that Thomas had just casually wrapped an arm around the brunette’s waist and let his hand linger at her ample behind or from the fact that he took his other hand and raised his glass in Lily’s direction. It didn’t matter which reason. Both told her he’d moved on, probably long before as she should have.
Brushing off the eyeball encounter with Thomas, Lily focused on Vin, trying to have a little fun as they got some of their business taken care of. It didn’t matter who Thomas was with now or who he’d be going home with. She knew that her relationship with him hadn’t been heading to anything permanent, and even if it had, would she have been happy with their relationship? Despite having her feelings hurt at being so easily rejected, Lily knew she didn’t feel a bit of passion for Thomas, and passion was what she wanted and also what she feared.
She cleared her throat and smiled as Aidan turned back to both of them with an easygoing smile and offered them champagne from a passing server. Lily took her glass happily, but Vin looked at the flute and then up at Aidan as if he’d grown an extra head.
“Can you bring my friend a beer, please?”
“Thanks,” Vin said, and Aidan shrugged as the pretty server headed off to get the beer.
“It’s not like you’re hard to figure out. You have your basics. You like what you like and you want what you want. That’s it.”
Vin frowned. “You make me sound really boring.”
Aidan cocked his head. “You are not boring, my friend. More like steady.” He turned to Lily. “Don’t you think of Vin as the steady sort?”
She turned to Vin and gave him a glance. Handsome, yes, with his close-shaved head, beautifully trimmed beard, strong profile, and dark, mysterious eyes. He was also large and solid. A definite tangible presence in the club, where it seemed everyone wanted to see and be seen, but somehow Vin was just there. Quietly assured in his own being. There was nothing flashy or ostentatious about him; he couldn’t help but stand out by just being him. He looked back at her, playfully shrugging his shoulders and posing, causing her to laugh. “You’re ridiculous,” Lily said as she took a sip of her champagne.
“And you should take a picture, it lasts longer.” He grinned, clearly fine with her lingering perusal.
Lily shook her head and turned back to Aidan, surprised to see that Eva was now by his side. They were looking at her and Vin with smiles. Lily shook off the silly tingly feeling and once again told herself this was all business. She gave Eva a warm smile and came forward to greet her in a casual hug. “It’s so good to see you again. Thank you for the invite. The space looks great.”
Eva smiled but rolled her eyes slightly. “Whew, this day has been one disaster after another. But I’m so glad you came. Trust me, I will be calling you for our next event.”
“Thank you for thinking of me. But I will say from the outside it all looks like it’s flowing wonderfully.”
“Thank goodness for looks,” Eva said, then turned to Vin. “And we sure could have used your skills in the kitchen. The caterer is a disaster.”
Vin pulled a face. “Yes, but I don’t really cater. I do have a restaurant to run. Remember?”
“Of course,” Eva said. “It’s just hard to go from grand to bland after tasting your food. Maybe we can work something out for our wedding.”
Aidan turned as he gave her a sweet look and pulled her in close. “Are you dropping the hint that you’re finally ready to marry me?”
Eva blinked. After her disastrous national TV wedding fiasco, no one could blame her for being gun-shy. But the color rose high on her cheeks. “I’m not doing any such thing. Just talking
in hypotheticals. Don’t go getting ahead of yourself.”
Aidan leaned in and affectionately nuzzled at her neck. “How can I not when it comes to you?”
They were so cute together and clearly in sync. Lily inwardly pushed back at the slight pull of longing that threatened to enter her heart while Eva shook her head. “I’ve got to go work, and here comes your other Musketeer.” She turned Lily’s way. “I’m sorry to leave you with the lions, Lily, but I have to mingle and make sure everyone is all right, and also get the talent ready for the show.” She gave Aidan a quick kiss just as another guy walked over. He too was good looking, a bit more polished than Aidan or Vin with his sharp pinstripe suit, perfectly knotted geometric print tie, and shiny wing tips. He gave Eva a warm hug as she passed.
“So what are you bums up to while the rest of us work for a living?” the guy said upon reaching the group, causing both Vin and Aidan to groan.
“Don’t start, I work plenty hard,” Aidan stated. “Just because you choose to make the station your life doesn’t mean I have to hang with you until after nine.”
The man shrugged. “Hey, some of us aren’t gifted with being born into a corner office. A man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do.” It was then that he seemed to notice that Lily was on the fringe of the group. “Oh, I’m so sorry. Where are my manners? Carter Bain, producer and VP at WBC.”
Lily put out her hand and Carter took it, looking straight into her eyes. She almost laughed at the way he was trying so quickly to pull some serious game.
“Do you handle all your introductions with all those stats?” Aidan asked from Carter’s side.
Carter didn’t look his way but continued to stare at Lily. “I do when the person I’m being introduced to is clearly someone worthy of knowing and getting to know.”
Oh, really. This was getting funny. Lily smiled. “Lily Perry. I run my own events planning agency. I was invited by Eva.”
Vin stepped forward and gently removed her hand from Carter’s while giving him a hard look. “And escorted by me,” Vin added.
She looked up at him. “Was I?”
Vin frowned down at her. “Well, weren’t you? I could be at my own place taking care of customers, but you called me asking me to come and see the setup here.”
Lily felt her cheeks immediately heat. “Well, I’m sorry if I’ve inconvenienced you, but if I remember correctly you said you were coming anyway.”
Vin looked clearly annoyed. “I said I was thinking about it.”
Carter stepped forward and leaned in toward Vin. “Yo, bro, that’s not how this is done.”
But Vin ignored him, still focused on Lily. “If I recall correctly, you had to have me here to see about candles for your kooky wedding.”
She heard both Aidan and Carter intake a breath and looked at them wide eyed. Carter leaned forward again and mumbled out the side of his mouth. “Yeah, dude. Definitely not how it’s done.”
Lily let out a breath, then smoothed her hair by way of calming her nerves. “Don’t worry, gentleman. This is perfectly normal for Vin and me. We only have a business arrangement. You see, I’m renting out Canela and using Vin’s services for a couple of events. One is my wedding reception, and Vin has clear ideas about it that he can’t quite keep to himself. If you’ll excuse me, I think I’ll go freshen up.” She started to walk away but remembered she hadn’t answered Aidan’s question, so she turned back. “To answer your question of whether I think he’s steady. No. He’s yet to show me he’s anything more than temperamental and at times immature and unreasonable.” She put on a bright smile and shrugged. “But hey, he can cook.”
Vin’s voice was a low growl beside her. “It’s a good thing that’s all you hired me for.”
Chapter 14
Vin watched Lily walk away as he tried to wrap a tight band around his anger. She was all strutting through the crowd on curves, long legs and screw you, attitude. In that moment he wanted nothing more but to pick her up, throw her on the back of his bike, and take her somewhere, anywhere, where he could make love to her until all that attitude dissolved into nothing but a mass of flesh and feelings underneath him.
Vin knew he’d crossed the line. That he should have done his normal play-it-cool thing with her, but for the life of him he couldn’t. She had him doing all sorts of stupid shit that was completely not in his nature or his character. He didn’t get emotional and show his cards when it came to women. Hell, when it came to women he didn’t have any cards to hide anyway. He was straight up. He wanted them, they wanted him. There was some form of mutual acceptance of getting it on to have a good time until the good time gave out. Cool. Cut and dry. Nothing messy. It was all clean and easy. So why was everything so jumbled when it came to Lily Perry?
He watched her head back toward the steps and then pause for a moment. His eyes shifted to see if she would get held up. He saw some suit with another suit eyeing her harder than they should, and for another moment he thought about, once again, making a fool of himself as he took in the way the suit on the right was staring her down.
“What the hell was all of that about?” Carter asked from Vin’s side, pulling him back from making another mistake. Vin turned his anger in another direction. “What the hell was what? It was your fault with all your fucking hand holding and weak-ass game. You’re lucky I was so gentle and didn’t break your hand.”
“Damn!” Carter and Aidan said in unison.
“I think I need a stiffer drink,” Aidan muffled.
“Never thought I’d see the day,” Carter said.
Eva came back to join the group. “Hey, the entertainment’s going to start soon. Lil C is about to perform his just-released hit.” She took quick stock of the expressions on the guys’ faces and frowned. “What’s going on here, and you never thought you’d see what?” she asked, not missing a thing after being in Aidan’s life for the past year and learning the cues of the three old friends. Their server take out came with his beer and headed off in the same direction Lily had gone. Vin couldn’t help but look for her. It seemed that The Suit had made his way over to her and had her engaged in conversation. Vin sucked in a breath and turned back to his friends, two of which he was considering cutting out of his life if they kept up the ragging.
“Don’t listen to anything they say, Eva. Obviously I didn’t get the Bust on Vin Day memo.”
When Eva frowned, Aidan laughed. “Don’t look like that, babe. We’re just teasing. It’s nice to see our boy here get hot under the collar for a woman.” He directed his comment back to Vin. “Too bad she’s engaged, though. You picked the wrong one there.”
Vin took a pull from his beer. “Too bad she’s certifiable and throwing a wedding so she can marry herself. So, yeah, I definitely picked the wrong one.”
At the shocked expression on his friends’ faces, Vin knew he’d hit the mark. “See, a nutjob, not to mention the fact that she doesn’t want anything more from me than business, and if it’s for pleasure, she’s made it clear it won’t go further than that.”
“Hold up, hold up!” Carter made a big show of spinning around and holding his fist to his mouth before he came in close to Vin. “She doesn’t want anything further? And the only person she wants to marry is herself?” He patted Vin on his back. “Man, how is she not the perfect woman?” He turned quickly to Eva then. “No offense, E. But you’re like my sister. And I give you all the gold stars for putting up with Aidan.”
Eva nodded, then frowned. “None taken. I guess.”
Just then the DJ made an announcement and Lil C made his entry on the downstairs center stage. Most of the crowd quickly gathered around him. Those up in the VIP made their way to the outer-edge railings so they could view the performance.
“Well, she may seem perfect, but trust me,” Vin yelled over the rumbling beats and hum of the crowd, “that woman is nothing but headaches and trouble. Definitely not what I need. I’ll do this party she’s got planned, then this wedding to herself to get some notor
iety and make some bucks for the business, but after that I’m out. The quicker I’m done with Lily Perry, the better.”
He looked back at Eva, who was not paying attention to them anymore. Her eyes were trained on the direction Lily had walked. “I find it so strange that she’s throwing a wedding to herself.”
Vin nodded. “See, you’re with me. That’s what I said. Some female talk about loving herself for who she is and all that. Hell, just go to a spa, take a vacation. I knew you’d get me, Eva. Why don’t you have a sister?”
Eva shook her head. “No, it’s not that. The wedding to herself sounds like a cool idea. Why wait around on a man to validate you? I totally get it,” Eva yelled over the rapping.
Vin rolled his eyes skyward. “Oh, damn. I should have known that crazy traveled in packs.”
Eva just rolled her eyes. “No, what I don’t get is what happened between her and Thomas. I thought for sure he was getting close to asking her to marry him.”
Vin pulled up short. He knew there was a guy who’d stood her up at her sister’s wedding, but he didn’t know they were that far gone so as other people thought marriage was an option. “Oh, well, maybe he wised up. You guys see how hot-tempered she can be.”
Eva shrugged. “I don’t know about wising up. From where I’m standing it sure looks like he’s trying his best to win her back.”
Vin felt his brows pull together as all the muscles in his body tensed up. He turned and looked in the direction Eva was indicating, and he saw Lily and The Suit, who he now knew to be her ex, Thomas. He had her up against the railing over the dance floor, his arms trapping her on either side while he whispered something in her ear.
Vin knew it was wrong—he had already made an ass of himself once, but why not go for two and then see if he could round it out to a triple? He strode away from his friends and toward Lily and The Suit.
By the time Vin made it over to Lily, The Suit had her almost completely boxed in, and though she didn’t look like she was being threatened in any way, she also didn’t look completely at ease.
To Me I Wed Page 15