The Best Man Problem (Mile High Happiness)

by Mariah Ankenman

  They ran through the motions of the rehearsal twice—easy enough to walk down an aisle and stand there—as the snow continued to fall outside the windows. The majestic sight added both beauty and worry to the proceedings. Once the rehearsal was completed, everyone was dismissed. Mo announced the rehearsal dinner would be in an hour, downstairs in the large dining area. Kenneth’s parents had talked about using a restaurant in the area but decided to hire the staff of the wedding to prepare and serve the rehearsal dinner after all.

  Everyone headed to their rooms save for him, Marie, and Kenneth. He stood with his friends, a solid presence behind them as they anxiously waited for Lilly to get off the phone. He had no idea what she’d done, but judging by the satisfied grin on her face, he’d bet she just pulled off a miracle for his best friends. Every time he thought this woman had impressed the hell out of him, she went and one-upped it.

  “Fantastic. Consider the favor repaid. Thanks, Twyla.” Lilly smiled, slipped her phone into the pocket of her skirt, and headed their way. “I have great news.”

  “You got Boreas to agree to tone it down a bit?”

  Everyone stared at Marie. The woman shrugged.

  “He’s the Greek God of winter.” At their continued silence, she threw up her hands. “Geesh, no one appreciates a history minor.”

  “I do, babe.” Kenneth kissed her cheek. “Nerds are hot.”

  She elbowed him gently but smiled. “Damn right we are.”

  Lilly motioned to the snow outside. “The snow is making the roads slick and icy, but I called in a favor with a limo company. They agreed to meet the vendors who aren’t here yet and the guests who will be arriving tomorrow at their business and drive everyone up and back.”

  Marie let out a high-pitched shriek. “Lilly, you are the absolute best!”

  The woman flung her arms around the wedding planner. Lincoln held back a snort of laughter at the panicked look on Lilly’s face as the woman tried to gently pat his friend’s back and extricate herself from the hug.

  “I’m simply here to make sure your special day runs smoothly.”

  He called bullshit on that. Lilly went above and beyond for her clients. And from what he learned of her the other day, that giving extended into her personal life. Sure, her mom might be paying her to organize her latest wedding, but he knew Lilly would have done it no matter what. The woman might try to hide behind a wall of propriety and ice, but inside she was a big ol’ softie who just wanted the people around her to be happy.

  Damn, she was amazing.

  “Oh.” Marie sniffed, wiping at her eyes with the back of her hand. “Now I have to fix my makeup.”

  “You look amazing,” Lilly said with a shake of her head.

  “You do, babe, but I can take you to your room if you want to freshen up before dinner.”

  “Yes, I think that would be for the best. Thank you, Lilly.”

  “Just doing my job.”

  He watched as his friends headed upstairs to where he assumed Marie was staying. Lilly stood, watching them go with a longing smile on her face. He could relate. His friends had the kind of relationship people dreamed about. The kind you only read about in books or saw in movies. There’d been many a time over the years he’d compared his own failed marriage to his friends’ relationship and wondered where he went wrong. Fair? No, but hard not to do.

  “Admit it,” he said as he stepped up to her side. “You’re some kind of superhero, aren’t you?”

  She laughed, her eyes still on the spot where Marie and Kenneth had disappeared. “Not a superhero. Just really good at my job.”

  “Really good at making people happy.”

  “I like making people happy.” She sighed. “The world needs more happy.”

  “And what about you?”

  She turned to face him. “What about me?”

  “What would make you happy?”

  Her gaze traced over him, eyes heating, waking up every cell in his body. It took all his willpower to hold still when what he really wanted to do was haul her into him and worship every single inch of her body with his tongue.

  “You.” The word whispered out of her of its own volition.

  “That can be arranged, sweetheart.” His voice was so low and husky he almost didn’t recognize it.

  “You’re still a client.” She shrugged. “Sort of.”

  He lifted a brow, clenching his hands into fists to keep from reaching out to touch her. “Not after tomorrow at five, I’m not.”

  A cheeky grin tilted her lips. “Technically, the wedding ends at ten.”

  He couldn’t help it—he threw his head back and laughed. “Okay, you win. Ten. But after ten…”

  She bit her lip. He wanted nothing more than to soothe the small pain with his tongue.

  “Tomorrow.” The word whispered out of her. “The place is booked until Sunday. Mo and I usually hang around to make sure the place is all cleaned up, so if you want to stay after the wedding, we can…”

  His eyes widened in shock. “Seriously?” They’d been talking, flirting, even gotten a little naughty over the phone, but he was still surprised she’d finally agreed.

  She nodded. “After the wedding.”

  “After,” he agreed.

  “Now let’s hurry up. There’s a rehearsal dinner to get to.” She winked, heading down the stairs.

  It took a moment for his brain and body to catch up. Tomorrow. After the wedding, he would be with Lilly Walsh again. His body vibrated with such a fierce need he almost couldn’t take it. Just over twenty-four hours. Didn’t seem like much in the long run, but right now…he feared waiting for Lilly would be the longest day of his life.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Wedding days were normally times of exhilaration for Lilly. The big day arrived, and all the work she’d put in with her couples came to fruition. She never stressed because she always had a plan for each and every emergency that could present itself. Over the years, she had seen everything from exes showing up to try and object to the wedding to out-of-control drunk in-laws losing their clothing on the dance floor.

  Each instance had been met with Lilly’s firm yet polite guidance of the situations. Whatever it called for—coffee and a quiet room, the adorable distraction of a flower girl/ring bearer dance, or, in one case, a call to Denver PD—Lilly could handle it. She had nerves of damn steel.

  So why was her stomach currently filled with a million anxious butterflies?

  She glanced across the vast great room. The chairs had all been set, the aisle runner laid, and sweet smells of the fresh-cut flowers filled the room. Standing at the center, directly in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows, stood a dark oak arch covered in beautiful white gardenias and pale purple peonies. Normally, the arch would be used outside on the large deck for a wedding, but since it was still snowing, they had it indoors.

  Yesterday, the limo service had picked up all the incoming out-of-town guests and supplies and driven up the snowy I-70 pass from Denver to Genesee. Marie and Kenneth had been extremely relieved, thanking her and Mo a million times before the night was over. Not necessary. It was her job to make sure nothing ruined her clients’ perfect day. Not even Mother Nature.

  The bridal party was currently getting ready, the caterer prepping the meal, the band warming up. Everything looked to be in order.

  So what was with this terrified twitch in her stomach?

  “Wow, Lilly. The place looks amazing.”

  She turned to face the very source of her disquiet. Lincoln strode into the great room, head swiveling this way and that as he took in all the changes she and Mo had spent hours setting up. Though it didn’t take much to make this place awe-inspiring. The large house—mansion, really—had been built by a famous architect whose wife always wanted a luxury cabin in the woods. He came out to Colorado and built her this castle m
asquerading as a cabin, but after one Rocky Mountain winter, the wife had refused to step foot in the state again.

  Her loss. Genesee’s gain.

  The architect donated the building to the city, a beautiful rental property to drive income into the small city’s coffer and a nice tax write-off for him. And lucky for her, the city liked to rent it out for big events like weddings. They’d used this location half a dozen times before, but she never got tired of staying there. The view from these windows was majestic—a large wooded forest off to one side, the sparkling lights of Denver off to the other—and the massive pine ceiling beams made the entire place smell like the woods after a fresh rain.

  If someone ever built her a place like this, she’d never leave.

  “Thank you,” she said to the man who couldn’t build her a cabin castle but probably could build her a new computer she wouldn’t want to toss into the wall every other day.

  “Marie and Kenneth are gonna flip.” His eyes settled on her, a grin brightening his handsome face.

  “It’s my job to make sure everything is beautiful for their big day, but I’m sure they’ll be too busy staring at each other to notice. As they should be.”

  He nodded. “As they should be.”

  His gaze roamed over her, eyes lighting with a different kind of appreciation than the one he gave the room.

  “You look beautiful.”

  Heat rose on her cheeks. She glanced down to her standard uniform when running a wedding, her trusty LBD and low-heeled black pumps. The black dress was modest but fancy enough for any level of formal event. The scalloped neckline hit right below her collarbone, edging out to her shoulders, where the three-quarter sleeves of the dress allowed for style and comfort. The skirt flared out at her waist, hitting just below her knees to allow ease of movement in case she had to hurry to put out a fire. She supposed it was a beautiful dress, but she’d never felt beautiful in it. She wore it for purpose, not pleasure.

  Yet the way Lincoln stared at her, devouring her with his eyes, made her wonder if the dress would be considered work appropriate had she not been in her current profession.

  “Thank you, I—” She paused with a frown. “Where’s your tux?”

  For the first time since he entered the room, Lilly noticed Lincoln’s attire. The man had on a ratty pair of jeans and a dark green long-sleeved shirt, which set off the flecks of gold in his hazel gaze. Perfect eye-popping sweater or not, it wasn’t proper wedding attire.

  “In my room.”

  She huffed at his nonchalance. “Shouldn’t you be getting ready? The wedding is in”—she glanced at the watch attached to her clipboard—“two hours.”

  He smiled, a soft chuckle escaping those delicious lips. “I’m a guy. We don’t need two hours to put clothes on.”

  Stupid fashion industry. Lilly could admit she had a thing for stylish clothes and designer shoes, but it pissed her off the way guys could put on an outfit without a thought and women had to match style, pattern, color. They had to wear layers because God forbid they make any type of top or dress that wasn’t constructed of such sheer fabric your bra and panties showed with even the barest of backlighting.

  “Okay, but don’t you have to do other things?”

  He arched a brow. “Like what?”

  “Wash up, manly bonding time?” She gestured vaguely at his face. “Shave?”

  A large palm came up to scrape against the scruffiness on his jaw. The sound hit her ears, causing every inch of her body to come alive with need. Oh hell, this was going to be the longest wedding ever.

  “You don’t like my beard?”

  It wasn’t much of one. More like nicely trimmed scruff. She lived in Denver, hipster central. She’d seen men who could braid their beards, men who hung Christmas bulbs in their beards—once a guy even had a tiny lizard sitting in his nest of a beard. That was a weird one. Even for Denver.

  “It doesn’t matter what I like. It’s about what Kenneth and Marie want for their day.”

  His lips split in a wide, knowing grin. “So you do like my beard?”

  His eyebrows bobbed, but she chose to ignore him, focusing intently on her clipboard even though she’d double-checked everything on her list.

  Lincoln threw his head back and laughed, the sound booming out of him, echoing in the large, high-ceiling room.

  “Not to worry, Ms. Walsh. Marie and Kenneth gave me the all clear for the beard. They don’t care what I look like as long as I’m here, and I’m currently right here because Ken is having his pre-wedding freak-out shower. Which means he’s taking a long, very cold shower to calm his nerves while singing every Strokes song at the top of his lungs. Badly.” He stuck a finger in his ear and wiggled. “I had to escape for fear my eardrums would burst and I wouldn’t hear my cue to walk down the aisle.”

  She laughed, covering her mouth with her hand as she realized she was laughing about her client stressing when it was her job to make sure he didn’t.

  “Oh no.” She removed her hand, unable to wipe the smile from her face. “Is he okay? Does he need anything?”

  Lincoln shrugged. “Just to marry the love of his life. I can’t tell who’s more excited for today, Kenneth or Marie. I think if it weren’t for their families insisting on celebrating this joyous occasion, they would have run off to the courthouse the minute Marie said yes. Kenneth said he can’t wait to start their forever.”

  “The best kind of love feels that way.” At his curious stare, she shrugged. “Or so I’ve heard.”

  He watched her for a long moment, gaze contemplative. She shifted under his scrutiny, wishing she knew what was going on in his mind. What had put that odd look on his face?

  “You ever been in love, Lilly?”

  Crap! The problem with having a job revolving around love and happily ever afters was everyone eventually asked her if she had experienced love. While she’d had a few boyfriends she cared for and one disaster of a relationship where she discovered she was the other woman—hello, shame and humiliation—she’d never truly been in love. Because she didn’t really believe in love—at least, not for her. Something she could never tell anyone associated with her business.

  Lincoln stood there, hazel eyes staring deep into hers, as if he could see her soul. Pick out every lie, every misdeed. But not to judge; no, Lincoln wasn’t like that. He liked to solve problems. She guessed as a computer guy that was kind of his job. But she wasn’t his problem to figure out.

  “No.” She kept it simple, turning the question around to get the pressure off her. “How about you? Ever been in love?”

  His eyes shuttered, face going blank as he shut down all emotion. He turned to stare out the window with a clenched jaw. He was silent so long she thought he might not answer, but then he said, “I thought I was. Once. But it turned out to be nothing even close to that.”

  His expression might not give anything away, but she could hear the hurt in his voice. The anger. Whatever happened to Lincoln obviously caused him pain, and she ached for him.

  “I’m sorry.”

  She reached out to touch his arm, but suddenly he came alive, turning to her with a falsely bright smile plastered on his face. She’d gotten to know the man fairly well over the past few weeks, and he was genuine through and through. But not now. Not this smile. It wasn’t a happy one, but one that was meant to cover up his real feelings, to close a subject. A subject he started, she might point out.

  “I better get back to the anxious groom. Any more cold water and he might be too shriveled up to perform his husbandly duties tonight.” He bobbed his brow.

  Knowing better than to push a subject neither of them seemed all that eager to discuss, she rolled her eyes. “Classy, Lincoln. Very classy.”

  “Hey, I’m a classy guy.” He leaned in with a grin, his lips brushing against her ear as he whispered, “If I wasn’t, I’d tell yo
u how absolutely fuckable you look in that dress.”

  She felt the barest brush of his lips against the sensitive spot on her neck just below her ear. A shiver of anticipation ran up her spine. After tonight, he’d no longer be off-limits. Could she really do this? Start a sexual relationship with a man she knew wasn’t a good match for her? Let her body take control and keep her heart out of it?

  His tongue came out to gently stroke along her pulse point as his teeth closed down with a sharp, tiny love bite. Her knees weakened, all the blood rushing between her legs at the sensual move.

  Yes. Yes, she most certainly could.

  …

  Lincoln wiped his face with the back of his hand, brushing away a few stray tears as he watched his two best friends kiss for the first time as man and wife. He wasn’t ashamed at the release of emotions. Real men cried, and that toxic masculinity bullshit could shove it. The two people he loved most in the world just got something they feared they would never have a few short years ago.

  A future together.

  He cried when Marie got sick and they all feared they might lose her, and he would damn well cry now. Happy tears, of course. Damn, he was so over the moon for them. As they walked back down the aisle, arm in arm, man and wife, he couldn’t stop the huge grin from taking over his face. Kenneth’s cousin had to nudge him to remind him they were still in wedding mode and Rachel was waiting for him to escort her down the aisle.

  “Wasn’t it a beautiful ceremony?” She sniffed, dabbing at her eyes with a tissue as she linked arms with him.

  “Yeah. And now comes the best part. Cake.”

  She laughed as they made their way down the aisle, smiling at all the people who clapped at Kenneth and Marie’s exit. It had been a beautiful ceremony. Short, too, which made it even better. And now they’d get to the fun stuff: food, drinks, dancing, and then…truth be told, as happy as Lincoln was for his friends, now that the official ceremony was over, his happiness had turned into excitement. For after—for tonight.