by Karen Booth
Still, he’d found himself oddly looking forward to this evening’s Carter-Jackson wedding. He could admit that Autumn intrigued him, especially after making that comment the other day about liking having him around. When was the last time someone had actually said that about him? He wasn’t sure of the answer.
Considering how many assumptions he’d made about Autumn, she’d turned out to be nothing like what he’d expected. She came from a famous Hollywood family, but seemed so immensely grounded, even when she had her head in the clouds. She’d allowed her fate at Moonlight Ridge to remain on the line, all because she couldn’t bring herself to be anything less than painfully frank about what had happened when Rebecca Barefoot decided to be terrible about Autumn’s past.
Wearing a charcoal suit, Grey strolled into the main ballroom, where the reception would be taking place. The actual ceremony was set to start in an hour, out in the garden behind the inn. The ballroom was abuzz with activity as members of the catering team set out water glasses and place settings on the dozens of round tables covered with white tablecloths surrounding the dance floor. At one end, the DJ was setting up lighting. Autumn, however, was nowhere to be found. He headed back out through the door and ran right into her.
Literally. She kicked his foot with one of her pointy-toed heels. Her head collided with his jaw.
“Oh my gosh. Grey. What the heck?” She jumped back, breathless, squinting, and rubbing her temple.
He couldn’t ignore the way her voluptuous chest was heaving. In fact, he’d forgotten what his name was. Of course, that might’ve been the pain. His cheek was throbbing. “For all of that hair, you sure have a hard head.”
“I could say the same thing for you. Good thing I’m wearing my contacts. You could’ve broken my glasses and then we would’ve been in serious trouble. I’m blind without them. Where were you going so fast?”
“I was looking for you.” He reached for her shoulder to show his concern, but quickly learned that one touch would not be enough. He wanted to drag his fingers down the soft skin of her arm. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. Thank you.” Autumn straightened and that was when he noticed her dress—a slim-fitting silhouette of sheer black lace with a cream-colored fabric underneath. It wasn’t short. In fact, it fell below her knees. It wasn’t low-cut. It was quite a modest neckline. But holy smokes did it show off every last delicious curve of the full hips that bloomed from her waist. “Are you okay? I should’ve worn my glasses tonight. That was stupid. It’s probably my fault.”
“It was an accident. I’m just glad that you’re okay.” Grey focused his attention on her face, if only to keep his eyes from roaming all over her luscious body. But that wasn’t much help. Her lips were slightly parted, full and beckoning. Her eyes wide and intense. “Everything in the ballroom looks great,” he said, trying to distract himself.
“Thank you. That’s not the part I’m worried about. I’m looking for the groom. I got a text from his dad. He said his son is freaking out and wants to call off the ceremony. He’s disappeared and this building is so huge, he could be anywhere.”
“Oh.” Grey hated drama, and this sounded like a whole heap of that.
Autumn looked at Grey, cocking her head to one side, and he could see the gears turning behind her beguiling brown eyes. “Come on. Help me look.” She tugged on Grey’s hand, then marched off down the hall. He had no choice but to go with her. “If we find him and he won’t listen to me, maybe he’ll listen to you.”
“That’s not a good idea. I can’t convince someone to get married. Do you not remember the conversation we had the other day?”
Autumn shot him a look of pure annoyance. “I’m not asking you to persuade him to do anything. We just need to help him think straight. If the worst happens and we have to stick a pin in this wedding, there are horrible ways to do it and then there are slightly less horrible ways.”
“Could that really happen? Does that really happen?”
“Not often, but yes. Love is messy, Grey.” He and Autumn agreed on very little when it came to that topic—that was their common ground.
They jogged down one corridor, then another and another, doubling back at least once. But then they rounded a corner and sure enough, a man in a tux was standing at the very end of a narrow hall, staring out one of the many windows.
Autumn slowed her pace, approaching the groom with caution, like she was afraid she might spook him. “Max?” she called. “Can we talk for a minute?” Without looking back, she waved for Grey to come along.
The groom glanced over his shoulder then returned his attention to the world outside.
Grey still felt unsure of his role in this situation. He didn’t deal well with people and feelings, especially when emotions were running high. “I really don’t know what you expect me to do,” he whispered.
“I’ll do the talking. You can be the calming force,” she muttered out of the side of her mouth.
Calming force? “You are the queen of armchair psychology, aren’t you?”
“Call me whatever you want. Just do it later.” A dozen or so strides and Autumn reached the man. She gently placed a hand on his back, which was the first time Grey noticed just how lovely her fingers were. “Max. How can I help?”
He didn’t turn. In fact, he hung his head. “I’m overwhelmed. I’m trying to catch a breath and figure out what I’m thinking. And feeling.”
Autumn moved closer and leaned against the wall, lowering her head in an attempt to make eye contact. “I get it. I totally get it. Today is a big day. It feels like so much.”
Max turned to her. “Yes. Exactly. And I feel so embarrassed that I’m letting it get to me like this. I’m supposed to be strong. And I feel like I’m about to melt into a puddle.”
Grey couldn’t help it. His heart went out to the guy. He knew what it was like to be a man in a difficult situation and be burdened by expectations of unwavering strength and resiliency.
“Max, I need to tell you something.” Autumn reached for his hand, which was enough to make him straighten and look her in the eye. “Everything you’re feeling is so normal. I have talked dozens of grooms through this moment.”
“Really?”
She nodded eagerly and smiled her warm smile. Grey felt the ripples of her generous nature from several feet away. “Absolutely. You’d be surprised. It’s always the biggest, strongest guys who have the hardest time with this. And I think I know the reason.”
“Why?”
“Because it takes a big heart to be strong. A big heart feels everything.” Autumn pointed at his chest. “It doesn’t make you weak to be feeling unsure. It only means that you grasp the magnitude of what’s happening. This is a big day. You love Katie more than you ever thought it was possible to love someone.”
“God yes.” Max’s voice cracked.
Autumn offered more reassurance with an eager nod. “That’s scary. It’s like standing outside and looking at the mountains that surround us. You can’t even wrap your mind around where so much beauty came from. It seems impossible.”
Max exhaled loudly, like he’d been holding his breath. Grey could relate. He, too, felt as though he couldn’t breathe. “What do I do?”
“Only you know the answer to that. But I would just think about what’s on the other side of the decision,” Autumn said.
“Either I have a life with Katie or I don’t.”
“Exactly.”
“I can’t stand the thought of that.” Max straightened to his full height, blinked away a tear, and drew a deep breath through his nose. “Wow. I feel so much better. Thank you.”
“Of course.” Autumn adjusted the boutonniere on his lapel and brushed away a piece of lint. “Any time.”
Max looked back down the corridor. “I don’t even know where I am. How do I get to where my dad and the groomsmen are?”
Max smiled, nodded at Grey, then strode down the hall like a new man.
Grey wasn’t even sure what to say. “That was spectacular. You are a miracle worker.”
“Well, I am an armchair psychologist.”
“You should charge by the hour.”
“I’ll take that under advisement. Now let’s go check on a million other details.”
Autumn started off in the direction Max had gone and Grey went along with her. Of the many things Grey had thought might happen in the course of this wedding, what he’d just witnessed had not been one of them. Autumn was simply amazing.
She also wasn’t kidding about the sheer number of things she had to attend to, all while making herself seemingly invisible. She floated from place to place, checking on flower girl baskets and music. She made sure the mother of the bride had tissues and she retied the bow on the ring bearer’s pillow when he nearly lost the bands. She stood at the back during the ceremony, with Grey at her side, observing as everything went off without a hitch. When Max and Katie walked down the aisle, Max winked at her. Autumn returned the sentiment with a thumbs-up.
The ceremony was followed by photographs and then the reception. Grey continued to be astounded by Autumn’s attention to the most minuscule and mundane detail, and how she tackled everything in rapid succession. Her job was intense, with an unrelenting pace. There was very little about his career in architecture that he found frenetic. Everything was deliberate. Measured.
When the final guests were wandering out of the ballroom, Grey had to express everything he’d been thinking about the job Autumn had done. “I’m just telling you, whatever money you make, it isn’t enough.”
She laughed quietly, raising both eyebrows as if to ask if he realized what he was saying. “It’s not always like this. Tonight was an extreme case.”
“Still, you were amazing.” Grey couldn’t help but feel like the word was so inadequate. He’d never met any person like her.
“Thank you. I appreciate that.” Autumn dug around in her purse and pulled out her keys. “Now it’s time to take off these shoes and pass out.”
Grey didn’t want the evening to end, but she was clearly exhausted and he couldn’t think of a reason they should spend any more time together, other than the fact that he wanted to. “Let me walk you to your car.” At least this would give them a few minutes alone. Their entire evening had been consumed by other people.
They strolled out of the ballroom, wound their way to the lobby, and then out to the parking lot. The evening air was still warm, but not oppressively humid like a normal North Carolina summer, even up in the mountains. There wasn’t much of a breeze either, which meant nature wasn’t stirring up the smell of wildflowers or cut grass, leaving Grey to breathe in Autumn’s sweet scent.
Autumn stopped at a little silver BMW. “This is me.”
Grey was suddenly struck by the urge to hug her goodbye, even when he knew that wasn’t appropriate for their working relationship. Instead, he just waved, but he wanted to scream at their circumstances. He couldn’t deny his attraction to her. The way he itched to have her in his arms. Kiss her. “Have a good night. Thanks for everything today.”
He sensed her hesitation, just as he felt his own restlessness. Desire was stirring inside him. Churning. Telling him to not let her go.
“Okay, then. Good night.” Autumn climbed into her car.
Grey waited on the sidewalk for her to leave, disappointment hanging on his shoulders like a weight. She turned the key, but the engine made a clicking sound he knew all too well. She tried it again, but Grey was already sure it wasn’t going to work. “Sounds like your battery,” he said, walking to her door, which she had opened. He looked around the parking lot. Almost everyone was gone, and it would be strange for them to ask a wedding guest for a jump start. “We could go get my car. Then come back and get yours started. That is if you have jumper cables.”
Autumn climbed out. “Nope.”
“I doubt I have any. I have a rental car.”
Autumn’s shoulders dropped. “I’m so tired. I just want to go home and collapse.”
Grey spotted one of the resort golf carts nearby. “We’ll ride to my cottage and I’ll give you a lift back to your place. I can come back and pick you up in the morning if you want.”
“Are you sure?” she asked.
For a man who didn’t like to get involved in other people’s problems, he’d never been more sure of anything in his life. “Absolutely.”
* * *
Autumn was pretty good at predicting the behavior of others, but she’d never expected that Grey would end up being her knight in shining armor. Not that he wasn’t a good man—he was. She simply never would’ve guessed that he’d go out of his way to demonstrate it.
Back at his cottage, they climbed into his rental car, a sleek black, fully loaded Jaguar. “I had no idea you could rent a car this fancy.” She pressed “home” in the navigation app on her phone to guide Grey to her house.
Grey started the engine and the lights flipped on, shining brightly into the dark of night. “It might seem flashy, but it’s incredibly safe, too.” He checked his mirror, then pulled out onto the access road circling the property.
Autumn remembered Molly talking about the car accident the three brothers had been in when they were teenagers. Reportedly, none of them liked to talk about it, so she didn’t bring it up. But she knew that it was a looming presence in everyone’s lives, even all these years later. “What do you drive back at home? Or is it too much of a pain to have a car in the city?” Autumn had been to New York many times over the years, but she really only enjoyed visiting for a few days. In general, she preferred places with a big open sky.
“I have a Mercedes I keep in Manhattan. I keep a BMW at my vacation house in Martha’s Vineyard.” He slid her another glance. “You aren’t actually interested in what I drive, are you?”
“Just making conversation.” It was the truth. Something about being alone with Grey made her nervous, but excited. They were becoming friends. They were getting closer. It was all good, except that guys like Grey—handsome, capable and smart—were like catnip for Autumn. She might have given Grey a hard time about avoiding temptation, but she needed to do that herself. They were working together. He was practically her boss. More than anything, he still held her future in his hands. “Real East Coast guy, huh?”
“I guess I never really saw the appeal of the west.”
“You’re so right. All that sunshine. And the beaches. Ugh,” she joked.
Grey laughed. “I realize that makes me sound like I never have any fun at all.”
Autumn remembered what Molly had said about that. She wondered if most people never got to see the real Grey. Even though he was serious most of the time, she’d seen glimmers of a more relaxed man. She loved those moments. It felt like a challenge to pry them out of him. “What do you do for fun?”
Grey shrugged. “I enjoy chess. I’m a big sports fan. Football. Basketball. I like to swim, too.”
“Huh.”
“What does that mean?”
Autumn shifted in her seat. “We’re very different. Although I like to swim, too.”
“See? We have something in common.”
Heat bloomed in Autumn’s cheeks. He was looking for common ground between them, and it stirred up warm and fuzzy feelings. “Fair warning, I’m more of a lounge by the pool with a margarita sort of girl. Throw in a good book and you’ll have to drag me out of there.”
He laughed again, but Autumn couldn’t help but notice that every time he did it now, it was a little less guarded. More natural. Was sh
e really getting to him the way he was getting to her? Despite everything she’d first thought about working with Grey, she found herself drawn to him like a thirsty bumblebee to sweet, sweet honey. “I didn’t expect to say this when we first met, but I like you. I can’t say that I know anyone else like you.”
Autumn was smiling so wide, she had to turn toward the passenger side window, just so he wouldn’t know how damn happy she was. “I like you, too, Grey.” Maybe a little too much.
“That’s nice to hear.”
He turned into the main entrance of her neighborhood, Montford, on the North side of Asheville. It was chock-full of beautifully restored historic homes and hosted an eclectic mix of young families, retirees, entrepreneurs and even a few big executives. Grey leaned forward over the steering wheel, peering out at the homes. “Wow. These are some amazing houses.”
“Of course. I hadn’t really thought about it, but you’d probably love it here during the day. It’s got to be heaven for an architect.”
“I’m definitely a nerd for old houses.” Following the navigation directions, Grey turned into her driveway and killed the engine. “I’ll walk you to the door.”
“Thanks.” Autumn appreciated his gentlemanly ways. It was nice to be treated this way.
They strolled down the front walk and Autumn was trying to figure out a reason to invite him in. Then again, that was a bad idea. He was too good-looking and it would only make her life messier if she opened that door. Still...she was tempted. Every minute in the car with him had chipped away at her resolve to keep things professional.
“I have to ask you something I’ve been wondering,” Grey said when they arrived at the front door. Autumn had forgotten to leave on the outside lights, but the moon was high and full in the sky, casting him in an appealing glow. He really was so handsome. Unfairly so.