I Thee Bed.... Jule McBride
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she added.
He chuckled, his brows knitting in an expression of mock concentration, as if he had absolutely no idea what she was talking about. “Of moi?”
“I’d been trying to get Stacy out of the conference room for ten minutes when you got here.”
“True. I was standing outside watching. But in your defense, she was a tough case. It seemed better to use guy charm.”
Edie nodded. “Hmm. Guy charm?”
“My specialty.”
From what she’d seen, she wouldn’t disagree with him. “And you are?”
His mouth curled further, twisting into one of the most disarming smiles she’d ever seen. “Besides charming?”
“The charm piqued my interest,” Edie assured. “Now I need more information.” She paused. “I did see you outside, and I thought maybe…”
“Yes?”
“You wanted an estimate or something.” Up close, it seemed obvious that the guy couldn’t be connected to the Darden’s security problems. Oh, Edie had seen enough movies to know that even serial killers could fool people. But she didn’t really believe that. No, she trusted her own gut instincts about people, and this guy exuded basic decency. More than Edie had ever sensed upon meeting someone new, in fact. Everything about him—the way he carried himself, the tasteful way he was dressed, the depth of warmth in his dark brown eyes, his easy sense of humor—made her sure he was trustworthy. He did, however, look puzzled.
“Estimate?”
She nodded. “For a wedding.”
A brief pause ensued, during which his luscious eyes widened, then he suddenly burst out laughing. “You thought I was getting married?”
Edie hardly wanted to examine her motives, but the truth was, she’d never been so instantly attracted to a man in her life as she was to Seth Bishop. One look—and she’d started imagining how he’d look with his clothes off. If the truth be told, she’d been through a dry spell. The last man she’d dated had wound up with her sister, so she was due some excitement. She considered. “Marriage,” she repeated. “Is that such a strange idea?”
“Uh…yeah,” he deadpanned as if he’d never heard of anything so ludicrous. “Especially since I don’t even have a girlfriend.”
Edie tried not to overreact to the information she’d been fishing for, but her chest got tight. “Then what are you…”
He looked surprised once more, then blinked as if he’d just come to his senses and swiftly slid a palm against his shirt, into the side pocket of the suit and withdrew a folded paper, which he handed to her. “Sorry. I thought the agency told you I was coming.”
“Oh,” she managed as she studied what turned out to be his résumé, barely able to believe it. “You’re applying for the assistant’s job?”
“I guess we had a kind of action-oriented interview.”
As she scanned the résumé, she couldn’t believe her luck. He was from Ohio, and in addition to graduating from art school, he’d worked as an art director at two high-profile companies. He also had experience in sales, which, given his handling of Stacy and Reggie, was pretty obvious.
“I won’t lie,” he said quickly. “I lost my last job in a company reorganization. There were no hard feelings, and I got a good severance. So, I am interviewing for more professional positions, in keeping with my background.”
“And you’re interested in Big Apple Brides because…”
“I want to hold out for a dream job, so I don’t expect it to materialize overnight. I figured while I interview for something more permanent, it wouldn’t hurt to keep a hand in, do some lighter work. The agency thought some of my skills might be of interest to you….”
It was almost too good to be true. Right now, all Edie really needed was support staff while she finished the Darden wedding. Then she’d have more breathing space. Not to mention more money, to hire the sort of permanent assistant she most wanted. She eyed Seth Bishop again. Pete Shriver had talked to the headhunting agency at some length, regarding how background checks were to be conducted, since employees would necessarily come into contact with Julia Darden. Also, Edie was to fax Pete the résumés of any applicants she hired, so she wasn’t too worried about Seth Bishop in that respect…. “I know the agency checked your references,” she said anyway, “but I’ll need to do so again.”
“Of course.”
He didn’t look the least bit nervous, which was a good sign. “If what you did here over the last hour is indicative of how you work, we should get along famously,” she found herself saying.
“Then why don’t you check my references and call me. I’m ready to start whenever you want me to come in.”
“Deal.” Edie stuck out her hand, and when his found hers, she was hardly surprised to feel heat flood her system. Nothing more than the casual touch made her every last nerve dance. And her last thought as he shrugged into his coat and walked through the door and into the swirling snow was that she would never be able to work with him without taking him upstairs to her apartment—and to bed.
“STACY WAS DEFINITELY right about one thing,” Seth said several days later as he helped Edie sort through the sketches on the board table. “That really is a beautiful gown. You and your mother did a great job.”
Edie couldn’t help but lean closer to him, drawn by the scent of his cologne and animal magnetism she simply couldn’t resist. “Actually—” Deciding to take a break, she pulled out a chair, seated herself at the table, then looked at the picture again. “That was my own dream gown.”
Following suit, Seth rolled a chair across the gray carpet and sat next to her. “Yours?”
Nodding, she took a deep breath, relaxing. “Thank you for everything,” she inserted, instead of pursuing the conversation. It was their third day on the job together, and Seth really had turned out to be a godsend. Sexy, too. He’d done nothing to diminish the initial sense that she’d like to get into bed with him. Today, he was wearing a dark charcoal suit, blue shirt and an unlikely lime-and-red-striped tie that looked so fabulous it prompted her to say, “You do have an amazing eye for color, Seth.” She’d met few people who could mix and match color and fabric with his unique flair. “Are you sure you want to go back into art directing?”
He laughed. “Offering to make me a partner?”
“Maybe,” Edie teased. “You can go, by the way. It’s about five. I’ve got to stick around for the mailman. I’m his last stop, and he brings in the papers, which should be in the outside box by now.”
Seth made no move to leave, but merely surveyed her, an easy smile still on his lips. “You’re evading the subject.”
“Which was?”
He pointed at a sketch. “The gown.”
She shrugged, blowing out a wistful sigh. “Honestly, a lot of Julia’s wedding includes elements I used to fantasize about when I was a kid. Things I thought I’d have in my own wedding. Even the music. My sister Bridget’s fiancé, Dermott, finally agreed to arrange some pieces. And I’d always thought of asking him, myself.”
As if sensing the conversation was headed for deeper turf, Seth rose, circled around to a counter and poured them both cups of coffee, fixing hers with cream and sugar, the way she liked it, then he returned, setting hers down before reseating himself. “Why didn’t you save the ideas for your own wedding?”
She considered. “You mean, besides the fact that I don’t have over a million dollars to spend?”
“Yeah.”
“And besides the fact that I’ve just about given up on ever having a wedding?”
He