One Winter Wedding. Barbara Hannay
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When she looked ready to argue, he said, “Todd has a big meeting at his office.” He’d looked up the address after Emily left. “I’m curious to find out who it’s with. How ’bout
you?”
As she slid into the passenger seat, Kelsey muttered something he couldn’t quite make out.
Connor figured it was just as well.
“I cannot believe I’m doing this,” Kelsey muttered from her slumped-down position in the passenger seat.
“You’ve mentioned that,” Connor replied.
They were parked in a lot across the street from Todd’s office. The row of two-story suites lined a busy side street off Scottsdale Road, the black glass and concrete a sharp contrast to the gold and russet rock landscape, with its clusters of purple sage, flowering bougainvillea and cacti. Connor had circled the building when they first arrived, noting all the building’s entrances and confirming Todd’s car wasn’t in the lot.
“What if someone sees us?”
“What are they going to see?” he retorted.
She supposed from a distance the car did blend in. Thanks to heavily tinted windows, it was unlikely anyone could see inside. Tilting the vents to try to get a bit more air to blow in her direction, Kelsey admitted, “This is a bit more boring than I expected.”
“Boring is good,” Connor insisted. Despite his words, he drummed his fingers against the steering wheel in an impatient rhythm, clearly ready for action.
“I’m surprised Emily didn’t tell me more about your job.”
“Why would she?”
“Because to anyone not sitting in this car, being a P.I. sounds exciting.” When Connor stayed silent, she asked, “Do you like it?”
“Yeah. Most of the time.”
The tapping on the steering wheel increased like the sudden peaks on a lie detector, and Kelsey sensed he was telling her not what he thought she wanted to hear, but what he wanted to believe. Something had happened to change his mind about the job she suspected he’d once loved. “It must be difficult. Seeing so much of the darker side of life.”
“It can be. Sometimes human nature is dark, but at least my job is about discovering the truth.”
Was it only her imagination, or had he emphasized that pronoun? Subtly saying that while he pursued truth and justice, she—“You think my job is about telling lies?”
“Selling lies,” he clarified.
“I promise a beautiful wedding and give the bride and groom what they’re looking for. That’s not a lie.”
“Okay,” he conceded, “maybe not the beautiful wedding part, but the sentiment behind it? Happily-ever-after? Love of a lifetime? Till death do us part? Come on!”
“Not every marriage ends with the bride and groom riding off into the sunset. Real life comes with real problems, but if two people love each other, they work it out.”
He snorted. “Not from my side of the video camera, they don’t.”
Irritation crackled inside her like radio static—annoying, incessant and almost loud enough to drown out a vague and misplaced feeling of disillusionment. All these years, she’d heard about Connor and Emily as a modern-day Romeo and Juliet, but the story of star-crossed lovers lost all meaning if one of the players didn’t believe in love.
And while Kelsey’s faith might have been shaken by what happened with Matt, she still longed for those happily-ever-after and love-of-a-lifetime dreams Connor cynically mocked.
“My aunt and uncle never believed you loved Emily,” she said, disappointed. “Everything you’ve said proves them right.”
“Your aunt and uncle weren’t right about me—no matter what they think.”
Dead certainty ricocheted in his voice, and Kelsey regretted the tack she’d taken. Too late to back down and far too curious about what made Connor tick, she pressed, “Either you believe in love or you don’t. You can’t have it both ways.”
“I just don’t want to see Emily get hurt. That’s why I’mhere.”
She opened her mouth, ready to push further, when Connor pulled the handle on the driver’s-side door. “I’ll be right back.”
Kelsey grabbed his arm. “Wait! Where are you going?”
“To check the rear lot. Todd might have pulled in back there while we’ve been watching the front.” With one foot already on the asphalt and refusing to meet her gaze, Connor seemed more interested in escaping her questions.
“I’m coming with you.” She scrambled to unlock the passenger door. When she sensed an oncoming protest, she said, “Partners, remember? You’re the one who dragged me along. You aren’t leaving me now.”
“Forget it! He’ll recognize you.”
“Todd knows what you look like, too,” she argued as she turned back toward him.
“Fine,” he bit out as he dropped back into the seat, “but there’s something you have to do first.”
Thanks to her questions, a noticeable tension vibrated through Connor, evident in his clenched jaw and the taut muscles in the arm he’d braced against the wheel. But the tension gradually changed, not easing, but instead focusing to a fine, definitive point—one that seemed wholly centered on her.
His intense gaze traveled over her hair, her face, her mouth…The gold flecks in his green eyes glowed, and Kelsey’s skin tingled as if warmed by his touch. Surely he wouldn’t try to kiss her. Not here, not now! Time raced by with each rapid beat of her heart, a single question echoing in her veins.
Why didn’t he kiss her? Right here, right now—
Her pulse pounded in her ears, drowning out the sound of passing traffic. The heat shimmering on her skin could put the mirage hovering above the asphalt to shame. Shifting his body in the driver’s seat, Connor eased closer. The scent of his aftershave, a clean fragrance that called to mind ocean breezes and sun-kissed sand, drew her in. Like waves rushing to the shore, helpless to resist the undeniable pull, she reached for him…
But instead of a roll on the beach, Kelsey crashed against the shoals, her pride battered against the rocks when Connor suddenly turned away. He twisted his upper body between the seats and reached into the back. “Here, take this.”
Kelsey stared dumbly at the baseball hat he held.
“See if you can cover your hair.”
Her hand was still raised in an attempt to reach out and capture a passion obviously only she felt. An admission of her willingness to make a fool of herself.
Kelsey jerked the hat from Connor, eager to grab hold of anything to save face. “Do you really think this will make a difference?”
“A huge one.” Almost reluctantly he added, “Your hair is unforgettable.”
But he’d forget all about her and her hair once Emily was a free woman again. Unforgettable. Yeah, right.
Kelsey didn’t realize she’d spoken the words until Connor murmured, “It’s the kind of hair a man fantasizes about. Trust me.”
But she couldn’t. She’d nearly made a fool of herself seconds ago, and in case she ever forgot, she had the living, breathing epitome of Connor’s perfect woman as her cousin. Kelsey couldn’t compare; she never had.
Jerking back toward the door to put as much room as possible between them, she shook back her hair and pulled it away from her face with sharp, almost painful movements. Unable to hide behind her long locks, she felt exposed, vulnerable. Even more so when Connor’s gaze remained locked on her features.
“How’s