Bargaining with the Bride(25)

“I didn’t see another option—“

She held up a hand to stop him. This was the way with corporate men. They didn’t understand, and maybe that wasn’t their fault. They had no context for what it was like to be a woman in a position of power in an office.

But come Monday? Everyone would be wondering what sort of position she’d gotten into for him in order to earn her title.

Fabulous.

Finally, she cleared her throat and said, “I’m not going to worry about that right now. Unfortunately, I’m woefully behind on all my wedding planning and I have a bunch of appointments to go to today. So…you and the dog can make yourselves even more comfortable. I’ll be back tonight in case you want to hook me up to wires or something.”

She turned to make for the stairs, but Garret’s voice stopped her, “Wait, don’t you want me to go with you?”

“Why would I want that?” She furrowed her brow.

“Wedding planning is difficult. Shouldn’t the groom be involved?”

“I…guess.”

“Excellent. It’ll be the perfect opportunity to learn your preferences and—“

She stalked from the room before he could add anything else, calling over her shoulder, “Be ready in five.” And then, to herself, she muttered, “God save me from this day.”





7





"So, what is it we have to do?" Garret buckled in beside her, staring at her like a puppy on his way to the park, and she let out a deep breath.

What had she gotten herself into here?

"Are you sure you want to go? This is going to be really, painfully boring."

"I'm game. Just tell me what I need to do."

"All right, then." She backed out of the driveway, doing a mental run-down of all the things that were still piled up on her wedding to-do list. She'd gotten her dress a month ago, so at least he wouldn't be along for any of that. The venue and caterers had also been selected a while back. Which, she guessed, just left...

Everything else.

"We should probably get a dress for the bridesmaids."

Garret nodded thoughtfully, and she tapped her hands on the steering wheel.

"We also need, um, a tux for you. And a cake. And flowers."

"You still have to do all of that with only a month to go?"

She gave him a warning glare, "I would have gotten it done earlier, but my boss is a slave driver."

"I've heard that. But isn't he also stunningly handsome?" He raised his eyebrows, but she ignored him.

Luckily, the tiny dress boutique was only a couple of blocks from her house, so the time she was required to explain herself to Garret was blissfully short. Or, at least she thought it would be.

"Who exactly is coming to this wedding?" He held the door open for her and something chimed as she crossed the shop's threshold.

"Who knows? My mother... Ugh, it was such a disaster."

She made her way to a rack of frilly pink dresses. This was what her mother would want. Traditional, classic. Boring. She fingered one with disgust, wondering if it was in her sister's size.

"What do you mean?" He glanced at a dress that was so loud she could hardly hear what he'd said.

"When I told my mother I was going to elope, she said that people would think I was pregnant."

"So?"

"So, she said she couldn't bare to have a shame marriage in her family and I simply had to have a wedding."

"Okay."

"She paid for everything and invited all the people she wanted, but she'd done most of it without telling me."

"Oh..." he frowned.

"Yeah. I talked Lance into it, but..." She shook her head, pulling another peach pipe bomb from the rack. "Well, you can't always get what you want."

"I guess not. Still—"

She cut him off. She'd given herself enough pity without him adding to it. "Let's not talk about it, okay? Let's talk about these hideous dresses." She held up what looked like a prom gown left over from the eighties and he laughed.

"You're not seriously going to have someone wear that?"

"It's what my mother would want. Probably because that's what she would have had her bridesmaids wear when she got married a hundred years ago."

"So? Don't you think she's gotten enough of what she wants? If she's going to make you have a wedding, why don't you at least make it the wedding you want to have?"

"You clear have never met my mother."

"No, but I know I'm the groom and my job is to take care of my bride."

"You're the fake groom."

"I have a job to do none the less, don't I?"

She laughed, and though their morning had been beyond bizarre, something warm flooded through her. Like...gratitude, "Maybe you're right."