Then why did the thought of Cassie and her Wolverine boyfriend make his gut tighten? Why did his hands clench when he imagined her kissing that guy? Shit, was this what jealousy felt like? He hauled in a deep breath and forced his hands to relax. He wasn’t jealous of Cassie’s ex-boyfriend, because he was her friend. Her best friend, and that was better than being her boyfriend.
Wasn’t it?
Chapter Three
“She’ll have to wear flat-heeled shoes.”
“And make sure her hair isn’t up and doesn’t have any flowers in it.”
“And of course she must be on the sides for all the group photos or she’ll unbalance the whole composition.”
Cassie kept her hands pressed together on her lap as her mom, sister, and the wedding planner pondered the problem of how to disguise her as much as possible on the wedding day. “Why don’t you just put a sack over my head?” she wanted to blurt. But she kept her mouth shut. She’d promised herself she’d be on her best behavior today. It was an honor to be her sister’s bridesmaid, and she wanted to get along with her family.
“Mark, who’s your tallest groomsman?” Lillian turned to her fiancé, who sat patiently next to Cassie on a pink heart-shaped couch at the back of the wedding planner’s office.
“Probably Brad,” Mark said. “I think he’s around six feet.”
“Can he wear lifts in his shoes? So he appears taller than Cassie?”
“Uh, sure.” As Lillian’s attention shifted back to the wedding planner, Mark leaned toward Cassie and muttered, “Sorry about this. Brad’s a nice guy, honest.”
“No need to apologize.” Cassie grinned. “You forget I grew up with Lillian and my mom.”
She’d met Mark for the first time over the weekend and was surprised to find him a really nice guy. He was an up-and-coming young lawyer working for one of the best firms in the city, and he bore a passing resemblance to Cassie’s late father, prompting Cassie to wonder if Lillian was subconsciously following in their mother’s footsteps in every way possible.
“I’m surprised you could get time off work to come to this meeting,” Cassie said to Mark. She didn’t see why his presence was required at the wedding planner’s. Lillian, with her mother’s input, made most of the decisions, and Mark went along with whatever she wanted.
“I like spending time with Lillian,” Mark said, “even if we have to discuss almond bonbons.”
Wow, he must really love Lillian. Cassie glanced at her sister, who was huddled up with Audrey around the wedding planner’s desk. Did Lillian realize how lucky she was? No, she probably didn’t. She took everything for granted, including her devoted fiancé.
“She’s not even discussing almond bonbons with you now,” Cassie pointed out.
Mark shrugged and lifted his cell phone. “Oh well. That gives me time to watch the highlights of yesterday’s Giants’ game.”
“They’re having a good season so far, aren’t they?” Cassie craned her neck to get a better view of his phone.
“You like baseball?” Mark looked surprised and pleased.
“I like sports, yeah. I played hockey and basketball in college.”
“The Giants are playing at home this coming weekend,” Mark said eagerly. “We should go to the game.”
“Baseball this weekend?” Lillian stood, her hearing uncanny. “Have you forgotten your bachelor party in Vegas?”
“Oh, yeah, Vegas. Sorry, honey.”
Lillian turned to Cassie. “And there’s my bachelorette party, remember? We’ve rented a house down in Carmel for the weekend. All my friends and bridesmaids are coming, you included.”
Fan-frigging-tastic. Cassie sighed inwardly. That’s all she needed, a weekend away with Lillian’s sorority sisters. She could imagine what was in store for her—endless shopping, wine tasting, girl gossip…hell, maybe even a male stripper. If she could choose, she’d much rather go to Vegas with Mark and his friends, although she’d skip the gentlemen’s club visits, of course.
Cassie pasted a smile on her face. “Carmel? Sounds great.”
The wedding planner rose from her desk and approached Cassie with a notepad and pen in her hands. “Audrey tells me you’re staying with a friend now. I need your address in case I have to courier anything urgent.” She waited expectantly, pen poised above her notepad.
Reluctantly, Cassie gave her Kirk’s address, aware how her mother would react.
“Pacific Heights?” Audrey said right on cue. “That’s a rather upmarket address. Who’s this friend of yours?”
“I told you, someone I met in college.”
“Yes, but who? It’s a man, right? What’s his name?”
Last night she hadn’t told her about Kirk, because she was upset about her mom showing her the door, but she’d regained her equilibrium since then. She’d told herself this was the start of a new relationship with her family. Kirk was important to her, so why did she need to lie about him?
“His name’s Kirk Rochester,” she said in a neutral voice.
Her mother blinked at her. “Kirk… Not Kirk Rochester of the Rochester family? Surely you don’t mean him?”
“Yes, that’s the one,” Cassie said airily. “I’ve known him since college.”
Audrey’s lips moved but no sound came out. Lillian pushed Mark aside so she could sit next to Cassie.
“You’re staying with Kirk Rochester in his Pacific Heights house?” She let out a weak, disbelieving laugh, her eyes goggling like Cookie Monster. “You can’t be dating him?”
“Didn’t you hear me?” Cassie sighed. “We’ve been friends since college.”
“But why didn’t you ever tell me?” Audrey squeaked in equal parts astonishment and indignation. “You’re friends with one of the Rochesters, and you’ve never seen fit to mention that to me?”
“Because I knew how you’d react—like you are now. It’s no big deal that he’s one of the Rochesters. So what if he’s rich and well-connected? It’s not important.” Even as Cassie spoke, she knew she couldn’t stave off her mom’s inevitable reaction.
“Not important!” Audrey’s perfectly arched eyebrows disappeared behind her bangs. She grabbed Cassie’s hand. “You have to bring him over for dinner. Tomorrow night. I insist.”
Cassie’s heart sank as she sensed the cogs spinning in her mother’s head. “Since when have you ever wanted me to bring my friends home for dinner?”
“You’ve never told me about any of your friends.”
Because I didn’t want you to spoil things for me. But she swallowed down the childish words.
“Kirk’s a very busy man,” she replied. “I don’t know if he has the time.” And she’d rather spend the evening with Kirk doing something fun than take him to her mom’s for dinner, which definitely would not be fun or relaxing.
“You could at least ask him,” Audrey said. “If he’s not free tomorrow night, any other night will be fine by me.”
She wasn’t going to give up. “He’s not in the market for an interior decorator, Mom.”
Audrey drew herself up, looking very put out. “As if I’d embarrass myself and you by touting for business over a first dinner. I simply want to meet your college friend, Cassie. That’s all.”
Well, that wasn’t all, and everyone knew it. But this was the first time her mom had ever shown any interest in her friends, so that had to count for something.
“Okay.” Cassie shrugged. “I’ll ask him, but don’t hold your breath.”
“Of course not. Whatever he decides is fine.” But Cassie could see her mom was already drawing up menus in her head.
…
“You don’t have to go. In fact, you’d be doing me a favor if you said no.”
Kirk gave the pot of Bolognese sauce another stir before glancing at Cassie. “Tomorrow night? Sure, I’ll go.”
“No, really, you’re not obligated.”
“I heard you.” He picked up the boiling pot of pasta and then dumped the contents into the colander waiting in the sink. “I want to meet your mom and sister. Will her fiancé be there, too?”
“I’m betting my mom and Lillian will drag him there,” she said gloomily. She filched a strand of pasta, blew on it, and then popped it into her mouth.
“Why did you never tell your mom about me back in college?”
“I wasn’t talking to her, remember? I was going through my up-yours-Mom phase, which she likes to refer to as my butch phase. I think she would’ve preferred I were lesbian. That, at least, would’ve given her some cachet.”
Kirk playfully tugged at her ponytail. “Are you sure you’re over that up-yours-Mom phase?”
Her nape tingled where his knuckles had brushed her skin. “I’m trying. I’m trying so hard.”
He piled pasta and Bolognese sauce onto two plates. “So take me home for dinner tomorrow and earn a few brownie points with her.”
“You’d do that? For me?”
“Sure. What are friends for?”