Maybe he could be a kind of "big brother" to Suzanne. Yeah, that was the way he'd play it. He'd keep a close eye on her and this Logan jackass. If he saw any more danger signs, he'd … do something.
If he had to kiss her again, well, anything to help out.
4
When Suzanne arrived at the office of Stars in Your Eyes Events and Tours on the Monday after the YWCA party, a young Asian couple was already waiting at the door, flyer in hand.
"Good morning. Are you interested in one of our honeymoon packages?"
"How did you know?"
She smiled at them. "It's the happy glow. I can spot it a mile away. Come on in."
She unlocked the front door and gestured to the two honeymooners to take a seat. The sunny office was filled with scenic shots of various romantic locations around town. Jupiter Point wasn't on par with Hawaii or the Caribbean or other top honeymoon destinations, but the town had carved out a niche for itself thanks to its prime stargazing. Night picnics on the beach-complete with linen-covered tables and torchlight-private tours of the observatory with a chance to name a star, a sunset cruise on the sailboat That's Amore … there were so many ways to weave stargazing into a honeymoon.
She'd been working at Stars in Your Eyes since high school. When the owner, Marlene, had made her a full partner, she'd expanded the business into big event planning. Since she excelled at planning, she loved her job-when she was in an optimistic mood.
The rest of the time, it could be depressing.
Like when she was comparing the bliss in a newly married couple's faces with her own troubled state of mind.
Plastering on a bright smile, she got to work. "Do you enjoy sailing? There's nothing quite like a private sunset cruise."
The husband shook his head, placing a protective arm over his bride's shoulder. "She gets seasick. We'll take a pass on that. We were looking at the nighttime stargazing picnic package."
"Of course. That's a wonderful one." As she smiled and walked them through the choices, she really wished he hadn't used the word "pass."
As in, "free pass." As in, what the hell, Logan Rossi?
She was dying to ask the newlyweds if they'd had a free pass before their wedding. But luckily, she managed to get through the rest of the booking without completely embarrassing herself.
After the honeymooners left, she decided that this day was going to need a big hazelnut latte. Normally she would go around the corner to Evie's gallery, which had recently added an espresso bar. But she didn't want to hear about Sean and the other hotshots-especially Josh. She wasn't ready to talk about what had happened between them.
So she walked the extra three blocks to the Venus and Mars Café. It had the look of a French outdoor café, with its ironwork chairs and black awning. Its logo was a white cameo silhouette of a couple facing each other, with the merest sliver of space between their noses.
It reminded Suzanne of Josh and the way his face had hovered over hers, those gray eyes so unexpectedly serious. For such a playful guy, he kissed with impressive, knee-weakening intensity. It wasn't just the kiss, either. It was the way he'd looked at her, the way he'd handled the whole situation.
Josh had opened Suzanne's eyes to another side of him.
Of course, then he'd ruined it by acting like a jerk again. Which was the "real" Josh Marshall? Not that it mattered. One kiss meant nothing compared to wedding plans. That was just common sense.
She ordered her latte to go but lingered on her way out the door. She wasn't ready to face more deliriously happy couples. Surely there must be someone here to chat with.
Yes! Merry Warren, a reporter for the town weekly, sat at one of the little round tables in the bay window. With her tortoiseshell glasses halfway down her nose, and her wild frizz of brown hair confined by a red scarf, she was pounding the keys of her laptop. A newspaper sat under a mug and a scone. Merry was always so focused when she worked. She forgot about mundane things like the breakfast waiting right under her nose.
Suzanne hesitated, not wanting to interrupt the creation of her next masterpiece, but finally Merry looked up and beckoned her over.
She sat down with a happy sigh. Sipping a hot beverage-any beverage, really-while chatting with a friend was one of her favorite pastimes.
"How's everything in the honeymoon business?" Merry asked after they got the preliminaries out of the way.
"To be honest-and off the record, of course-I think they're all under the influence."
"All your clients are drunk? Hmm, sounds like they might have somethin' in common with journalists." Merry pulled a comical face.