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“No, it wasn’t,” she agreed. “Anyway, there are plenty of family stories about the ghost of Miss Marissa, so from an early age, I thought opening a wedding-planning business might…”
“Bring the Benning women better marriage Karma?”
She sipped her coffee, then made a show of smacking her lips, tilting the cup and toasting him since it tasted absolutely perfect. “Exactly.”
Seth squinted. “But I met your sisters. Marley and Bridget, right? They’ve both stopped in. I thought the two of them said they were engaged.”
Edie grinned. “See. My plan worked.”
“Touché.”
Her smile tempered as she glanced across the threshold and to the outer windows where twilight was waning and the snow was still falling. Her business was situated on the corner of Hudson and Perry streets and her parents, Viv and Joe, lived at the other end of the block. She had a sudden urge to call her mother, to ask if she could bring Seth Bishop home with her for dinner—assuming he’d want to come, of course. Her grandmother, fondly known as Granny Ginny, was still visiting, and she imagined Seth would enjoy the older woman’s company.
Turning her attention to him again, she startled. He’d been looking at her with…intensity, she realized. Longing. Raw sexual need. For just a second, she felt completely unbalanced, although she shared the sentiment, she was deeply attracted to him, and more than once she’d fantasized about going to bed with him. It was unwise, since they were working together, yes. Still, the more she got to know him, the more she wanted him. She also realized his knee had found hers under the table again. How long had it been brushing hers?
“Uh…” Somehow, she found her voice. “My sisters are engaged, but they’ve only became so recently.” Continuing, now speaking almost by rote, since his proximity was claiming most of her attention, she caught Seth up on how her life had spun out of control after Sparky Darden had hired her. She told him about how Celebrity Weddings had talked her into going on a reality show called Rate the Dates with a man she’d been dating at the time, named Cash Champagne, and how he’d only been using her to get close to Julia Darden, since he was Sparky Darden’s estranged biological son and Julia’s half brother.
“That’s a wild story,” Seth agreed.
“Nothing compared to what happened after that,” assured Edie, reporting that things had gone further awry since Marley, while attempting to cancel Edie’s appearance on the reality show, had wound up being a contestant, herself—something that had led to her engagement with Cash. And then Bridget, determined to put an end to Miss Marissa’s wedding curse on the Benning women for good, had talked her longtime best friend, Dermott, into traveling down South to an old family plantation in Florida, owned by their grandmother, to do some ghost-busting.
“According to Bridget, she rid the plantation of Miss Marissa, not to mention her curse, which is how Bridget wound up engaged to Dermott.”
“Again, impressive,” said Seth.
“And why I know no more adventures can come my way until after the Darden wedding,” Edie finished, chuckling softly.
“I’m not sure I follow. Why?”
“I’ve had my quota,” she explained.
He was smiling. “Well, you don’t seem cursed to me.”
“Believe me, my own luck’s been lousy.”
“You found me.”
“True. But only after the videographer for the reality show I mentioned found out Marley had taken my place.” She paused, suddenly pondering the wisdom of going into all this with a man to whom she was so attracted. “I hate to admit this, but they…they, uh, announced on national television that my love life was in the toilet.”
His shoulders shook with merriment. “You’re kidding me, right?”
She slowly moved her head from side to side. “I wish.”
“Tell all.”
She plunged into the story of how the videographer, a man named Vinny Marcel, had exposed that Marley was pretending to be her twin on the show. “Marley won, and I did get a cut of the money,” she said, finishing, “and I put it into the business. Still, the publicity really wasn’t good. I probably gained as many clients as I lost. And I lost some couples when Cheryl ran off with one of our customers, too.”
“I promise I won’t abscond with a bride,” Seth offered.
“I’d appreciate it,” said Edie. “I know it’s tough on you. I could see you eyeing Stacy.”
“Oh, please.”
She laughed.
“Seriously. Did you really use ideas for your own dream wedding while planning Julia Darden’s?”
She glanced over the sketches and photographs on the table. “Sure. This wedding could make or break my reputation, so I’ve wanted it to be perfect. And like most little girls, I always had a fantasy about what the ultimate wedding would be like.”
“You do have great taste.”
Edie looked at the picture of the dress, her heart suddenly aching. Seth was the only one who knew it had been her own dream outfit, and now unexpectedly, she almost wished she hadn’t shared the design with the heiress, although she did like sharing her thoughts and emotions about the matter with Seth. Once more, her eyes drifted over him, and her internal thermometer climbed like a fever. She sighed. “Julia came to the table with so few of her own ideas,” she admitted as she surveyed the dress for the thousandth time, admiring a square neckline calculated to show off an ample swell of breasts. Long sleeved, it was made of gossamer fabric, hand sewn with pearls and white crystals. “My mother helped with my initial vision of the design,” she added. “And as I told you before, she’s actually making it.”
“She’s good. If anyone I know ever needs a dress designer, I’ll mention her.”
“She’d love to hear you say it.”
“And the ring?” he prompted.
“Bridget designed it. Here are the others.” From under a stack of papers, Edie lifted out Bridget’s discarded designs, letting Seth leaf through them.
Suddenly, he stopped and said, “This.”
Edie could merely shake her head. At least once an hour, she found herself wondering if she’d met her soul mate. For the past three days, she’d barely dared to think it, and yet, their tastes and attitudes seemed impossibly in sync. She eyed the star-shaped setting of diamonds. “That’s the ring I imagined for myself,” she admitted. “And see—” She lifted another drawing. “The flowers are interwoven with lavender glass beads. Lavender’s both my and Julia’s favorite color, as it turned out. My dad, who works as a caterer, is making the cake. It’s—” finding another picture, she put it before him “—this.”
“Yum,” Seth offered, taking in the four-tiered confection.
“Well,” Edie conceded, her voice hitching with excitement. “You can do more with cakes. I even saw one recently that looked as if it was made of leather, but I really want this wedding to be almost all white. The tablecloths are white. The tents, just in case the weather warms up and we can move outside. I really hope it materializes the way I’ve imagined it. If so, it should be traditional, classy, beautiful.”
“I’ll do whatever I can to help.”
“There’s a matching bracelet that’s attached to the ring by a thin chain,” she found herself continuing. “It’s only to be worn for fancy events. Like the wedding. Or maybe parties Julia attends in the future. And the necklace was to be—” rummaging, Edie found yet another drawing “—this simple long strand of diamonds that loops once around her neck.”
“Wow.”
Edie shrugged. “Julia chose another ring, but she’s wearing the necklace. Still, she’s pretty ambivalent.”
Seth shook his head, as if to say that was a shame.
“She would have been happy with no ring at all,” Edie said in her defense. “Julia’s a simple person, really. She’s madly in love, and just wants to settle down and start a family with as little fanfare as possible.”
“So why the…”
“Expensive, beautiful three-ring circus?” Edie finished. “Her father pushed for it. Still, I think once all is said and done, Julia will be happy she and Lorenzo have the memories.”
When she glanced up, her eyes locked with Seth’s. This time, he didn’t look away, and Edie simply couldn’t. Her lips parted as if in anticipation, and she drew in a quick, audible breath. Simultaneously, she was aware Seth Bishop had registered her response. No doubt, he could guess that her heart was hammering again. Maybe he saw the pulse that was ticking too fast in her throat. Or felt the sudden jerk of her knee against his. And while he couldn’t feel the heat pooling in her belly, or the sudden swift pang at her feminine core, maybe he could guess at it.
“What about your memories, Edie,” he murmured.
Vaguely, she wondered if this was really happening. One moment, she’d been discussing Julia’s wedding with her new assistant, and the next…
“My memories?” she managed.
“Definitely,” he said, “I don’t think you should give up on having a wedding for yourself that’s every bit as beautiful.”
Given the way he was looking at her, she almost felt as if he was proposing. It should have been unsettling, and yet such quick intimacy coming from this man, wasn’t. With every passing minute, he seemed more like her perfect match. They were both morning people. Meat-and-potatoes people. Headache rather than stomachache people. And they both liked imported beer and fine wines. They took their coffee exactly the same way, and had read most of the same books. Most importantly, when it came to talking about weddings—colors, fabrics, music, meals—Edie had finally met someone with whom she could really talk shop. They were both on the same wavelength, and during conversations, they nearly stumbled over themselves, each trying to get words out first.
What about your memories, Edie? Had Seth Bishop really just said that? Feeling as if she was in a daze, Edie considered Bridget’s ghost-busting trip once more. Had her sister really ended the wedding curse that had haunted the Benning women for years? Was it Edie’s turn to find love now?
It seemed so crazy. But why? Every woman had to meet her true love somewhere. Why shouldn’t this be Edie’s moment? Why shouldn’t this dark, snowy evening be The One? Her chest feeling tight, Edie leaned forward, wondering how he’d respond if she just pressed her lips to his….
She had a sudden urge—apropos of nothing—to just ask him to sleep with her. It was a risk, yes. But not knowing how Seth Bishop’s flesh would feel pressed to hers seemed like a risk, also. She imagined herself saying something like, “We’re both attracted, so do you want to skip all the usual preliminaries and come home with me?” The thought made her smile.
And then, over one of his shoulders, she saw the mailman at the door. “Oh—” she gasped, feeling suddenly flustered. “The mail. The papers. I forgot.”
He leaned away, looking as affected as she at what might have been a near kiss, then he pursed his lips as if suppressing a full-fledged grin, his eyes dancing with awareness. “Good,” he deadpanned. “For the last few minutes I’ve done nothing but wonder what was happening in the world at large.”
Clearly, that had been the least thing on his mind. “Me, too,” she agreed. Laughing, she playfully swatted him as she stood, swinging her hips more than necessary as she headed for the front door to meet the postman.
“Here’s two packages you need to sign for,” he said. “And all today’s papers.” After she’d signed, she took the parcels inside, set them on the reception desk, then looked at the front page of the Post and groaned. “Great,” she muttered. At least the subject matter wasn’t Julia. But maybe this was worse. Lorenzo Santini was buck naked in a locker room, and pretty well hung, Edie thought, judging by the size of the soft-focus fuzzy area meant to mask his private parts. He was deeply engaged in conversation with a woman other than his fiancée, and the headline said Darden Wedding Called Off? Why hadn’t Pete Shriver called to let Edie know?
“I really can’t believe this,” she murmured, distracted when Seth sidled behind her. Nothing more than feeling Seth’s chest brushing her back, the scent of his cologne and his breath on her neck was enough to make her forget the Darden wedding entirely, even though it had been her sole obsession for months. Seth really was just too good to be true. When Pete Shriver checked his references, he’d done so to protect the interests of his own client, Julia, but Edie was benefitting, also. How many women had a top-notch professional check out a potential boyfriend, after all?
More than potential, Edie decided as she turned toward Seth. He was close enough that she was nearly in his arms. The air between them spiked with raw heat.
“You know how I told you about Vinny Marcel?” she said, turning the Post so that Seth could see the photograph and headline. “The videographer from Rate the Dates who exposed how Marley took my place on the show?” she clarified.
He nodded. “Yeah.”
“Well, I mention Vinny because there’s only one person I hate more than Vinny, for making my life a living hell.”
“And he is?”
“A guy named Jimmy Delaney.”
Suddenly, his sexy dark-eyed gaze seemed so intense that Edie felt as if the air had just been sucked from the room. “You’ve heard of him.” Angling his head, he leaned closer and for a second, she was sure he was going to kiss her now. Instead of answering, he said huskily, “Why don’t we talk about all this over dinner? I’m starved.”
Slowly, she licked her lips, staring into eyes that were but a hand’s breadth away. “Sure. I’m starved, too.” For you, she added silently, suddenly thinking she might really proposition him tonight.
3
“I HEAR WHAT YOU’RE SAYING,” Seth began after they’d crossed Hudson Street and had claimed a back booth at a place called Hunan Pan, ordering a sampler platter that included various Chinese dishes they could share. “But—” he turned the newspaper around on the table-top, so she could look at it again “—Jimmy Delaney wasn’t the photographer.”
Surprised, Edie edged the paper toward the flickering flame from a candle on the table and squinted, so she could see in the dim light of the restaurant. “He wasn’t?”
“No. It was some guy named Jack Stevens.”
“Really?” Edie could barely believe it, but when she ducked her head and peered more closely, to read the byline, she saw Seth was right. She shook her head. “Most pictures of this sort have been taken by Jimmy Delaney,” she murmured. Glancing up, she caught Seth’s gaze. “He’s a freelancer,” she continued, explaining. “A member of the paparazzi. Pete Shriver—he’s head of the Darden security staff—has been instrumental in getting eleven orders of protection against him. For some reason, Jimmy’s really into shooting pictures of Julia.”
“She is photogenic,” Seth offered. “And I’ve seen enough pictures of her that Jimmy Delaney can’t be the only guy taking them.”
“True. But Celebrity Weddings has exclusive rights to shoot the wedding preparations, as well as the event at the estate, and Jimmy goes out of his way to show up where he’s not wanted.”
“You’re on a first-name basis,” quipped Seth. “The sure sign he’s a real archenemy.”
“We’re terrified he’ll ruin the wedding.”
Seth looked genuinely surprised. “Ruin the wedding? By trying to take pictures?”
She nodded. “He hardly has Julia and Lorenzo’s best interests at heart.”
“I doubt he wishes them ill.”
“Maybe not.”
“And people like this kind of picture,” Seth argued.
She studied him a long moment. “Lorenzo’s good-looking,” she admitted. “I’ll give you that. And people are interested in following Julia’s life, mostly because she’s the epitome of class—wealthy, beautiful and also a genuinely nice person. But a picture such as this is calculated to harm her relationship with her fiancé.”
“The headline maybe, but not the picture itself,” Seth countered, playing devil’s advocate. “Without the text, you’d just see a guy in the buff in a locker room with an unidentified woman.”
Her jaw slackened. “I can’t believe you’re saying this, Seth! You’re actually defending the photographer! The person who took this picture—” She looked down at the paper again, reading. “Jack Stevens,” she repeated. “He knew exactly what the Post would do with such a picture. He knew how it would be used.”
“Mere conjecture.”
“You’ve been hanging around too long with your best friend,” she scoffed, a smile lifting her lips abruptly, since Seth was obviously trying to rile her. He’d told her his best buddy from Ohio had become a lawyer and that they were still close. Seth was even playing uncle to the kids, which had further piqued Edie’s interest. Her own family was tightly knit, and Seth’s involvement with kids showed he might share her values, as had the way he’d spoken about his parents when the subject had come up. She suppressed a shiver that, coupled with her intense sexual attraction, could make for quite the combination.
“Well, you can’t know what was going on in Jack Stevens’s mind when he took the picture,” Seth pointed out.
“And I don’t want to,” she shot back.
Smiling, he clucked his tongue. “What venom! And for people you don’t even know.”
“And don’t want to,” she repeated, her lips curling.
Lowering his chin, he sent her a long look from under heavily lidded eyes. “Are you really saying you’ve never been sucked into staring at a lurid tabloid headline with curiosity? That you’ve never stopped in your tracks in the street near a news kiosk, just to look at the headlines?”
Crossing her arms, she leaned back in the booth, narrowed her gaze and glared at him playfully. After a long pause, she assured, “Never.”
“Hmm. Never watched Entertainment Tonight?”
She squinted. “You’re trying to make which point?”
“That if you didn’t contribute by becoming part of the market for pictures such as this, the paparazzi would cease to exist. If no one looked, photographers would be out of business. You could cancel your subscription to the Post, you know.” He paused. “Now, tell me you’ve never once bought People magazine.”
Even she could feel the guilty flush creeping into her cheeks. “Not even once,” she lied.
“I don’t believe you.”
“Whose side are you on, anyway?”
“I didn’t know I had to choose.”
“Playing both sides of the fence?”
“Always.”
“You must be a Gemini.”
“Guess again.”
“Leo.”
“Why’s that?”
“You’ve got a lot of outward charm.”
“Thanks. And you were warm. It’s my rising sign.”
“Ah. Virgo,” she guessed again. “Into control.”
“Nope. Scorpio. In three planets.”
“Dangerous.”
“Sexy. You?”
He was asking for her sun sign, but she only laughed. “Ditto. Very sexy. So I’ve been told.”
“Let me say it to you again then. Sexy.”
“Less so if you’re a two-timer,” she retorted. “Around me, you need to choose sides.”
“If you insist.”
“Okay. So once more, whose side are you on?”
“The one that gets you the most agitated.”
Or aroused.
She was enjoying the banter more than anything in a long time. The past months had been hectic and stressful, but shooting the breeze with Seth made her feel as if weights were being lifted from her shoulders. “You like annoying me?”
His dark eyes were sparkling now, catching the light of the candle. Reaching, he used a forefinger to brush away a lock of hair from her forehead. “Sure do.”
Suddenly, she felt breathless. “Mind telling me why?”
The finger settled on her temple for a split second, then trailed down her cheek before he playfully tapped the tip of her nose and released another low, throaty chuckle. “Because your skin gets flushed,” he began, his voice lowering a husky notch, “and I can see your pulse quickening, and I imagine your heart beating wildly, and your eyes starting to flash fire….”
She couldn’t help but burst out laughing. Usually, seeing a picture such as that in the Post would ruin her day, but tonight, sitting here flirting with Seth Bishop, it hardly seemed to matter. “You have a way with words. I take it I’ve discovered yet another of your talents, Seth.”
“Beyond?”
“Mixing and matching fabrics.”
He rolled his eyes, then bit down on his lower lip with two perfectly straight, gleaming white teeth. “Oh, Edie,” he returned, his eyes locking into hers, “I’ve got plenty of talents beyond what you’ve seen me do in your conference room.”
“You do make a perfect cup of coffee.”
“And so much more.”
She was still imagining what such a comment could mean when a waiter appeared, placing the sampler platter between them, and setting down two plates. Once the man had gone, Seth unwrapped paper from around his chopsticks, then expertly situated them between his fingers, lifted a piece of chicken and held it out, in front of Edie’s lips. So, he was going to feed her now? she thought, feeling a rush of excitement. For the past three days, her life had certainly started to get interesting, and she was glad that she’d opted for the restaurant, instead of taking him to her parents’ apartment. With her folks and Granny Ginny around, she’d never have an opportunity to get to know Seth. Who knew where this could lead?
“The food looks excellent,” he said.
“Because both my parents and I live on this street, we wind up eating here a lot. It’s always good.” Coming closer, she parted her lips and took the bite, feeling juicy tender meat explode inside her mouth. “It’s not the first time I’m glad I didn’t go the vegan route like my sister Marley,” she announced after she’d swallowed.
He winced, shooting her a sympathetic glance. “A vegan?”
“Only food. She hasn’t started wearing the shoes.”
He looked skeptical. “Shoes?”
“Haven’t you heard of that place called Moo Shoe in the East Village?”
“Nope.”
“Pleather goods.”
“Gotcha.”
Edie shrugged as he used the chopsticks to further fish around the platter, her throat tightening as his knee suddenly knocked hers under the table. It instantly corrected itself, pulled away, changed its mind, then found hers again, this time pressuring firmly. He had nice knees, too. Big and hard. More square than rounded. Even though there was nothing in her mouth at the moment, Edie swallowed, hard. Once more, she had a strong urge to simply proposition him. But how? She imagined herself just saying, “Do you want to go to bed.” But that sounded so, well, crass. Still, given the energy coursing between them, she didn’t think he’d be surprised. She was sure he’d say yes, too. “Well,” she amended. “After Marley’s divorce—she was married once—she fell off the wagon and started eating at McDonald’s.”
“Falling off the wagon usually pertains to drinking,” he said.
“Uh…Marley did some of that, too. Nothing dangerous,” she clarified, laughing. “Wine nights with the girls.”
“I take it you were one of the girls?”
She nodded. “Sure. But only because I was playing Good Samaritan, trying to help her get on her feet after the divorce.”
“Ah. Kind enough to drink fine Burgundy for a cause.”
“Of course. I’m the good twin.”
He didn’t look convinced. His eyes were saying that any woman as sexy as Edie probably wasn’t going to continue being good for long. Nothing could be further from the truth. “Marley was always the wild child,” she explained. “Boy crazy, wearing wild clothes, listening to loud music. Bridget’s the youngest. I think she always felt a little left out, because Marley and I were so focused on each other.” She shrugged, trying to turn her mind off the tingling sensation where their knees touched. “I guess I was always trying to show Marley up. Our relationship got pretty competitive when we were kids. So…”
“You dressed in button-down suits, read a lot and listened to classical music instead of rock and roll.”
“That’s about the size of it.”
“Surely some guy came along to loosen you up.”
She tried to mask her wistful expression, but couldn’t. Seth Bishop’s gaze was too probing, too perceptive, and his physical proximity was affecting her concentration. “Honestly?”