The Best Man's Plan

Chapter Two

G race was crouched on the floor beside the sitting room wet bar, plucking pieces of glass from the thick cream-colored carpet, when Bryan burst through his bedroom door. Had she not seen this aspect of him before, she might have been surprised that her rather lazily graceful, studiedly charming companion of earlier had been transformed into this tightly wound, almost dangerous-looking man. Bryan had looked just this way when Chloe and Donovan were kidnapped, scaring the con artist behind the plot so badly that he’d literally feared for his life.

“I dropped a glass,” she said quickly, realizing what had precipitated his tumultuous entrance. “I hope I didn’t wake you.”

“I wasn’t asleep.” Moving more slowly now, he crossed the room, his bare feet making no sound on the plush carpeting. “Are you okay? Did you cut yourself?”

“I’m fine.” She rose and dropped the shards into a plastic-lined metal wastebasket. They landed with a tinkling, almost cheerfully musical sound. Though her fuzzy blue slippers protected her own feet, she felt obligated to warn him, “I think I found all the pieces, but be careful walking around over here with bare feet.”

He’d changed from his tuxedo into a white V-necked T-shirt and a pair of gray sweatpants. His formerly neatly brushed hair was now tousled around his face. And he looked just as gorgeous as he had in the tailored tuxedo earlier.

She had long since grown accustomed to the unwelcome flutter she felt every time she saw him. No matter how he was dressed, Bryan Falcon was undeniably the best-looking man Grace had ever met. Usually she could ignore the sensations, but it was a bit harder in the late-night intimacy of this private suite, with both of them dressed in their ultracasual lounging clothes.

He leaned against one end of the bar. “Having a little trouble unwinding?”

She shrugged and took another glass from the cabinet beside the bar. “I’m just thirsty.”

“There’s a pitcher of fresh-squeezed orange juice in the fridge. I like to have a glass before bedtime.”

“Another one of your special requests?” she asked as she opened the door to the small refrigerator built discreetly into the custom woodwork.

“Yes.”

“It must be nice to have everything you want at your fingertips.”

“It is,” he agreed equably. Apparently he wasn’t going to let her push any of his buttons tonight.

He nodded when she motioned with the pitcher, silently asking him if he wanted a glass. She filled an extra one and handed it to him.

He carried the glass to the sofa and sat on one end. After hesitating a moment, she perched on a chair arranged in conversation-group fashion nearby. She thought their casual clothing looked incongruous against the very formal gold-and-cream upholstery, but Bryan was obviously accustomed to making himself comfortable in such rooms. He lounged back against the cushions and crossed his bare feet on the low mahogany table in front of him.

“Are we still on for our high-profile lunch tomorrow?” he asked. “Or would you rather bail out and go home early?”

She wondered if he suspected how tempted she was to accept that escape, but she shook her head. “You said being seen around town together would strengthen the impression that we’re a couple. That’s what we came here to do.”

“You think you can get through an entire meal without dumping a plate of food in my lap?”

“You think you can get through an entire meal without making me mad enough to dump a plate of food in your lap?” she countered.

He grinned. “I can try.”

Her lips tilted into an answered smile. “Then so will I.”

It was so rare for them to smile at each other that the moment caught her off guard. When she realized that he was suddenly staring at her mouth, her smile faded.

Lifting his gaze to her eyes, he asked, “What is it about me, exactly, that annoys you so much? Just so I don’t end up with food in my lap tomorrow.”

She looked down into her orange juice. “I promise I won’t throw food in your lap tomorrow. I know how important it is for us to divert the gossips’ attention away from Chloe and Donovan so they can plan their wedding in peace.”

“Actually, throwing food at me would be a very effective way of diverting attention to us.”

She wrinkled her nose. “Not the right type of attention, perhaps.”

He shrugged, keeping his gaze on her face. “I’m serious, Grace. What is it about me that you dislike so much? I know you didn’t approve of me as a potential suitor for your sister, but that’s over. So…is it something I said? Something I did? You don’t like the way I walk? Talk? Smell?”

She couldn’t help smiling again. “You smell quite nice, actually. Very expensive.”

His left eyebrow rose in an expression that some might call sardonic. “Old Spice. My housekeeper picks it up for me at Wal-Mart when she buys groceries and cleaning supplies. It was the scent my grandfather wore, and I’ve always been rather fond of it.”

She blinked. “Oh.”

“That surprises you.”

“I’m not surprised that you have a housekeeper. Probably one for every house you own.”

“So it’s my money that bothers you.”

She squirmed uncomfortably on the chair. “Let’s just say I’m not accustomed to the kind of wealth and power you command.”

“Would you like me better if I gave it all away?”

Frowning, she shook her head. “No. I mean—”

“So it isn’t entirely the money. It’s me you don’t like.”

She sighed gustily. “I never said I don’t like you.”

“Actually I believe you said you hated me.”

She gave him a reproachful look. “You know I didn’t mean that. I was just blowing off steam after that awkward evening.”

“So you do like me?”

Making a faint sound of frustration, she set her half-empty glass on the coffee table with a thump. “I barely know you, Bryan. You swept into my sister’s life, and almost convinced her to enter into a very businesslike marriage with you. I didn’t approve of that scheme because I know Chloe deserves better than that—she deserves the happiness she’s found with Donovan.”

“She met Donovan because of me,” he reminded her.

“She was also kidnapped and put through four days of hell because of you,” she retorted, making him wince. “And now the gossip columnists are titillated by the possibility that Chloe jilted you, one of the richest, most influential men in the country—a man who made the news a year or so ago for breaking up with one of the most beautiful and famous starlets in the world. And now Chloe’s marrying your best friend and business associate, instead. That vicious prattle has mortified Donovan—who’s so obsessively loyal to you that he almost broke Chloe’s heart rather than risk betraying you with her. And knowing that Donovan is upset bothers Chloe so badly that it was affecting her joy in planning her wedding.”

“I’m aware that her association with me has caused problems for Chloe,” he acknowledged stiffly. “That’s why I wanted to take some of the pressure off her by leading the gossips away. Since she and I only dated a short time before the press found out about her—so briefly and discreetly that they were never quite sure which Pennington twin I was courting—this seemed like the ideal scheme. Now that Chloe’s engaged to Donovan and you and I are acting like an established couple, the gossips are beginning to wonder if they had it wrong at the start. If Chloe and Donovan met and fell in love because you and I were already seeing each other, rather than the other way around.”

“I hope that’s what they believe, anyway,” Grace muttered, thinking that all this trouble would be wasted if they hadn’t fooled anyone.

“Several are already beginning to speculate in print that the natural confusion that results when two best friends date identical twins is what led to Chloe and Donovan being kidnapped. They believe Wallace Childers had them snatched because he thought I would pay any amount of money to ensure the safety of my best friend and my fiancée.”

“Which was pretty much what he was thinking. He underestimated you, of course, as well as Donovan. He didn’t realize that Donovan would escape so quickly with Chloe, or that you had so many resources at your fingertips to track down the identity of the kidnappers.”

“I learned a long time ago that having a lot of money means being targeted occasionally by people who want to help themselves to some of it. That’s why I’ve made security such a priority in my organization.”

“I’m well aware of that,” she muttered, thinking of the discreet, but ever-present bodyguards who had shadowed her so frequently during the past few weeks.

“Cheer up. The wedding’s only a month away. After that, we can cut back on the number of public appearances, and eventually stop them altogether. We’ll simply imply that we’ve drifted apart—though we will, of course, decide to remain friends, since we’ll be seeing each other often through Donovan and Chloe.”

“Once we’ve ended this ridiculous playacting, there’s no reason at all we shouldn’t be friendly with each other.”

“No reason at all,” he parroted gravely.

She’d amused him again. She supposed she should be used to it by now.

She pushed herself off the chair. “It’s getting late. We’d better get some sleep.”

“I’m sure you’re right.” Following her lead, he removed his feet from the table and stood. He carried his empty glass to the wet bar, stopping to take hers on the way. “I’ll just put these in the sink….”

She had just reached her bedroom doorway when Bryan made an odd sound behind her. She glanced over her shoulder, then grimaced when she saw his expression. She knew immediately what must have happened. “You’ve stepped on a piece of glass, haven’t you?”

He lifted his right foot, leaving a smear of bright red on the cream-colored carpet. “I’m afraid so.”

Bryan half expected Grace to chew him out for being careless enough to step on a piece of glass. Instead she hurried toward him, a frown of concern on her face. “Let me see.”

“It’s no big deal. Just a small…”

She already had her hands on him, pushing him toward one of the two tall wooden stools that flanked the bar. “Let me see.”

A bit surprised by her vehemence, he sat and allowed her to bend over his foot. He couldn’t help inhaling rather sharply when she gingerly touched the sharp wedge of glass sticking out of the wound.

Her frown deepening, she pulled her hand back. “I have a small first-aid kit in my room. Sit still and I’ll get it.”

“I’m sure I can—”

Pointing a finger in his face, she said, “Do not move.”

He settled more comfortably on the stool. “Yes, ma’am.”

She wasn’t gone long. Returning with a small plastic box, she opened it and laid it on the bar. He could see that it held a thermometer, single dose packs of pain reliever, fever reducer and antibacterial cream, alcohol pads, tweezers, a small pair of scissors and adhesive bandages in assorted sizes. “You seem to be well equipped for emergencies.”

She had already taken his foot in her hands again. “I like to be prepared. This will probably sting when I remove the glass.”

“I can take it.” Braced for her touch this time, he didn’t even flinch when she eased the glass from his foot. He was somewhat surprised by the gentleness of her touch. Based on his past experiences with her, he might have expected her to be a bit rougher with him. Even when she cleaned the bleeding wound with an alcohol pad, she took such care that he hardly noticed the unavoidable burning. “You’re quite good at this.”

Reaching for the medicated cream and bandages, she sounded distracted when she answered. “I have some experience. My former fiancé was into rodeo. Fancied himself a cowboy. I was always patching him up after…”

She stopped in midsentence, as if she’d caught herself saying something inappropriate. When she spoke again, it was a brusque, “There. That should keep you from bleeding all over this pretty rug. The cut wasn’t very deep. I don’t think it will give you any problems.”

He waited until she had turned to close the first-aid kit before asking very casually, “Fiancé?”

“Ex-fiancé.” She closed the plastic box with a snap. “And, no, I don’t want to talk about him.”

“Fine.”

“Fine. Can you walk on that foot?”

He stood, paying little attention to the twinge of discomfort. His concentration was focused, instead, on Grace’s flustered expression. “No problem. You’ve patched me up quite nicely.”

“Yes, well, don’t expect me to make a habit of it. I just felt bad because I was the one who broke the glass.”

He nodded, amused by her gruffly self-conscious tone. Grace was cute when she was embarrassed, though he knew better than to say so aloud. A remark like that could earn him a few more injuries—intentional on her part next time. But it seemed he liked to live dangerously. “I don’t suppose you’d like to kiss and make it better?”

She lifted an eyebrow and gave him a cool once-over. “Did you just suggest that I kiss your foot?”

He chuckled. “Darling, you can kiss any part of me you’d like.”

Keeping her chin high, she seemed to make an effort to reply nonchalantly. “Save it for the tabloids, Falcon.”

He was grinning again when she closed her bedroom door behind her with suspicious speed.

Cute, he thought. Grace Pennington was definitely cute. Even if she was very likely to drop-kick him if he told her so.

“High profile” was definitely the term to describe the lunch Bryan treated Grace to just after noon on Saturday. He’d selected a trendy restaurant known for hosting celebrities who wanted to be seen while pretending to be incognito. The owner/chef hosted his own television program and was almost as famous as the majority of his patrons. The most successful gossip columnists had their own regular tables where they could eavesdrop in undisturbed silence.

Bryan played to his audience shamelessly, treating Grace to such solicitous attention that she wouldn’t have been surprised if he’d started spouting sonnets. He kept an arm around her as he escorted her to their cozy little table, sat very close to her, rarely looked away from her. She tried to play her part as convincingly, looking back at him with what she hoped would be perceived as an adoring gaze, but mostly she just felt self-conscious and silly.

“You’re doing fine,” Bryan murmured at one point during the meal, as if sensing her doubts. He covered her hand on the table with his own, giving a bracing squeeze. “I doubt that anyone here knows how much you would love to pour your ice water over my head.”

She couldn’t help smiling. “I must be a better actor than I thought.”

Bryan was even better. Toying with her fingers with the ease of someone intimately familiar with her body, he murmured, “Darling, I imagine you’re very good at anything you put your mind to.”

She hated herself for blushing at the unmistakable innuendo in his tone—and for the shivery little sensations that seemed to be running from her palm, where his thumb was making slow, lazy circles, all the way to the pit of her stomach.

He was entirely too good at this. If she wasn’t careful, she could start believing that he found her very attractive.

She tugged her hand from his, annoyed to realize that it wasn’t quite steady when she reached for her water glass. “I think it would be better if—”

“Mr. Falcon. What a nice surprise to run in to you today.”

The man who had stopped by their table, interrupting Grace’s words, was tall, slender and very fashionably dressed. His bleached, moussed and sprayed hair swept back from a face tanned in a salon, tucked in a plastic surgeon’s office, and accented with vivid-blue contact lenses and pearly white dental caps. It took Grace only a moment to put a name to that striking face; she had seen him a few times on the entertainment channel, where he regularly dished celebrity tidbits and dissed their choice of clothing.

Bryan flashed one of his famous smiles, and Grace couldn’t help noticing that he needed no artificial enhancements to make him gorgeous. Nature had taken care of that quite adequately, from his silky black hair to those naturally blue eyes in a face that had made many a red-blooded woman go weak in the knees. Grace’s own knees showed a distressing tendency to fail around him—and she didn’t even like him very much. Or so she regularly reminded herself.

After exchanging a few meaningless pleasantries with the other man, Bryan turned to Grace. “I don’t believe you two have met. Grace Pennington, this is Terence Bishop.”

“Yes, of course. I’ve seen you on television,” she said, extending a hand.

His fingers were cold, his grip a bit weak—or maybe that was only in comparison to Bryan’s warm, firm touch. He seemed pleased that she had recognized him. “It’s delightful to meet you, Ms. Pennington. Are you enjoying your visit to our city?”

“Yes, very much, thank you.”

She could see him cataloging her simple hairstyle and the conservative cut of her emerald-green blouse and oatmeal linen slacks. He’d also noted the rhythm of her Southern accent. “You’re from Arkansas, aren’t you?” he asked as if he found it hard to believe that anyone would actually choose to live in such a place.

“Little Rock,” she confirmed with a determinedly pleasant nod. “Have you been there?”

“Oh, goodness no.” He appeared to be amused by the very idea. “I seem to always be flying from one coast to the other, with very few stops in between.”

“Then you’ve missed a great many fascinating places,” Bryan inserted smoothly. “I grew up in Little Rock, you know, and I still maintain a home there, though I don’t get to spend as much time there as I would like now.”

Bishop’s gaze turned speculative as he looked from Bryan to Grace. “I understand you’ve been spending quite a lot of time there lately.”

Bryan sent Grace a warm smile. “As much as I can manage.”

“You led the press on quite a chase, you know.” Bishop shook a finger in a gesture of indulgent reprimand. “That was very tricky of you to keep everyone guessing which lovely twin you were actually dating.”

Bryan shrugged. “My personal life is my business, of course. Still, I noticed that most got it wrong. You were one of the ones who reported that I was all but engaged to Grace’s sister, weren’t you, Terence?”

A faint touch of red stained the other man’s throat, but he managed a credible chuckle. “I’m afraid so. And you did nothing to set us straight. You practically confirmed that you were seeing Zoe—”

“Chloe,” Grace corrected in a mutter.

“Ah, yes, of course. But you must admit it appeared as though your old friend swept in and wooed your fiancée away from you. It’s quite a coincidence that you and Mr. Chance fell for sisters, don’t you think?”

Bryan’s grin deepened. “The dreaded love triangle—another bit of gossip fabricated through sloppy reporting. At least you’ve managed to avoid that one—haven’t you, Terence?”

“Certainly. I finally remembered how much you enjoy toying with the media. That wicked sense of humor just might lead you into trouble someday, Mr. Falcon.”

“I’ll keep your warning in mind. Yet, while the media was busy trying to figure out the players, Grace and I had a chance to get to know each other in relative private, didn’t we, darling?”

She only smiled when he took her hand again.

“So—” Looking searchingly from Bryan to Grace again, Bishop asked bluntly, “Can we expect another wedding announcement in the family soon?”

“One wedding at a time is plenty for my family, Mr. Bishop,” Grace replied. “Bryan and I are quite happy as we are for now. Isn’t that right, darling?”

He lifted her hand to his lips. “Deliriously.”

Their gazes met and held over her hand. Grace found herself momentarily unable to look away, captured by the gleam in his eyes and the brush of his mouth against her palm. Her fingers curled inward almost instinctively, as if to prevent the kiss from escaping.

Bishop cleared his throat. “Well. I’ll leave you lovebirds to finish your meal. Perhaps we’ll see each other again soon.”

Bryan looked away, breaking that disconcerting moment of connection with Grace. “I’m sure we will.”

“And you will let me know if there are any announcements in the future, won’t you?”

“You’ll be the first to know,” Bryan replied with such cheerful insincerity that Bishop was almost sulking when he strolled away.

Bryan turned back to Grace. “I think that went well, don’t you?”

His sudden transformation from devoted suitor to smug co-conspirator made Grace blink. Pulling herself together quickly, she snarled, “You licked my hand, you degenerate.”

He laughed softly. “And you taste delectable—as I suspected you would.”

She scooted nearer to him, gazing up at him through her lashes and keeping her voice a low, husky croon. “Bryan?”

His gaze fell to her moistened lips. “Mmm?”

Some evil impulse made her lean even closer, well aware that the neckline of her blouse gaped when she did so. In typical male fashion, his gaze dropped lower. “When this is all over—”

“Yes?” he prodded without raising his eyes.

She straightened away from him. “I’m going to have you killed.”

He laughed and reached for his water glass. “It’s always nice to have something to look forward to.”

Chloe and Donovan were waiting at the airport when Grace and Bryan arrived in Little Rock early that evening. Chloe rushed forward to greet them, Donovan following a bit more slowly at her heels.

It still startled Grace at times to see the short, fashionably choppy hairstyle her twin had sported for the past few months. They’d always worn similar styles in the past—and Grace had traditionally been the one to break rank and try something new. They’d stopped dressing alike in elementary school, and had maintained separate apartments for years, but their lives had still been tightly intertwined, both personally and professionally. Grace was aware that many things would be changing between them once Chloe and Donovan married and formed their own family.

Chloe hugged her, then stepped back to look at her as though it had been longer than a couple of days since they’d seen each other. “Did you have a good time in New York?”

“It was very nice,” Grace answered without a blink.

Glancing quickly around them, Chloe lowered her voice to a conspiratorial whisper. “Do you think you accomplished your goal? Keeping the gossips confused about us, I mean.”

Grace smiled with a patience she reserved only for Chloe. “I know what our goal was. And, yes, I think we made some progress on that front.”

Bryan and Donovan had greeted each other with slaps on the shoulders—a ritual Grace had always considered the male version of a hug. Bryan then turned to Chloe, taking her hand in both of his and bending to brush a kiss across her cheek, murmuring a complimentary greeting as he did so.

Tucking a lock of hair behind her ear, Grace watched the interplay between Bryan and her sister, trying to read his expression. Only a few short months ago he had asked Chloe to marry him. Though he’d seemed to accept Chloe’s relationship with Donovan graciously enough, Grace couldn’t help wondering how he really felt about Chloe now. Surely he’d had some sort of strong feelings for her if he’d actually considered spending the rest of his life with her, raising children with her. Frankly Grace couldn’t imagine anyone not loving Chloe.

But Bryan had managed to move on from several previous relationships without ever looking back—at least according to those gossip columnists who’d been making their lives so stressful lately.