Page 48 of The Best Man Problem
She nodded. “After the wedding.”
“After,” he agreed.
“Now let’s hurry up. There’s a rehearsal dinner to get to.” She winked, heading down the stairs.
It took a moment for his brain and body to catch up. Tomorrow. After the wedding, he would be with Lilly Walsh again. His body vibrated with such a fierce need he almost couldn’t take it. Just over twenty-four hours. Didn’t seem like much in the long run, but right now…he feared waiting for Lilly would be the longest day of his life.
Chapter Fourteen
Wedding days were normally times of exhilaration for Lilly. The big day arrived, and all the work she’d put in with her couples came to fruition. She never stressed because she always had a plan for each and every emergency that could present itself. Over the years, she had seen everything from exes showing up to try and object to the wedding to out-of-control drunk in-laws losing their clothing on the dance floor.
Each instance had been met with Lilly’s firm yet polite guidance of the situations. Whatever it called for—coffee and a quiet room, the adorable distraction of a flower girl/ring bearer dance, or, in one case, a call to Denver PD—Lilly could handle it. She had nerves of damn steel.
So why was her stomach currently filled with a million anxious butterflies?
She glanced across the vast great room. The chairs had all been set, the aisle runner laid, and sweet smells of the fresh-cut flowers filled the room. Standing at the center, directly in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows, stood a dark oak arch covered in beautiful white gardenias and pale purple peonies. Normally, the arch would be used outside on the large deck for a wedding, but since it was still snowing, they had it indoors.
Yesterday, the limo service had picked up all the incoming out-of-town guests and supplies and driven up the snowy I-70 pass from Denver to Genesee. Marie and Kenneth had been extremely relieved, thanking her and Mo a million times before the night was over. Not necessary. It was her job to make sure nothing ruined her clients’ perfect day. Not even Mother Nature.
The bridal party was currently getting ready, the caterer prepping the meal, the band warming up. Everything looked to be in order.
So what was with this terrified twitch in her stomach?
“Wow, Lilly. The place looks amazing.”
She turned to face the very source of her disquiet. Lincoln strode into the great room, head swiveling this way and that as he took in all the changes she and Mo had spent hours setting up. Though it didn’t take much to make this place awe-inspiring. The large house—mansion, really—had been built by a famous architect whose wife always wanted a luxury cabin in the woods. He came out to Colorado and built her this castle masquerading as a cabin, but after one Rocky Mountain winter, the wife had refused to step foot in the state again.
Her loss. Genesee’s gain.
The architect donated the building to the city, a beautiful rental property to drive income into the small city’s coffer and a nice tax write-off for him. And lucky for her, the city liked to rent it out for big events like weddings. They’d used this location half a dozen times before, but she never got tired of staying there. The view from these windows was majestic—a large wooded forest off to one side, the sparkling lights of Denver off to the other—and the massive pine ceiling beams made the entire place smell like the woods after a fresh rain.
If someone ever built her a place like this, she’d never leave.
“Thank you,” she said to the man who couldn’t build her a cabin castle but probably could build her a new computer she wouldn’t want to toss into the wall every other day.
“Marie and Kenneth are gonna flip.” His eyes settled on her, a grin brightening his handsome face.
“It’s my job to make sure everything is beautiful for their big day, but I’m sure they’ll be too busy staring at each other to notice. As they should be.”
He nodded. “As they should be.”
His gaze roamed over her, eyes lighting with a different kind of appreciation than the one he gave the room.
“You look beautiful.”
Heat rose on her cheeks. She glanced down to her standard uniform when running a wedding, her trusty LBD and low-heeled black pumps. The black dress was modest but fancy enough for any level of formal event. The scalloped neckline hit right below her collarbone, edging out to her shoulders, where the three-quarter sleeves of the dress allowed for style and comfort. The skirt flared out at her waist, hitting just below her knees to allow ease of movement in case she had to hurry to put out a fire. She supposed it was a beautiful dress, but she’d never felt beautiful in it. She wore it for purpose, not pleasure.
Yet the way Lincoln stared at her, devouring her with his eyes, made her wonder if the dress would be considered work appropriate had she not been in her current profession.
“Thank you, I—” She paused with a frown. “Where’s your tux?”
For the first time since he entered the room, Lilly noticed Lincoln’s attire. The man had on a ratty pair of jeans and a dark green long-sleeved shirt, which set off the flecks of gold in his hazel gaze. Perfect eye-popping sweater or not, it wasn’t proper wedding attire.
“In my room.”
She huffed at his nonchalance. “Shouldn’t you be getting ready? The wedding is in”—she glanced at the watch attached to her clipboard—“two hours.”
He smiled, a soft chuckle escaping those delicious lips. “I’m a guy. We don’t need two hours to put clothes on.”
