Page 5 of The Best Man Problem
They were a true love story and a joy to be around.
“Do you need me to stay for the meeting?”
She waved a hand, pushing her glasses up as they slipped down the bridge of her nose. “No, but bring me back a sub, will you?”
“Ham and cheese, double the cheese?”
“You know me so well.”
Mo winked, blowing her a kiss as she left their office. Lilly turned back to the folder that contained all the details for Kenneth and Marie’s upcoming nuptials. They were down to the wire. A month away. The only items left were a few fittings, dance rehearsals, and the pre-wedding parties. Not much could go wrong now.
Way to jinx yourself, Lilly.
She took a settling breath, knowing she would do whatever she could to help her clients, as the door swung open again and Marie’s smiling face popped in.
“Hey, Lilly.”
“Marie.” Returning the infectious smile, she stood, motioning for the woman to enter. “Come on in. Where’s Kenneth?”
Oh God, please don’t let this sweet, wonderful woman say they’d called it off. She swore if that man had done anything to hurt Marie, Lilly would use her prized Kate Spade heels to create some very painful new orifices in his body.
“He’s parking the car with our best man. He didn’t want me slipping on the ice in the parking lot, so he let me out at the front door.”
Of course Kenneth would look out for her. How could Lilly think differently? The man clearly cherished the ground Marie walked on. You could see it in the way he stared at the woman he loved. With pure, unfiltered adoration. Sometimes it hurt to see, because a small, ugly, jealous part of Lilly ached to have a man glance at her with even an ounce of the love Kenneth showed Marie. He would never put her in danger, not even inadvertently, by letting her take a risky walk on the ice. January in Colorado meant cold temperatures and wet snow, the perfect storm for black ice. Lilly had already almost eaten it three times this week on the slippery sidewalks of the city.
“Can I get you some coffee or tea while we wait for them?”
“No thanks.” The small woman with the closely cropped jet-black hair took a seat in one of the plush chairs facing Lilly’s desk. “Thank you for seeing us today on such short notice. We won’t keep you long, I promise. We just wanted to stop by and introduce you to our best man.”
“Oh?” Lilly retook her seat as well.
“Yeah, with the shop being so busy right now and us planning on taking a week off for our honeymoon, we’re trying like mad to train our weekend manager, Max, to handle any emergency that might arise during our absence, so our friend agreed to come out a month early and pitch in with any wedding stuff we needed in case we can’t make a meeting or something.”
“Not a problem. We often deal with various members of the wedding party. If he has your approval, then Mile High Happiness is happy to work with him.”
Better a best man than a momzilla. People often thought brides were the worst, but after eight years in the business, Lilly knew the real PITAs were the mothers.
“Oh good, because he has carte blanche as far as we’re concerned. We’ve all been friends for years. He was my lab partner in college. In fact, that’s how Kenneth and I met. They were roommates, and one night we were studying in the dorm. Kenneth came in with pizza, and boom!”
Lilly felt her lips curl up in a smile. “Love at first sight?”
“Duh. The guy had pizza!” Marie laughed.
Lilly joined in with a chuckle of her own. “Yes, I say any man who brings you food is one worth keeping.” Especially if that food came in a cheese variety.
“Anyway, we were the three musketeers after that. Been best friends ever since.” A blush rose on the pale woman’s cheeks. “Well, more than friends for Kenneth and me, obviously.”
Warmth filled Lilly’s chest. Yet another reason to love this couple. Marie’s story of college friendship lasting the years reminded her of her own college roommates, who were also her business partners. She, Mo, and Pru had all met freshman year, and though the three women were very different, they formed a bond nothing could break. They were more than friends. They were sisters—sisters of the heart.
“Well then, I cannot wait to meet him.”
“They should be…” Marie turned in her seat to face the door. “Oh, here come Kenneth and Lincoln now.”
Lincoln? A small sense of trepidation filled her belly, but she shrugged it off. No. It couldn’t be. Lincoln was a pretty common name, wasn’t it? She was simply projecting because last weekend had been so amazing.
Lilly glanced up, the smile on her face faltering, the warmth in her chest freezing into an icy cold block of panic, because as Kenneth walked through the door, heading straight for his fiancée, the man behind him came into startling, horrifying focus.
Dark brown hair, pale hazel eyes, more than a hint of dark scruff along his sharp jaw, and sinfully full lips. Lips she vividly remembered caressing every inch of her body just last weekend…
