Awakened By A Kiss (Once Upon A Romance) (2 page)

“This room, if you can call it that, is unacceptable.” She waved to the far end of the area. “Why, it’s a child’s playroom, for goodness’ sakes.”

“Isn’t that wonderful?” Ev said, smiling, loving the time she got to come up here. The colorful carpet squares defined the space. A long child’s table with several chairs around it was the center of activity. Bookshelves were filled with books and toys, now neat as a pin. “Charlotte, the owner of King’s as you know, loves to have her twin girls close. And her sisters have daughters, too. They have playdates with other employees’ children or grandchildren here.”

It was Ev’s favorite place to be, smack-dab in the middle of the kids. She volunteered to babysit all the time, even her days off.

Now, she wanted her own children. One to start. But it seemed that was the hardest one of all when there was no man involved in the process.

Well, there was another glitch—a big, wide canyon of a glitch—in her plan. She recalled even the doctor had been sympathetic last week. Her long history of endometriosis and several surgeries to alter its course had taken its toll. A one-year window of opportunity to try to conceive was all she had left.

Her eyes watered as she blinked rapidly. It hadn’t fully sunk in until she’d read the follow-up letter with the test results this morning.

Candace shivered in what could only be revulsion. “All those dirty hands. Runny noses. Those germs.”

Evelyn dropped the portfolio and the tote right where she stood and took a step forward.

Peg clamped her hand on Ev’s arm, holding her back. “Easy, now, Evie, I wouldn’t want to call your bro for bail money. And I’d have to be a witness.”

“Witness?” a male voice asked from behind them.

Recognizing that voice, Evelyn spun around. Her gaze met his baby blues. She gulped hard. “H1,” she whispered. “In the house.”

“Holy smoking hot,” Peg said under her breath. “You ain’t kidding.”

“Shane, I thought you’d never get here!” Candace Hightower exclaimed and rushed to him. Throwing her arms around him, she hugged him tight.

Evelyn’s heart sank to her toes.
He’s the groom?

Shane froze. Candace clung to him. “This is awkward,” he said, gently removing her arms from his neck.

“Oh, I knew you’d come,” she said, leaning against his chest, her French-tipped painted fingernails clutching at his shirt, making it more rumpled then it already was. “What’s this?” she asked, poking a finger at the bunny in his pocket.

He grinned. Removing the stuffed animal, he held it up to show Evelyn, from what her gold badge read. “I found this.”

Her cheeks turned pink. He sucked in a sharp breath. Extracting himself from Candace—who huffed loudly—he moved to Evelyn, handing her the bunny. “Why am I not surprised that you dropped this, too?”

“Thanks. The kids love this one the best.”

“You, too, by the looks of it.” His hand brushed hers. A current zapped him there and whisked up his arm. He swore the hairs on his arm stood on end. He shook his head to wish it away.

Her flush deepened. She must have felt something, too.

“Can we get to the appointment?” Candace’s voice grated along his nerves. She practically inserted herself between him and Evelyn. He took the hint.

The tall woman with the clipboard pointed a finger at first him and then Candace. “You and her?” Her voice rose.

“Well…” Candace looked up at him.

“No, no.” He shook his head. He swore Evelyn sighed. “I’m the cousin.”

“Hers?” Evelyn asked, barely able to stop the wrinkling of her nose.

“The groom’s.” He recalled her whispered words in the elevator. He’d caught “unreasonable”, “full of herself”, and a few other choice thoughts. All too true.
Please let me save my cousin from this woman.

“We were engaged first,” Candace declared, sweeping her eyes over him as if she had ownership rights.

His gut twisted. “Never,” he corrected between clenched teeth.

“Oh, come on now, Shane.” She batted her eyelashes at him. “We were so close—”

“Never that close,” he pointed out. By the looks of it, she wished it had been. Thank God he’d come to his senses about her. Now, if only he could get his cousin out of his lovesick fog.

An awkward silence descended.

“On with the show, right?” Peg said, nudging Evelyn. “You set up that monstrosity you’ve been lugging around and I’ll get the refreshs. When’s Rico coming?” She asked the last in an aside.

“Not soon enough.” Evelyn smiled tightly.

Yeah, this whole thing couldn’t be over soon enough for him, too
, Shane thought. But he didn’t mean the meeting. He meant this crazy mismatch from taking place.
Seriously?
Candace swept in the moment Shane had left town on a four-month restoration project, consoling his cousin’s recent loss of his parents in a car accident.

She’d wrapped his unsuspecting cousin around her little finger, hiding their relationship from Shane, until yesterday. His cousin had inadvertently spilled the beans.

Thus Shane’s cross-country trek to halt the wedding of the century from taking place.

He needed help. He needed a miracle. Glancing over at Evelyn, he wondered if she could be of assistance.
Hmm…that’s a thought
.

***

Evelyn struggled with getting the board on the metal stand. Nothing would cooperate. Or was it just her hands wouldn’t work right?

“Here, let me,” Shane offered, coming to her side. He righted it in moments, displaying the details of the upcoming extravagant wedding: drawings, fabric swatches, and paint chips. Rico and she had gone all-out on this board.

Gulping hard, she said, “You have a knack.”

“And you are still dangerous.” His voice, low and deep, tickled her senses. He wasn’t talking about her clumsy antics.

She jerked her gaze to his intense stare. Those baby blues melted her willpower. Her breath caught in the back of her throat.

“Danger, Will Robinson,” Peg said, coming up and separating the two of them. Out of the side of her mouth, she said to Evelyn, “Daggers, directed your way. Cool it, kiddo.”

Evelyn swung around to see Candace’s narrowed-eyed glare. Her pursed lips and arms folded over her chest only added to the tension rolling from the woman.

“Oh, you’ve done it now. Shit list,” Shane said. “Number one on it, if memory serves me right. Been there. Done that.”

In spite of the dirty look directed her way, Evelyn giggled. He had quite a sense of humor. She liked that in a guy. In fact, she liked too many things about
this
guy already. She had to stop this before anything started…well, before it went anywhere.

She had enough to contend with at the moment. Miss High and Mighty’s ridiculous demands wore her down and her own dilemma had plagued her thoughts since finding out. One year to conceive and deliver a healthy baby.
Talk about pressure!

“Drinks and eats, everyone,” Peg said, pulling Ev away from this distracting man. “Will the groom be here soon?” she asked Candace.

“He’ll be here,” she said, checking her slim, gold watch. She frowned; her pretty features were hardly marred at all. Going to her couture bag she dug out her cell phone. With the delicate push of a button, she held the phone to her ear. It took quite some time before the person answered. “Darling,” she said in a strained voice, “did you forget me?” Her pouty lips did make her look like a petulant child.

Ev would still rather deal with a child than this woman any day.

Watching her reaction and hearing the one-sided conversation clued Evelyn into the fact the appointment had completely slipped the groom’s mind.
Trouble in paradise?

“Shane is here,” Candace said in a sugary tone. “He didn’t forget me.” Her smile widened. “Yes, just what I thought. Do hurry, darling. We’ll be waiting for you. Shane will keep me company.”

The man beside Evelyn growled. She shuddered at the deep, guttural sound. Someone was not a happy camper. And it just wasn’t her.

Maybe Peg would have to hold them both back…

***

Long, agonizing minutes ticked away as Evelyn sat, ensnarled in the thrashing of her wedding board by Miss High and Mighty. She mopped at her damp forehead again.

Where was Rico? Twenty had turned into thirty minutes. The tea sat cold in their cups. The pastries cast aside.

Anyone who was anyone hadn’t showed up yet.

It was the three of them: Candace, Shane a.k.a. smoking hot guy leaning up against a wall, and herself. Where was everyone else?

Peg scurried back in the room. “SOS calls in place. The troops should be here any minute now.”

“Not soon enough,” Evelyn muttered, imploring her future in-law with a desperate look.
Peg, save me!

“Really? This? So overdone. I would imagine King’s could come up with better ideas than these. I’m so disappointed.” Candace waved a hand in dismissal to the items meticulously attached to the board.

“Perhaps King’s isn’t the best match for you,” Evelyn said with hope in her chest. Her sister-in-law to be gently nudged her shoulder. “Just sayin…”

“Just hoping, you mean,” Peg said under her breath. “Watch it, sis-to-be. This one could blab we ain’t delivering on the goods. Don’t need that kinda press.”

Peg was right, of course. She had this uncanny way of telling it to you straight, nine times out of ten being accurate, and letting you know she had your back anyway. Loved Peg. Loved that her brother had finally come around to snatch up this gem.

“And it won’t be eight months away.” Candace’s voice, though nice, grated nonetheless. Maybe it was the attitude behind it. “No. Two months.”

“Two?” Evelyn, Peg, and Shane asked at the same time. He jerked away from the wall, dropping his laid back demeanor. Shock pulsed in the air.

“You’re pregnant,” Shane accused.

Candace’s face flamed as she dropped her gaze. “Of course not.” The primness could have frozen water off a hooker’s hiney.

“Thank God,” he said.

“You don’t like babies?” Evelyn asked, holding her breath.

He shrugged. “Never been around them. Not likely to happen either.”

Disappointment sank in her stomach. She still clutched the wayward bunny in her hands, obviously her security blanket right now. “Oh, you’re one of those.”

Scowling, he said, “One of those what?”

Candace cleared her throat. “Excuse me, but we were talking about me. About
my
wedding.”

“And mine,” a voice from the doorway said.

Evelyn jerked her head around. Her mouth dropped open. She knew him, not well, but she’d seen his picture at the store.

“Holy banana boat! Dex,
you’re
marrying Candace Hightower?!” Peg cried out.

Yep, Evelyn couldn’t have asked the question better herself.

What in the world was Dexter Snodgrass, once the mad scientist at King’s, doing with a woman the complete opposite of him?

***

Shane glanced up, catching his cousin’s eye. He still wore his lab coat and fidgeted with his glasses. “Dex, good to see you.” He went over and shook hands, and then tugged him in for a half hug and a slap on the back. “Buddy, you can’t be serious,” he said under his breath.

“Ah…ah…Shane, it’s so good to see you. Too long. Way too long.” The catch in his voice couldn’t be mistaken. Dex missed him. Shane’s gut tugged.

“Sorry. Work.” Shane looked over his only cousin and guilt stabbed him. The poor guy looked lost and forlorn.

Dex shrugged. “I know. You have your life…” There it was again. The wistfulness sucker punched him.

When had he forgotten his promise to Dex’s folks to always be there for their sweet, easily distracted boy? They’d taken Shane in as a young teenager after his parents’ ugly divorce, gave him a stable home, and only asked that he keep an eye on their only son, a child at the time.

He’d failed them. His chest hurt.

Standing back, he straightened Dex’s lab coat lapels and smoothed over the wrinkled material. “Did you sleep in this again?”

He smiled fondly, recalling that first Christmas with Dex and his family. Shane had given him the science kit and a miniature lab coat. It had defined the boy’s future path. Now, he was a man. Still sweet, still innocent, and still gullible to any attention directed his way.

“Shane.” Dex gulped hard. “About Candace… I didn’t…I wouldn’t steal her from you.”

“No worries, cuz.” It couldn’t be clearer that Dex didn’t have it in him to shaft his own cousin. “She and I were never—”

“Dexter, darling!” Candace swept to him and air-kissed his cheek. “You didn’t wear the suit I put out for you.” Her delicate nose wrinkled.

“Candy,” Dex said, blushing. “I rushed right over after you called.”

“Never mind,” she said. “But do take that ridiculous coat off. It does nothing for you. And where are your contacts?”

He shrugged the lab jacket off quickly and balled it up, tucking it under his arm. “I forgot you hate it.” If anything, his face turned redder.

Inside, Shane groaned. This boy had it bad. He had this fallen-over-himself-because-a-pretty-girl-looked-at-him kinda thing going on. Man, Shane had his work cut out for him.

Candace looped her arm through Dex’s and directed him toward the ladies. “Dexter, you know Peg Newbury, of course; she’s been with the store for ages. Have you met Evelyn White yet?”

“Hell’s bells, Dex,” Peg said, hugging him. “Long time no see. Our mad scientist hit a homerun with the Charmings perfume. Too bad you left us. But you’re brilliant, so no telling what you’re up to now.”

“Thanks, Peg.” He looked down at his feet. “I miss you, too. Miss all this.”

“We haven’t met. But you’re legendary around these parts. I’m Evelyn. You can call me Ev for short.”

Dex’s limp handshake didn’t deter her one bit.

“So, you’re the lucky groom.” She dragged out the word lucky.

Shane caught her glimpse and smiled. Most of them in the room realized what a mistake this was. Now, he just had to convince his cousin to call the whole thing off.