Destination Wedding (Crimson Romance) (9 page)

“I’m sorry. Was he not around when you were little?”

“Let’s just say he was no father of the year. Luke did his best to look out for me, being the older brother. I got a little out of control in college. Skipping classes, doing recreational things I shouldn’t have. Until I met Lauren — ”

“Here, during spring break,” She interjected.

“Yeah, it was pretty silly how we met, I know. I mean who finds the love of their life on spring break? I’ll tell you what though, that woman was a godsend. She transferred from UCLA to NYU and helped me straighten my life out. Her parents did, too. Aubrey was the one that got my dad to see what a bonehead he was being to Luke and me. I’m extremely grateful to the Kincaid family.”

So grateful that you kissed a woman twenty-four hours ago who wasn’t Lauren Kincaid?

She changed the subject.
“I’m sorry your dad wasn’t there for you and your brother when you were younger. What about your mom?”

“She died in a car crash. Drunk driver hit her head on.”

Kate touched her heart. “Drew, I’m so sorry.”

“Thank you. Luke and I were boys when it happened. I hardly remember her, but sometimes … ” He sighed.

“Sometimes what?”

“This is going to sound silly.”

“No sillier than me telling you I blindfolded a bride.”

“Well, it’s … I don’t know … during these big … you know, life moments, I feel like she’s with me.”

Kate instinctively reached out and touched his arm. “I’m sure she is.”

“I hope so.” He chuckled. “Maybe we should reserve a front row seat at the wedding so she can make sure I don’t screw up my vows.”

“We could arrange that.” Kate looked away. Wow. Did Drew actually have a heart? Worse, was he opening it up to her?

The car jerked, jolting her out of her thoughts. She braced.

“Oh, come on.” Drew looked behind him and began to coast the car. “Damn rental.”

“What’s happening?” Kate gripped her door handle.

“I think we blew a tire.” He continued to coast.

“Shouldn’t you pull over?” Why weren’t they stopping? Kate felt a sudden wave of panic. She didn’t need to meet his deceased mother today.

“I am. You never want to stop suddenly.” He put his hazards on. “I don’t want to lose control of the car.”

“Oh, I knew that.” She breathed a sigh of relief. No one was going to die.

He gradually maneuvered the convertible to the breakdown lane and turned the car off.

“So what do we do now?” Kate asked. “Call Triple-A?” She reached down for her purse and fished for her phone. Where had she put it?

“No. Don’t need to. I can change it. There’s got to be a spare in the trunk.” He unbuckled his seatbelt.

“Are you sure? It would only take me two seconds to make the call.”

“Relax; this happened to Luke and me once in Vegas. It shouldn’t take me long at all.” He opened his car door. “Shout if you need anything.”

“Oh, don’t you worry. I will.” She sincerely hoped he knew what he was doing. The last thing she wanted was to be stuck on a highway, baking in the hot sun. She scrolled through her messages. There were several from Janet asking for a status report on the wedding. Her boss seemed to be particularly in a good mood, signing off with smiley faces. Kate responded that she would call her this afternoon with a full update.

She continued to scroll down. No messages from her mother. Of course not. She was too busy pretending she was thirty and going on romantic picnics in Central Park with some stranger named Jack. Kate needed to get to the bottom of her mother’s shenanigans. She would try calling her when she got back to the hotel.

She noticed she’d received a text. Opening it up, she grinned. Miles and Lauren had texted her a picture. Their nearly naked bodies were planted in the sand, a drink in Lauren’s hand. Hmph … They must have bolted out of the shop as soon as she left. She hoped Miles took proper care of the dress and made any necessary appointments for alterations. She was happy to see that Lauren’s straps were hanging loosely to her side and Miles was holding up a bottle of sun tan oil. No tan lines would appear on Miles’s watch.

Drew’s phone vibrated on the console, startling her. She picked it up and opened the car door. “You’ve got a call.”

She peered to the right. Drew was sprawled out on the ground. His upper body had disappeared in the back of the car. From her vantage point, she had a clear shot of his incredibly sexy legs, sticking out from his khaki shorts. She gulped. “Everything okay down there?” She smacked herself on the head. “Back there?”

“Hey, I think so. Just can’t tell if I did this correctly. Can you hand me that wrench?”

“Sure.” Kate got out of the car, still holding on to his phone. She knelt down and picked up the wrench and a dirty rag.

“Thanks.” He sat up and took it from her. He examined the front of the tire and did some final tightening. “I think we’re good.” He wiped his hands with the dirty rag.

“I’ll take that for you.” She grabbed the rag and tool while Drew picked up the blown tire.

He popped the trunk and threw the tire in. “Let me have those.” He took the items from Kate’s hand and placed them in, shutting the trunk. “Good as new.”

“I hope so.” She was anxious to get this excursion over and return to the hotel.

“Wait.”

“Why? Is something wrong?”

“You have some dirt here.” He reached over and stroked her face with the back of his hand. “Must be from the rag.”

“Must be,” she repeated. Her knees wobbled. Drew had no business caressing her face but she couldn’t stop him.

His touch felt different than last time, much different. She grasped his wrist and stared into his blue eyes. She knew it was incredibly wrong to feel this way, but she ached to feel his lips on hers again.

“Kate, there’s something I should tell you, I’m not who you think I am. I’m — ”

“Engaged. I know. It’s just … I felt something when we kissed. I know we’re pretending it didn’t happen, but can you answer me this? Did you not feel anything?”

He took his hand away and smiled. “Kate, I’m going to be honest with you. What happened on the plane was something wonderful between you and — ”

She looked down at the sudden vibration in her hand. Drew was getting a call. “Here.” She shoved it at him.

He looked down. “It’s my brother.”

He sounded relieved. If only he had finished his sentence. Kate looked away. What had he meant by “something wonderful?”

“Hey, bro. We’re on our way.” He clicked off the phone and headed for the driver’s side. “Luke’s waiting for us. We should go.”

Kate sighed. His brother had lousy timing.

Luke looked down at his phone for the umpteenth time. Drew said they were almost there. How long would that mean? He’d been standing outside on the arrivals platform, baking in the hot sun and didn’t know how much longer he could stand it. What was taking his brother so long? He glanced down at his empty suitcase next to him. This was a stupid idea.

No. What was stupid was dressing in a black shirt and jeans in nearly one hundred-degree heat. He wanted to dress the part of a passenger coming in from New York City. He’d even gone as far as grabbing a lei and putting it around his neck. After catching a glimpse of his reflection in the glass door, he had taken it off and handed it to a random teenage girl.

He cursed under his breath. This was a cockamamie idea if ever there was one. He expected something like this from Drew, not something he would go along with, never mind orchestrate.

What was he thinking? Here he was in charge of a multibillion-dollar operation, yet today the only thing on his mind was impressing a woman he barely knew. It was official. He had lost his mind.

Forty-five minutes ago he had been nervous with anticipation. Now, he was just pissed and it was a tossup if his anger was at his brother or directed inward.

The white convertible finally pulled up to the curb. Drew honked and Luke could see his brother and Kate inside. If her body language was any indicator, the ride from the hotel hadn’t gone well.

“Aloha!” Drew shouted.

Luke gave an acknowledging wave. “Aloha.” He took off his sunglasses and placed them on his head.

Kate’s jaw dropped. “You’re twins? Of course.” She turned to Drew. “I thought you said he was your older brother?”

“He is … by four minutes.” He jumped out. “Let me get the trunk.”

Luke met him behind the car. “Quick, pop the hood.” He didn’t want Kate to see them talking. “What took you so long?” he asked, his voice low so she couldn’t hear. “She looks upset. What’d you do to her?”

“Nothing. A tire blew and I had to change it. Scout’s honor.” He put two fingers up.

“It’s three fingers, dumbass.”

“Oh right. Hey, you were supposed to text me topics.”

“I did.” Luke said through gritted teeth. “You didn’t get it?” He slid his carryon inside. “Or you didn’t read it?”

“No. I didn’t get it.” Drew went on the defense.

“Then what did you talk about?”

He smirked. “Oh, lots of things. Man, you’ve got your hands full with that one.” He reached for the trunk’s hood. “She nearly jumped me on the highway.”

“What?” Luke reached up and stopped Drew from pulling it down. “What exactly do you mean by ‘jumped you’?”

“I don’t know what your plans are with this charade but you need to set Kate straight on who exactly her infatuation is with. Because right now, she wants me.” He shut the hood. “And I’m taken.”

Luke shook his head. This was a bad idea. He should have known better. He’d find out exactly what happened between them later. Now, he needed to do some damage control. Opening the back seat door, he got in and extended his hand to Kate. “You must be the wedding planner.”

She shook his hand quickly, barely touching it. “Kate Ashby.”

“Luke Cannon.”

“I assumed as much.”

Wow. No question about it. She was perturbed. He had his work cut out for him. He gave her his warmest smile. “Have you ever planned a wedding in three weeks?”

“Dude, she’s an event planning genius.” Drew shifted lanes to exit the airport.

She turned back to Luke. “No, this will be my first.”

“So, when did you get here, Kate?”

“Yesterday.”

“We were on the same flight,” Drew added. “Sat next to each other.”

Luke wanted to reach over and smack him. Why would he bring that up? He didn’t want Kate to feel any more uncomfortable than he suspected she already did.

“So how long are you in Hawaii, Luke?” she asked.

He jumped at her willingness to change the subject. “Only until Sunday.”

She raised her eyebrow. “That’s quite a long distance to travel for forty-eight hours.”

Luke slapped his brother’s shoulder. “Well, your twin brother only gets married once.”

He hoped. “I’m sure we’ll have plenty of time to talk about the wedding while I’m here.”

She turned her head away from him. “You should probably start talking. I’m leaving tonight.”

“What?” Luke sunk back in his seat. Where was she going so soon? It couldn’t be back to LA, could it? He tried to remain calm. His pounding heart was about to break out of his chest. “Where to?”

“Maui. Your brother arranged for my assistant, Miles, and me to take the Kincaid jet this evening.”

“He did, did he?” This put a rather large kink in his plans. He slid his sunglasses back on and shot his brother a death look. Lucky for Drew, Luke’s tinted frames hid it. He leaned forward. “What’s in Maui, Kate?”

“The perfect location for their wedding ceremony,” she replied. “With any luck.”

Drew piped in. “Lauren has her heart set on getting married in Maui. At least that’s what she’s been telling Kate. I had no idea.”

So you just had to offer up a private jet to whisk Kate out of town, moron?
He sat in silence for the remainder of the ride while Kate talked on the phone with her boss about her sudden trip to Maui. He needed to come up with Plan B and fast.

Drew pulled into the hotel. “Here we are.”

“Nice digs,” Luke said. He watched Kate reach for her bag and hop out of the car. She apparently couldn’t get out of the convertible fast enough.

“Luke, while you’re here, I’ll need to get your measurements.”

“Measurements?” He stepped out of the car. “Can I buy you a drink, first?”

She didn’t even crack a smile. “For your tux. I’ll make an appointment before I leave.”

“Sure. Whatever you need.”

“I can arrange for someone to come to the hotel tomorrow morning. We can do Drew’s as well. You guys won’t even need to leave.”

“Listen, Kate,” Luke started, taking advantage of the few minutes he had alone with her while his brother showed the valet the blown tire. “I was hoping to spend some time alone with you … ” He could see her eyebrows borough in confusion. “ … to talk about the wedding. When will you be back from Maui on Sunday?”

“Not until the afternoon.”

Luke’s heart sunk. His plane would be well in the air, headed to New York City by then.

“We could have lunch right now if you’d like?” she offered.

He very much would. “That sounds great.”

“What sounds great?” Drew approached with Luke’s suitcase. “Man, you pack light.”

Because it’s empty, idiot.
“We’re going to grab a bite to eat,” Luke said. “I’ll take that.”

“Terrific. I’m starving. We can eat in the hotel’s restaurant. They’ve got a nice menu.”

“Don’t you have a conference call with New York?” Luke asked, hoping his brother would detect the “get lost” message.

Drew shook his head. “No, don’t think so. Did one this morning. My schedule’s clear for the rest of the day.”

“Fine. Table for three it is,” Luke said flatly. It was times like this that he wished he were an only child.

• • •

Kate sipped her iced tea on the back terrace while listening as Drew and Luke joked about the bachelor party. She didn’t know what she was thinking inviting Luke to lunch. He seemed so desperate to talk to her about the wedding that the invitation flew out of her mouth before she could reel it back in. Then, before she knew it, Drew joined them.

After ordering, they spent the next two hours chatting about the wedding. She also finally learned a little bit about their family business.