Holiday Wedding (2 page)

Speaking of—Drew glanced around, wondering which shop she had dashed into. It was just like her to run about the terminal until the last possible minute. They were usually the final passengers to board.

He had no idea how Lauren, Luke, his dad—really, everyone that knew them—would react to the news that he and Olivia were dating. His father's former assistant was also Luke's ex-girlfriend who had tried to come between his brother and Kate in Hawaii and wiggle her own trip down the aisle to a waiting Luke. It didn't work and should have gotten her fired. His dad, having a soft spot for Olivia, instead had convinced Luke to transfer her to Tokyo and give her a second chance.

It hadn't happened overnight, but as Drew adjusted to his life as a single man, he and Olivia started spending time together. She had told him how sorry she was for what she'd done to his brother in Hawaii, and he truly believed her.

He wasn't sure where their relationship was headed. His feelings for her didn't even come close to what he'd felt for Lauren—still felt, if he were completely honest.

He didn't plan on broadcasting it on a billboard high above Times Square that they were dating. If anyone asked, he'd tell them the truth: they were taking things slow.

He finally caught a glimpse of the familiar fitted black dress, phone wedged between her ear and shoulder. Her tanned face mirrored his own and was courtesy of a long Thanksgiving weekend they'd recently enjoyed together vacationing in Thailand.

She took the empty seat the young marriage prophet had vacated, still talking a mile a minute. No doubt it was her parents or sister on the other end. She was looking forward to this trip home; he only wished he could say the same.

His gaze slid down her black hose, resting on her conservative black flats that she'd told him were her “flying shoes.” He smiled, sincerely doubting Olivia owned anything with red and white stripes or shoes that sparkled.

• • •

“Milesssssss,” Lauren Kincaid wailed from the safety of her tiny dressing room. “I look ridiculous.” She glanced one last time in the mirror and frowned. Her red and white striped tights were starting to make her dizzy, not to mention cutting off the circulation in her legs.

The last time she'd been in a dressing room with Miles Payne she'd been trying on the gorgeous and outrageously expensive wedding dress that her wedding planner, and Miles's boss, Kate Ashby, had selected. Lauren sighed at the memory of the beautiful gown Kate had magically pulled from the racks.

Lauren emerged from the dressing room anxious to see the dress in the three-way mirror. She smiled at her reflection. The one-shoulder gown was simple yet elegant.

She motioned for Kate. “Can you help me? Mom was having trouble with this zipper.”

“Of course,” Kate said, and zipped up the back.

Lauren turned to admire the short white train that wouldn't cause her to trip when she walked down the sandy aisle. Everything about the dress—from the soft white color to the sheer organza petals—was perfect.

“Lauren, you look stunning,” Miles said, coming up alongside her.

“It's absolutely what I envisioned.”She couldn't stop smiling at her reflection as she continued to admire the dress. It was exactly what she'd dreamed of wearing when she finally became Mrs. Drew Cannon.

So much for that. She'd never had the opportunity to wear it. Shrugging, she reached down for the green felt hat and bobby pinned it to her long, wavy blond hair. Time to get this over with.

“Come on, Lauren,” Miles called out, snapping his fingers. “I've got to be uptown in half an hour to meet Kate. You know how she gets whenever I'm late.”

“Call her and tell her it's an emergency,” she shot back. The only good thing to come out of her destination wedding that had crashed and burned all over Hawaii stood outside the door. She may have lost the love of her life, but she gained a gay wedding planner BFF with an eye for interior design and hands that could mix one hell of a cocktail. Really, wasn't that all a single woman in her early thirties needed?

At least that's what she told herself to adjust to her new life without Drew. She'd had a lot of time over the last year to think about what had gone wrong. Witnessing him kiss another woman had been both confusing and heartbreaking. Drew had explained why Kate had done what she did, but it was too late. Lauren had finally realized that even after so many years together, Drew wasn't ready to settle down. Worse—he might never be.

It broke her heart to call off their wedding, but she believed every word when she told Drew that they needed some time apart to figure out who they were as individuals and what they wanted out of a marriage. Maybe then, they might have a chance at getting back together.

Her heart tightened at the memory of the last time she saw him. It wasn't the goodbye she'd wanted.

She'd been in tears for most of the day over his imminent departure and did her best to avoid him because if she heard his voice or gazed into his beautiful blue eyes she might not have the strength to let him leave. Just a few minutes prior to his stopping by her office she'd tried to pull it together, but the tears kept streaming down. He was leaving and although she knew distance was what they needed, her heart was breaking.

When she heard his voice down the hall, she grabbed her phone receiver, pretending she was on an important call. She told him to have a safe flight while trying to hide her tear-stained face.

There wasn't a day that passed that she didn't regret not leaping out of her office chair, throwing her arms around him, and begging him not to leave while admitting how much she still loved him.

But she didn't do any of those things. Instead she just let him walk away because at the time, she'd convinced herself that space was what they both needed.

So much had happened since she'd called off the wedding. When Luke had offered her a position as VP of marketing for JDL Toys based out of their flagship store in Manhattan, she'd jumped at the opportunity. She respected Luke and believed in the JDL Toys brand. Plus, she still considered Luke and his dad family. Breaking up with Drew didn't change that.

It wasn't always easy working in headquarters, when the spitting image of Drew was her boss, but she'd been determined to start a new life and focus on her career.

She wasn't the only one who relocated to New York City. When Kate moved to Manhattan to be with Luke, Miles decided to join her so he could continue to work as her junior wedding planner. They set up a Tie Your Knot regional office in Manhattan and now had a long list of clients in major cities up and down the East Coast.

Lauren immediately asked Miles to move in with her and was grateful he'd said yes. Her roommate—and his awesome martini recipes—had been a lifesaver as she adjusted to the job and a new life in New York.

She flung open the stall door and Miles broke out into laughter. “Darling, you look good enough to lick.”

She sighed and looked down at her candy cane tights. “I don't know why Luke insisted that I have this experience. I've already been through one holiday season with the company.”

Miles raised an eyebrow and reached up and adjusted her hat. “Might I remind you of last year's”—he put up his fingers in air quotes—“‘incident'?”

“So, I made a couple of kids cry. I don't see what the big deal was. The company had a banner year and my marketing campaign rocked.”

“Um … you told a whole line of children waiting to see Santa that he was an imposter.”

“Well, they're going to learn the truth someday.” Lauren faced the mirror and fiddled with her green top. “I did their parents a favor.”

“If that's your story.” He laughed and grabbed his briefcase from the red velvet ottoman. “I've really got to get going. Try not to ruin anyone's Christmas.”

She rolled her eyes and looked around for the shoes that went with her costume. The last thing she wanted to do was wear the ruby red high heels she'd had on earlier. Not with this outfit. “See you for drinks tonight? I want to check out the new lounge on Forty-Eighth and Third.”

“You bet. I'm headed to the Four Seasons to meet with the chef and Kate, and then Vanessa and Jack want us to swing by the church. Apparently they have some new development to share.” Miles shrugged, no doubt use to the ball of drama that always seemed to form around Kate's eccentric mother. It was usually small and easily extinguished.

Lauren continued to play with her elf hat, wedging one last bobby pin in. “Everything okay with the happy couple?” Kate's mom, Vanessa Ashby, and Luke and Drew's dad, Jack Cannon, had been dating for over a year and were finally tying the knot.

Miles checked his watch and buttoned up his long black wool coat. “Who knows? I have a feeling it has to do with the fact they were MIA last weekend.”

“Oh, that's right. Their secret getaway. It's all people are talking about at the office.” She laughed because the gossip mill had been running at full speed lately now that Luke's fiancée was also going to be his step-sibling. For such a large city, it was a small world when it came to the Cannon men and Ashby women.

“What are they saying?” Miles asked.

“That Jack has never missed Friday afternoon's storytime, even after he retired. It's definitely unlike him to disappear without a word.”

“I'm not worried. I bet they were hibernating in Jack's penthouse all this time.” He wiggled his hips. “Bow chicka wow wow.”

Lauren laughed. Miles was probably right. The two were notorious for acting like teenagers in love. “Well, I'm happy they're finally getting married.”

“Vanessa really wanted a holiday wedding. I'm just glad she's doing fine and there are no health issues for either of them.”

“Me, too.” Lauren knew he was talking about the lump Vanessa had found in her breast, which prompted them to postpone their first wedding, which was supposed to happen last year at this time. Luckily the test had come back benign. But Vanessa had her heart set on a holiday wedding and was willing to wait another year for it.

Lauren's assistant, Natalie, breezed in, acknowledging Miles with a quick wave. “Santa's ready for you. I forgot to give you these.” She thrust a pair of red and green sparkly flats into Lauren's hand.

Miles just about lost it. He covered his hand, stifling his laughter.

“I'm not wearing those.” Lauren balked and flung them aside.

“You have to. All the other elves are wearing them.” Her eager-to-please assistant bent down and picked them up, handing them back. “Besides, you don't want to run around in the heels you had on earlier, do you?”

“Fine. I'll wear them.” Lauren wasn't going to make a scene in front of Natalie. She slid on the shoes and clicked three times. “It's only two hours. It's only two hours,” she repeated, trying to pump herself up.

“Elf Candy Cane Sparkly Toes reporting to duty,” Miles quipped.

“Shut it,” Lauren said, casting her roommate a dirty look. She was going to murder Luke for making her do this.

Lauren flew into her office on the tenth floor of JDL Toys, whipped off her elf hat, and flung it across the room. Sliding behind her desk, she kicked off the hideous glittery shoes that had pinched her poor little toes.

For all her complaining, her time as an elf hadn't been all that bad. Seeing how the little tykes lit up when they met Santa almost made her want one of her own.

Almost.

“Hi.” Luke popped his head in the door. “I see you survived your assignment.”

“Piece of cake, Mr. Cannon.” Her curved lips mirrored the smirk on his face. “Can't wait to do it again next year.”

“I bet you can't.”

“I'm available for Easter, too. Just no bunny ears.”

“Noted. So what did you ask Santa for?” Luke reached inside his tailored suit pocket and pulled out his vibrating phone. “Hold on one second.” He slid into the seat opposite her desk and took the call. “Hey, beautiful.”

He must be talking to Kate. Lauren tapped away on her keyboard, hoping to fire off one or two e-mails while Luke chatted with his fiancée. Even though he appeared all merry and bright, her boss rarely came into her office to shoot the breeze. Not this holiday season, anyway.

In addition to his father's wedding that had everyone running around a bit more frantic than usual, Luke and Lauren had been trying desperately to dig themselves out of the financial hole the company had fallen into, thanks to Drew and his big idea.

She shook her head, and picked up the latest trade publication to report on the Happily Ever After dolls debacle, glancing at the embarrassing story's headline.

Why Luke had gone along with the Happily Ever After dolls in the first place made no sense. All her focus groups and market research had suggested that—at best—Drew's idea was mediocre, and convincing boys they wanted to play with the male dolls would be difficult. Not when the market was saturated this season with robots and popular gaming systems.

She'd put in extra hours, trying to creatively market the dolls in different regions, yet there was no uptick in sales. Even here, in their high traffic flagship store, the shelves were full of dolls that would never have the opportunity to meet their soul mates.

Over the last month, Lauren and Luke had worked overtime to form a recovery strategy, focusing on promoting last year's high-performing toys. She didn't agree with Luke's decision to ice Drew out of the conversation, but that was exactly what he did. As far as she knew, Drew still didn't know that they had abandoned all U.S. marketing on the toy and had started to yank the dolls off of JDL toy stores around the country.

She sighed. There were other reasons beyond dismal bottom-line figures that made her more than a little nervous to see her ex. Tonight they'd be in the same time zone for the first time in over a year. She'd told herself in her bathroom mirror this morning—and every morning since she learned three months ago what date he'd be arriving—that everything was going to be fine.