A long chuckle came from the other end of the line.
“Knock it off, Callie. This is not funny. I don’t know where else to call.”
The laughter subsided. “I’m sorry. I know it’s not funny, but I was picturing that Memorial Day cookout last year at your parents. Your mom’s entire strawberry shortcake landed on the dog’s head.”
Lauren moaned as the memory came back. “You had to remind me of that?”
“Why don’t you just push the wedding back if you can’t find anything? It’s not the end of the world if you wait a few months.”
“Nate’s dead set on it happening soon.” Lauren paused for a minute. “And, honestly, I don’t want to wait either. It feels as if I’ve been waiting for this forever.”
“Then we’ll have it here,” Callie said, her voice ringing with authority.
“What?” Lauren rubbed her forehead in confusion. “Have it where?”
“My house in Greenwich. The South lawn would be gorgeous for an afternoon wedding. There is just enough shade, and I don’t know how the gardeners do it, but every shrub and flowerbed looks amazing. If it rains, we can move everything inside. I’ll have Nancy bring in extra help to prepare and serve the meal.”
Holy wow! Lauren bit down on her lip until the urge to weep passed. No matter what, she and Callie had always been there for each other. Still, she was taken aback by her friend’s generous offer. Callie and Dylan’s new estate in Connecticut was, well, the word “magnificent” didn’t really do it justice. A wedding there would be like no other. “Callie . . . I . . . are you—”
“Don’t even say it,” Callie said before Lauren could finish.
“But what about Dylan? Will he mind?” Over the past few years he’d been nothing but kind and friendly, but this was asking a lot.
“Just give me the date, and I’ll arrange everything on this end. You just worry about the other stuff.”
For the first time all day, Lauren felt herself smile. “You’re the best, you know that, right? I owe you big-time.”
“I’ll remind you of that after the baby is born and I need a babysitter,” Callie said, joking.
“Like I won’t want to do that anyway.”
Chapter 13
“I expect to see you here,” Justin Billings said.
“I’ll be there.” Nate ended his call with Justin and tossed his phone down. Damn it. The rumors were true. The team’s tryouts started on July 15th, one week before their wedding. If he didn’t go now, who knew when the opportunity would come up again?
How did he break this one to Lauren? She had everything arranged for their wedding. Earlier that week she’d finally found a photographer she liked. When he broke the news that everything needed to be changed she’d flip. She’d already worked so hard on the wedding plans.
The wedding date was only half the problem. She didn’t even know he wanted to try out, let alone what it meant if he made it. Not that he hadn’t considered that already. More than once since he’d heard the rumor that HRT planned to hold tryouts, he’d almost told her. Each time he’d convinced himself to wait. Why bring up something that may never happen? Man, was that ever coming back to bite him in the ass. Now, not only did he have that subject to drop on her, he needed to tell her to move the wedding date. When he dropped those two bombs on her, he might want a peace offering in hand. Even then, he figured he’d spend the next few nights sleeping in the guest bedroom with only the dogs for company.
“Callahan, I heard HRT’s holding tryouts. Does that mean you’re leaving us?” Frank Chase asked, stopping by his desk. Despite being only thirty-five, Frank had worked as a special agent for over ten years, thanks to his fluency in six foreign languages. “If so, good luck. I hear the tryout is brutal.”
That didn’t concern him. Compared to what he was about to face at home with Lauren, his time with HRT would be a piece of cake. “Yeah, I heard the same.”
“You and Lauren postponing the wedding until afterward?”
“She doesn’t know yet.” Nate closed down all the open files on his computer.
Frank dropped both hands on Nate’s desk and leaned forward. “You planned for this without telling her? Dumb move, Callahan.”
Yeah, he should’ve told her sooner, but it would all work out in the end regardless. I hope. “I’m telling her tonight.”
Frank straightened up. “I suggest you give her an expensive gift. Butter her up first, then spring it on her. And if you need a place to sleep tonight, my couch is all yours.”
He liked Frank, both as an agent and friend, but his tone just then put him on the defensive. “I don’t have to buy a woman like you, Chase.” Nate gave him a cocky smile before heading for the elevator.
“If I don’t see you tomorrow, I’ll know why.” Frank’s voice carried down the hallway.
Prepared for battle, Nate pulled into the garage armed with a dozen long-stemmed red roses and red velvet cupcakes from Rosie’s. The way he saw it, the gifts couldn’t hurt.
Even from the garage, the smell of steaks on the grill reached him. The woman really did know how to spoil him. Nothing beat a thick steak cooked on the grill in his book. Nate climbed the stairs and ignored the sudden clenching in his gut. “Time to do this,” he said as he reached for the doorknob.
Two high-speed fur-covered freight trains collided into him the minute he opened the door, and he only just managed to keep both the flowers and the cupcakes from landing on the floor.
“Perfect timing. Another five minutes and dinner will be done.” Lauren stood in front of the refrigerator, her back to him.
“We need to do something about these two.” With his free hand he pushed JoJo’s paws off of him and placed the bakery box on the counter.
“They only do that to you,” Lauren said, tossing her words over her shoulder as she continued to search for something.
“Lucky me,” he muttered, moving up behind her and turning her around to face him. When she opened her mouth to answer, he moved in and silenced her with a kiss. His tongue slowly traced her bottom lip before slipping inside. Without any hesitation she wrapped her arms around him and pressed her body against his, her tongue mating with his as her fingernails dug into his short hair. The cool air from the open refrigerator was a stark contrast to the burning heat raging in his body. Somehow he managed to keep his grip on the flowers and pick her up at the same time. When she wrapped her legs around his waist, he groaned as the pressure behind his zipper increased.
After one final kiss, he pulled his mouth from hers. They needed to talk first before they did anything else. “We’ll get back to this after dinner. I promise.”
Lauren’s eyes fluttered open. “You want to wait? Really?”
He looked away, counted to ten in his head, and nodded.
She unwrapped her legs from his waist and slid down his body. “Who are you?” she asked, eyeing first him and then the flowers. “And since when do you buy me flowers?”
On second thought, maybe he should have skipped the flowers, or had he imagined the suspicion in her voice? “Don’t get used to it.” Through pure willpower, he forced a smile.
She accepted the bouquet. “I won’t,” she said and kissed him on the cheek. “Since you want to eat now, go on outside, and I’ll be right out.”
That night they enjoyed dinner on the deck. Earlier in the week Lauren had strung lights around the deck railing and the lights, along with the candles on the table, gave the tiny backyard deck a romantic glow. Despite the setting, beautiful companion, and delicious food, Nate went through the entire meal on autopilot. He cut and chewed his food but didn’t taste it. He nodded and agreed as necessary to Lauren’s conversation but didn’t hear it. His thoughts remained locked on the conversation they still needed to have. The one he didn’t know how to start.
“I picked out bridesmaid dresses today.” Lauren changed the subject to the wedding for the first time all night. “I went with the lilac. I wanted the yellow, but it didn’t look good on everyone.”
The shit’s about to hit the fan. Nate took a swig of his beer. “We need to change the date of the wedding, Lauren.” Sugarcoating the truth would do no good.
Lauren laughed and broke her cupcake in half. “Real funny.”
He hadn’t expected her not to believe him. “Lauren, I’m not joking.” He reached across the table and took her hand. “We need to push it up. I need to be in Quantico on the 15th.”
“Can’t it wait till after the wedding? What are you going down there for anyway?”
“HRT’s tryouts. I got official word today.”
Lauren reached for the guitar pick earring in her left ear. “Speak English, Nate. What’s HRT?”