Nine
The following two days passed in a flurry of activity.
Stefanie didn’t take the time to sit around and wonder what motivation lurked beneath her kissing Emmett, and she certainly didn’t give any brain space as to why he’d kissed her back.
Until this morning.
She’d slipped into the bathroom and showered, replaying the kiss and Emmett’s reaction to it. He wasn’t wrong. It had been a mistake to kiss him. And yet she’d wanted to kiss him again ever since. She had the tendency to lean in whenever she felt the urge, and that night she’d literally leaned in.
After climbing out of the shower she blow-dried her hair, her mind a tangle of confusion. Mostly because kissing Emmett had felt undeniably right when it shouldn’t have felt anything less than...wrong.
With no resolution in sight, she tabled the thoughts and set out from the B and B with a list and Emmett in tow. She had plans to finalize not only for the charity Christmas dinner but also for the wedding in which she was one of the main participants.
She could hardly believe she was going to be married tonight.
“May I help you?” a pretty dark-haired woman at the counter of the bridal boutique asked.
“Yes, I purchased a Vera Wang wedding dress yesterday and paid extra to have it taken in by today.”
The small boutique in San Antonio had displayed the Vera Wang on a mannequin in a glass case under lock and key. It was one of a kind, and exactly the type of wedding dress she would’ve picked out for a real wedding. Not that this wasn’t real, but she wasn’t in love, so that made it less real.
“Tonight’s my wedding night.”
“Congratulations!”
But announcing it hadn’t made it any less surreal.
“Sandy Phillips.” An older woman emerged from the back and greeted Stefanie using her alias. The last thing Stef needed was word leaking to the media that she was buying a wedding gown. “Danielle, could you please pull the vintage Vera Wang for Ms. Phillips?”
“Of course.” Danielle vanished behind a curtain and Nancy, who was also the owner of the store, patted Stef’s hand.
“Are you excited? It’s the big day!”
If by excited she meant nauseous and ready to get it over with, then yes. Yes, she was.
“Very.”
“Is that your beau out front?”
Stefanie turned to the wide plate glass window. Emmett’s SUV idled at the curb, the passenger-side window cracked, probably to release some of the warmth from the cab. He’d accused her of “cooking him” by turning up the heat on the passenger side, but she couldn’t help it that San Antonio was suffering a cold spell.
“That’s him.”
“Yum.” Nancy gave her a conspiratorial wink.
After Stef had slipped into her dress to ensure the alterations were perfect—they were—she carried her dress to the car and draped the opaque black bag over the back seat.
“Need help?” Emmett asked over his shoulder.
“No. I have it.” She closed the back door, then opened her own, climbing inside and buckling up. At least the sun was out today. The snow had turned into rain and what white stuff was decorating the ground and windowsills had melted away. “That’s the last item on my to-do list.”
As he pulled onto the highway, she spotted a Starbucks sign on the horizon, and her mouth watered for a cinnamony, nutmeggy, sugary concoction.
“Coffee!” she exclaimed. “Coffee and then I’m done with my to-do list.”
“Here?” He pointed at a fast-food place as they passed by. At her aghast reaction, he chuckled, the sound low and comforting. “Kidding.”
The thirty-minute drive back to the B and B was quiet, mostly because she was cocooning a toasted-marshmallow white-chocolate mocha. Seriously. So good.