“Oh, well, all right, dear. Don’t work too hard.” With that, she ends the call. It’s as if she turned into a different person in the last few seconds of our call. In all of my twenty-five years, I’ve never been able to understand her crazy ways, but I love her all the same.
Placing my phone on the desk, I start unpacking my laptop. I’m in the middle of edits about a broody fireman and am anxious to get back to it. It’s a perk of the job to get to enjoy the first look at each story and help the authors make them the best that they can be. It’s really the best job in the world.
Once my laptop is booted up and I have the file open in front of me, I allow myself to get lost in my work. That’s why I jump out of my skin, well, really just the chair, but I jolt forty minutes later when the door to the manor opens. It’s not time for either party to arrive, and it’s too early for the caterers. I stand to greet whoever it might be, but before I can make it to the foyer, a tall, dark-haired figure appears in my doorway.
“Hey,” a deep husky voice greets me. “I’m Archer Kincaid. My mom said that Miss Maureen could use some help setting up,” he explains.
I smile and offer the gorgeous man my hand. I don’t know what Carol fed these boys growing up, but damn. “Hi, I’m Kennedy Edwards. Maureen is my grandmother and a snake.” I laugh.
“I’m not following,” he says, but he’s still smiling and holding on to my hand.
“She set you up. Well, I guess technically, she set us both up. Everything is done here. The caterers will be here at six thirty. The rooms are already good to go. Nothing needs to be done.”
“Why are you here this early?” he asks, finally releasing my hand.
“She was driving me crazy,” I confess, which causes him to laugh. “I work from home, and when she got hurt, I came to stay with her until she’s back on her feet. Literally. Anyway, I was just getting caught up on some work.”
“Well, I’m already here. Is there anything I can do?”
“Not that I’m aware of. I guess we can walk around and see if you think we need to add anything else or move anything around.”
“Let’s do it.” He peels off his jacket and holy arm porn. He’s wearing a tight-fitting long-sleeve T-shirt that tells me exactly what he’s hiding beneath the thin layer of cotton. Muscles, lots and lots of muscles. I roam my gaze over every inch of him before meeting his eyes, and he smirks.
“Come on,” I say, face red with embarrassment. I’m twenty-five, not fifteen. I need to stop acting like I’ve never seen a gorgeous man before. Besides, out of the three brothers I’ve met so far, if I had my choice, I’d choose Declan. He’s sexy, and I want to run my fingers through his hair. Archer has longer hair too, but it’s cut differently than Declan’s. Archer’s is shorter on the sides, whereas Declan’s is more like Brooks’s. Long all over, just not as messy as his brother’s.
“So how is this set up?” Archer asks from his spot next to me as I lead him toward the ballroom.
“The one large ballroom where the wedding will take place has an automatic wall divider. It’s already been expanded, or so my grandma tells me. Honestly, I didn’t look when I got here, and I should have. I guess she was right to send someone to check on me.”
“It wasn’t like that at all.” He comes to my grandma's defense. “I was at my parents’ place, dropping Blakely off for Declan because he had to run into the shop for a customer of his who needed a tire changed. Anyway, Maureen called and said there was a lot of work to do, and she felt guilty for leaving it all up to you. I heard her talking to Mom since the call was on speaker, so I spoke up that I would stop by and help. I was just planning on lounging around with Blake until it was time to be here anyway.”
“Well, thank you.” I step into the ballroom and feel my way around the wall until I find the lights. Just as Grandma had said, the divider is in the room. With it stretched all the way across, going floor to ceiling, it turns the double entryway into a single for each area.
“Nice,” Archer says, standing behind me.
“Let’s check out this side first, but I’m certain they're the same.” I step through the left door and survey the room. There are tables set up with table covers and centerpieces, and then along the far wall is where I assume the finger foods from the caterer will be. There is even a large refrigerator with clear glass doors on wheels that was brought out to place next to the food tables.