A Proposal at the Wedding Page 6

  She wasn’t opposed to that, as long as she kept her head—and her heart—somewhat guarded. With her adored mother serving as an example, Bonnie had always been very careful about not giving her heart to a charming commitment-phobe like her father, or like Kinley’s selfish first husband. She’d poured all her love into the family and their inn, and had received only joy in return. But it was hard to remain cautious when Paul was just so darned appealing. “You may have crossed my mind a few times,” she said.

  She could tell he liked that, and he took encouragement to say, “So maybe we could spend more time together? Outside of class, I mean. Maybe a movie? Dinner? I’m going kayaking on the New River with a couple of friends tomorrow. I don’t suppose you could get away to join us on such short notice?”

  He was asking her out. For some reason she found herself babbling in reply. “My brother likes to kayak the white-water rapids on the New River. I’d love to try it sometime, but I can’t tomorrow. We have a wedding in the afternoon.”

  He released his hold on her and took a half step back, his smile fading a little. “I won’t keep you any longer from your work.”

  “I could take some time off Monday afternoon or evening, if you’re free then,” she said quickly, making some quick mental adjustments to her upcoming schedule.

  His smile deepened in satisfaction. “Monday sounds great. What time would be best for you?”

  They were interrupted before she could reply. With Kinley leading the way, Cassie and her friend Danielle came into the kitchen, looking around curiously. Kinley winked at Bonnie before speaking to Paul. “Cassie wondered where you’d gotten off to. I told her I thought I knew where we might find you. And I was right.”

  “Dad’s developed a sudden interest in kitchens lately,” Cassie said with an impish grin that earned her a look from her father.

  Bonnie had busied herself folding the step stool and storing it. Only then did she turn to be introduced by Kinley to Danielle Brooks, the prospective client and Cassie’s friend. Blessed with the tall, sleek build Bonnie had always envied, Danielle was a beauty with pixie-cut black hair, flawless milk chocolate skin, dancing brown eyes and a thousand-watt smile. Bonnie liked her immediately.

  “Danielle and I are in school together,” Cassie explained. “We’ll both earn our bachelor’s degrees next month.”

  Shaking Danielle’s hand, Bonnie asked, “Are you going into fashion design too?”

  “Yes. I plan to move to New York next summer, when my fiancé finishes his medical residency here, and I hope to get a job in the fashion industry. In the meantime, I’ll be taking some graduate-level courses here at Tech.”

  “When is the wedding?”

  “In the spring. Sometime in May, I think. We haven’t booked a venue yet. I want to bring Joe, my fiancé, to tour this place. I think he’ll agree that it’s perfect.”

  “I thought so the first time I visited,” Cassie endorsed. “Dad agreed, though I’m surprised we weren’t banned from the property after he mowed down poor Bonnie—twice! He didn’t knock you off the stepladder just now, did he, Bonnie?”

  Amused by Paul’s irrepressible daughter, Bonnie shook her head. “Actually, he very gallantly helped me down.”

  “And we are keeping her from her work,” Paul inserted smoothly, making Bonnie wonder if he worried about what Cassie might say next. “She and Kinley have a wedding to prepare for.”

  Cassie nodded. “We saw the decorations their brother and his crew are setting up out in the garden. Looks very Italian.”

  “That’s the goal,” Kinley said promptly, still in saleswoman mode. “We do our best to comply with the bride’s wishes when it comes to color and theme.”

  Cassie and Danielle fell into a discussion of all the colors and themes available for spring weddings as Kinley skillfully herded them out of the kitchen and into the dining room.

  Paul remained just a minute longer. “So…Monday?”

  Bonnie nodded. “Why don’t you call me Sunday and we’ll set up a time?”

  “I’ll do that.” He winked at her as he left her to her chores.

  An image of his roguish smile lingered in her mind throughout the rest of the day—along with the pleasant memory of how good it had felt to be held in his strong arms.

  Chapter Four

  Though she expected to hear from Paul that weekend, Bonnie was surprised by a call from his daughter late Saturday afternoon. “Hi, Bonnie, it’s Cassie Drennan. Is this a bad time to call?”

  “No, not at all. I was just taking a break after this afternoon’s wedding.” Sitting on her couch with her tired, bare feet propped up in front of her, she set aside the glass of iced tea she’d been sipping. “What can I do for you?”

  “I do have a favor to ask of you,” Cassie confessed. “I wonder if you would mind if I make you a dress?”

  Bonnie had been sure Cassie had called about her approaching wedding, and this surprising offer required a mental adjustment. “You want to make a dress for me?”

  “Well, I’d like to design and then sew a dress for you. I need a quick extra credit project for a class, and I came up with the idea of sketching out a petite clothing line. I’ll make a dress from one of the sketches, and I’ll gift it to you after I’ve photographed it and submitted it to the professor. Would you mind?”

  “No, of course not. I’m flattered that you consider me a suitable model for your design. Or am I just the shortest person you know?” Bonnie added with a laugh.

  Cassie chuckled, too. “Of course not. But I would like to experiment with some designs for you. Petite with curves is a very different silhouette than the tall, very thin standard fashion model. A different challenge for a designer. You have a great shape and I’d love to make a great dress for you.”

  “Aren’t you graduating in just a few weeks?”

  “I finish four weeks from today, the week before the wedding. Which means I have about ten days to get this done.”

  “Last-minute decision?”

  “In a way. I wasn’t sure I’d have time, what with the wedding plans and making my own wedding dress and all, but it turns out I’m somewhat ahead of schedule on everything. I don’t really need the extra credit, but if I have too much time on my hands before the wedding, I’ll just go crazy, so I thought I’d give this a try, if you’re game.”

  “It sounds like fun,” Bonnie said honestly.

  “Great. So, when are you free to get together for preliminary measurements? I can come there, or—if it wouldn’t be too much trouble—you could come to Dad’s house, where I have all my sewing and fitting supplies set up for the next few weeks.”

  Even as she and Cassie made plans, Bonnie wondered if Paul was aware of this project. And if so, what he thought of having her even more entangled in his family life—at least until after his daughter’s wedding.

  Sweaty, grass-stained and sore, Paul turned his car into the driveway of his home Sunday afternoon, thinking that maybe he’d overdone it a bit that weekend. Still sunburned from yesterday’s kayaking trip, he’d joined several of the same companions and quite a few others today for a rousing game of soccer in a nearby park. His right shin throbbed from a sliding tackle contact that had left a thin smear of dried blood mixed with the dirt on his shorts-bared leg. That tackle had been executed by a female player close to twenty years his junior and maybe a hundred ten pounds soaking wet. He had taken only slim satisfaction in rocketing a hard instep kick straight past her and into the goal a few plays later, after which he’d limped to his team’s side and collapsed onto the bench to suck some air into his tired lungs.

  He’d held his own, he reminded himself. He was just going to pay for it later, probably a bit more than some of the younger players would. He hadn’t been the oldest player on the pitch, but he’d been one of only a few close to forty.
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  As he pulled into the driveway he noticed an extra car behind Cassie’s little economy model. He recognized it with a start. He’d helped Bonnie stash fresh veggies in that car at the farmers’ market less than two weeks ago.

  What on earth was Bonnie doing here? Parking, he pushed a hand through his tousled hair, aware of how grubby and disheveled he looked. Had to be something to do with the wedding, he figured. Maybe a sudden development, since neither Cassie nor Bonnie had mentioned this visit to him. For Cassie’s sake, he hoped it wasn’t anything serious, though knowing his daughter, she’d deal admirably with whatever it was.

  He wondered if there was any way he could sneak into the house and get a quick shower before greeting Bonnie, who was sure to look as tidy and collected as always. At the very least, he’d like to wash his face and hands.

  Carrying his gym bag in his left hand, he let himself into the kitchen and headed straight for the stairs. He didn’t hear voices, but he assumed Cassie and Bonnie—maybe Kinley, too, if this was indeed a meeting about the wedding—were in the living room in the front of the house.

  Walking softly so as not to draw attention to his arrival, he reached the top of the stairs and headed for his bedroom at the end of the hallway. He stopped in his tracks at the open doorway of the third bedroom, which Cassie had been using as a sewing room since she’d moved back in.

  Too busy chatting to have heard his quiet arrival, Cassie and Bonnie stood in the cluttered bedroom, surrounded by fabric and garments, sewing machines, an iron and ironing board, a dressmaker’s form and stacked boxes holding what he assumed to be other sewing supplies. An open sketchbook lay on the bed next to a tablet computer and a handful of colored pencils scattered across the duvet. He noted all those details from his peripheral vision, but his attention was focused solely on the center of the room, where Bonnie stood with her arms extended while Cassie focused on the measuring tape she’d wrapped around Bonnie’s bustline. Paul was unable to resist looking in that direction, himself. For a small woman, Bonnie had a very nice shape—an observation that caused him to shift his weight uncomfortably and move his gym bag in front of him.

  Perhaps it was that movement that drew Bonnie’s attention in his direction. Seeing him standing there, she started and dropped her arms, dislodging the measuring tape. A wave of pink brightened her cheeks, though she managed a slightly abashed smile to greet him.

  Looking around, Cassie said somewhat distractedly, “Oh, hi, Dad. I was just measuring Bonnie. You’re home earlier than I expected.”

  “I decided to pass on the beer-and-pizza run after the match. Um, why were you measuring Bonnie?”

  Making a notation on the sketch pad, Cassie replied without looking up. “I’m making a dress for her. It’s an extra credit project for a class, and she very generously agreed to model for me. Didn’t I mention it?”

  “No, you didn’t.” For some reason, he suspected the omission had been deliberate, though he wasn’t sure why she hadn’t told him about the project. He glanced toward Bonnie, who was busily smoothing her fitted top over her floral skirt, seemingly giving the task much more attention than it warranted. “Hi.”

  Her hands stilled and she returned his smile, though he thought it looked just a bit strained. “Hi.”

  Was she embarrassed to have been caught in a somewhat awkward position? To assure her she shouldn’t be, he kept his tone light when he said, “So Cassie roped you into being a dressmaker’s dummy, huh? I won’t tell you how many times she’s draped fabric over me.”

  Bonnie’s eyebrows rose. “I didn’t know you made menswear, Cassie.”

  Paul sighed dramatically. “She doesn’t.”

  That elicited Bonnie’s musical laugh, as he’d hoped. She looked more comfortable now, her momentary discomfiture replaced by humor. Still scribbling in her sketchbook, Cassie ignored him pointedly.

  Bonnie cocked her head and studied him more closely, as if suddenly noticing a few details. Now the one feeling at a disadvantage, he wished he’d had time for that face washing. “Did you forget your sunscreen?”

  He wrinkled his nose automatically, feeling the tight, reddened skin pull with the movement. “I forgot to reapply it enough times during the kayaking trip yesterday. I wore some today for the soccer game,” he added a bit defensively.

  “Locking the barn after the horse got scorched,” Cassie mumbled. Before he could ask her what the heck that was supposed to mean, she asked Bonnie, “Do you like this shape, Bonnie? It’s a little different than what I’ve seen you wear, but I think it could be nice on you.”

  Taking his cue, Paul took a step back into the hallway. “If you’ll excuse me, I need a quick shower.”

  “You need a long shower, Dad. Take your time.”

  Shooting a frown toward his grinning daughter, Paul turned and headed for his room, hoping Bonnie would still be around when he came out clean and freshly composed.

  During her twenty-eight years, Bonnie had experienced sexual attraction before. Though she’d been focused for so long on her goal of running Bride Mountain Inn and had concentrated since her teen years on her career training, she’d dated in high school and had a semi-serious boyfriend in college, a couple of brief liaisons since. But until some ten minutes ago, she wasn’t sure she’d ever been so utterly knocked out by a wave of throat-closing, heart-racing, nipple-tightening lust.

  Just mentally picturing Paul’s sudden appearance in that doorway—rumpled, grubby, sweaty, sunburned and virilely male to his sneakered toes—made her pulse trip again. She had to push the image firmly to the back of her mind to get through the remainder of her consultation with Cassie somewhat coherently, especially after she heard the shower running in another room. The fantasies that resulted from that sound were definitely going to have to wait until later, when she was alone.

  She was quite impressed by Cassie’s design skills as displayed by the sketches and garments Cassie showed her that she’d conceived and created. The wedding gown was ninety-nine percent completed, Cassie confided, but that was being kept under wraps till her wedding day. With the exception of Danielle, who’d helped her with a couple of the fittings, no one else had seen it yet, not even her parents.

  “I’m sure it’s beautiful,” Bonnie said. “I can’t wait to see you in it on your wedding day.”

  “I’m really happy with it. And I think Mike will like it.”

  “Well, that’s all that matters, really, isn’t it?” Bonnie had met Cassie’s fiancé only once in passing when Cassie had brought him to see the inn last month on one of his brief trips home from London, where he had recently started his new job. He’d seemed very nice, in a clean-cut, boy-next-door way, and visibly eager for Cassie to finish school, marry him and join him in England. “Will Mike be back in town before the wedding?”

  Cassie sighed heavily. “No. In order to take off a couple of weeks for the honeymoon, he has to work right up until four days before the wedding. That’s one reason I’m staying so busy, so I won’t have time to miss him so much. Not that it works, really—but at least we get to talk by phone and computer every day.”

  She shook her head as if shaking off her momentary wistfulness and picked up the sketch pad again. “So, we’re agreed on the leaf-green for the fabric?”

  “It’s a very pretty color.” And also an expensive fabric, Bonnie fretted, having seen a swatch. Cassie had refused to even consider payment for the dress. She’d assured Bonnie that she’d collected a lot of fabric at clearance sales during the past few years and that she couldn’t move it all with her to London. She was only sorry she didn’t have time to make another garment from her sketched collection. She said she was partial to the skinny pants and beaded bolero, and she rather liked the formal-occasion gown, but just couldn’t do either of them justice with the limited time she had. Having decided that the day-to-evening dress would be more functiona
l for Bonnie, anyway, she’d chosen to focus on that.

  Though of just over average height, Cassie seemed to have a knack for designing for a petite woman, Bonnie decided, studying the sketches again. They didn’t look like regular-sized clothing simply cut shorter, but rather original designs intended to lengthen and slenderize while still emphasizing feminine curves. The sleek, sheath-style dress was a different shape from Bonnie’s usual attire, but Cassie had assured her it was going to be incredibly flattering. What woman could resist that?

  Cassie closed the sketchbook. “I have some peach tea in the fridge downstairs. Would you like a glass?”

  Bonnie glanced at her watch. It was only a few minutes after four o’clock, and she wouldn’t serve the Sunday evening sandwiches until six. Everything was ready to set out, so she didn’t have to rush to the inn. “Yes, I’d love some, thank you. I have about an hour before I should head home.”

  She was not staying longer just to spend more time with Paul, she assured herself. Though that was certainly a perk.

  She and Cassie sat at the kitchen table a few minutes later with their peach tea when Paul joined them. He was clean and groomed now, his hair damp but neatly combed, his jaw clean-shaven, his dirty sports clothes exchanged for a crisp blue cotton shirt and jeans. Seeing him now had the same impact as earlier, though she had herself under somewhat better control this time, having had a chance to prepare for his arrival.

  “Well, don’t you look spiffy,” Cassie remarked, arching a brow as she glanced from her father to Bonnie and back again.

  Paul gave his daughter a quizzical look. “Spiffy?” he repeated, passing her to reach into the refrigerator and pull out the tea pitcher.

  She giggled. “Very.”

  He tugged lightly at her hair when he passed her to take a seat at the table, directly across from Bonnie. He met her eyes over the cookie jar centerpiece. “How did the fashion consultation go?”

  “Your daughter is brilliant.”