The Wedding Date Disaster (Harbor City 4)

Before she could ask him what he did or how excited he was for the wedding, his cell rang. He held up a finger and backed away as he answered it.

Okay, that was…something, to put it nicely. What in the hell was going on with Adalyn’s fiancé? That, of course, was not a question she could ask out loud. So instead, she turned to her sister and gave her another hug as she searched for the right words to say.

r /> “He seems…”

“Busy,” Adalyn finished, her tone flat.

“Well, yeah,” Hadley rushed on, wanting to smooth the awkwardness for her sister—some habits died hard. “But I guess he’s getting everything sorted so that after tomorrow, there won’t be any interruptions.”

“No, we have to delay the honeymoon for this work conference thing he has.” Adalyn didn’t sound very broken up about it, but there was a tension drawing her shoulders tight. “And honestly, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking since last night about my life, priorities, and what I really want.”

“And that is?”

Her sister smiled at her, looking anything but weirded-out by Derek’s behavior, the wedding tomorrow, or anything else. “I’m still trying to figure that out.”

She pulled her sister into another tight hug. “Well, no matter what it is, you know we’ll be there for you.”

Adalyn squeezed her back and then abruptly let go. “Oh my God.”

“What?” Hadley turned around to see what her sister was staring at.

Will stood in the open barn doors, the light shining around him like a movie spotlight, but this time he didn’t look like someone from a cowboy-of-the-week movie. This time he looked like the real thing, from the Wranglers that clung to his muscular thighs to the soft but obviously worn long-sleeve shirt to the scuffed-up cowboy boots to that black hat she was going to forever associate with hotness for the rest of her life. This was where she normally would have been ultra-concerned about appearances—about not seeming too eager or too interested or too anything that actually meant something and hung back. Not anymore. She strutted over to where Will stood with Aunt Louise.

She let out a low, appreciative whistle. “What happened to you?”

“Aunt Louise gave me a makeover,” he said as he reached for her hand and then intertwined their fingers.

Looking every bit as smug as she did when her team won family game night, Aunt Louise said, “Had some of Harold’s old things in the back of the closet and they fit perfectly. Knew there was a reason why I liked your fella from the get-go.”

Okay, Hadley was going to skip right on over the part where Will reminded Aunt Louise of Uncle Jim. That was just too ew.

“You look amazing,” she said, going up on her tiptoes to give him a quick kiss. “I gotta admit, those jeans look good on you.”

He leaned down and whispered in her ear. “Don’t suppose we can ditch the group dance lesson and head back to the cabin?”

His words made her skin sizzle, a teasing little brush of anticipation dancing across her nerve endings. “Believe me, I wish we could, but Adalyn has her heart set on this bridal party dance. She’s been talking about it to me for weeks.”

And before she lost the battle and agreed to go back to the cabin, she slipped her arm into the crook of his elbow and they walked across the barn to the area that had been set up as the dance floor. For the next hour, they laughed and moved as Knox and Adalyn taught everyone the moves to what was a mix of line dancing and two-stepping to this old country song about finding love where it was least expected. While Derek remained standing in the corner on his phone the entire time, Will fit right in, twirling Aunt Louise, making jokes with Weston, and pulling Hadley in close for a few extra whirls around the dance floor. Life wouldn’t be like this back in Harbor City—after all, it wasn’t like people in his income bracket were known for having barn dances. Still, Will could carry it off.

“I think you won the bet,” Hadley said as the music stopped. “You’re practically a cowboy.”

He tipped his hat at her. “Thank ya, darlin’.”

Then he dipped his head down and kissed her. For a second, the rest of the world disappeared and it was just the two of them again, fitting together like they were made for each other. By the time they stepped apart, her heart was going a million miles an hour.

“Your sister called you.”

Hadley blinked several times, trying to come back down to reality. “She did?”

“Yep.” He lowered his mouth to her ear. “But don’t worry, we’ll be finishing that later.”

As tempting as it was to make later right now, Hadley knew their time was coming. Right now, she was actually looking forward to getting in on some family time with her mom and sister doing God knows what beyond a whole lot of togetherness.

…

Will took a glass of sun tea, the condensation on the outside of the glass cool on his fingers, and stood off to the side watching Hadley talk with her mom and Adalyn. He was already thinking about taking her to his favorite diner in Harbor City, the one with these phenomenal shakes and a dog that very much was not allowed to hang out in the booths but did anyway. Then there would be the dates they’d have in the Holt Enterprises suite at Ice Knights Arena.

Considering how much she hollered during his just-for-fun rugby matches, there was no way she’d be calm during a hockey game. He couldn’t wait to see her get all riled up. Of course, he’d take her to the Black Hearts Gallery to check out the new artists that the gallery owner Everly always managed to find. He’d want Hadley’s opinion because she’d be looking at the art every day when she moved into his penthouse, and he really wanted her to love it.