Goody Two Shoes (Invertary 2)

“What are you doing here?” She flushed at her rudeness. See? Slippery slope.

“My house is a building site, so I can’t work there. Looks like you’re stuck with me.” He cocked an eyebrow. “Unless you want to talk some more about a studio.”

Caroline stuck her nose in the air.

“I didn’t think so.” He flashed a mischievous smile that made her stomach flip.

“You can’t go with me to choose a wedding gown. Bridegrooms don’t shop for wedding dresses. I don’t believe in bad luck, but I do believe in tradition, and shopping together just isn’t done.”

Today’s T-shirt had Elmo on it. He folded his arms over Elmo’s face and leaned against the doorframe. “Nothing about this wedding is traditional. We’ll go together.”

His tone seemed to indicate that the conversation was over. Caroline opened her mouth to speak, but Millicent intervened. “That might not be a bad idea. Josh has to get fitted for a morning suit too.”

Josh grimaced. “I have a closet full of suits. How about I wear one of those?”

“In Scotland, it’s traditional for the groom to wear a morning suit to his wedding.”

“I’m American. Does it really matter?”

“Why don’t you get married in your Cookie Monster T-shirt?” Carol

ine snapped at him. Why was he making such a fuss? He wasn’t the one who had to parade about dressed like a meringue.

“Don’t tempt me, baby.” He turned back to Millicent. “Make the appointments. We’ll go together.”

“Lovely. If that’s all for now”—Millicent stood—“I’ll get on with things.”

Millicent passed Josh, and as soon as she was gone Caroline felt the room shrink. She shifted uncomfortably in her chair. With a little over two weeks to the wedding, she still had the urge to be wherever Josh wasn’t.

“About last night.” Josh took a step towards her.

“Caroline.” Beth popped her head around the door and almost fainted at the sight of Josh. “You need to get into the blue room. There’s a problem.”

Saved by the bell. With relief, Caroline headed out of her office and away from a frowning Josh. Who, much to her disgust, just followed her. She heard the domino boys before she saw them.

“What’s going on here?” Caroline put her hands on her hips.

The men growled at each other.

“Numb-nuts over there”—Brian pointed at Hamish—“ordered electric fencing for the perimeter of the castle, and cattle prods in case anyone gets out of line at the wedding.” He faced Hamish. “You can’t use cattle prods on people.”

“Why the hell not?”

“Because, you old fart, you use Tasers on people.”

“What the hell is a Taser?”

Brian threw his hands in the air. “I’m dealing with idiots.”

Caroline massaged her temples. There wasn’t enough aspirin in the world to deal with the headaches this wedding caused. By the time the day came around, she’d be hooked up to a morphine IV.

“Look.” Caroline held her hands up to quieten the boys. “I told you that you could help with security. That means liaising with whomever Josh has hired to police the event.” She turned to Josh, hoping he had something sensible to say.

He shuffled his feet. “I thought Mitch was organising security.”

Caroline clenched her jaw and counted to ten. “Someone better organise something, don’t you think?”

“Why?” Archie demanded. “We’re sorting it out. The wedding is in good hands.”