“Baby, you’re awfully quiet,” Eden said, aiming a pointed glance at him. She tapped a brochure on Mrs. Whelan’s desk. “What do you think about the Platinum Package?”
“What’s the cost on that package, ma’am?”
Sarah Whelan, with her neat cap of dark hair, beauty-pageant makeup, and slightly soft build smiled warmly. “It’s our premier package and offers the most customizable upgrades. Clients and guests are uniformly pleased with the results. ‘Worth every penny’ is a phrase we hear a lot.’”
“Yes, ma’am. I’m sure that’s true. But exactly how many pennies are we talking about?”
“Well.” Sarah sent Eden a reassuring smile and opened a brochure in front of him. “Here’s a summary of all that’s included, which I think you’ll agree encompasses everything you could wish for.” She ran the end of a pen down the lengthy listing. “Tables, chairs, linens, tableware, entertainment, flowers, food and beverage, event management to keep everything running smooth as silk. As I mentioned, some of the elements are customizable, so we provide a range for the cost, depending on which selections you make.” She sat back and beamed. “So, the ultimate cost is within your control. Spend more on what’s important to you. Go with our standard offerings for the items that don’t define the day as far as you’re concerned. And”—her gaze shifted to Eden—“please keep in mind, our standards are very high.”
“I’m sure they are,” he said, “but, again, if you could just give me an idea of the price range…”
“Of course.” She slid a fancy sheet of what he called resume paper toward him, which listed all the packages, and tapped her pen to the last entry. “Based on the number of guests Eden mentioned, this would be the range, but—”
“Holy shit.” He didn’t have any idea if the range listed was reasonable or exorbitant, but it mattered not at all, because his reaction wouldn’t change. He let his eyes widen and his mouth fall open. “Excuse my language. I-I apologize, ma’am.” He ran his palm over the back of his neck and shook his head. “We’ve been wasting your time.”
Eden grabbed his arm. “Wait. Just wait, baby.” To Mrs. Whelan, she said, “Can you please tell us about the discounts you mentioned earlier?”
“Yes, I was just getting to that.” She folded her hands together on her desk and smiled brightly. “Seeing as how Ms. Eden is a true hero around here and y’all are close with my boy Kenny, I can offer you the friends-and-family discount. That’s twenty-five percent off your grand total. An attractive deal, I think you’ll agree.”
“We do,” Eden said quickly. “And we can’t thank you enough. Can we?” She aimed an impatient look at him.
“Would you like me to prepare a contract?”
Time to tap the breaks. “I appreciate the discount, ma’am, but…choux, we gotta talk before we sign anything. There’s some serious figuring to do, and even then, I don’t see how we pull it off.”
Eden aimed pleading eyes at him. “This right here”—she waved the brochure—“is everything I ever dreamed of. Everything.”
He let out a long breath. “I know, choux. And I want you to have it.”
“Us,” she corrected and clasped his hand in both of hers, putting her sprained wrist on display in the process. “I want us to have it.”
Damn, she’d gotten good at this. “I want us to have it, too, but this is a stretch. A big one. I have to find a chunk of money, and I’m not sure where it’s going to come from.”
“Where there’s a will, there’s a way.” She smiled up at him. “I just know you’ll find it.” To Sarah, she said, “Go ahead and print us up a contract. That way,” she went on, deliberately cutting off his objection, “we’ll have all the information in front of us while we do our figuring.”
Mrs. Whelan nodded. “That’s a wise idea.” She winked at him. “This bride of yours is smart and brave and pretty as a picture. You’re a lucky fellow.”
“Yeah.” He offered her a smile. “That is a fact.”
“It’s going to take me some time to prepare the contract. Go ahead and stroll around a bit more to get a real feel for the property. In fact, if you speak to Randi at the reception desk, she’ll give you the key to the honeymoon suite if you’d like to have a look. I’ll track you down when I have everything ready. Maybe ten minutes or so?”
“Thanks,” Eden said as she stood. She ran a hand down the short, flowy skirt of her pretty white sundress and turned to him, smiling. “C’mon, baby. Let’s go check out the honeymoon suite.”
They were playing him, ruthlessly, and on behalf of men everywhere, he ought to object on philosophical grounds, but he had to admire the technique. Did any reluctant groom actually manage to say no to the Riverview Inn after being offered an “exclusive” discount and a preview of wedding-ni
ght adventures in the honeymoon suite?
He followed, docile as a therapy pony, while Eden crossed the gracious, dark wood and gleaming brass lobby to talk the key out of reception-desk Randi. A short ride in the gate-front elevator to the third floor, a lazy walk down a narrow hallway, and they arrived at their destination. Eden raised a brow at him as she turned the old-fashioned key in the ornate lock. “Just a quick peek, in case there’s a quiz later.”
“Hold on, now. Let’s do this right.” Without further warning, he swept her into his arms, bounced her once while she cried “Swain!” and then carried her over the threshold. After kicking the door shut behind him, he walked deeper into the room. “I heard ten minutes.” He let go of her legs and placed her on her white sandaled feet. “That ought to be just enough time for the obligatory oh-baby-anything-you-want blow job.”
She laughed. “You hopeless romantic, you.” Smoothing her skirt, she turned and took in the room—which was, in his opinion, a tasteful mix of antique and modern. Respectably erotic, with its big, old four-poster bed covered in clouds of white bedding; curvy cheval mirror nearby, offering lots of interesting angles for viewing possibilities; and wide French doors leading to a wrought iron balcony overlooking the Ohio River—in case one felt outdoorsy at any point. Despite all the allure of the appointments, Eden was, by far, the most erotic thing in the room. He watched as she crossed the suite and placed her sort of baskety-looking shoulder bag on the bed. From there she wandered to the French doors, opened them, and stepped out onto the balcony. The sheer, figure-skimming dress showed off the graceful lines of her body. The skirt danced around her thighs, leaving her slender legs endless and bare.
A beach. A white sand beach, showered in sunshine, sloping to a calm blue-green sea that stretches to the horizon. Jamaican honeymoon following the Platinum Package.
And…whoa. Where the hell had that thought come from? Never mind that he could practically feel the warm sand between his toes, smell the tropical flowers.
She glanced over her shoulder at him. Her look said, What’s up?