Sunset In Central Park (From Manhattan with Love 2)

“I’ll put it in the

car and we can change once we’ve done the flowers.” He checked his email. “Take a look—some of them have already replied and listed the flowers they have.”

She scanned the contents of the emails while she slid her feet into her shoes. “Brittany and Zach—is that the same Zach who flew us in?—they seem to have a well-stocked garden. Wait a minute—is that Brittany Forrest? Kathleen’s granddaughter?”

“Yes. We can be at Castaway Cottage in ten minutes.”

Matt hung their clothes in the back of the car, drove along the track that led out of the camp and took the road that led to the north of the island.

“I haven’t had time to tame my hair. I’m going to look as if I’ve been in an explosion. Eva and Paige are definitely going to kill me. I was supposed to look groomed and elegant.”

“You look sexy and gorgeous. The sort of woman a man might be tempted to drag into a cave for hot sex.”

“Yeah?” She shot him a lingering look. “That’s a look I’m not familiar with.”

And he wasn’t familiar with the slow, sexy smile she gave him. “That smile suits you. Want to pull over and try forest sex?”

“Focus! We only have a couple of hours and if you start talking about sex I won’t be able to concentrate. You know weddings don’t bring out the best in me. How many bridesmaids? Flower girls?”

“How would I know? I’m a guy.”

“If I’m making hand-tied bouquets, I need to know the number.” She pulled a notepad out of her bag and made a few sketches.

He realized that she was focusing on the flowers instead of feeling nervous about the wedding and being back on the island.

Castaway Cottage was a pretty clapboard beach house, and the front door was already open as Matt pulled up.

The ugliest dog he’d ever seen ran out to greet him.

“Jaws! Get back in here now!” A female voice bellowed through the doorway and Matt walked forward with a grin.

“Hi, Brittany.”

“Matt!” She gave him a warm hug, followed by an anxious look. “Can you fix this? This is Em’s big day and we wanted everything perfect. We need a miracle.”

“I’ve brought you a miracle, and her name is Frankie.” He turned to find Frankie on her knees making a fuss of the dog, who rolled at her feet in ecstasy.

Brittany raised her eyebrows. “Well, that’s an unusual reaction. Most people take a while to warm up to our dog. Of course that’s partly our fault for calling him Jaws, which isn’t exactly a name guaranteed to endear him to people. I love him, but I’m the first to admit he’s not the most visually appealing animal on the planet.”

“I think he’s gorgeous.” Giving Jaws a final pat, Frankie rose to her feet. “Do you know any of the details about this wedding?”

“What details do you need?” Brittany filled her in. “Take anything you want from the garden. I want Emily’s day to be perfect and we’re all grateful to you for stepping in. Is there anything else you need?”

“Wire to tie the bouquets. And ribbon? Hair ribbon would do.”

Brittany pulled a face. “Wire is easy. Ribbon, not so much. I’m not a hair ribbon person, but I know someone who is. I’ll text Ryan and ask him to bring over everything Lizzy owns. In the meantime I’ll fetch wire.”

“That’s fine. We can add ribbons later. What color is the bride wearing?”

“The bride is very pregnant.” Brittany’s eyes glittered with humor. “So she’s wearing a cute cream dress. Our friend Skylar designed it.”

“So we need to try and detract from the bump?”

Brittany laughed. “I’m sure you’re great at what you do, but I can tell you that nothing on the planet is going to disguise that bump.”

“Not disguise, but I don’t want to make the bump seem bigger by making the bouquet too puffy.”

Brittany led them around the side of the cottage and they followed her through a gate and into the coastal garden that hugged the back of the house.