From Ex to Eternity (Newlywed Games 1)

She should say no, especially considering the point of this exercise was to practice for the mock wedding scheduled for the expo later in the week. It would be hard to evaluate the process while in the middle of it.

Actually, she should say no simply because he’d already burned her once in the wedding department. And because the sensual heat sizzling the atmosphere was starting to make him sweat.

“Sure, why not?” Cara jerked her head toward the metal gazebo wrapped with blooms that had taken her and Mary forty-five minutes to arrange. “It’s about time I see what all the fuss is about.”

It was a not-so-subtle reminder that she hadn’t gotten to participate in her own wedding, and remorse over his role in the fiasco took on a new low. But if she was making a joke, she must really be over it.

He risked a joke of his own. “Looks like you’re going to get me down the aisle after all.”

She smirked. “Looks like I got you to help plan the ceremony after all.”

Touché. They exchanged grins, and the weight Keith had been carrying since the elevator lessened all at once. Why wedding jokes had accomplished that above anything else, he couldn’t say. What had he done to deserve both her help and absolution?

They were still holding hands, not that Keith would point it out and lose the tenuous connection with a woman he definitely didn’t know as well as he wanted to.

“Shall we get all our guests in order?” Keith suggested.

“You take the guests. I’ll handle the music and the officiant.” She let her hands slide from his and his palm grew cool.

He watched Cara corral Meredith and the pool boy attached to her sister’s hip into handling the portable music system. Cara’s face glowed with purpose, and the silk sleeveless blouse she wore V-ed over her chest so nicely, it was hard to tear his gaze away. With regret, he turned to handle his appointed task, also sorry he hadn’t suggested testing out the honeymoon suite afterward.

But that was for the best. Probably. She’d just shut him down again and his ego was still a little bruised from last night.

In a matter of minutes, fifty or so of his employees had taken their seats and the stand-in officiant stood under the gazebo. After opening day, Regent would utilize a handful of freelance wedding officials who worked with the local resorts on a couple-by-couple basis, but for now, Cara had solicited the help of what appeared to be one of the chefs.

Cara waited for Keith at the head of the aisle, clutching a spray of flowers Mary thrust into her hands. Meredith hit Play on the recorded music and something string-laden and weepy filled the air. The wind died down a bit in apparent reverence for the occasion—and checking this particular task off his ever-growing list definitely constituted an occasion in Keith’s book.

He walked down the aisle and ignored all the grinning faces aimed in his direction. No doubt they loved the opportunity to see their boss in a starring role. The price of an ill-timed and ill-conceived joke.

Cara’s smile, on the other hand, hit him hard. Framed by the flowered gazebo and breathtaking ocean, she had never been more stunning. Out of nowhere, the image of her in her wedding dress popped into his head and superimposed itself over the woman several yards away.

She’d been beautiful then, too—as were the decorations she’d selected—but he vastly preferred this wedding, and not just because he’d still be single at the end of it. Maybe it was the beach, or the minimal props, but the ceremony had a much more free-form feel to it, lighter and with less expectation. Exactly as he’d envisioned for both the mock expo wedding and the long-term resort wedding services.

Cara had done an exceptional job. Not that he was surprised. Keith was good at what he did and he’d have never asked her to organize the wedding if he’d thought Cara would fail.

Okay, maybe he was a little surprised. But only over the fact that Cara had nailed this task he’d dropped on her, which hit all the right notes. In-charge Cara rocked his socks.

He joined Cara at the end of the aisle with a mental list of small adjustments—the sand needed to be raked prior to the ceremony, the chef couldn’t be the officiant in the mock wedding because he’d be otherwise occupied and Cara should definitely stop smiling at him like that.

It was messing with his ability to concentrate.

“What’s got you so thrilled?” he asked brusquely. “This is all fake, you know.”

“Ah, but you’re wrong.” She speared him with a heated glance that he couldn’t have misinterpreted even if someone had blindfolded him. “I can see it on your face. This is exactly what you wanted out of the mock wedding. Which means you owe me one. And when I collect, it’s going to feel very real to you indeed.”