Reunited with the Lassiter Bride

“I won’t tell anyone.”

“I trust you. It’s Evan who betrayed me. I can’t believe he did that. I lied to my own brothers.”

“You’re mad at him. That’s a good thing for your psyche. Hold on to it.”

Kayla pulled back the change room curtain with a clatter. “What are you guys doing for shoes?”

“We should match them,” said Tiffany, easily changing topics and looking down at her feet.

Angelica forcibly pushed aside her frustration and anger. She didn’t want her problems to impact on Kayla’s happiness.

“You think white?” she asked, in the calmest voice she could muster. She glanced down at the western boots she’d put on with her jeans this morning. “Or silver? Silver’s probably better. Open toed or closed.”

“Should we shop?” asked Kayla.

“I’m up for it,” Angelica agreed.

“Heck yeah,” said Tiffany. “You’re the bride. We’ll do whatever you want.”

Kayla grinned. “This is fun. What else can I get in the next two weeks?”

“Anything you want,” said Angelica. “Just name it.”

“I want a spa day.”

“I’m definitely in on that,” said Tiffany.

“Apparently the guys are doing golf and a kegger.”

An entire day at the spa sounded like a very big time commitment to Angelica. But she reminded herself she was striving for work-life balance. She’d figure out a way to swing it. It would take a few extra late nights, but she’d make up the time.

“Let’s do it,” Angelica said with conviction.

“It’s a date,” said Kayla. “Now, let’s go see how the guys look.” She ushered Angelica and Tiffany toward the doorway.

Leaving the dress shop, they passed through a storefront full of flowers, stemware and satin accessories, then passed under an archway to the tux fitting area.

Though there were several men in the room, Angelica’s gaze immediately zeroed in on Evan. There was no word for him but magnificent. Standing in front of a triple mirror, he wore a classic black tuxedo, with a black vest and a white shirt. His tie was silver, with a subtle stripe of ice pink. The other groomsman, Silas, was wearing an identical outfit, while Matt had differentiated his outfit with a silver vest and a plain, black tie.

“Go stand beside them.” Kayla sounded excited. “Matt, get out of the way.”

“Are you turning into bridezilla?” Matt joked, stepping aside.

“Tiffany says I have two weeks to get everything all my own way.”

Evan’s gaze came to rest on Angelica, sweeping from her head to her toes and back again. It left a trail of heat in its wake.

Tiffany gave Angelica a subtle nudge, reminding her she was supposed to go stand next to Evan. She took a deep breath and forced her feet to move.

His gaze stayed on her as she approached. The warmth in his eyes was unmistakable. But she reminded herself she was angry with him. He’d told Deke their secret, after swearing he wouldn’t.

“Nice dress,” he offered in an intimate tone.

“Nice tux,” she returned a little more crisply.

“Shall we?” He gestured to the big mirror.

Girding herself, she turned.

Her breath immediately caught in her throat. She knew it was the clothing, but they looked like the perfect couple. For a long moment, she was certain, someplace deep down in her soul, that they belonged together.

She frantically shook off the feeling.

“I’ll be taller.” She came up on her toes, trying to do something, anything, to erase the perfect picture. “I’ll have higher shoes.”

“I’ll still have you beat,” he pointed out. He was right. Her height was far from being a match for his.

“It works,” Kayla called out from behind them. “You guys look terrific together. Everybody strike a dance pose.”

Angelica dropped her heels back down to the floor, and shifted sideways. The last thing she wanted to do was hug Evan. But he slipped an arm around her waist, using the momentum to turn her around, and pull her snug against his shoulder.

“Act natural,” he whispered against her ear. “Remember, they think we’re back together.”

She found her voice. “Deke doesn’t.” A welcome wall of anger went up around her feelings. “You told Deke.”

“Smile,” said Evan.

“I lied to my brothers, and you went and told Deke.”

“Can we not talk about this right now?” He took her hand in his and struck a dance pose.

“He told Tiffany. So now she knows.”

Evan snuggled her to his body, and a rush of desire flooded her skin. “Later.”

“Why did you tell Deke?”

“Because it was more dangerous to keep him in the dark.”

“You want me to trust you, yet—”

“I wanted you to trust me five months ago. You didn’t.”

“And it turns out I was right.”

“Angie? Is everything okay?” Kayla’s tone was searching.

Angelica quickly planted a smile on her face. “It’s perfect. I love the dress. Evan is just arguing with me about shoes.”

“What’s to argue?” Kayla asked. “We haven’t even bought them yet.”

“He’s afraid the heels will be too high,” said Angelica. “And he’ll look short.”

“He can always come shopping with us,” Kayla offered.

“Great idea,” said Angelica. “Let’s take Evan shoe-shopping.”

“I’m afraid I’m busy,” said Evan, while Matt and Silas laughed at him.

“We can reschedule, so that you can come along,” Kayla offered sweetly.

“No need,” said Evan. “Whatever the bride wants will be perfectly fine with me.”

“That’s the spirit,” said Matt.

“What the bride wants is for everyone to be happy,” said Kayla. “So, no more arguing.”

“Yes, ma’am,” said Evan. “I’ll do everything in my power to keep Angie’s temper in check.”

“Excuse me?” Angelica retorted. “You’re suggesting I’m the problem?”

“There is no problem, sweetheart,” said Evan. Then he dropped a kiss on her mouth.

Through the roar of her body’s reaction, she heard Kayla say, “It’s so great to see you two back together again.”

* * *

Angelica knew she had to put some distance between her and Evan. A minivan had followed them home from the dress fitting last night. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out it had been a reporter.

Since the Lassiter mansion was partially visible from the gates, Evan had made a show of walking her to the front door. He’d suggested coming inside to make it look good, but she’d flatly refused, prompting him to give her a lingering good-night kiss. She’d almost kissed him back. She’d come within a split second of giving in when he finally broke away.

Afterward, she’d lain awake half the night in frustration. When she finally fell asleep in the early morning hours, she dreamed of making love to him. She knew she had to get away.

It took her half the day to come up with a viable excuse to get out of L.A. But then Noah Moore, the vice president of LBS family programming at the Lassiter Media offices in Cheyenne handed it to her on a silver platter.

While Evan had been in charge of Lassiter Media, he’d bought up the licensing of several stations in Britain and Australia. Then this morning, Angelica had reviewed the drama series proposal from Conrad Norville. It was an undeniably exciting show idea, targeted to LBS.

She was impressed with Conrad’s work, and made a quick decision to commission a first season. Once she got past the mental roadblock of only using original programming developed in-house on LBS, she realized Lassiter could make an American version of the top-rated shows from the new British and Australian affiliates.

But Noah Moore hated the idea. Which meant Angelica needed to bring him on side. And it made sense for her do that in person. Normally, she’d have asked him to fly to L.A. But right now, she was jumping at the excuse to get out of the city for a couple of days.

At Van Nuys Airport, she went out onto the tarmac and mounted the steps to the Lassiter Media corporate jet. The plane comfortably sat twelve, but it would only be Angelica today, since she didn’t see any need to drag her assistant along.

She’d meet with the managers who worked from the Lassiter offices in Cheyenne, convince Noah Moore of the merit of her plans, then spend some time at Big Blue. There was no place better than Big Blue with its rustic beauty for her to rest and regroup. There wouldn’t be a single tabloid reporter for hundreds of miles.

The jet pilot greeted her at the door. “Welcome aboard, Ms. Lassiter.”

She gave the fiftyish man a smile. “Hello, Captain Sheridan.”

“Looks like a smooth flight tonight.” He stepped back so that she could easily enter the aircraft. “They’re calling for a bit of turbulence over the Rockies, but I think we can avoid it if we take a higher altitude.”

“That’s great to hear, Cap—” As she turned into the body of the aircraft, she stumbled to a halt. “What are you doing here?”

“Is something wrong?” asked Captain Sheridan from behind her.