Seducing the Bride (Forbidden Confessions 2)

Yesterday, I tried to focus on the details for this admittedly small but important event. The flowers were easy since I really only need a bouquet to carry and a few arrangements to line the trellised arch that will serve as the makeshift altar. I rented tables and chairs for roughly twenty-five people. I texted a few friends from both high school and college to invite them. But I still don’t have a dress, an officiant, a photographer, or a cake. I’ve got at least a hundred other details that need addressing. Derek is god knows where in the house, so it’s up to me to finish them, but I’m way too distracted to check anything off my list.

Why did I think this was a good idea?

“What?” I say to the caterer because I totally lost my train of thought to Hayden.

It happens a lot.

Thankfully, she offers to email her food suggestions and her quote, then we hang up. I’ll read everything when I’m more focused.

“Hi, princess.” Hayden strolls up in ripped denim shorts and a tight tank that shows off the fact he works with his body for a living. The sun loves this man. The skin over his bulging muscles is a rich golden brown that reminds me exactly why I always looked forward to our days at the water park. Hayden in a bathing suit is a work of art.

I try not to drool. “Hey. You’re not working today?”

“I’d rather spend time with you. How’s the wedding planning?”

He knows exactly how to make me melt. “Slow.”

“Need help?”

I shoot him a suspicious glance. “Why? Two days ago, you told me I was marrying the wrong man. Changed your mind?”

“No. I just had a chat with Dipshit—I mean, Derek. I’m more convinced than ever that I’m right. By the way, he told me to tell you he can’t come with you to test cakes.”

I sigh. “We both worried this week would get crazy. He and his business partner are trying to wrap up a big negotiation before the move.”

“Business comes first. Got it.” Hayden shoots me a stare full of mock confusion. “I thought you didn’t want to marry someone like your father.”

He’s not wrong, but I don’t dare validate him now. “Did you come to pass judgment or to help?”

“To help. I’m all yours…”

The way he smiles tells me he doesn’t just mean to assist me in wedding planning, but anything else I want. I’d love to ask him about his relationships and sex life…but I can’t say in one breath that I’m not interested and get personal in the next.

“Thanks. Know a good photographer or officiant?”

That perks him up. “Actually, yeah. My sister moved here last year. I don’t know if Dan told you…”

“No, but I doubt she wants to shoot my wedding pictures. That’s way below her pay grade.”

Hannah is a fashion photographer—one of the best in the business. Her pictures are stunning. She’s great at capturing both striking angles and emotion with every shot.

“She’ll do it. Promise.” He winks. “So cross that off your list.”

“That’s amazing. I really appreciate it. But why would she move here?” She’s lived in New York forever and constantly traveled the world. “Phoenix is hardly a fashion mecca.”

“She gave me a lot of mumbo-jumbo about her reasons for relocating, but ultimately it has one appeal she couldn’t resist.”

“You?” I’m sure my stare reflects how skeptical I am about that.

“Not even close.” He grins. “I’m not supposed to know this, but she and your father are…together.”

I gape. “Are you sure? My dad works. He never dates.”

“Every since Hannah came to visit me last spring, he does. They hit it off, and I’m pretty sure they hooked up. After that, they started talking and…I think it’s getting serious.”

“So you’re saying she’d shoot my wedding as a favor to my dad, not you?”

“Pretty much.”

“But neither of them has actually told you about their relationship?”

“Not in so many words. They think I’m blind or something. It’s funny. But the good news is, Dan finally started working a lot less.” Hayden takes my hand, and I smother a gasp at the fire his simple touch ignites. “He didn’t learn to put the people in his life first soon enough to save his marriage to your mom. Or to give you the childhood you deserved. But he has learned since Hannah.”

“Now that I think about it, he’s been around a lot more in the last couple of days.”

“It took your dad twenty years to figure out what was most important.” He shoots me a speculative stare. “How long will that lesson take Derek? Do you really want to marry someone who will put you last for years? Decades?”

“Stop.” It’s all I can say. Every moment I’m with Hayden, I feel so weak.

“I’m right, and you know it.”