Seducing the Best Man

“Me and Zach,” Bianca said with a blush. “I know you don’t really believe in it. I guess... I just don’t want to get GG’s hopes up. She’d be so disappointed that my dreams are just regular old dreams.”

Zach pulled her close, kissing her cheek. “You could never disappoint her, hon.”

Weddings and matchmakers? Really? Patton turned away from the kissing couple, his gaze wandering the dimly lit restaurant. He felt...restless. He didn’t want to sit here, pretending he was gung ho for this disaster. He was a man of action. And it was time to act. He needed to get this breakup going and soon, for everyone’s sake. Then everyone could get on with their lives.

“See anything shady?” Cady asked.

“Shady?” He couldn’t hold back a smile.

“Questionable? Dangerous? Risky?” Cady kept going. “Someone in need of frisking?”

He looked at her then, unable to stop himself. “Yes.”

Cady’s eyes went round, her cheeks coloring prettily. So she hadn’t been baiting him? Interesting. There was no denying her response to him. Besides her flushed cheeks, her fingers trembled ever so slightly as she reached for her drink. He liked it.

“What’s next on the wedding-planning calendar?” Zach asked.

Patton didn’t say a thing. Instead he watched his brother, closely. It was possible that, right now, his brother actually loved Bianca. But he’d loved a lot

of girls. And none of them had lasted for longer than six months. Zach’s commitment issues aside, he actually had a lot to offer a woman. He was handsome, came from a good family. And he had money.

His attention shifted to Bianca. What did she have to offer Zach? Unease settled in his gut again. Yes, things were busy at work, but he needed to carve out more time to investigate Bianca—to find answers. He’d start with Cady and go from there. In his line of work he knew there were always logical answers.

“Tomorrow is on for dress hunting.” Cady’s shoulders were stiff, hinting at her inner tension.

“We can hit the tux shop,” Zach added, winking at his brother.

“And get started on the bachelor party.” Patton grinned.

“How about I make everyone dinner after? We can touch base on what needs to happen next?” Cady glanced around the table before looking at him. “If everyone’s free?”

Dinner. At Cady’s place. He wouldn’t miss it for the world. He nodded.

“That would be great,” Bianca gushed, pulling a pink leather organizer from her bag and explaining the tabbed entries to Cady and his brother.

Right, he needed to get down to business. He sat, assessing the three people at the table. He was trained for this. He should have a sense of their motivations by now, a feel for who they were and what they wanted. His instincts were good, no point in doubting them.

Bianca Garza. A nice girl. Pretty, soft-spoken and self-employed. From the bits and pieces he’d collected, he knew she was raised by her grandmother, had no siblings, but a huge extended family. According to Cady, she didn’t drink and rarely dated. So her sudden involvement with his brother was very out of character for her. He took a sip of his beer, watching the play of emotion on the young woman’s face. She had an easy smile, clear hazel eyes, the kind of face that revealed all... But Patton knew she was hiding something.

He faced Zach. After their brother Russ died, Zach had become the golden child. Their mother showered Zach with adoration, and their father had extended a tolerance to Zach’s youthful antics and recklessness that didn’t apply to anyone else in the family. Zach had outrageous confidence, charm and—normally—a strong sense of intuition. How many times had he professed perpetual bachelorhood was his idea of the perfect life? Three months ago Zach had hooked up with some model while he was on a business trip overseas. Now Bianca was what he wanted forever?

When he turned to Cady, she was staring blindly into the distance. He’d never seen her like that, thoughtful, still. She was normally in constant motion, twitching and tapping and scooching around in her chair. Now she was a statue. A statue that looked almost vulnerable. A statue he couldn’t figure out but was willing to spend hours trying to.

Apparently, Bianca saw Cady’s change, too, and gripped her friend’s hand tightly. Cady seemed to snap out of it then, her body tightening, her fingers tucking that wayward strand of hair behind her ear. When she glanced his way, there was a reticence that hadn’t been there before. She nodded at him, a slight, jerky motion. But he knew what it meant. She was going to help him.

Their dinner arrived, making small talk sparse. By the time conversation picked up again, Cady was back to her sassy self. Which made her even more of a mystery. He kept waiting for something to make her less intriguing, instead of more. He was fighting a losing battle.

“Lots to be done.” Cady grinned. “I could really shake things up, take some time off.”

Patton laughed at Bianca’s disbelieving expression. “Cady, you haven’t taken a vacation since you started working there.”

“I did, that time in New York—”

“You were there for a business trip. It turned into a long weekend,” Bianca argued.

Cady frowned. “What about Jamaica?”

“Another long weekend,” Bianca countered.