Page 51 of Bedding The Best Man (Bedding the Bachelors)

Without another moment’s hesitation, Brianne walked up to Gabe. She stared up into his eyes, but he glanced behind her. She turned around and Eric was gone. When she turned back, she took his hands in hers. “Gabe—” she began.

“Bri, we are so fucking in,” Evie shouted.

Chapter Twenty-One

Brianne and Gabe stared at one another for a second before Gabe squeezed her hands and pulled away. “I’m going to get back to work. Come find me when you’re done here. Okay?”

She wanted to scream at Evie for interrupting them, but instead she just nodded at Gabe.

“Fuck,” Evie said when Gabe was gone. “I’m so, so sorry I interrupted you.”

“No. It’s okay. How was Leland’s event? Was it really that…underwhelming?”

Evie nodded. “That’s a word for it.”

“So tell me before the guest arrive.”

“Okay, but I have to change. Brianne, I swear to God. He’s so stuck in the past, like I said. It was at an art gallery, and a group of pastry chefs recreated several of the best pieces.”

“Well, that’s interesting.”

“That was the most interesting part about it. I mean, it was beautiful. Don’t get me wrong.” Evie was talking a mile a minute, leading Brianne as she hurried to her tent to get changed. She stepped inside and sighed. “This is gorgeous!”

“I know, I know. Tell me more!”

“So what was I saying? Oh, right. It was beautiful. You know, flowers, bunting, string musicians, the whole nine yards. Very upscale.” She slid out of her dress, pulling another one on and gesturing for Brianne to zip her. “Then, after the meal was served, the silent auction was held, and there was the opportunity to learn how to paint a little still life—imagine a bunch of boozed-up socialites wearing massive, flowing smocks to cover their clothes. It was hilarious. But, I will say, the guests seemed to have a good time. It was pretty tried-and-true.”

Brianne bit her lip as Evie freshened her makeup in the gilded mirror hung along one side of the tent. “Well, everything here’s as good as can be. We’ve been working all day and I really think it couldn’t be better.”

“Honey, we’re gonna nail this.” Evie beamed at Brianne. “So enjoy it, already.”

Just then, the sound of buses pulling into the camp site set Brianne’s heart racing. Damn it, she’d wanted to speak to Gabe before everything went crazy, but now she was out of time. It would just have to wait until afterward.

And for some reason, that felt okay. Now that she’d talked to Eric, now that she knew Gabe had actually tracked Eric down to talk to him, now that she’d looked into Gabe’s eyes and held his hands, she knew that they had time. No matter what happened, they’d have their time to work things out.

“This is it,” she breathed. Her hands were shaking. Evie took them in her own.

“We’ve got this.You’vegot this. Let’s goddamned do it.”

* * *

Hours later, after dinner, it was clear they were a total hit.

“Congratulations,” Evie murmured, handing Brianne a crystal flute filled with champagne. “I’ve never seen so many rich people having so much fun in all my life.”

“I know!” Bri couldn’t believe it. Before dinner, guests had changed into casual clothing and explored the outdoors. Then they’d had dinner, during which time the dancers and actors performed, and now there was dancing for the guests. The silent auction was taking place, too, in a tented area to the side of the dance floor. “It seems too good to be true.”

“Not at all,” Evie corrected her. “It’s all the result of a lot of hard fucking work.”

“True.” They touched glasses and drank.

“And between you and me, I’ve already heard positive murmurings from among the guests…along the lines of how much they can’t wait to vote for us.” Evie made a “lip zipping” motion with her fingers, then grinned.

Then, catching sight of something over Bri’s shoulder, she took her boss’s glass and turned away with a little smile. Brianne was confused…until she heard a familiar voice over her shoulder.

“Looks like you’re a hit.”

She turned, her heart in her throat. Gabe stood there, all tall and broad and dark, his green eyes flashing at her in the light from the lanterns all around them. She’d caught glimpses of him throughout the event, but for the most part, he’d stayed in the background, and she knew he’d been a big reason things had gone so smoothly.

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