Page 12 of Bedding The Best Man (Bedding the Bachelors)

Evie rolled her eyes and crossed her legs. “People are fucking dumb,” she said matter of factly, shrugging her tiny shoulders. “I mean, how could a woman possibly be okay after not getting married?” Evie let the sarcasm drip from her words. “It may be the twenty-first century, but we’re still expected to fall to pieces if we don’t have a man to hold us together. But, and don’t bite my head off here, it may have something to do with the fact you can’t even say out loud that you were left at the altar. You always say ‘after what happened’, or, ‘what happened with Eric.’”

“I guess,” Brianne mused. Clearly, her clients were assuming she was still in shock over Eric calling off the wedding and therefore not capable of running their events. She hadn’t given anyone any indication she was upset—in fact, she’d been impressed with how well she’d been handling things.

Even when Eric’s text came through and she’d known her wedding wasn’t going to happen, had she lost her cool? No. She’d taken several deep, shaky breaths, and switched into damage control mode. It was something she was good at, given she was a Whitcomb and therefore had been schooled in social decorum her whole life. She also planned large charity events and often had to deal with absent caterers, diva headliners, and venue problems. Putting on a brave face, she’d done what she’d need to do.

If she could handle something so devastating with grace, she could certainly handle Mrs. Foster’s “Save The Seals” event.

Yes, as Evie had so perceptively noticed, she avoided talking about it, avoided even thinking about it, but what was so unusual about that? The important part was, she hadn’t crumbled when it counted.

And now, she simply didn’t want to torture herself by rehashing it. Was that a crime?

Her parents had been supportive, as always, and Evie had been a rock. But Brianne was afraid something inside of her had permanently shut down the day of her non-wedding. She felt so oddly distant from everything and everyone.

She was lonely – she not only missed Eric, but was intensely worried about him. He’d ignored all her texts, emails, and voice messages. He’d disappeared just before the wedding, and according to Jamie, Eric had only sent his best guy friends an email that he was okay before cutting off communication with them, as well.

Sometimes she still couldn’t believe this was her life. She and Eric had gotten along so well. They had similar interests and backgrounds. She loved him and she genuinely enjoyed his company. So what was wrong with her? Why had she ruined it? There had to be a reason she wasn’t aware of.

She’d been nineteen years old when her first engagement had been cut short, after she’d caught her then-fiancé in bed with another woman. She’d been mortified, her entire world rocked by Callum’s betrayal.

Then she’d met Eric, and for six years she’d basked in the security of a relationship that was comfortable and solid. But she hadn’t been able to make things work with him either, and it killed her to think she’d caused Eric a fraction of the pain she’d once suffered.

She wondered how he was handling it. If he was dealing better than she had. She wished he would, at least, give her some sign he was doing okay. But maybe that was asking for too much. She was the bad guy here. She’d hurt him first. It was only his male pride, or his desire to protect their private life, or a mixture of both that kept him from telling everyone the truth about why the wedding had been called off.

She missed Gabe, too. He’d called her a couple of times to check on her, but he’d done so during business hours, leaving a message on her machine and failing to respond to her return calls. Maybe he felt talking to her would be disloyal to Eric. Maybe he’d sensed her attraction to him; her desire to kiss him on the beach that night. Either way, it was probably for the best that they stay away from each other so she could focus on her floundering career.

On the up side, shehadmanaged to power through a couple of smaller charity events since the wedding, but those had been events that had already been planned for months. She had presided over a highly lucrative golf outing for a local hospice, and a small “fun run” for an animal shelter, but those events had been small scale, and had done nothing to increase the status of Lavish Events, her event planning company.

“Maybe I need to get out of here,” Brianne said, speaking as much to herself as she was to Evie. “Maybe LA isn’t the place for me anymore. Have you ever been to Chicago?” she asked Evie, picking the first city that came to mind.

“Chicago winters are as bad as getting fucked by a chainsaw,” her assistant quipped, wrinkling her upturned nose in disgust. “Have you ever tried on a down-filled parka? Those things make a burlap bag look sexy.”

“As always, your colorful descriptions are appreciated,” Brianne said. “What have you heard about Miami?” she asked, anticipating more of Evie’s patented twisted humor.

“Oh my God, don’t even think about it, girl! Damn place is full of retirees, Jimmy Buffett fans and humidity. And the Bermuda shorts! You may as well just buy yourself a muumuu and get fourteen cats,” she said, her eyes twinkling.

“Okay, okay, any chance you can think of somewhere Icouldrelocate to?” Brianne asked, laughing.

“That could take some time. I’ll get back to you.”

They grinned at one another just as Brianne heard the sound of the outer door to the office opening. She glanced worriedly at the clock on her laptop screen. “Do I have an appointment?” she asked, starting to pull up the calendar on her computer and searching her memory for anything she may have organized and forgotten.

“No, you were open today.” Evie was clearly as confused as she was. She stood up and moved toward the office door. “I’ll go see who it is.”

Brianne’s heart leapt a little. Maybe it was someone unannounced who wanted her to plan a huge event. Maybe this was the moment everything was going to change for her, and she would get her life back on track. She had to hold on to Gabe’s words that everything would be okay, even if she hadn’t been able to hold on to their friendship.

She could hear Evie speaking to someone with a deep voice. The voices grew louder as they came toward her office in the back. Brianne frowned as she recognized the person Evie was talking to. He was absolutely the last person she wanted to see.

“Leland Mahoney is here,” Evie said, sticking her head in the door.

Brianne’s heart sank into her Jimmy Choos, her worst fears confirmed.

Evie made a gagging face.

They both felt the same way about the owner of the biggest charity event planning company in Los Angeles. Leland Mahoney was handsome, sophisticated, and his clients loved him. He was also a slimy, two-faced snake, and Brianne hated him even more than she hated Brussels sprouts.

Plastering on her fake smile again, she stood up behind her desk as Evie moved aside so Leland could come into her office. “Leland, what brings you here?” she asked, hoping she sounded sincere enough that Leland would at least appreciate the effort.

He had a way of walking into a room and sweeping his eyes over the place that made a person feel like he was wordlessly judging. He was so transparent, it was pathetic. She could practically see the wheels turning in his head as he took in her simply furnished yet tasteful office. It was obviously not up to his standards, judging by the way his mouth curled up in a sneer.

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