Page 1 of The Wedding Ruse

Chapter One

It was definitely goingto be a long weekend. Skipping out on the wedding she was supposed to attend with her friend Hannah was just the latest thing she was adding to the list of reasons why she needed to stop hanging out with Tristan. The other reason was that she wasn’t hanging out with Tristan either, she was working with him, kinda.

Tristan Munson was an architect, a damn good one at that. Grace was a photographer and she’d been helping him on the side here and there to help him get a better feel for areas. He told her that her photos helped him capture something he couldn’t see on his own. The fact that he paid well didn’t hurt matters any, but the fact that she melted every time he called was the real reason.

She’d met him through work, as a marketing photographer, she had shot material for his architecture firm. That had been nearly a year ago and she was still putty each time the phone rang. He probably didn’t even know, and she was stupid to feel anything for him as he’d not made a single move towards her in the time she’d known him. She definitely shouldn’t have skipped out on Hannah for this.

Grace threw several outfits on the bed as she decided what to wear now that Josh had left to pick up Hannah, she had the apartment to herself and could obsess over what to wear. Something she could move around in wasn’t always the most flattering of ensembles. Normally she would have Hannah help her, but Hannah didn’t know about Tristan. She didn’t want to hear all the reasons, granted the very logical ones, about why she shouldn’t drop everything for this guy that didn’t see her, only her work.

The ironic part of all of this was she wanted to be recognized for her work. It was a tough business and she craved nothing more, aside from Tristan to notice her. Tossing tops to the floor, she decided today was going to be the day she did more than blend in like she normally did for sessions. Today she was going to stand out.

Outfit decided, she quickly got dressed, did her makeup and hair. Only then did she realize she still had two hours before she needed to meet up with him, and it would only take about 25 minutes to get there at the most.

Pacing around her apartment wasn’t cutting it and checking her phone wasn’t either. Several times a minute she glanced at it and it was taking forever for a single minute to pass. She dropped herself onto the couch and double checked her camera bag to make sure she had all the lenses she needed, back up battery, and anything else she could think of.

Aimlessly wandering was getting old. She grabbed a drink from the fridge and sat down at the bar with her laptop, looking through the emails again for any clue about where they might be going. He had only asked her to meet him at his firm and they would head out to the location together. She didn’t even know what kind of photos they were taking.

What if I should blend in? What if I need better shoes? Glancing at her feet didn’t help. She wasn’t dressed right for taking photos of an unknown subject. Sighing, she knew she needed to change.

It took no time to grab her black slacks, plain top, and sensible shoes. She carefully hung back up the pretty skirt and blouse she intended to wear. If she couldn’t do her job, he wouldn’t call her anymore anyway. With a longing look at her cute heels, she put them back in the box, and back in her closet. Another time.

The sound of a buzzing phone pulled her from her thoughts. Expecting it to be Hannah, she didn’t rush to answer it. She had no intention of answering her this weekend. She felt bad, but those two needed to spend a little time together so she would be able to stop seeing stolen glances at each other.

Her mouth fell open as she made it to the phone just as it stopped ringing. Missed call from Tristan. Before she could debate calling him back, it rang again.

“Hello?” No longer worried about wrinkling her outfit, she fell onto the sofa.

“Hey, I have a proposition for you.”

What a coinicidence, I have one for you, too.She shook her head to clear that thought out before replying. “What’s up?”

“I know I didn’t give you much to go on, but do you think you could pack a bag for a night or two?”

“Umm,” hell yes, I can spend the night with you. Ugh, that’s definitely not what he is saying. “That depends on where we are going and for how long?”

“Well,” she heard him lean back, could imagine him settle into his chair and could practically see him run his long fingers through his dark brown hair. “You can’t back out now though, promise?”

“You pay too well for me to do that.” She joked.

“You say that, but what if I told you that this is a completely different project than our normal ones?”

“I had already guessed as much, so spill, I’m not going to back out.”

“It’s a ranch.”

She waited, but he didn’t add anything else. “Like horses?”

“Yeah, animals, a lodge, bunkhouse, the whole nine yards.”

“What—” She didn’t even know what to ask.

“Look, my uncle owns it, I want to give everything a facelift, make it more family friendly and help him get some things going. I know it’s not a normal request.” Reluctantly, he added, “it’s actually where I grew up.”

“Okay? What exactly am I taking pictures of?” She had to contain her excitement a little at being let in to a little of his past.

“I don’t know.” He let out a deep breath. “I never do though, you always figure it out exactly what I need to see.”

“This isn’t my normal subject though, I don’t know—”

“I will explain everything else on the way. Do you mind staying a night or two though? It’s also much bigger area than our normal projects.”

“Yeah, sure. Let me change and pack and bag and I will head out.” Her head was spinning as she tied to run through her mental list of everything she needed. Luckily it was still fresh, having helped Hannah pack yesterday.

“I’ll pick you up instead, shortly.”

Grace nodded before she remembered it was a phone call. “Yeah, okay.”

Dropping the phone onto the couch she stared at it. This was definitelynot what she expected when she woke up this morning. Now what? Torn between excitement and nervousness, she chewed her lip before jumping up and changing her clothes, again.

---