Page 29 of Until You

Chapter Nine

Lanie couldn’t believe her cousin hadn’t walked over and wrung her neck.

This was her own fault for drinking so much wine, but at least it had worked—she didn’t have to worry about hiding her jealousy anymore. Her embarrassing entrance and the subsequent maiming had taken care of that.

But even worse was that she was now partnered with the man who had inspired some very vivid daydreams, and from the mischievous look on his face, she was about to become even more uncomfortable. He was definitely sticking close.

“Okay,” Holly said. “Let’s get everyone standing underneath the giant shuttlecock.”

“That’s something you don’t hear every day,” Randy’s brother joked.

The phone vibrated in Lanie’s hand, and she saw a text from Stephanie.

I can’t find the invoices for the display shelves. We ordered them, right?

She typed out a quick message. Yes, but we couldn’t order those electronically. I think the invoice is in the file cabinet.

“Lanie!” Brittany called out. “Please tell me that’s not work.”

Lanie gave her an innocent look, and Britt shook her head, but at least she was smiling.

Holly and the photographer started to position everyone in some complicated staging, and Lanie realized Tyler wasn’t next to her; he was headed toward the street.

“Lanie,” Holly said. “Over here.”

She started to mention Tyler’s escape, but Holly was looking over her chart. “We’ll get Tyler situated after you’re in place.”

No reason to call attention to the fact that she’d chased off one of Randy’s groomsmen.

Holly and the photographer looked at their chart and had her stand in the place they wanted her, then Holly said, “Okay, Tyler. You stand behind her.”

Tyler walked around the two women and stood in front of her with her shoes hanging from his fingertips.

How had she forgotten those damn shoes?

He handed her the shoes and flashed another mischievous grin. “You’ll be wanting your weapons.”

The group laughed, and she couldn’t help grinning as she dropped them to the ground. Tyler took her arm and steadied her as she stepped into them.

“And put your phone away,” Brittany said.

“Unless you want to Photoshop that out too,” Celesta said with a smirk.

Lanie looked down at the phone, hesitating. She knew she couldn’t hold it during the photos, but if she put it in her purse, Brittany would give her grief for checking it. What if Stephanie had more questions?

“I’ll take it,” Tyler said, holding out his hand. Then he lowered his voice. “That way I can let you know if you get a call or message.”

Lanie narrowed her eyes as she studied his face. Was this some kind of trick to pay her back for injuring him? More like his way of trying to hit on her. But he seemed genuine, so she handed him the phone, chiding herself on her paranoia.

She’d been in the dog-eat-dog corporate world too long. There was always someone out to one up her or thwart her—her new VP and the stupid injunction were just one of a long string of issues she’d had to deal with. She’d become jaded. Too jaded. The world was not out to get her. She needed to start trusting people more. And as stupid as it sounded, handing her most prized possession to a man she barely knew was taking a step in that direction.

His solemn expression as he slid her phone into a pocket inside his jacket suggested he realized the significance of what she’d done.

“Your tie,” Lanie said. “It’s undone.” She started to reach up to tie it but quickly dropped her hands.

What was wrong with her? Helping a guy fix his tie was no big deal. What was it about this man that got under her skin?

She told herself that Brittany and Randy were the problem. This whole wedding had made her question everything in her life, but if she was honest with herself, she knew she’d felt unsettled for months. She could admit that she was ready for a change in her career, but was she ready for a real relationship too? In the past, all she had to do was think about her parents’ relationship and any thought of something serious flew out the window, but now she was considering rethinking her stance against a real relationship.

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