Page 3 of Square Deal

I rolled my eyes and left to search for Maddie.

Isaac’s head spun like he needed an exorcism. I knew he was watching me walk away and checking me out.

I had an extra swing in my hips just because I knew he was staring. He could look, but he couldn’t touch.

The bartender flagged me down and pointed at the cloud of white tulle seated at the bar. Thank goodness. I had sixty seconds until the cake needed to be cut.

I plastered on a smile. “Mrs. DeRossi, time to cut the cake! Your hubby’s waiting for you.”

Maddie threw her arms in the air and pulled me into a death grip hug. “Oh my God! Where have you been? Nonna and I have been having thebesttime.”

Yep. She was one drink away from being totally plastered.I would have killed the bartender, but that would require a massive clean-up. Given that Steve and Chase were three feet away, they would have to arrest me, which would just delay my post-wedding champagne. It wasn’t worth it.

I looked at the little old lady in a pale pink dress seated beside Maddie. She had Luca’s eyes and the alcohol tolerance of a linebacker. She said something to Maddie in Italian, and Maddie laughed.

“She said you need to relax,” Maddie hiccuped. “Oooh! I know! Let’s do more shots!”

“Nope!” I said firmly. “How about you go cut your cake and dance with your man, and then we’ll see about shots.”

She pouted, then perked up when the idea of carbs and sugar hit her. “Cake! Yes! I want cake.”

“Okay,” I laughed as I helped her off her chair and guided her across the dance floor. We were nearly at the cake table when Shania Twain filtered through the speakers with her sultry,Let’s go, girls.

Maddie cheered. “It’s my song! Come on, Han! One dance with you, Bee, Kris, and Mel, andthenwe can do the cake.”

“Nope,” I snapped. “Mad, I love you, but you’ll thank me for this when you sober up. Time to cut the cake with your hubby.”

Luca left Isaac and jogged over to help me guide a very tipsy Maddie over to the cake table. “Where was she?” he asked.

I blew a stray piece of hair out of my face and huffed, “Drinking with your grandma at the bar. Fun fact: the lady with one foot in the grave can hold her liquor better than this one.” I stabbed a finger toward Maddie, who was all too eagerly looking at the cake.

It had taken Maddie longer to pick a cake designer than it took for her to choose a wedding dress or hell—anything else about the wedding. Finally, I got her in with a kick-ass pastry chef whose cakes were just as legendary as Maddie’s.

“Nonna’ssomuch fun,” Maddie giggled, swaying back and forth. She hiccuped and covered her mouth. “She may have convinced me to doa fewshots,” she stage-whispered before putting her finger over her lips. “Don’t tell the wedding planner! She’ll be sooooo mad!”

I covered my mouth and bit back a laugh.I loved drunk Maddie.“Don’t worry, babe. Your secret’s safe with me.”

Luca led Maddie over to the cake table. He had enough experience handling her that I wasn’t worried about them. Besides, two professional chefs could figure out how to cut one slice of cake to feed each other.

I looked around the room and surveyed my handiwork. Chase was waltzing around with Nonna like she was the Queen of England. Next to Chase and Nonna, Bridget and Kyle were swayingback and forth with hearts in their eyes. No wonder Chase was hanging out with Luca’s grandma.

Still, everyone looked like they were having a hell of a time.

Steve and Erica sat at the poker club’s table.They were adorable.I had never seen him so happy.

There was a slight smile on Steve’s face as he spoke softly into her ear. His hand rested on top of her baby bump, gently caressing it. Erica was due in a week, and I knew they just couldn’t wait to be parents.

The baby wasn’t Steve’s, but there never seemed to be a question in his mind whether he would love that little girl. They deserved happiness, especially after everything they had been through.

I suppressed the hopeless romantic in me and turned my attention to the cake table. I watched adoringly as Maddie and Luca cut the first piece and immediately smashed it into each other’s faces.

Most brides would have been furious that their makeup got messed up and frosting was smeared all over their gown—all of which I had emergency supplies for in my office—but not Maddie. Instead, she laughed and kissed him hard.

The little she-devil on my shoulder jabbed her pitchfork at my biological clock.

Tsk, tsk,I heard her say.Always the wedding planner, never the bride.

2

---