Page 82 of The Wedding Wrecker

"So… mission accomplished? Just like that?”

“Who knew people could fix their own mistakes?” I asked with a bratty grin.

“To be fair, our brilliant and subtle plan was what spurred this moment into existence. Sure, maybe Marcus was going to find a time to come clean before the wedding, but now we get credit. We did this,” he said, gesturing between us.

“You sound awfully concerned with taking credit. Are you sniffing out a new way to pivot your business if wedding wrecking doesn’t work out? The wedding fixer?”

He made a sour face. "Let’s just make surethiswedding goes well. I’m too invested now to see it fail.”

“That’s a plan I can agree with. Come on. We should get back before people notice we're missing."

He caught my hand as I turned to go. "Emma?"

"Hmm?"

“It… felt good to work with you on this. I’ve spent a long time looking for problems. So long, in fact, that I stopped asking myself if there was another way. I saw them all as fatal. But… it does feel nice to help a couple overcome an issue. So, sure, I’mnot about to start calling myself the wedding fixer, but this was nice.”

My smile was wide, and for a moment, I wondered if maybe there really was a chance of things between us working out. “Yeah?”

“Yeah,” he said, eyes lifting to something over my shoulder. “Dick’s coming. Quick. Casual kiss.”

I didn’t question him as I let him cup my face and kiss me in a way that was anything but casual. After a few moments, I pulled away, then risked a glance over my shoulder. The hallway was empty.

I frowned up at him.

“Whoops,” he said. “Must’ve been seeing things.”

28

JAMES

The entire wedding party, even Emma’s elusive father, was scattered around the outdoor ice rink and strapping on either rental skates or fancy skates they’d brought themselves. The resort’s ice rink was set on the edge of a hill that overlooked a small, wintery town below with mountain views in every other direction. Snow gently drifted down on us as we got ready.

Emma was beside me, struggling with her skates.

“Here,” I said, kneeling in front of her to fix her laces. “Let me guess. You’re about as good at ice skating as you are on the slopes?”

Emma stuck her tongue out at me. “I’ll have you know I’m a perfectly capable ice skater. Probably. It has been… a few years.”

I raised an eyebrow. “How many, exactly?”

She thought for a few moments. “Fifteen?”

I sighed. “You’re going to be holding my hand until I’m confident you aren’t going to fall and hurt yourself.”

“Is that an order?” she asked.

I gave her laces a firm tug. “Yes. Now, come on. I want to see what we’re working with.”

She smiled up at me, but let me lead her across the rubber mats and onto the ice rink. Ahead of us, Marcus and Lilly were somehow skating and hugging at the same time. It was both nauseating and sweet.

To my satisfaction, Dick was skating like a cat with tape on his feet. He looked absolutely lost, and the idiot was trying to keep up with a blonde woman who appeared to want nothing to do with him.

Emma’s mom and dad were holding hands as they skated, which was kind of adorable.

I guided Emma onto the ice, watching as she took her time getting her ice legs back. After one or two laps around the rink, she wasn’t actually doing so bad.

“There you go,” I said.

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