Page 104 of Break My Fall

She waited until he put everything down and then she made her move. She grabbed the sides of his rain slicker and leaned into him. She claimed a kiss of her own and was gratified when he made no move to take over. In fact, when she finally turned him loose, he seemed to be a bit unsteady as he returned for another trip to the car.

And it hit her. It was okay if his kisses left her confused and discombobulated because hers did the same to him. They were on even ground.

And it was fun.

And helped settle her nerves.

She had a goofy grin on her face as she organized the flowers Gray brought inside. After he made his final trip, he parked bothof their vehicles and stripped off his rain slicker at the door before coming all the way in.

He’d brought his own change of clothes, as well as hers. They’d talked about it last night and each packed a dry set of clothes that they could change into so they wouldn’t have to work while soaking wet. Then they’d change into their finery for the wedding itself.

He insisted on checking the bathroom to be sure it was empty before she went inside to change, then waited in the small sitting area around the corner. They switched places so he could change, and then they went to work.

Gray quickly caught her vision for the space and turned out to have an excellent eye for where the arrangements would work best. “You’re a much better helper than Mo or Cal,” she told him.

He brushed imaginary lint from his shoulders. “I’m a man of many talents.”

With his help, everything was arranged in record time. “I may have to hire you for future events.”

He took a photo of the space and said, “As long as I can hang out with you, I’ll do anything you want.”

“What I want for today is to go back to your place, put on our comfiest clothes, get a fire roaring in your fireplace, curl up in that ginormous chair you have, and take a nap.”

“You really are the perfect woman.”

Their conversation was interrupted by the arrival of the bridal party. And from that moment on, chaos reigned.

An hour before the ceremony, Gray stood with Meredith at the back of the sanctuary and watched as a frantic bridesmaid ran down the center aisle and disappeared through the doors to the right of the platform, only to emerge thirty seconds later throughthe doors at the left of the platform holding a hair dryer like she’d been in a shootout. She ran back down the center aisle, and when she reached the doors to the foyer, she called out, “I got it.”

Beside him Meredith sniggered, then leaned close to whisper, “There are no words for me to express to you how relieved I am that I only agreed to coordinate the flowers.”

“Why is everything so disorganized?” Gray hadn’t been to many weddings, but Cal and Landry’s wedding hadn’t been like this.

Meredith lifted her hands up. “Who knows? They’re young and they’re winging it. I’m not sure if anyone is in charge.”

“This scenario makes a strong case for elopement.” Gray hadn’t given much thought to having a wedding of his own until quite recently. But was this level of drama worth it?

Meredith cleared her throat. “Connor and Carla did that over twenty years ago, and Aunt Carol still gets a pained look on her face anytime it comes up. I might be jumping the gun here, but if you have any thoughts of marrying into the Quinn family, you should know that elopements are frowned upon.”

Gray turned so he was facing Meredith. “Just so we’re clear, I don’t have thoughts about marrying into the Quinn family. I have detailed plans. Step one was getting you to go out with me. Step two was getting you to kiss me.”

“You’re two for two.” There was a husky quality to her voice that Gray couldn’t dwell on. “What’s step three?”

“Winning over the family.”

“Three for three.”

“I don’t know about that.”

“I do. Papa stopped by on Monday to pick up Aunt Minnie to take her to one of the boys’ basketball games. He said, ‘You’ve got a good one, Meredith. I like him.’ Coming from Papa? That’s high praise.”

“What about your dad?”

“He’s always going to be protective. Doesn’t mean he doesn’t approve.”

“Mo?”

Before Meredith could answer, Gray’s phone buzzed. “Excuse me.” He accepted the call. “Ward.”

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