Page 26 of Spark
“Exactly like that,” Chloe said excitedly.“Addison said she and Ryan wanted something laid back that included everyone, so I thought making it like the annual cookout would be fun.”
Screw fun—this was perfect.The room was one large square, framed by floor-to-ceiling sliding glass doors on three sides that offered the opportunity for an indoor/outdoor party, as long as the weather behaved.A huge, two-sided stone fireplace stood in the center, loaded with candles and ringed by clusters of comfortable-looking seating.As Marina and Chloe started talking about a menu full of sliders and deviled eggs and house-made potato salad, where the portable bar would be placed to serve up craft beer and wine flights, and the selection of outdoor games like cornhole and horseshoes that would be set up on the back lawn, Tyler began to realize exactly how imbalanced their task lists had been.
By the time they got to the s’mores in the fire pits, the multi-colored paper lanterns that would light up a deck full of Adirondack chairs, and the donut dessert bar Addison would surely be obsessed with, he was downright WTF.Chloe must have spent every non-working hour on this party since the nanosecond Addison had asked her to be maid of honor.
Marina handed over a folder with hard copies of the contract—which Chloe appeared to be familiar with, because of course she was—and smiled.“I’ll let the two of you explore the space a bit, but if you have any questions at all, I’ll be back at the hosts’ stand.”
“Thank you so much,” Chloe said, turning toward Tyler as soon as she’d disappeared down the hallway.“So, what do you think?”
“I think the Burrito Hut has some major competition,” Tyler said, shaking his head.“Seriously, Chloe.This is amazing.You did atonof work.”
Her cheeks flushed.“Well, Addison and Ryan had a lot of input since it’s their party, and this place speaks for itself.Plus, Marina made it easy.I really just organized some logistics.”
Tyler’s intuition twanged, and he narrowed his eyes at her.“You did a hell of a lot more than that.”
“Ah, it was no big deal.Really.”
She moved toward the sliding glass doors, suddenly seeming fascinated by the perfectly patinaed deck boards lining the perimeter of the room, and Tyler had no awareness of his legs cutting the space between them to mere inches.
“Yes, it was.Itis.”He was close enough to smell the vanilla-sweet scent of her perfume, to know it was probably closer than he should be, but he didn’t give a single shit.“You clearly put a lot of energy into these plans.Why don’t you want the credit?”
“It’s not that I don’t want the credit,” she said.She didn’t elaborate, but neither did she move away, and Tyler wasn’t about to let her off the hook.
“Then what is it?”
“It’s complicated.”
“Who better to uncomplicate it for than your wedding wingman?Plus, I’ve got time,” he said.
For a second, Tyler thought she was going to stiff-arm him like she had for the past two months, and maybe he’d have deserved it.
But then Chloe exhaled softy and said, “My family just…babies me a lot, I guess.Don’t get me wrong, I’m grateful for their support,” she added.“I wouldn’t have healed from Myles stalking and threatening me without it.But when things get even the tiniest bit stressful?—”
“Like with this case,” Tyler said, understanding beginning to dawn, and she nodded.
“Like with this case, they all want to bubble wrap me, like I can’t handle anything.Okay, so organizing this party was a lot of work.”She paused to send a gaze around the room.“But I needed the distraction, and I’m perfectly capable of doing it.I wish they’d just trust me to handle things my own way rather than treating me like I’m made of glass.”
Tyler processed this, piece by piece, then finally said, “I get that.”
“Youdo?”
“Sure,” he said, because it made perfect sense.“After a really big fire call, I work out.Ryan sleeps.Faurier finds Lucy to talk it out, and Hawk cooks.We all manage our adrenaline differently.You just like to keep busy by doing things like party planning.But you don’t have to do it alone.”
A second passed, then another.Then, she pressed a smile between her lips.“Right.You’re my wedding wingman.”
“I am,” Tyler agreed, and despite how much the thought of weddings gave him the shakes, he wanted to be a man of his word.“Look, Chloe, I know you’re perfectly capable of thousands of things, including planning this party.I don’t want to do the work because I think you can’t.I just want to be on your team while we do the work together.What do you say?Deal?”
“You drive a hard bargain, wingman.But fine.Deal.”
She held out her hand, and the instant Tyler took it—like a dumbass—to shake, he realized that now, not only were they standing too close to each other, but they were touching.
Chloe’s fingers pressed tightly over his, sending an electric spark all the way down to his toes.Her lips parted, the exact way they had two months ago in the second before he’d put his control in a shredder and kissed her, and his only thought was that despite knowing how spectacularly stupid it made him, he was going to do it again.Tyler’s eyes locked onto hers, their faces close enough now that he could see her pupils dilate before her lashes fanned down and her chin tilted up…
And someone began playing the xylophone directly in his ear.
“Oh!”Chloe’s eyes flew open, and Jesus Christ, was heclinicallyinsane?“Shit, I’m so sorry.”She fumbled through her purse for her phone.“It’s Sprinkles.The ringtone, I mean.I gave it to Addison because, you know, she loves…okay, I’m just going to…yeah?—”
She put the phone to her ear while he forced his feelings back behind their gates.How could he have been so careless?
