‘Well, maybe just a little bit—and you do look good in a suit.’ She smiled at him. ‘Though how I really like you dressed is in faded jeans, and a white shirt with the sleeves rolled up. It makes you much more touchable.’
‘Noted,’ he said.
He could see that she was so tired, she didn’t even have the energy to drink her coffee. So he carried her to bed, cherished her, and let her fall asleep in his arms. He wasn’t ready to sleep yet; it was good just to lie in the dark with her in his arms, thinking. How amazing it was that she felt the same way about him. So maybe, just maybe, this was going to work out.
ON THE MORNING of the wedding show, Claire was up before six, bustling around and double-checking things on her list.
Then her mobile phone rang. Sean couldn’t tell much from Claire’s end of the conversation, but her face had turned white and there was a tiny pleat above her nose that told him something was definitely wrong.
When she ended the call, she blew out a breath. ‘Sorry, I’m going to have to neglect you and make a ton of phone calls now.’
‘What’s happened?’
‘That was the modelling agency.’ She closed her eyes for a moment. ‘It seems that the six male models that I booked through the agency are all really good friends. They went out together for a meal last night, and they’ve all gone down with food poisoning so they can’t do the show.’
‘So the agency’s going to send you someone else?’
She shook her head. ‘All their models are either already booked out or away. So they’re very sorry to let me down, but it’s due to circumstances beyond their control and they’re sure I’ll understand, and of course they’ll return my fee.’
The sing-song, patronising tone in which she replayed the conversation told Sean just how angry Claire was—and he wasn’t surprised. She’d been very badly let down.
‘I’ll just have to go through my diary and beg a few favours, and hope that I can find six men willing to stand in for the models.’ She raked a hand through her hair. ‘And I need to look at my list and see where I can cut a few corners, because I’ll have to alter their clothes to fit the stand-ins, and...’ She shook her head, looking utterly miserable.
He put his arms round her and hugged her. ‘You need five. I’ll do it.’
She stared at him as if the words hadn’t quite sunk in. ‘You’ll do it?’
‘Well, obviously I don’t know the first thing about a catwalk,’ he said, ‘so someone’s going to have to teach me how to do the model walk thing. But everyone’s going to be looking at the clothes and not the model in any case, so I guess that probably doesn’t matter too much.’
‘You’ll do it,’ she repeated, sounding disbelieving.
‘Is it that much of a stretch to see me as a model?’ he asked wryly.
‘No, it’s not that at all. You’d be fabulous. It’s just that—it’s a pretty public thing, standing on a catwalk at a wedding show with everyone staring at you, and it’s so far from what you normally do that I thought you’d find it too embarrassing or awkward or...’ She tailed off. ‘Oh, my God, Sean. You’d really do that for me?’
‘Yes,’ he said firmly.
‘Thank you.’ She hugged him fiercely. ‘That means I only have to find five.’
‘You’ve already got enough to do. I’ll find them for you,’ he said. ‘I reckon we can count on Luke and Tom, and I have a few others in mind. Just tell me the rough heights and sizes you need, and I’ll ring round and sort it out.’
‘Your height and build would be perfect, but I can adjust things if I need to—the men’s outfits are easier to adjust than the women’s, so I guess I’m lucky that it was the male models and not the female ones or the children who had to bail out on me. Sean, are you really sure about this?’
‘Really,’ he confirmed. ‘I’m on Team Claire, remember? Now go hit that shower, I’ll have coffee ready by the time you’re out, and I’ll start ringing round.’
She hugged him. ‘Have I told you how wonderful you are? Five minutes ago it felt as if the world had ended, and now...’
‘Hey—you’d do the same for me,’ he pointed out.
Half an hour later, Sean had it all arranged. Luke and Tom agreed immediately to stand in, plus Tom’s partner. Sean called in his best friend and his sales manager from the factory, and they all agreed to meet him and Claire at the wedding show two hours before it started, so Claire could do any last-minute necessary alterations to their outfits. Then he made Claire sit down and eat breakfast, before helping her to load everything into the van she’d hired for the day.
‘Sure we’ve got all the wedding dresses?’ he asked before he closed the van doors. ‘Though I guess we’re going to Earl’s Court rather than Capri, so we should be OK.’
‘Not funny, Sean.’ She narrowed her eyes at him.
He kissed her lightly. ‘That was misplaced humour and I apologise. It’s all going to be fine, Claire. Just breathe and check your list.’
‘Sorry, I’m being unfair and overly grouchy. Ignore me.’ She looked over her list. ‘Everything’s ticked off and loaded, so we’re ready to roll.’
‘At least we’ve got the bumps out of the way this side of the catwalk. It’s all going to be fine now.’ He kissed her again. ‘By the way, I meant to tell you, I’ve got some extra giveaways for you. Will from the office is bringing them to the show.’
‘Giveaways?’ Her eyes went wide. ‘Oh, no. I completely forgot about giveaways. I meant to order some pens. I’ve been so focused on the outfits that it totally slipped my mind.’
‘You have business cards?’
‘Yes.’
‘Grab them,’ he said, ‘and we’ll get a production line stuffing them at the show.’
‘Stuffing what?’ She looked at him blankly.
‘My genius girlfriend talked about wedding favours. I had some samples run up, with white organza bags and gold foil on the caramel hearts. The bag is just the right size to put your business card in as well—and don’t worry about the pens. Everyone will remember the chocolate.’
‘Sean, that’s above and beyond.’
‘No, it’s supporting you,’ he corrected, ‘and it also works as a test run for me, so we both win. Let’s get this show on the road.’
At the wedding show, people were busy setting up exhibition stands and the place was bustling. Claire was busy measuring her new male models and doing alterations; then, when the female models arrived, she filled them in on the situation and got them to teach the men how to walk. Her stand was set
