“I do. Come on back to my office and I’ll show you what we’ve pulled together.”
They turned and walked down the hallway, side by side. She couldn’t help but notice that Colin had gently rested a guiding hand at the small of her back as she slipped into the office ahead of him. It was a faint touch, and yet she could still feel the heat of it through her clothes. Goose bumps raised up across her forearms when he pulled away, leaving her cold. It was an unexpected touch and yet she had to admit she was a little disappointed it was so quick. Despite their years apart, her reaction to Colin had only grown along with his biceps. Unfortunately, those little thrills were all she’d allow herself to have. She was first and foremost a professional.
They settled into her office and Natalie pulled out the trifold portfolio she used for these meetings. She unfolded it, showing all the images and options for their wedding. Focusing on work was her best strategy for dealing with her attraction to Colin.
“Let’s start with the menu,” she began. “Amelia, our caterer, would normally do up to three entrees for a wedding this size, but with such short notice, we really don’t have time for attendees to select their meals. Instead, she put together a surf and turf option that should make everyone happy. Option one pairs her very popular beef tenderloin with a crab cake. You also have the choice of doing a bourbon-glazed salmon, or a chicken option instead if you think fish might be a problem for your guests.”
She watched Colin look over the options thoughtfully. She liked the way his brow drew together as he thought. Staring down at the portfolio, she could see how long and thick his eyelashes were. Most women would kill for lashes like those.
“What would you choose?” he asked, unaware of her intense study of his face.
“The crab cake,” Natalie said without hesitation. “They’re almost all crab, with a crisp outside and a spicy remoulade. They’re amazing.”
“Okay, that sounds great. Let’s go with that.”
Natalie checked off his selection. “For the cake, she put together three concept designs.” She went into detail on each, explaining the decorations and how it fit with the theme.
When she was finally done, he asked again, “Which one of these cakes would you choose?”
Natalie wasn’t used to this. Most brides knew exactly what they wanted. Looking down at the three concept sketches for the cake, she pointed out the second option. “I’d choose this one. It will be all white with an iridescent shimmer to the fondant. Amelia will make silver gum paste snowflakes and when they wrap around the cake it will be really enchanting.”
“Let’s go with that one. What about cake flavors?”
“You won’t make that decision today. If you can come Thursday, Amelia will set up a tasting session. She’s doing a couple other appointments that day, so that would work best. Do you think Lily would be interested in coming to that?”
“I can work that out. I doubt Lily will join me, but I’ll ask. I’m sure cake is cake in her eyes.”
Natalie just didn’t understand her friend at all. Natalie had no interest in marriage, therefore no interest in a wedding. But Lily should at least have the party she wanted and enjoy it. It didn’t make sense to hand that over to someone else. Her inner control freak couldn’t imagine someone else planning her wedding. If by some twist of fate, she was lobotomized and agreed to marry someone, she would control every last detail.
“Okay.” Natalie noted the appointment in her tablet so Amelia could follow up with him on a time for Thursday. From there, they looked at some floral concepts and bouquet options. With each of them, he asked Natalie’s opinion and went with that. Sitting across from her was a sexy, intelligent, wealthy, thoughtful and agreeable man. If she was the kind to marry, she’d crawl into his lap right now. Whoever did land Colin would be very lucky. At least for a while.
Everything flowed easily from there. Without much debate, they’d settled on assorted tall and low arrangements with a mix of white flowers including rose, ranunculus, stephanotis and hydrangea. It was everything she would’ve chosen and probably as close as she’d get to having a wedding without having to get married.
“Now that we’ve handled all that, the last thing I want to do is to take you to the table setup Gretchen put together.”
They left her office and walked down to the storage room. She kept waiting for him to touch her again, but she was disappointed this time. Opening the doors, she let him inside ahead of her and followed him in. In their storage room, amongst the shelves of glassware, plates, silver vases and cake stands, they had one round dinner table set up. There, Gretchen put together mock-ups of the reception tables for brides to better visualize them and make changes.
“Gretchen has selected a soft white tablecloth with a delicate silver overlay of tiny beaded snowflakes. We’d carry the white and silver into the dishes with the silver chargers, silver-rimmed white china, and then use silver-and-glass centerpieces in a variety of heights. We’ll bring in tasteful touches of sparkle with some crystals on white manzanita branches and lots of candles.”
Colin ran the tip of his finger over a silver snowflake and nodded. “It all looks great to me. Very pretty. Gretchen has done a very nice job with it.”
Natalie made a note in her tablet and shook her head with amazement. “You’re the easiest client I’ve ever had. I refuse to believe it’s really that easy. What are you hiding from me?”
Colin looked at her with a confused expression. “I’m not hiding anything. I know it isn’t what you’re used to, but really, I’m putting this wedding in your capable hands.”
He placed his hand on her shoulder as he spoke. She could feel the heat radiating through the thin fabric of her cashmere sweater, making her want to pull at the collar as her internal temperature started to climb.
“You knew my parents. You know Lily. You’ve got the experience and the eye for this kind of thing. Aside from the discussion about flowers, I’ve had no clue what you were talking about most of the time. I just trust you to do a great job and I’ll write the check.”
Natalie tried not to frown. Her heated blood wasn’t enough for her to ignore his words. He was counting on her. That was a lot of pressure. She knew she could pull it off beautifully, but he had an awful lot of confidence in her for a girl he hadn’t seen since she wore a retainer to bed. “So would you rather just skip the cake tasting?”
“Oh no,” he said with a smile that made her knees soften beneath her. “I have a massive sweet tooth, so I’m doing that for sure.”
Natalie wasn’t sure how much her body could take of being in close proximity to Colin as friends. She wanted to run her hand up his tanned, muscular forearm and rub against him like a cat. While she enjoyed indulging her sexuality from time to time, she didn’t have a reaction like this to just any guy. It was unnerving and so inappropriate. This wedding couldn’t come fast enough.
* * *
“Thank you for all your help with this,” Colin said as Natalie closed up and they walked toward the door.
“That’s what I do,” she said with the same polite smile that was starting to make him crazy. He missed her real one. He remembered her carefree smile from her younger days and her seductive smile from the engagement party. This polite, blank smile
