Tessa laughed. “Flustered much? Hey, wasn’t I the one who told you to find a good guy? I should know you do everything I say—but it would be nice if he lived in Destin.”
“Oh, well, I don’t even officially live here, so…”
“I know!” Tessa said, the conversation making her feel better. She hated when she did the “baby spiral” and this had already taken her mind off it. “But if you’re in love, you’ll leave. And that’s the way of things, I suppose.”
“I’m not…” She couldn’t even deny it. “Well, he’s not… Please. It’s very early days, Tessa.”
Lacey’s serious tone caught her attention, as though she was warning Tessa. “Lacey, do you think he’s going to leave and forget you?”
“Well, probably,” she said with a humorless laugh. “I mean, he’s Roman Matteo.”
“So?” Tessa scoffed and glanced past Lacey. “Oh, dang, here comes Jennifer. Follow her timing and text me—I’ll go tie up the dog, so to speak.”
Before Lacey could respond, Tessa slipped by her and walked toward the back of the Clubhouse, through the kitchen to the secondary parking lot. It was pretty full, but she spotted the tall golden boy next to his sports car, leaning into the back seat.
“Hey, there,” she called.
He straightened and gave her a wave. “You better know how to tie a bow tie,” he said.
Laughing, she hustled closer. “Any self-respecting event planner knows that—I’ll have to teach Lacey—and so should every young man your age.”
“I do,” he said. “On myself. This is a dog and he wants no parts of it.” He dangled a classic old-school bow tie.
She laughed, taking it from his fingers. “Poor thing. Let me at him.”
“I’ll bring the crate out,” he said. “It’ll be easier for you.”
He reached in and easily plucked the small wire container and brought it out to the ground.
“Don’t be scared, buddy. This pretty lady wants to succeed where I’m failing.”
Chuckling, she crouched down and opened the crate, holding one hand out so he didn’t run. He stared up at her, his bulgy eyes looking a little sad and scared.
“Oh, honey, I feel you. Come here.” She guided him out of the crate, but he squirmed.
“See? It’s not easy.” Roman reached for the dog. “Might work better if I hold him.”
“Yes, that will.”
Roman wrapped his large hands around the dog’s waist, cooing gently to calm him while Tessa managed to get the tie around his little neck.
“There we go,” she said, frowning as she tried to remember the steps from this direction. “You’re right, it is different on a dog than a man standing and facing you. Even if that man is a nervous groom.”
Smiling, she looked up, catching him studying her face. Staring hard—intently. So much so, that she fumbled the tie and had to start all over again.
“Do I have cupcake on my face?” she asked as she re-wrapped the black satin. “I didn’t have any but I was very close to dancing teenagers who were on a sugar high.”
“No,” he said, his voice…odd.
Was it the nervous groom comment? She looked up at the gruffness in his voice, suddenly forgetting which loop she was on. “Did I miss a step?”
He just swallowed, silent.
“Roman?”
“Oh, oh, that’s my phone.” He managed to hold Pickles with one hand and reach into his pocket to pull out the phone and read the screen. “Lacey said Jennifer is ready now. They’re calling Naomi to the stage after this song.”
She held his gaze for a few heartbeats, still trying to figure out his expression, then looked back at the mess of a bow tie.
