Tessa’s own eyes welled as she watched the scene unfold. The entire room erupted into applause. Naomi sobbed into the dog’s neck, stroking his ears, laughing and crying at the same time. Jennifer had a hand over her mouth, overwhelmed.
“Thank you,” Naomi whispered as she turned to her mother. Instantly, the two of them were wrapped in a hug and cry-laughing, the dog between them, and Dad joined in.
Yep. This was the instant of event planning perfection, she thought. The family stuff. The emotion. The climax of feelings that made all the work worthwhile.
The room was filled with cheers, laughter, and when the DJ startedWho Let the Dogs Out?—then there was chaos, barking, and madness.
In the midst of it, she slid her gaze to the side of the stage, expecting to see Roman and Lacey enjoying it all, but they’d disappeared.
Wondering where they’d gone, she walked around the large potted plant, turning the corner to see them face to face, deep in a conversation. Not heated, but not…in the spirit of the happy moment.
She couldn’t hear what they were saying but the conversation was serious, with much nodding, a few stabs into the hair, and a couple of heavy sighs. Finally, Lacey stepped away and walked off in the other direction.
What was going on?
Just as she was about to step away, Roman looked up, straight into Tessa’s eyes. There was that expression again—wistful, longing, and…secretive. Was he hiding something from her?
His true feelings?
There was definitely an air of something not right, not genuine, and not real arcing like electricity from him.
Without giving it much thought, beyond the bone-deep need to protect Lacey, she took a few steps closer.
“I just want to say one thing,” she whispered, but knew he could hear her. “If you hurt that girl, if you lie to her or lead her on or break her heart or betray her? You’ll have me to answer to, and it will not be pretty.”
He swallowed. “I won’t,” he said. “I don’t want to hurt anyone.”
She let out a sigh, instantly appeased by the genuine note in his voice.
“Can I say one thing to you?” he countered. When she nodded, he came one inch closer. “You, Tessa Wylie, would have been an amazing mother. Nothing short of a mama bear in the protection department.”
She nearly melted into the ground. What would make him say the words she’d heard so many times and always hated? She didn’t know, but for some reason, this time? She didn’t hate them at all.
“Yeah,” she said. “I would have been, but the universe had other plans.”
His brow flicked and he thumbed over his shoulder. “I’m going to get Lacey.”
He turned and walked away, leaving her utterly bewildered.
Glancing in the rearview mirror, Vivien wanted to check on the eight-plus-foot silk olive tree in a massive stone pot that somehow fit in the back of her SUV. But her gaze got snagged on the man in the seat behind her, holding the tree so it didn’t roll or break a branch every time she made a turn.
Peter gave her a cute smirk, looking amused and a little annoyed at the whole thing. It had been a heck of a “design errand” as he called her trips to various boutiques and shops that always ended in some large piece of décor in the back of her Highlander.
But she could never have gotten this tree from the silk flower distributor’s warehouse and into her car, not to mention upstairs to its new home, by herself.
“I’m not sure I really understand,” Peter said as their gazes locked in the mirror. “Why a man cave loft needs a giant olive tree? And how exactly did I get roped into this?”
“I know, this is a pain,” she conceded. “I thought I’d persuaded Lacey and Roman to help me with this tree, but Roman had to leave for a few days and Tessa has a new clientand wanted to bring Lacey to the meeting. I really was counting on her strong boyfriend.”
His brow flicked. “Boyfriend? Didn’t they just meet a few weeks ago?”
“Well, what should I call him? The NFL player who has bewitched my daughter?”
He inched forward. “He’s okay, right? Good guy? Won’t hurt her? Because…”
“I know. You’re carrying.” She made a playful shooting gesture, but was touched by his protectiveness. “He’s good, all right. Maybe too good to be true, if there is such a man.”
“Hey. You’re looking at one,” he joked.
