1½ hours until ceremony
“Are you sure, Stacey?” Julie said into the walkie-talkie as she walked through the parked cars looking for a black BMW. “I’m not even sure which car I’m looking for.”
Stacey cut in over the walkie-talkie. “Use the keys. Aunt Bea needs her heart medication, but all the family members are in the photo with her.”
“Keep the photos moving.” Julie shut off her walkie-talkie, making a mental note to stop by and tell the kitchen to prepare more hors d’oeuvres and break out a few more bottles of wine while people had to wait for the added time of picture-taking.
The car was toward the back of the grassy lot. Fortunately the keys had an auto lock that made the car beep, making it easy to find in the sea of black sedans.
She opened the passenger-side door and slid in, shutting it behind her to make sure no bugs got in. Checking the console and the glove compartment, she didn’t see a prescription bottle. That meant digging under the seat.
She set the keys in the middle console and reached under the seat. Nothing. She bent down and tried to reach back farther.
The car door opened and someone got into the driver’s side. Before she could look up, the doors locked.
“Hey!” She sat up to see Seth smiling at her. Of course he was smiling. He’d gotten everything he wanted at the cost of her professional reputation.
Seth held up his hands. “Before you yell at me, I got you something.”
“You used my assistant to get me in here?” She couldn’t believe the nerve of this guy. First he ruined the wedding and now what . . . trapping her so she couldn’t fix it. She turned and tried the door. “Is this even Aunt Bea’s car?”
He jingled the keys dangling in his hand. “The pill bottle was Stacey’s plan and this is my car.”
“I would have figured you for a sports car. Maybe something red and flashy and dangerous.” Frustrated she searched for the unlock button, but couldn’t locate it. She tried the door again before glaring at him. She didn’t have time for this. “Let me out.”
He covered his heart in mock pain. “Just because I’m a little crazy, doesn’t mean I want a car that could kill me.”
“A little crazy?” Julie threw her hands up. “You’ve locked me in a car with you. I think that qualifies as full on crazy. Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t this kidnapping?”
“As an attorney, I’d say, it depends.” He looked toward the lodge. “I know you don’t believe me about the champagne, but would you at least trust me for a minute?”
She crossed her arms. “You tricked me into this car and you want me to trust you? Are you going to tell me why we’re in here?”
“To prove I’m sorry. Turn around,” Seth said.
This had trick written all over it. Something diabolical probably waited in the backseat. Maybe the maid of honor, hog-tied. “Why?”
“Just turn around.”
Julie turned to look in the backseat of the car to see two cases of Cristal champagne. Her mouth dropped open. There had to be close to five thousand dollars’ worth of champagne in the backseat.
“How did you— Did you rob a liquor store?” She didn’t really care how he’d gottten the champagne.
Seth laughed. “I have a client out here who owed me a favor.”
“What did you do for him?” The way he said favor had Julie’s mind spinning with mob-like activities and who knew what else Seth might do for someone to owe him thousands of dollars’ worth of champagne.
He placed his hand over hers. “I helped him get joint custody of his daughter. Something he would have gladly given me ten boxes of expensive champagne for. Lucky for us, he lives nearby and always has some on hand. I swung by and picked it up.”
“Oh.” Julie looked back at the lodge. He didn’t have to do all that. What did this mean for his plan to make something go wrong, if he was making it right?
“But I would have bought it if he asked. You know my intention was never to ruin the wedding. In my line of work, I see a lot of couples who start off with the perfect wedding and end up with a messy divorce. They want that perfection every day of the year and it’s just not realistic. The perfect car, the perfect house, the perfect anniversary. It’s bullshit. Love is messy and insane and makes us do the strangest things, but it’s never perfect. Once they realized that this one day didn’t have to be perfect but it was still special, maybe they’d figure out that life doesn’t have to have perfection in it to make their marriage work.”
As he spoke, Julie could feel the weight lift off her chest and a smile start to form on her lips. “You just saved this wedding . . . isn’t that going to ruin your bad reputation?”
“But it’ll save yours. Or at least make you happy. I did it for you. I guess the bridal party will have to figure out their life lessons without our help.”
Warmth seeped into her as her heart swelled. “Thank you.”
“Forgive me?” He gave her a boyish grin that she was sure had gotten him out of trouble many times.
It definitely was working on her, but she still had to know. “Will you tell me where the turkey vulture is?”
“I might have a crow I’d be willing to trade for. If you’ll forgive me?”
“Only if you can keep that champagne chilled. It’s getting hot in here.”
He grinned at the double entendre, but started the car and turned on the air. “You promised me a dance earlier. Will you still dance with me tonight?”
“I can do that.”
He leaned in and she met him halfway.
But just as their lips met, a rattling noise came from the car.
“What’s tha—?” Julie cut off when he kissed her fully.
A burst of glitter filled the air, falling all around them as they continued to kiss.
When Seth finally pulled away, he looked around his glitter bombed car. “My nephews are double-crossing little bastards.”
She laughed, not caring that the champagne she hadn’t been able to get out of her skirt was probably acting as a binding agent for the glitter. She kissed him again.
When he pulled back, he said, “I may need your help getting back at my two nephews for this when it’s their turn to get married.”
“Do you think we’ll be on speaking terms when they get married?”
“I think we’ll be doing more than that,” he said.
She kissed him quickly. “We need to get back, but I have . . .” She glanced at her watch. “Two and a half minutes of spare time.”
“In that case . . .” Seth pulled her back in close for another kiss, but before their lips met, he stopped. “Just to be clear, I mean for you to save me one of those slow sexy dances, not the chicken dance . . .”
This was one of those moments that Julie wished would go on forever. “I’ll save every dance for you.”