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“Just for the week. We need to agree on a venue before next Saturday, otherwise we won’t be able to get everything organized in time.” Caitie gave him a serious look. “So you’ll need to be ready to look at places, okay? Even if it means rearranging things.”
“Of course. We’re beyond grateful for your help, and whatever you need from us, you’ve got it. Seriously, sis, you’re a lifesaver. Ember’s over the moon you’re going to help organize things. Are you sure we can’t pay you?”
“No.” She shook her head firmly. “It’s a pleasure to be able to help, it really is. Just remember, I’m not a wedding planner. I’ll probably need to find someone to help with things. But I do work with venues all the time, so securing one that works is exactly what I can do.”
“You’re amazing, you know that?” He reached for her again. This time, Caitie let him envelop her in his arms. He was still wet and warm, and smelled of the damned sea. “Oh, and Breck says hi. He wanted to come over, but he got a phone call and disappeared.” He pulled back, wiggling his eyebrows at her.
Caitie tried to keep her tone innocent, ignoring the way her heart sped at his
name. “You were surfing with Breck?”
“All the guys were there.” Lucas shrugged. “Weekends are made for surfing.”
“Yeah, sure.”
“Oh, and Griff wanted to talk with you, too. He’s scared you’re going to dress the whole wedding party in Santa suits. He wants to point out he doesn’t need a fake beard since he already has a real one.”
“That sounds like Griff.” She grinned. “And he would look great in red.”
“It’s his favorite color.” Lucas paused, running his tongue along his bottom lip. “You’re not going to dress us in Santa suits, are you?”
Caitie laughed. “Of course I’m not going to dress you in Santa suits. Unless you want me to, in which case I’ll argue with you, but agree to, because it’s your wedding.”
“Ember would kill me. And you.”
“I think we should both kill Griffin for thinking of the idea.”
Lucas nodded. “Yeah, we definitely should. Except he’s my best man. I kind of need him alive for now.”
“Okay, okay, I won’t kill him. But if he mentions Santa suits again, I may maim him. Or at least kick him in the groin, okay?”
Lucas smiled. “You could do it tonight. Everybody’s coming over this evening. I was hoping you’d join us since you aren’t leaving.”
“At your beach cottage?” she asked. Lucas and Ember lived in the old cottage that used to belong to their grandparents. Caitie and Lucas had jointly owned it, but she’d happily sold her interest to him a while back. She had no desire to live anywhere near the ocean.
“Yeah. I can’t wait for you to see what we’ve done with the place. You won’t recognize it.”
She took a deep breath. This was where she should finally confess her fear of the water. Explain how much she hated the sea, the beach, and everything it represented. But the thought alone made her chest tighten.
At first, maybe it had been self-preservation which caused her to keep her mouth shut. Back in those days, admitting to fear was like inviting Lucas and his friends to taunt her. But she was embarrassed, too. What California girl would admit to having a phobia about the beach? She wouldn’t have been able to survive the ridicule.
And now it didn’t matter. She lived in New York. No point in having a heart to heart about something that wasn’t even an issue for most of the year.
“I have to work tonight,” she said, wrinkling her nose. “I’ve got so much to catch up on before tomorrow.”
“No way. Come on, Caitie. Everybody wants to see you. Breck and Jack, jeez even Griff. It won’t be the same without you.”
She swallowed hard. “I have too much to do. I need to rearrange a dozen meetings, plus I have to research venues for the wedding. I want to be all ready tomorrow when they open up for business.”
“You sure?” Lucas looked genuinely disappointed.
If she was a stronger woman she’d head back with him. Hang out on the beach with Ember and her friends, splash in the surf with Griff and Jack.
See Brecken, the way her body wanted her to.
But she wasn’t strong. It had been enough of a struggle last night at the beach club, but at least there’d been a distance between herself and the water. But she knew how close Lucas’s cottage was to the shoreline. And the thought of being anywhere near there made her hands shake.
“I’m certain,” she said, her voice full of apologies. “But tell them I’ll catch up with them before I bail for New York, okay?”
