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“Off the rack will be fine.”
“If you say so,” Juliette said, tapping her fingers against the desktop. “Can you take tomorrow off? We can head into New York or Boston and shop.”
“There are bridal stores in Rhode Island.” She enjoyed a good shopping trip in New York as much as the next person, but she’d prefer not to make the drive anytime soon.
Juliette rolled her eyes. “Please. We won’t find anything around here. So what do you say?”
She didn’t have any meetings scheduled for tomorrow, and she did need a wedding dress. “Sure, but let’s go into Boston.”
When the snowflakes started coming down while he packed his bags, Josh considered spending the night in Bar Harbor rather than drive back to Providence. The text he received from Courtney while digging out his birth certificate letting him know she wasn’t going to her friend’s made the final decision for him.
Once out of Maine, the snow changed to a messy wintery mix and stayed that way for much of the ride. By the time he reached Providence though, it turned back to all snow, but at least so far there was little accumulation on the ground. If the steady stream continued all night however, it would be a very different story in the morning.
As promised, he stopped for takeout on the way back to the Mayfair—a task he should’ve known would take far longer than necessary today of all days. Although his publicist had been selective of which media sites she told about their engagement, the news had quickly spread to others, including perhaps his least favorite of them all, the Star Insider.
When he walked in the penthouse, the lights were on in both the kitchen and the living room, but Courtney wasn’t in either. This morning he’d left before Courtney, but he didn’t think she
would leave them on all day. So if the lights were on, she was here.
“Courtney,” he called, setting down the bags of food and removing the items inside. When silence answered him, he passed through the living room and down the hall. Both her bedroom and office doors were closed. He knocked on the bedroom door first. Again he got no response. Moving down the hall, he rapped his knuckles on the office door.
“Hey. Have you been home long?” Courtney asked from her bedroom doorway.
Her wet hair hung loose, and she was wearing flannel pajama bottoms and a cropped white V-neck T-shirt that didn’t quite reach her waist. Unlike last night’s shirt that was oversized, this one fit snugly, and thanks to the wet spots created by her hair, he could see the outline of her nips through the fabric.
Josh forced his eyes away from the tantalizing view and met her eyes. “Uh, no. I just got here. You?” Needing to do something with his hands before they got him in trouble, he shoved them in his pockets.
Courtney closed the door and walked in his direction. “Got home about an hour and a half ago. I hoped some time in the Jacuzzi would help me relax. It was a crazy day.”
He wouldn’t mind a soak in the Jacuzzi either, with or without her. After so much time in the car driving, his back and shoulders were tight. Unfortunately, his bathroom didn’t contain one. “Did it?” He followed her into the kitchen, careful to keep his eyes trained on the back of her head.
“A little.” Opening a cupboard, she reached up for the plates, causing her shirt to ride up. Like a moth drawn to light, his eyes locked on the bare skin now on display. “What did you get us?” She put the plates down near the takeout containers before getting out silverware.
With her back again turned toward him, he tried to adjust himself. Had she picked the pajama top to intentionally torture him? If so, it was working. “Thai from Sweet Ginger. I hope that’s okay.”
“I haven’t had a chance to try there yet.” She added a little from each container to her plate. “Let’s eat in the other room and watch television.”
Josh took his time filling his plate and grabbed two bottles of sparkling water from the refrigerator. When he joined her in what most would consider a family room, Courtney already had the television on and she was scrolling through old I Love Lucy episodes.
“Any requests?” she asked him.
Oh, he had a request all right, but it had nothing to do with what they watched while eating dinner. “Surprise me.” He considered one of the overstuffed chairs. It would be the safest place in the room to sit. Josh walked past the one closest to him and joined Courtney on the sofa.
The only sound in the room came from the flat-screen television mounted on the wall while they ate. Or more specifically in Josh’s case, while he ate and envisioned removing Courtney’s top so he could see more than just the outline of her nipples. If any erotic images were going through her head, she didn’t let on.
“Callie said we can use Cliff House for the wedding. She offered to help with any planning too, and I already called Henri. He’ll call me back soon with some menu ideas. Did you get everything you needed today?” She opened the bottle of water he’d brought in for her.
“Yeah. We can go to City Hall tomorrow for the marriage license.”
“We’ll have to go on Friday. I’m going shopping for a wedding dress in Boston with my sister tomorrow.”
“I’m surprised you’re not going to New York.”
“She wanted to, but I don’t feel like it. There are plenty of bridal stores in Boston. I won’t have a problem finding something.”
For about the fifth time since sitting down, he rubbed his neck and rolled it from side to side.
“Stiff neck?”
