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Chapter Eight
“Hardt’s is only a few blocks and it’s so sunny out. Would you like to walk?” Earlier rain clouds had passed over, but she knew they wouldn’t stay around long. She stepped out the door but quickly stepped back to allow a jogger pushing a stroller more room.
For a minute her heart stopped, and she forgot to breathe. It all happened so fast. The thick heel of her boot caught on the metal frame of the door she’d just walked through and pulled her back abruptly. Before she could catch herself, Marshall had his arms around her and she found herself turning to look up into his eyes. If she didn’t know any better, she would say lady luck and happenstance was having a great time with her right about now.
“Whoa there, sweetheart. You okay?”
She sighed, and nodded with a slight smile. She knew the second heat hit her cheeks. “It seems I either have the worst of luck or the best. I can’t decide which yet?”
Marshall chuckled and the sound felt so good through their connection where her back rested on his chest. “Being the optimist, I would go for the best, but then again, you have given me two opportunities to be a knight in shining armor.”
And two chances to feel all that sexy, hard muscle.
“Indeed.”
Turn the clock back a few centuries and he would be the clichéd hero that rode in on his white horse to save the damsel. That gave her pause. Being the damsel never sat well with her, but he didn’t know about her predicament so that calmed her nerves.
Her phone dinged with a message, but she didn’t dare look. She knew it was Callie giving her point of view of the chain of events with sassy commentaries while she was at it.
He raked a hand through the side of his hair and for the first time looked less powerhouse CEO and more laid-back cowboy. “Let’s leave the walking for another time. How about we drive?” He swung open the car door to a rental parked close to the curb. A corner of his lip tilted in a half-smile and the way his eyes sparkled caught her off guard. So handsome and kind, and definitely from Texas.
She laughed and eased closer to the idling car. “You always take such good care of your wedding planners?”
He tossed his hat into the back and buckled up in the driver’s seat. “My first and last time. Gotta make it count.” He winked.
“Did you pick the wedding date, or did Stella?”
“Neither. My father did, actually. I would have never picked a summer wedding in a million years if it were up to me. Too damn hot. Especially in Texas.”
To understand her clients’ needs, she liked to dig a little deeper to find what made them tick. Marshall Blackwood was not making her job any easier.
“Oh. That’s a first. I’ve never heard of a father picking a son’s wedding date. Not that I’m judging, mind you.” She fiddled with the strap of her purse and pondered on the many levels of his loaded statement.
“It’s a first for me too. Kind of blindsided me, to be honest. Turn here?”
She nodded. Interesting, but he didn’t offer more so she didn’t ask. Those kinds of details were not for her to dig into if the client didn’t want to share.
“Pool parties, beach time, palm trees, and barbeques. To me summer is such a happy time. Everyone seems happier, ya know. Might be the umbrella drinks and beer making it so,” she laughed. “But they bring lots of people together for sure. Is that why he picked it?”
“You’re a curious one, aren’t you?”
A warmth eased over her as he laughed at her shocked expression.
“Don’t worry. I get it all the time. Believe me, you and my sister would get along perfectly.”
“Will I get to meet her before the wedding? Oh, on that note, I thought we could also get the measurements for the wedding dress, but maybe Stella can just forward them to me and I’ll have dresses picked out and ready to go when she gets back in town. She will be back, right? We’ll also need to go over venues in your preferred city. And rings.” Juniper plucked her spiraled day planner from her bag and slid it open with the golden ribbon holding her spot. “Honestly I didn’t get too much done last night in the way of planning the actual wedding. There’s so much to get done so I was moving all my other responsibilities over to my assistant for her to handle. I’ll need to talk with Stella soon on anything she would like me to include in the details. Maybe we can do a video chat, or she could—”
A warm hand came down on hers and she paused mid-thought.
“Breathe, Juniper.”
“Sorry, am I going too fast? When I get into planner mode, it can be a hassle to keep up.”
“Not at all. Dress, location, rings. I got all that.” Marshall took his hand back and rubbed his neck, “About Stella.” A small trill came from the pocket of his coat. He let out a heavy sigh. “Hold that thought, please.”
“Blackwood,” he said stiffly into the earpiece. She felt sorry for whoever was on the other end.
There was so little time. She scribbled a couple of other notes while she waited for Marshall to finish his call.
