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He pulled her in for a quick kiss on the lips and gave her hip a pat. “Now that the cat’s out of the bag, I’ll tell you about all the details later.”
She studied him for a moment before forcing a smile when Diana gave a breathy sigh.
“You really caught a good one, Viv.”
“Apparently so.”
“We’re under a pretty tight deadline for this since the wedding is coming up very soon, but you should see it in the paper on Friday. I’m rooting for the two of you and wishing you every happiness.”
He waited while Viv walked both women to the door, and when she stepped back into the doorway of the living room, she had her arms crossed loosely over her chest.
“That was great, wasn’t it?”
“It was something.”
“Oh, come on,” he said. “You were perfect. She was practically a puddle on the floor with that proposal. Did you see that in a movie or something?”
“It’s actually the way that…” She waved a hand in the air. “Never mind. Yeah, I guess you could say it was a movie. What about you with Rome, though? That was an interesting last-minute addition.”
“Heat of the moment, I guess. Why? You don’t think she bought it?”
Viv paused to wind a scarf loosely around her neck and slip into her jacket. “No, you were very convincing. She definitely bought it. I guess we can write the whole thing off as a big success.”
Something about her tone struck him as off, and she wouldn’t meet his gaze as she crossed to the front door.
“I think it went really well.”
“It did.”
“Then why do you look upset?”
“I don’t know because I’m not upset.” She forced a smile with that same sharpness he recognized from the party. “I just still have a million things to do. Oh, speaking of, you don’t need to worry about taking me for my final dress fitting on Friday. I’m going to ask Sofia if she can take some time off from the bakery to go with me.”
He frowned. “Why?”
“Because it's bad luck for you to see me in my dress, and we've got enough working against us already.” There was that thing in her voice he couldn’t quite place again.
“I don’t have to actually see you in it. I’ll wait outside the room.”
“There’s no need to risk it when my sister is available. We’ll be fine for this one thing. No one has heard from Collin since the engagement party anyway. I’m sure he’s gotten bored and found someone else to harass by now.”
He should be grateful she was letting him off the hook. They had three shipments coming in this weekend, and Declan wanted to work overtime to get things squared away before the wedding. He didn’t want any product sitting while they were distracted. He should let the whole thing drop.
“Ever think he isn’t bothering you because I’ve been with you every step?”
“No, I think he got bored. Either way, I shouldn’t have a ton of errands next week anyway.”
“You’re sure nothing’s wrong?”
“I’m sure.” She jerked open the door and stepped quickly into the cool afternoon. “You did great today. Enjoy the break from following me around, Callahan.”
Before he could stop her, she turned on her heel and practically sprinted down the front walk to her car. He thought the interview had gone really well, all things considered, but something about it had rattled her. He should leave it alone, but before he even closed the door, he knew he wouldn’t.
ChapterThirteen
She’d gotten caught up. That’s what she kept telling herself. Caught up in the show they’d been putting on, the romantic story they’d weaved for the interviewer and the photographer. Caught up in the nearness of him, in faking it too well.
He’d thrown her off with his comment about honeymooning in Rome and how she’d always wanted to go there. She had, but of course he didn’t know that. How could he? She was Italian; Rome was an easy guess. The fact that she’d let it mean anything more, even for a split second, was stupid. It made her feel stupid.
