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“You don’t look so bad yourself.”
That was an understatement. I’d been trying not to ogle him as I fixed his tie, but the suit fit him as if it had been made for him, which, of course, it had. The angles intensified his height and the breadth of his shoulders. It came in sharply at his waist with a single button done. The pants were trim, just hiding the powerful thighs underneath.
A well-made suit was to women what lingerie was to men.
He winked at me and then offered me his arm. “Shall we?”
I nodded. It was safer for me to get out of this room right now or I might have second thoughts about stripping him out of that suit. But we hardly had time.
Even though it was an afternoon wedding, Gavin’s family had asked him to be there for pictures. He was an usher and dressed to match the groomsmen. I didn’t mind arriving with him and ingratiating myself with Margaret.
Gavin parked in the gravel lot before the gorgeous barn that would house the reception. The wedding itself was being set up outside in a meadow surrounded by large oaks. Already, the caterers, florists, and other event planning specialists were getting ready. A tent was being pitched next to the barn for overflow seating, a dance floor, and drinks.
The wedding planner rushed by in mile-high heels as she spoke to the men carrying a circular wooden arch. I recognized her as the woman that Gavin and English had been speaking to that first night I was back in town. Nora.
She saw us, and her smile brightened. “Hi, y’all,” she said with a wave in our direction.
Gavin waved back, and then Nora was gone, off to pull off a five-hundred-person wedding for two American royal families.
The groomsmen were already standing under a gazebo. I could see Blake passing a flask to Malcolm. Locke waved Gavin over.
“You sure you’ll be okay?” Gavin asked me.
“Sure. You know me.”
He tossed me the keys. “If you get bored, you can head out and come back later.”
I stuffed them in my purse. “I’ll be fine. You don’t have to worry about me. Maybe I’ll get coffee or lunch for the bridesmaids. Maggie would appreciate that.”
Gavin opened his mouth to agree, but then his aunt Susannah appeared from inside the barn in a panic. She had a cell phone pressed to her ear. “What do you mean there’s no replacement?”
“Oh no,” Gavin muttered.
Susannah’s eyes widened at the sight of us. She put a finger to her mouth and then continued her conversation. She looked ready to yell at the person on the other line and then just ended up hanging up. “Fuck.”
Gavin laughed. “Aunt Susannah, you never cuss.”
“I know. I know. It’s just … Maggie is going to be so disappointed.”
“What happened?” I asked. “Someone had to cancel?”
“Yes. I need to get with the wedding planner.”
“She went that way,” Gavin said.
Susannah sighed. “She’s from Lubbock. I don’t know if she’ll have a replacement singer for today. We’ll see if she knows someone in town.”
“Singer?” Gavin inquired.
“The only thing Mags said she wanted was someone to sing that song that Grandma always sang to you kids growing up. You remember the one—‘Love Me Tender’?”
Gavin nodded. “Of course. She was always singing that.”
“We hired someone to perform it, and she’s sick. Laryngitis. Can’t sing for two weeks,” Susannah said in dismay. “I’ll have to find a replacement.”
Slowly, Gavin turned to face me, and I realized exactly what he was going to say before it left his mouth. “Whitley can do it.”
“Gavin,” I groaned.
