Once Tempted (10 page)

Clever, Mom. Real clever.

“Uh, Adele, I’m not sure this idea will work.”

Ward looked over at Tess. Thank God she’d made the objection. If it had come from him, his mother would have simply ignored him. She could be infuriatingly stubborn once she got the bit between her teeth—a trait Ms. Tess Casari shared. Tess’s brown eyes might remind him of rich espresso but the looks she sent his way were anything but warm.

“Really, Tess? Why?” his mother asked, with the perfect mix of surprise and confusion. “You’re detail-oriented and efficient. You have excellent style and taste and the good sense to know that neither has to cost an arm and a leg, which is crucial in planning a wedding. You couldn’t find a sweeter bride to work with than Carrie, but she’ll need guidance. I think you have the patience to help her and get the job done. And I thought you were interested in events planning. If things work out, we’d be happy to have you take over Macie’s position permanently.”

Ahh, the big carrot had been dangled, Ward thought.

“I’m sure this Carrie and Brian are both very nice people. And I would like to do events planning. It’s more that I haven’t really made a decision about how long I’ll stay in the area—”

No surprise there, Ward told himself. Tess Casari didn’t need to wear her absurdly high heels day in and day out to underscore that she didn’t belong here. He imagined that once she replaced her death trap of a car, she’d head for some city where she could saunter down wide, smoothly paved sidewalks and dazzle the male population with those killer legs of hers. Why that thought annoyed him as much as seeing that Reid had
presented her with a bouquet of flowers he refused to analyze.

“Oh!” Adele was silent for a moment. “I thought you were enjoying being at Silver Creek. And during your interview you mentioned about wanting to work in events planning.” His mom wasn’t above laying a little guilt trip now and then. Of course she usually only subjected her family to them—which only showed how much she’d come to like Tess.

“I do like working here, and yes, I would like to do events planning. And I would love the opportunity to be in charge of events planning. But planning a
wedding—
”

The desperation in that single word caught Ward’s attention. Tess was very good at hiding her emotions—her cool dislike of him the exception—but, sharpening his gaze, he could detect the tension in the set of her shoulders.

Was it because she was still in mourning for her husband that she was resisting being in charge of planning a wedding? It was difficult to tell. Even if Ward hadn’t been intentionally keeping his distance, Tess was reserved. Private. He’d never heard her chattering on about her life the way some women did.

As if realizing she might have revealed too much by letting the word “wedding” dangle in the air, she hurriedly continued. “It’s just that I’m not sure I’m ready to handle all that a wedding involves on my own. I might not be up to the job.”

Ward wasn’t buying it. And from the expressions around the table, neither was the rest of his family. Tess might have been working as his mother’s assistant for only a little over a month but he’d already noted her efficiency and attention to detail. He knew, too, that if his mother didn’t believe Tess was capable of doing the job and doing it to Silver Creek’s high standards, she would never have suggested it. The reputation of their guest
ranch—not to mention Brian’s and Carrie’s happiness—was too important.

“As an events planner you need as much experience handling weddings as any other elaborate function, Tess.” His mother’s tone, eminently reasonable, was one Ward recognized. She employed it when she was determined to get her way. Few people could withstand it, not temperamental kitchen staff who sliced and diced with wickedly long knives, not brawny ranch hands who could rope and wrestle a full-ton steer to the ground, not beautiful, dark-eyed Italian women who walked with a mesmerizing roll of their hips on stiletto heels.

“Yes, I know that.”

“Good. Then you should take this one on,” his mother said. “Truly, this is the perfect wedding for you to cut your teeth on. Brian and Carrie couldn’t be more adorable.”

“Mom’s right. It’s highly doubtful that Carrie will morph into Bridezilla on you,” Reid offered.

Quinn nodded and got into the act. “Yeah, Carrie’s sweet. It’s her stepsister Erica you have to worry about. She’s something else—”

“Quinn,” was all their mother needed to say for his sister to shut her overactive mouth with an audible click of her teeth.

The look on Quinn’s face was too much. Christ, did his family really think the mere mention of Erica was enough to trigger a self-destructive bender? Hardly. He was just glad to have escaped the steel jaws of the matrimonial trap relatively unscathed.

“Tess, we know it’s a lot to ask, but we would be so grateful if you’d agree to take over for Macie and handle the wedding for Ward’s friends.” When his dad added his voice to the chorus, Ward actually felt a moment of
pity for Tess. No way was she going to be able to withstand the concerted campaign.

“And between Macie’s files and mine, you’ll have a detailed list of all the merchants you’ll need to contact. And, of course, there’ll be Ward to help you every step of the way.” His mother graced the two of them with the brightest of smiles.

He wasn’t fooled. That smile told him in no uncertain terms that he’d be banished to the doghouse if he didn’t provide her protégé every assistance. He knew he should be irritated by this latest attempt to meddle in his life, but he figured this was a small price to pay in exchange for having a pretty terrific mother.

Now the only question was, how long would it take for Tess to recognize that further resistance was futile?

W
HAT COULD SHE
do but accept? Tess asked herself. Adele had been so generous in hiring her, a complete unknown, to be her personal assistant. She couldn’t repay that kindness by refusing to work on this upcoming wedding just because she’d grown jaded about the institution of marriage. Surely she could handle the details and pull together a successful ceremony without being reminded of her own disastrous marriage. Plus, she’d be a fool to walk away from the opportunity to work as Silver Creek’s events planner. She’d be acquiring the vital experience to run her own business one day.

“Okay, I’m in.” She just hoped Brian and Carrie wouldn’t be disappointed when they learned she had no previous experience as a wedding planner. She hadn’t even planned her own.

The reaction around the conference table was immediate and unanimous. Even Ward smiled. Well, he would, she thought. The dark prince had once again gotten his way.

Reid’s signature grin was wide. “I should have gotten you a bigger bouquet,” he teased.

Adele, too, looked pleased as punch. “Thank you, Tess. I knew we could count on you.”

Quinn pushed back her chair and rose to her feet. “I owe you big-time for letting me off the hook, city girl. I’ll have to think of a suitable token of appreciation.”

“There’s no need, really.” From what she’d observed, Quinn’s tastes ran in a very different direction from hers.

“It’ll be fun finding the right thank-you present.” Turning to Ward, she said, “I’ll head down to the corral and tack any of the horses still remaining.”

Daniel, too, had risen from his seat. “Let me add my thanks, Tess. With you and Ward working together on the wedding, Adele and I will be able to truly enjoy our vacation.”

Her working with Ward? She’d straighten out that misconception soon enough. The job would be stressful enough without having to deal with him.

Daniel extended a courteous hand to help Adele from her chair. “Darling, I think you and I should go check in on Phil and Macie. She might be getting an earful.”

“Phil did look quite annoyed at Macie’s surprise announcement. I’ll be back in a few minutes, Tess, to do the tour of the public rooms. Then we can start going through the files of vendors and merchants so you have the best addresses. If you could give Roo our feedback on the desserts?”

“Of course.” Tess nodded and then started stacking the empty plates next to her.

Across the table Ward mirrored her actions.
Oh, no
. She wanted him gone. “You really don’t need to clear the—”

A single look stopped her protest in midstream. How was it that he managed to get his way without even opening his mouth?

“We have to talk.”

That’s what she got for finding fault with his silent commands. Now she’d have to listen to them. It only
made her more annoyed that she liked the low timbre of his voice. There was a pleasing texture to it. It made her think of rich caramel sprinkled with grains of sea salt.

It didn’t matter that she’d sampled her fair share of Roo’s baked treats just minutes earlier. It was not a good idea to associate Ward Knowles with her favorite indulgence.

Banishing ludicrous thoughts of how Ward might taste, she made her voice as crisp and businesslike as possible. “Perhaps later. I don’t want to keep Roo or your mother waiting.” She gave him the smile she reserved for obnoxious clients and felt a surge of satisfaction when his eyes narrowed slightly. Score one for her.

“Let me clarify. We need to call Brian and Carrie so that I can introduce you to them. I’ll have time this afternoon, once Quinn and I are back from the trail ride and have tended to the horses. How about meeting at three o’clock?”

“I’m sorry. There’s the Valentine’s Day tea. I told George and Jeff I’d help with the setup and wait on tables.” Which meant she’d have to don a pair of blue jeans. Silver Creek’s waitstaff dressed down, in crisp white shirts, blue jeans, and cowboy boots. This last was where she would draw the line. Self-respecting Italian girls from Queens did not own cowboy boots.

“With so little time until June, I’d expect you would want to meet your clients. You do plan to organize this wedding, don’t you?”

She folded her arms across her chest and wished she’d worn her highest heels so she wasn’t staring up at that squared jaw of his. “I told your parents I would. But I don’t need you to perform the introductions for me. I’m perfectly capable of phoning your friends and discussing their wishes—”

“Which would be fine except that Carrie doesn’t have
a lot of experience in this sort of thing. It’ll be easier for the three of you if there’s someone who can translate—”

Tess gave him a look. “She can’t speak English?”

“Mainly she speaks astrophysics. She studies planet systems. Floral arrangements, wedding dresses, and menu selections not so much.”

Tess felt her own universe tilt crazily. Just what had she gotten herself into? “Planet systems?”

Ward nodded. “Let’s see if I remember the title of her dissertation. It was something along the lines of: ‘The DEEP2 Galaxy Redshift and the Role of Environment in Galaxy Formation.’ ”

“Catchy.” She frowned. “I didn’t know we had a deep galaxy. I thought ‘vast’ covered it.”

Ward gave a small smile. “Not that kind of deep,” he corrected. “ ‘DEEP’ stands for deep extragalactic evolutionary probe. She’s doing a postdoc at MIT now.”

“Of course,” Tess said faintly as her mind whirred. And she’d thought she had trouble connecting with Quinn, whose world revolved around the animal kingdom. She always needed to remind herself that when Quinn spoke of kids she was actually referring to baby goats. A good wedding planner had to be able to understand a couple’s vision and turn it into a memorable, beautiful wedding. What would she do if this Carrie person could speak only in quarks and black holes?

Suddenly, brushing Ward off didn’t seem like such a brilliant idea—not until she was confident that she could understand Carrie’s world and envision how she wanted her wedding.

Still, it was important to let Mr. I-Know-What’s-Best Ward Knowles know that she wasn’t a pushover. Nor was he the boss of her—at least not exactly. “Your mother may have suggested that you help me with the wedding details, but it’s not necessary. I work better on my own.”

He tilted his head. “Maybe so, but there’s another reason
why you and I will be working as a team on this wedding.”

He really did have the high-and-mighty attitude down pat, she thought with a frown. “And that reason would be?”

“My mother. She’s in matchmaking mode. I don’t want her to suspect I’m on to her.”

“What?” Of all the answers she’d expected, this one hadn’t even made the extended list. “Matchmaking? Are you serious?”

“Afraid so. She can’t help it. Some women needlepoint. Some garden. Others gossip. My mother match-makes. She has a sentimental heart. Her fondest wish is to see her children married and to hear the happy squeals of grandbabies.”

Unfortunately, Ward’s words rang true. Tess had noticed that Adele seemed to get a little misty-eyed over young married couples that stayed at the ranch, especially when the women were expecting. She must not have drunk enough coffee, for the significance of what he’d said only then registered. “Wait, you mean she’s trying to get you and me together? No, she can’t be serious.”

“I’m afraid so. Once she and Dad return from their trip to Spain I’ll break the tragic news that sadly you and I were not to be.”