The Wedding Dress (12 page)
Tyce was still in Colorado with Whitney, and even though it hadn’t been easy to put on this wedding without him, Rose was absolutely thrilled that he’d re-found the love of his life after five years apart.
So many friends, made so happy. That was what Rose loved about the wedding business. Even when the details were as overwhelming as they’d been for Felicity’s wedding, in the end it was all about love.
And soon, it was going to be her turn to walk down the aisle.
She and Donovan had taken their time, carefully planning out the future. They’d even started to build a house together. Her wedding date was almost here.
So why did she feel like there was something not quite right? Given the extensive planning they’d done and her expertise, it should be the most beautiful wedding ever.
Frustrated with the train of her thoughts, Rose picked up a heavy garbage bag and headed for the dumpster at the very edge of her property, but the train just chugged right along with her.
RJ came out of the building and frowned as he caught her standing in the middle of the lawn gripping the garbage bag for dear life.
“Still feeling the champagne from last night, aren’t you?” he teased. “The rest of us have got it covered here. Why don’t you sit down with a big bottle of water?”
Normally, she wouldn’t have shirked her post-wedding duties. But tonight, all she could do was nod and let him take the garbage bag from her.
“You did a great job with this wedding. You should be proud of what you’ve created at the Rose Chalet. Really proud.”
Maybe, she mused as he walked off to throw out the garbage, RJ was right about the post-champagne headache that had been burning around the edges of her brain all day. Best friend or not, she shouldn’t have gotten drunk with Anne the night before the biggest wedding of her career. Rose couldn’t even remember now how it had all happened.
But she could remember who had helped take her home, and before that, how Anne had asked if she’d ever shared a perfect kiss with someone that had made her feel cherished and loved.
She also remembered that she hadn’t told Anne the truth last night about the identity of the man who had given her the perfect kiss.
How could she when it hadn’t been with Donovan?
~ THE END ~
Don’t miss the first three books in the Four Weddings and a Fiasco series
(Four Weddings and a Fiasco, Book #1)
(Four Weddings and a Fiasco, Book #2)
(Four Weddings and a Fiasco, Book #3)
Watch for Rose and RJ’s love story in
THE WEDDING KISS
(Four Weddings and a Fiasco, Book #5)
Coming this winter!
* * *
Please enjoy the following excerpt from Lucy Kevin’s books...
THE WEDDING GIFT
Book #1 in the Four Weddings and a Fiasco Series
© 2012 Lucy Kevin
After Julie Delgado’s restaurant closes, she temporarily takes over the catering position at the Rose Chalet, a full-service San Francisco wedding venue. She plans to dazzle the bride and groom so the chalet’s owner will keep her around, but fate has other plans for her when the bride’s brother shows up for the first food tasting.
Andrew Kyle is not only the Cuisine Channel’s Edgy Eats host and chef, but his recent review of Julie’s restaurant was the final nail in its coffin. Once he meets Julie at the Rose Chalet, he’s certain she’s playing it safe. And he wants nothing more than to be the one to break her guarded passions loose.
But despite the undeniable sparks between Julie and Andrew–and the fact that he seems to believe in her when no one else does–can she afford to be taking risks with her cooking, with her career…or with her heart?
Enjoy the following excerpt for THE WEDDING GIFT...
It wasn’t easy trying to finish off the main courses and desserts, knowing all the while that Andrew Kyle was probably out there telling the Rose Chalet’s owner exactly how awful Julie’s food was. And Rose would listen, of course, because what else would she be able to do in the face of a triple whammy: celebrity chef, the groom’s brother, and great dimples?
Enough about the dimples, Julie ordered herself. Just remember what he did.
It was pretty hard to forget. One review from the city’s most prominent TV chef, and her business had come crashing down around her ears. The faint trickle of new customers Julie had hoped would widen into a stream dried up completely. Her entire dream went south in a matter of weeks, all thanks to the man who was currently sampling Julie’s seafood platter.
Well, she couldn’t let him ruin this dream too. Which meant Julie couldn’t do anything horrible to his food, even if a small part of her wanted the revenge.
The truth was, the best revenge would be to show him just how wrong he had been. All she had to do was present him with the best plates of food in her life, and then force him to eat his words.
Easy.
Though if it was that easy, why was her hand shaking while she finished the duck? She needed to focus, take her time, and—
“Is everything okay?”
Julie jumped at the sound of Andrew’s voice, almost slicing a finger open in the process.
What was he doing in her kitchen? Had he finally realized who she was? Had he come to gloat?
Or, maybe, to apologize for what he’d done?
Knowing anything she really wanted to say to him would get her instantly fired by Rose, Julie settled for, “I’m not sure you should be in here.”
“No, it’s fine—”
“Julie,” she reminded him, like he hadn’t just been told her name a few minutes ago. “Julie Delgado.”
Was there a flicker of recognition in his eyes? Did he even vaguely remember her name?
Then again, why would he? He was a famous chef. She was a nobody who couldn’t keep her own kitchen open and was now cooking for scraps at a wedding venue.
“I asked Rose before I came in to see the kitchen where the food for the wedding might be prepared.”
“
Might
be?”
“My brother and his fiancé deserve the best. I promised I’d cast my chef’s eye over it as my wedding gift to them. Which is why I’d appreciate it if you could bring the desserts out with the main courses and stay with us as we go through everything.” He flashed that brilliant smile of his. “After all, I’m sure the two of us will have a lot to talk about.”
For a moment, Julie wondered if he meant the review, but those darn dimples of his were turning her brain just enough to mush so that all she could manage was, “Will we?”
“Sure,” Andrew replied, with another smile.
Oh my God, after all he’d done, was he actually flirting with her?
Julie just barely resisted the urge to hit him with the nearest thing on hand, but only because it happened to be a saucepan full of steadily reducing plum sauce. Of all the arrogant…
Again, Julie forced herself to take a deep breath and reminded herself that since she obviously wasn’t important enough for the big star to remember, why
wouldn’t
he try out the charm that had everybody else fooled?
“I’d be happy to bring out everything at once,” Julie said, if only because it seemed like the quickest way to get him out of her kitchen. “Just give me a minute or two.”
Actually, it was more like ten, but at least for those blissful minutes, Julie didn’t have to worry about anything more serious than whether her gateaux had set properly, and how she was possibly going to balance everything. As fun as it might be to dream of ‘accidentally’ tripping and covering Andrew Kyle with food, Julie knew perfectly well that she wasn’t going to do it.
In the end, she was surprised when Andrew got up to help her with the plates and even made a trip to the kitchen to carry out the desserts.
Once they sat back down, Andrew examined the plates with a critical eye. Beside him, Rose’s expression was indecipherable. Of course, she was probably as concerned as Julie was that this should go well, and if she’d ever watched
Edgy Eats
–or read one of Andrew’s restaurant reviews–
Rose would know how harsh his judgments could be.
Taking a spare seat at the table, Julie looked at the plates that held the first course. What reception had Andrew given them?
Watching Andrew Kyle eat was an experience. He didn’t talk between bites, as though that would in some way spoil his concentration. Instead he assembled the food carefully on his fork, closing his eyes and letting his nose take in the scent of it for a moment before he finally pushed it into that sensuous mouth.
Julie found herself briefly entranced by the way he clearly wanted to involve as many of his senses as possible, by the fact that he seemed to treat food as something truly important.
Of course, that didn’t make up for the way he kept Julie and Rose waiting while he tasted everything. In fact, the only time he spoke at all was about halfway through, when he glanced up and raised an eyebrow.
“Aren’t you going to join in, Julie?”
“Worried I might have done something to the food?”
Andrew laughed at that although Rose was clearly less than pleased by the barely veiled testiness in Julie’s question.
“Come on, join me. I always feel weird tasting things alone. Rose?”
Rose held up her hands. “I just had lunch.”
Andrew returned his gaze to Julie. “Looks like it’s just you and me, then.”
It was clearly a challenge. Besides, Julie knew she was never going to get away with the same excuse as Rose.
She picked up a fork and attacked the sample dishes she had produced as best she could. She’d always eaten like that; Aunt Evie sometimes laughingly asked if she thought her food was going to be snatched away in a minute.
Julie worked to concentrate on the taste of everything, looking for anything that the celebrity chef might try to pick up on. Were the scallops perfectly seared? Was the texture of the cake right? Was there any little mistake at all that was going to cause a problem?
She almost sighed with relief as she tasted the results of her efforts. As far as she could tell, everything had come out without any problems at all.
Poke holes in that, Andrew Kyle.
Apparently, Rose was as eager to know the outcome as Julie was. “What do you think?” she asked Andrew.
Julie couldn’t help noticing the way Rose’s tone became so much more formal around an important client.
“Is everything to your satisfaction?”
Andrew put his fork down carefully. “It’s all well cooked,” he said. “The scallops are nicely done and the fish goes well with them. The salad is crisp and fresh. The plum sauce with the duck is just right, and I like the richness of the gateaux.”
“Well, that’s great,” Rose said. “I’m sure that Julie can produce everything to exactly the same standards come the actual wedding day.”
“I’m sure of that too,” Andrew said.
But, somehow, the compliment didn’t make Julie feel as warm and fuzzy inside as it should have. Maybe it was the tone in which he said it.
Rose seemed determined to ignore his less than thrilled tone. Or maybe she just hoped that if she pressed on, everything would be fine. “Why don’t you sign off on the menu, then, Mr. Kyle, and we’ll—”
“I’m sorry, I can’t do that,” Andrew said, shaking his head.
“But you just said—”
“The food is well prepared,” he said, “but, unfortunately, it’s too bland.”
Bland.
It was the same word he’d used about her restaurant.
Julie’s hands closed on the tablecloth. “Bland?” she repeated.
Andrew nodded. “As I said, it’s fine, it’s just…frankly, it’s wedding food.”
“That’s what this food is for,” Julie had to point out. “A
wedding.
”
“Yes, but it’s for my brother’s wedding, and I’m sorry, this menu won’t work. It’s been done. There’s nothing exciting here. There’s no twist on any of the classic dishes, and there isn’t anything innovative, either. This is my wedding gift to my brother and his fiancée. It needs to be special. But nothing about this menu makes it clear that their wedding is a really special occasion.”
Julie thought the part where there would be a bride and groom saying “I do” in front of a few hundred people might be a clue as to the specialness of the occasion, but, of course, she wasn’t going to say that. Besides, just then, she was too busy remembering the first time Andrew Kyle had made these comments about her food. Remembering how much it had hurt.
About as much as it hurt right now, come to think of it.
“So what is it you want?” Julie asked. She very carefully kept her voice level. Completely devoid of emotion.
Even so, Rose shot her a look before taking over the negotiations. “Yes, perhaps if you describe exactly what it is you do want, we will be better able to provide it.”
Andrew smiled at them, actually had the nerve to pull those gorgeous lips of his up at the corners as if nothing was wrong. “Something special. Something different. Something with a bit of imagination to it.”
He focused his gaze on Julie and she refused to let her heart go pitter-patter, darn it.
“Something you couldn’t cook in your sleep, Julie.” Another smile. “This wedding is a big deal for our family and I
know
you can come up with something better than what you’ve served me today.”
Thank God at least one of them knew it, Julie thought as Rose dove in to try to salvage the situation.
“Are you sure we can’t—”
Andrew raised a hand to cut her off. “I’m sorry, but I’ll need to see a completely revised menu before I can agree to sign off on anything.”
“I see,” Rose said. She didn’t sound happy about it.
