Page 56 of Marry Me

“Tomorrow is great. You say when and where, and I’m there.” Megan placed a slow kiss at the base of Allison’s neck that made her knees forget their purpose.

“More,” Ally whispered, closing her eyes.

She felt Megan smile against her neck before kissing her there once again, slowly, softly. She placed another kiss on the underside of Allison’s jaw. She realized distantly that while Megan’s mouth was on her neck, her hands were on her ass, cupping it. How did she miss that moment, and more importantly, how did she continue to stand up with everything so warm and strange and wonderful?

“I can come to your place tomorrow night, if it’s available?” Allison said. The heat passing between them begged it to be available. What a crime it would be, unavailability. She needed more time to stare at Megan, talk to her, and—God—touch her. She was like a damn drug that made every aspect of life better.

Megan laughed, pushed off the desk, and ran her fingertips through Allison’s hair, smoothing it, returning it to its original state. Always orderly. “I’ll make sure it is. I have no memory of renting it out.”

Allison’s body decided to hold on to her arousal, which was not at all helpful as she drove home, alone with her racy daydreams that both excited her and sent her into a fear-laced spiral. She gripped thesteering wheel and focused on the road, terrified, excited, and terrified again. This date they’d just made had her feeling like she was about to leap off a cliff, a beautiful cliff, but a cliff all the same. Every part of her screamed for more with Megan, which had to be a very telling signpost. She should shut down the overthinking, punch the self-doubt in the face, and remember how special Megan made her feel. Her vibrating phone pulled her from her thoughts as it danced in her cupholder. Stopped at a red light, she checked the readout:Brent.

She went still.

In so many ways, it felt like her old life was calling her up on the phone, reminding her who she was and to get the hell back to regularly scheduled programming. A return to stasis would calm the waves, sure, and that offered relief, but at what expense? She knew the answer, her own. She cared a lot about Brent Carmichael, but the door to that world was closing, and the path in front of her seemed bright, and infinitely more suited to her. The traffic light turned green, and the phone’s vibration ceased. Ally drove on, exhaled, and nodded.

She was headed in the right direction.

* * *

It was getting close to lunch the next day when Megan exited her office in search of a cup of coffee to get her through. She’d lost herself in a sea of client calls, checking in with her nearly there brides to be sure they were up-to-date on their to-do lists, and to let them know that their decisions would soon be final, giving them the opportunity to rethink a detail or two before there was no turning back. Mornings like this one, when she needed to beonfor hours at a time, seemed to fly by in a haze of too much smiling and lots of reassuring. This coffee would help save her. When she came face-to-face with Brent Carmichael speaking to Demi in the lobby, she snapped right out of mission mode, pulled up short.

“Brent,” she said, forcing the happy-to-see-you energy. Anything to mask the shock and concern at his appearance at her workplace. “It’s lovely to see you.”

“Is it?”

She felt her smile dim, but she refused to let it disappear. “Of course.”

“I don’t have an appointment. I thought maybe you could spare a couple of minutes.”

“Sure. Why don’t you come into my office? It’s a bit more private.” She and Kelsey, who’d emerged from her office, exchanged a look. She didn’t expect any kind of trouble from Brent, but the curt nod Kelsey gave her let her know that she had Megan’s back and would keep an eye on the situation. They had two or three brides in the office meeting their respective coordinators, and Megan had no desire for a scene. Not that Brent seemed the type. Though you never knew how a normally grounded person would react when they felt scorned.

Brent nodded and followed her, work-ready in his very expensive blue suit. Once behind closed doors, she turned to him. “I wasn’t expecting you.”

“I realize.” He unbuttoned his jacket and took a seat in the chair she indicated.

“What can we do for you? New event coming up?” She sat behind her desk with a smile, knowing full well this wasn’t a business call.

“I thought we should probably have a friendly chat given recent events. We’re old friends, right? Can we do that? Level with each other like two adults.”

“Of course we can.” She paused and folded her arms on her desk. “This is about Allison.”

He nodded, the smile faded from his lips, and she could see that this was a man in turmoil. That part didn’t feel good. Could he be an arrogant oblivious knucklehead? Sure. Was he a bad guy? No. “I’m worried about her.”

“I can understand that. But if she’s taught me anything, it’s that she’s an astute girl. I think the world doesn’t give her enough credit.”

His gaze narrowed as if he didn’t appreciate the education. “I would never underestimate Allison. She’s amazing and capable of taking on pretty much anything. It’s what first caught my attention about her. One of the things I love, still.”

“But?”

“But this is different.” His jaw tightened, and he glanced to the side. “She’s got cold feet, and I think it’s confused her. She’s mistaken her nerves, her jitters”—he threw a hand in the air—“for something else.”

“And that something else would be her feelings for me.”

“Yes.” He gripped the armrests of the chair. “I don’t know what kind of spell you’ve cast on her, but it would be nice if you could take a look at the bigger picture and help her understand what’s actually happening and uncast it.”

“You want me to help her see that she’s just nervous.” Megan exhaled, because it was apparent that Brent didn’t have a good read on the situation. Allison had never struck her as someone nervous about marriage. If anything, her attraction to Megan seemed to ruin the plans she was on board with. “The problem is that I’m not sure I agree with you. I think Allison is learning things about herself on legitimate terms, independent of your engagement. The timing, I can admit, was not ideal.”

“Yeah, well, I thought this learning about herself phase would have been over by now, and we’d be back on course. So you can see my growing concern.”

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