Page 5 of Chasing I Do
“I looked the other way once. It didn’t work out so well for me,” she said, painful silence weighing thick in the air.
“I’m not Kyle,” he said quietly.
Even though Kyle and Gage were twins, they couldn’t have been more different. Where Kyle was impulsive and outspoken, Gage analyzed every possible outcome and didn’t mince words. Kyle loved the flash, and Gage was content to be the guy behind the curtain.
“No, but it doesn’t matter, because Kyle will always be there. Every time I think I can move on, start over, he’s there.”
Anger simmered beneath the surface. “You’re blaming him for not being able to move on? It was you moving on so abruptly that landed us all here to begin with.”
“You don’t think I know that? That every day I don’t think, ‘If I had just confronted him instead of running, would he still be here?’ I know what I did, and I am so sorry for not having the courage to stand up in front of everyone I knew and loved, and say I couldn’t go through with the wedding. But things were complicated, Gage. Everything with Kyle was always so complicated, so one sided. The man could fight with a tree stump. Out of everyone, you should know that.” She rested a hand on his arm and an intense charge shot though him.
He looked down at her hand and let it stay there, just this once, let the heat of her hand melt through the fabric, slide along his skin, and he imagined what it would feel like to have her touch other places on his body.
“I get why your mom blames me,” she said, and his gaze jerked to hers. “But at some point, I figured the emotions would fade and you would see that maybe there was more to the story than me getting cold feet.”
Gage wasn’t sure what had gone down between Darcy and Kyle, but for as many great things as Kyle had done, he’d also racked up some pretty shitty ones.
When their dad passed away, Kyle took it the hardest. He was so angry at the world he ignored the strength and direction he’d gained from working alongside a man as great as Benjie Easton. He tended to veer off course from time to time and make questionable decisions, but Darcy had a calming strength that grounded him.
“I’m not asking you to forgive me, Gage. I’m just asking you to understand,” she said. “I’ve worked too hard to rebuild this house to ever look the other way again.”
“Even if you lose what could be the biggest wedding of your career?”
“Your client is looking for a premiere venue with a six-week lead time at the beginning of peak wedding season. There is no other option.”
“You and I both know that a spread inWeddingMagazineopens up a lot of options.”
“It does, but your client signed a deal withWedding Magazine,” she said. “They signed it knowing that they’d be working with me. I already gave Lana a verbal agreement, so as far as I am concerned,yourissues withmehave nothing to do with this deal. If you don’t want to see me, then don’t come, but don’t you use those big agent,”she punctuated the last two words with a finger to his pec, “scare tactics on me, Gage. I’ve seen you negotiating a multi-million-dollar contract, just like I’ve seen you begging to the porcelain god for mercy after too many tequila shots. So you don’t scare me.”
Darcy was good at masking her emotions, but he knew her well enough to see the signs. She was scared of losing this account.
“I’m not trying to scare you, just pointing out the facts,” he said. “If my client walks because of your unwillingness to be flexible, do you really thinkWeddingMagazinewon’t just roll over for the chance to follow him to the next venue?”
He watched her confidence fade and the uncertainty of it all take over as the woman, who’d once looked at him with nothing but warmth and trust, looked up at him with panic and betrayal in those caramel eyes.
“I know you have no reason to help me, Gage. But I can do this. I need to do this wedding,” she said quietly. “You know how good I am, and how much I’d bring to this kind of event. Your client won’t get the same experience with any other planner. I’m not asking for a handout. I’m just asking for a fair shot.”
There was something about the way she looked at him, it was the same look she’d had when she’d confided in him about how hard she’d worked to create a better life than the one she’d been born into, that tugged at his heart. That made him want to give in.
So he glanced up at the sky and took a deep breath, trying like hell to distance himself from the desperation he saw on her face. What it was about the leggy brunette with the sad smile that still got to him? It was her eyes, he decided. Her big, brown, melt-your-soul eyes that he could never ignore.
She was as real as a woman could get. Funny, caring, sexy, and so damn warm it drew people in. Darcy didn’t just listen, she took a genuine interest and great care with peoples’ dreams—with their lives. Around her, he couldn’t help but feel loved.
Which was why her runaway bride moment had come as such a shock. Darcy was honest, loyal, and devoted—right up until the second she walked out on Kyle and shattered his world.
No, she didn’t let him drive that night, but Kyle wouldn’t have been at a bar shitfaced and spinning off his axis if she’d handled things differently.
So yeah, he’d signed that magazine deal on Rhett’s behalf. And, yeah, it was obvious Darcy needed the publicity this would bring, but none of that mattered. It had taken his family five years to get back on track, and he wasn’t about to blow that. This time, his mother would see her son walk down the aisle.
Collateral damage or not, Darcy had to go.
“The client is Rhett,” he said, and her face went completely pale. “So you being the planner is not an option.”
“I was hired to plan an Easton wedding?”
“Yup. Which is why I’ll have a list of five of the best planners in the country emailed to you tomorrow. I’ll leave it up to you to pick the final one, but, Darcy, if you want this event, it won’t be you.” Then, before he gave in to the way her eyes misted over, Gage upped his douche factor and hollered, “Fancy, come.”
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