Kaye Dacus - Stand-In Groom

“Speaking of dinner company, do you have plans Thursday night?”

“Not particularly. Just work.”

“Now, George, you know what they say: All work and no play makes George a dull boy. I know you’ve got a reputation to protect, so bring Courtney along with you, if you don’t think that’ll make things too uncomfortable.”

“Miss Courtney is in Paris.” George’s mind raced. Thursday was the night Anne and Jenn were supposed to be having dinner.

“Then you must come. I’ll make sure no one asks you any probing questions. You can’t just sit around at home by yourself for the next four months.”

“Just how many will be at this dinner?”

“Oh, five or six others—Anne, my sisters Jennifer and Meredith, a few other miscellaneous cousins.” Forbes squeezed George’s shoulder. “Say you’ll come. Anne will never forgive me if she finds out you’re spending the night by yourself when you could be with us.”

“When and where?”

“The Fishin’ Shack—it’s Jenn’s restaurant. Take River Road south out of town and go about twenty minutes to the town of Comeaux—”

George held his hand up with a smile. “I’ve been there once already, so it should be no trouble to locate again.”

“Excellent. We’ll see you there around seven Thursday night.”

George sank into his chair. He’d get to see Anne in a social setting and meet more of her family. Would she be happy to see him? She seemed to enjoy the time they’d spent together yesterday—

No, he was deluding himself. The attention Anne showed him amounted to nothing more than professional courtesy. She thought he was a client—someone who was getting married—but he was letting it go to his head, thinking that somehow, deep down, she must know he wasn’t the groom, imagining she was as attracted to him as he was to her.

The story of his life—he liked a woman he couldn’t have because of his social status or job. He had to find some way to cure himself of the attraction and refocus on the job at hand.

With a wave and return greeting, Anne swept past the hostess and made her way through the crowded restaurant to the large round table in the back. She wasn’t the first to arrive, as several cousins sat around talking and laughing over their iced tea and hush puppies.

Meredith scooted out the chair beside her for Anne, who slid into it gratefully. “Working late?”

Anne nodded. “Probably would have worked straight through dinner if Forbes hadn’t called me to tell me he was leaving the office later than usual. I didn’t tell him I was still at work myself.”

“Big wedding this weekend?”

“Yeah, so I’m going to have to eat and run.”

“I’m just glad you’ve been able to make it to as many dinners this summer as you have. When you’re not out on dates, that is.” Meredith winked.

Anne grabbed a glass and filled it from the pitcher of sweet tea in the middle of the table. Thursday night dinners with the family were easier to work into her schedule than dates with men she didn’t know and didn’t particularly want to meet. With her family, she could be herself; she could put aside the persona of the outgoing, vivacious professional woman everyone else wanted to see her as. She could let her vulnerabilities show, could let someone else support her for a little while.

“I’m a little surprised Forbes isn’t here yet.” She looked over her shoulder toward the door. “If he left downtown around the same time I left…”

Meredith turned to answer a question from one of their cousins, leaving Anne to her own thoughts. Oh, to meet a man she could feel as comfortable with as she did her family. To be able to talk to him like she had with George here in this very restaurant three days ago.

She wasn’t supposed to be thinking about him in that way. He’d already made his choice of partner, and she’d no more try to win him away than she would try to break up a married couple. She had to overcome these feelings. She had to.

“Oh, Anne, did you ever talk to Major?” Meredith asked.

“I did. We’re having dinner—so I can go over a couple of upcoming events with him to get bids on catering them. That’s all.” At least, Anne told herself, she didn’t have any other motives for getting together with the handsome chef whom longtime Bonneterre residents still remembered as a high school and college football star.

“Hey, y’all.”

Forbes’s voice startled her. She hated sitting on this side of the table where she had her back to the main part of the restaurant.

“I’ve brought a guest tonight.”

Anne twisted around and nearly fell off the seat. Behind Forbes stood George Laurence, looking handsomer than ever in a cobalt blue button-down and khakis. The shirt hugged his muscular shoulders, and the bright blue hue turned his eyes from cinnamon brown to a deep chocolate.

Anne had to tear her gaze away from George before he caught her staring at him as Forbes introduced him around the table. When Forbes had called her half an hour ago, she’d been begging God to take away the attraction she felt toward her client. God hadn’t answered her prayer.

“We’re so glad you could join us, George,” Meredith said after shaking hands with him. “I believe the seat beside Anne is unclaimed.”

No! Anne wanted to yell at her cousin. The last thing she needed was to spend time with George Laurence outside of work.

She was forced to paste on a smile when George looked at her. She couldn’t be rude to him. He was her most valuable client, after all. “Yes, please. There’s always room for one more.”

George sat next to her; Anne’s nerves crackled like a live electrical wire. He had some kind of magnetic aura that pulled at her soul, drawing her to him, making her want to know him better. She buried her nose in the menu and tried to calm herself with a few deep breaths.

“Hey, y’all. Sorry I’m late.”

The final member of the party, Rafe Guidry, tall and slender with strawberry blond hair like his older sisters, arrived and took the last available seat beside Forbes.

Before Forbes or Anne could make the introduction, Rafe half stood and extended his right hand to George. “Rafael Guidry.”

George stood. “George Laurence.”

“What kept you?” Jenn leaned over Rafe’s shoulder to hand a menu to her younger brother.

“Meeting ran late.” Rafe didn’t even look at the menu before he handed it to the server while giving his food and beverage order. “Forbes, I now understand why you decided to go to law school instead of taking over the family business.”

“Rafe—no business talk at the table, please.” Forbes gave him a look only an older brother could get away with, then turned to George. “Our parents are the proprietors of Boudreaux-Guidry Enterprises—the company that owns most of the convention spaces and several hotels and buildings in town. We got our fill of shoptalk around the dinner table when we were kids.”

“Which is why Forbes and Jenn got out.” Meredith’s entry into the conversation surprised Anne, as she usually let Jenn and Forbes overshadow her around nonfamily members.

“But not you.” George leaned forward a fraction, though his posture remained perfect.

Anne recognized the same interest in his expression he’d had when their conversation had become personal over lunch the other day. Annoyance filled her for being disappointed her cousin could illicit that reaction from him, too. The man was already engaged to someone else; any interest he’d shown in her had been strictly on a professional level.

Meredith’s mouth twisted ruefully. “I decided to major in art history in college. Needless to say, since I didn’t want to teach, there really weren’t many opportunities out there, so I started working as Anne’s assistant at B-G. I took over when she left to start Happy Endings.”

George turned to look at Anne. “I’d be interested in hearing, sometime, why you decided to start your own company.”

“Anytime.” She tried to still the fluttering in her stomach at his intense gaze. At thirty-five, she was far too old to have a schoolgirl crush on a man who was completely unattainable.

“George, do you find Bonneterre to your liking?” Meredith asked.

George answered, and Anne let out a relieved breath. She hated when everyone’s attention was on her.

With each word that came from his mouth, Anne’s pulse skipped and jumped like a kid on the last day of school. He’s engaged. I’ll never work in this town again if word gets out that I’ve fallen in love with a client. Lord, please help me!

“All right, George, we’re all curious,” Rafe interjected, shoveling crawfish cheese dip onto a small plate. “What do you do for a living?”

When George didn’t immediately answer, Anne’s gaze snapped to him. Why would being asked about his job cause his smile to vanish, his posture to stiffen? She hadn’t asked him personal questions because she was afraid that the more she knew about him, the more she’d like him.

He cleared his throat. “I am a household manager and personal assistant.”

Anne frowned. Not what she’d expected.

“Okay…” Her cousin Jason drawled the word. “What does that mean?”

She was torn between throwing her spoon at her cousin and thanking him for voicing the question in her own mind. She didn’t want her family to alienate George and make him decide he didn’t want her to plan his wedding, but she really wanted to know everything about him.

“I oversee and attend to all of my employer’s personal needs— such as travel plans, social calendar, household organization, setup for entertaining.”

“So you’re familiar with event planning?” Meredith asked.

He smiled, and his posture eased a bit. “Quite. My employer entertains large numbers of guests at home frequently.”

“What a great help for you, Anne.” Jenn slipped into her seat as the servers arrived with the entrées. “Who do you work for, George? CEO of a major corporation? An ambassador? A Hollywood megastar? Come on, fess up.”

He shook his head, the lines around his eyes tightening. “Part of my job is maintaining discretion.”

“I know who it has to be,” Rafe said, winking at Anne. “I’ll betcha he works for Mel Gibson.”

Everyone laughed, and Anne saw George’s posture ease again.

“Sean Connery? No? Tom Hanks?” Rafe continued teasing.

Eating gave a much-needed diversion for everyone’s attention. Jenn had to excuse herself twice and disappear into the kitchen, and Rafe and Meredith talked shop for a few minutes.

Exhaustion rested heavily on Anne’s shoulders. She’d only gotten about four hours of sleep the last three nights. She picked at her crawfish étouffée, eating only the chunks of meat.

“Hey, Annie.” Jason speared a shrimp from Jenn’s unattended plate. “I talked to Mom on the way over here. She said that she may have to bring the cake for Amanda and David’s wedding earlier than planned on Saturday, since she has a birthday cake she has to finish for someone else that afternoon.”

“I’ll call her first thing in the morning. But it shouldn’t be a problem.” Anne was keenly aware of George listening to their conversation.

He had a thoughtful expression on his face when she glanced at him. “You have a family member who makes wedding cakes?”

She nodded. “My Aunt Maggie. I would like to set up a time after Courtney gets back in town to do a tasting so y’all can choose the flavor of the cake and the fillings.”

“I will check the calendar to arrange a time.” He pushed a chunk of salmon toward the edge of his plate and speared a few pieces of romaine and a crouton. “Do you work with your aunt often?”

“I’ve worked with her since I was nine years old. My first paying job was as her catering assistant.” Anne dug the fingernails of her left hand into her palm. Why did she always run on at the mouth whenever he asked her a question?

His smile was inscrutable. “So, in essence, you entered the family business as well.”

She blinked a couple of times in surprise and then couldn’t stop her smile. “I’ve never thought about it that way, but I guess you’re right.”

“But she’s bossy, so she wanted to be the one telling everyone else what to do.” Jason swiped another shrimp off Jenn’s plate. “That’s why she started her own business.”

“I’m not bossy.” Anne laughed as Jason waggled his eyebrows at her. Six years her junior, he’d only been three when she’d come to live with his family after her parents’ death. “Okay, maybe I was a little bossy growing up.”