“Can you…just put it in something?” Zander asked.
He suddenly seemed very fatigued.
Yeah, well, welcome to my world.
“Of course. I'll put it in a Tupperware for you.”
Zander actually snorted at that. “Thank you.”
He looked at Caroline expectantly.
“What?”
“After you, Your Majesty,” he said jutting his chin toward the stairs.
She lifted her chin, picked up the front of her skirt and did her best to flounce up the stairs.
Flouncing was difficult to pull off in three-inch heels and the heaviest wedding dress in history, though.
Four steps up, she let out a frustrated groan and leaned on the banister to reach under the layers of fabric for the shoes. She managed to get one shoe off, her bare foot meeting the runner that carpeted the steps just before she heard Zander mutter, “For fuck’s sake,” behind her.
Suddenly she was swept up in two strong arms and cradled against a broad, hard chest.
“Hey!”
“It’s going to take forever for you to get up these steps even if you manage it without breaking your neck,” he told her as he started up the stairs.
He didn’t look down at her. But she definitely looked up at him. And wrapped an arm around his neck.
He had a point, after all. And she’d never been carried like this. At least not as a woman by a man. Maybe as a kid after she’d skinned her knee or when she was sick or something, but never like this.
She liked it.
He wasn’t even breathing hard when he got to the top of the staircase. He also didn’t put her down. He strode to the bedroom, leaned to twist the doorknob, pushed the door open, and carried her into the room.
Huh. Across the threshold, into a bedroom, while in a wedding dress.
He set her on her feet next to the bed. She wobbled slightly on her one high heel, bracing her hand on the mattress.
“You’re heavier than you look,” he said.
Her eyes widened. “Hey! It’s the dress. I told you it weighed a ton.”
“Uh-huh.” He turned on his heel and walked out.
Caroline blew out a breath and pressed her lips together. She was not going to call after him and ask him when he was coming back. Or if he was coming back. He’d better be. And if he didn’t, she was going to show up at the police station. She needed his help. He wasn’t going to just dump her in the bed and breakfast, penniless, and let Heather deal with her.
She looked around the room she could only describe as charming.
There were white lace curtains on the window, a large white wooden dresser with an enormous mirror hanging over it, a four-poster bed covered in a beautiful multicolored quilt, and a matching side table with a lamp that she could already imagine casting a warm glow over the closest pillow to read by.
There was also a rocking chair in one corner near an honest-to-goodness wardrobe.
She took a deep breath and actually felt some tension leave her shoulders.
This was going to be okay. She could hang out here. Heather was nice and had tea. And would know how to find Zander. He had work to do, he’d said. Fine. She’d showed up unexpectedly. She could understand that he might have some other things to take care of now that he’d ensured she was safely hidden away for the time being. But if she didn’t see his big, broody…
He came back through the door before she’d even completed the thought.
She felt her stomach swoop and she thought she might have caught her breath.
She was glad to see him.
It hadn’t even been two freaking minutes, but she was happy he was back.
And not just because she really did need his help.
She wasn’t sure what to do with these feelings. These tingles of awareness and attraction were foreign. She spent so much time playing men. She was constantly putting on a little show. With her father she was sweet and innocent and just wanted to please him. With his friends she was flaky and superficial and silly. With guys her age she was flirty and oh-so-interested in them and willing to let them close…but not too close. She was the sexy-but-I-don’t-know-it virgin that just seemed to be so many men’s kryptonite.
She was always close to men for a purpose—to get information from them. She never wanted to be closer to them just to be close.
But she wanted to step forward into Zander Landry’s arms and have him hold her.
Holy crap.
He dropped her suitcase to the floor with a thunk. “Do you need anything else before I head out?”
A hug.
She was not going to say that.
“I, um…” She looked down at her suitcase. “I didn’t even pack that. I have no idea what’s in it. Or not.”
He grabbed the handle and flipped the bag up onto the bed. “Check it out.”
He was being short, but she somehow knew it was because he did not want to be in this bedroom with her and not because he didn’t like her.
She liked having an effect on him. And not because she was going to get him to slip up and tell her some secret he didn’t mean to spill, but because…he was affecting her too.
Caroline turned her attention to her suitcase. She opened it and started digging. She tossed the contents out onto the bed one item at a time. “What. The. Hell.” She straightened with a garment in each hand. “Who packed this? Where exactly were we going for our honeymoon?”
Zander looked at the soft peach-colored teddy dangling by a strap from her right index finger to the floor-length, spaghetti strapped red evening gown draped over her left palm. “I’m guessin’ your fiancé packed that.”
“This is all I have,” she said, motioning with the skimpy teddy to the rest of the clothing on the duvet. “Lingerie and evening gowns. I’ve got two bras and like three thongs. That’s it. There’s no make-up, no blow dryer, no shampoo. Just clothes. And only sexy clothes.”
Zander tucked his hands into his front pockets and nodded. “Like I said, a guy packed that bag. With the stuff he wanted you wearing.”
She huffed out a breath. The idea that Brantley had put this together and thought this was what she was going to be wearing for him made her roll her eyes. She tossed the teddy and dress back into the bag. “Is there a clothing store here? Better yet, a place that will deliver something over here?”
“Nope.”
“Great.” She held out her arms. “Well, I’m homeless, penniless, transportation-less, and now…” She reached for an ice blue nightie that was completely sheer. “I’ll basically be walking around naked.”
Zander shifted his weight and cleared his throat. “You can borrow some clothes.”
“Oh?” Caroline used the opportunity to run her gaze over him from head to toe. “Don’t think we’re quite the same size.”
He didn’t even smile. “I’ve got cousins and sisters-in-law. You can borrow something from one of them.”
“Okay.” She sighed. She was going to be stuck in this damned wedding dress for awhile longer. “Let’s go.”
“You’re not coming.”
“I’ll have to try the stuff on.”
Now his gaze ran over her. There should have been way too much fabric in the way for it to have any effect. But she still felt tingly when his gaze came back to hers. “I’ll bring you something that will work.”