Wish Upon a Wedding. Kate Hardy

given that it’s your first show.’ He cleared their plates away. ‘Let me get you some coffee.’

      She gave him a tired smile. ‘Sorry, I’m really not pulling my weight in this relationship right now.’

      ‘Claire, you’re so busy you barely have time to breathe. I’m not going to give you a hard time about that; I just want to take some of the weight off your shoulders,’ he said.

      ‘Then thank you. Coffee would be lovely.’

      He made two mugs of coffee and set them on the table. ‘This is decaf,’ he said, ‘because I think you’re already going to have enough trouble getting to sleep and the last thing you need is caffeine.’

      ‘I guess.’

      And he hoped that what he was about to do would distract her enough to let her fall asleep in his arms tonight and stop worrying quite so much about the wedding show.

      He rescued the box he’d stowed in her fridge earlier—a box containing a very important message. He checked behind the door that he hadn’t accidentally disturbed the contents of the box and mixed up the order of the lettered chocolates, then brought them out and placed the box on the table in front of her.

      She gave him a tired smile. ‘Would these be some of your awesome salted caramels? Or are you trying out new stuff on me as your personal focus group?’

      ‘Open the box and see,’ he invited.

      She did so, and her eyes widened as she read the message. When she looked back at him, he could see the sheen of tears in her eyes. ‘Sean.’

      ‘Hey. They say you should say it with flowers, but I know you like to be different, so I thought I’d say it in chocolate.’ He’d iced the letters himself. I love you Claire. He paused. ‘Or maybe I just need to say it.’ He swallowed hard. Funny how his throat felt as if it were filled with sand. ‘I’ve never said this to anyone before. I love you, Claire. I think I probably have for years, but the idea of letting anyone close scared me spitless. You know you asked me what scared me? That. Deep down guess I was worried that I’d end up losing my partner like I lost my parents, so it was easier to keep you at a distance.’

      ‘So what changed?’ she asked.

      ‘Capri,’ he said. ‘Seeing the way you just got on with things and sorted out the problems when Ashleigh’s dress went missing. And then dancing with you. I really couldn’t take my eyes off you—it wasn’t just the song. I tried to tell myself that it was just physical attraction, but it’s more than that. So very much more.’

      ‘Oh, Sean.’ She blinked back the tears.

      And now he just couldn’t shut up. ‘And in these last few weeks, getting to know you, I’ve seen you for who you really are. You’re funny and you’re brave and you’re bossy, and you think outside the box, and—you know your speed dating question thing, about what you’re looking for in a partner? I can answer that, now. I’m looking for you, Claire. You’re everything I want.’ He gave her a wry smile. ‘Though my timing’s a bit rubbish, given that you’re up to your eyes right now.’

      ‘Your timing’s perfect,’ she said softly. ‘You know, I had a huge crush on you when I was fourteen, but you were my best friend’s older brother, which made you off limits. And you always made me feel as if I was a nuisance.’

      ‘You probably were, when you were a teenager.’

      She laughed. ‘Tell it to me straight, why don’t you?’

      He laughed back. ‘You wouldn’t have it any other way, and you know it—I love you, Claire.’

      ‘I love you, too, Sean.’ She pushed her chair back, came round to his side of the table, wrapped her arms round him and kissed him. ‘Over the last few weeks I’ve got to know you and you’re not quite who I thought you were, either. You’re this human dynamo but you also think on your feet. You’re not regimented and rule-bound.’

      ‘No?’

      ‘Well, maybe just a little bit—and you do look good in a suit.’ She smiled at him. ‘Though how I really like you dressed is in faded jeans, and a white shirt with the sleeves rolled up. It makes you much more touchable.’

      ‘Noted,’ he said.

      He could see that she was so tired, she didn’t even have the energy to drink her coffee. So he carried her to bed, cherished her, and let her fall asleep in his arms. He wasn’t ready to sleep yet; it was good just to lie in the dark with her in his arms, thinking. How amazing it was that she felt the same way about him. So maybe, just maybe, this was going to work out.

CHAPTER TWELVE

      ON THE MORNING of the wedding show, Claire was up before six, bustling around and double-checking things on her list.

      Then her mobile phone rang. Sean couldn’t tell much from Claire’s end of the conversation, but her face had turned white and there was a tiny pleat above her nose that told him something was definitely wrong.

      When she ended the call, she blew out a breath. ‘Sorry, I’m going to have to neglect you and make a ton of phone calls now.’

      ‘What’s happened?’

      ‘That was the modelling agency.’ She closed her eyes for a moment. ‘It seems that the six male models that I booked through the agency are all really good friends. They went out together for a meal last night, and they’ve all gone down with food poisoning so they can’t do the show.’

      ‘So the agency’s going to send you someone else?’

      She shook her head. ‘All their models are either already booked out or away. So they’re very sorry to let me down, but it’s due to circumstances beyond their control and they’re sure I’ll understand, and of course they’ll return my fee.’

      The sing-song, patronising tone in which she replayed the conversation told Sean just how angry Claire was—and he wasn’t surprised. She’d been very badly let down.

      ‘I’ll just have to go through my diary and beg a few favours, and hope that I can find six men willing to stand in for the models.’ She raked a hand through her hair. ‘And I need to look at my list and see where I can cut a few corners, because I’ll have to alter their clothes to fit the stand-ins, and...’ She shook her head, looking utterly miserable.

      He put his arms round her and hugged her. ‘You need five. I’ll do it.’

      She stared at him as if the words hadn’t quite sunk in. ‘You’ll do it?’

      ‘Well, obviously I don’t know the first thing about a catwalk,’ he said, ‘so someone’s going to have to teach me how to do the model walk thing. But everyone’s going to be looking at the clothes and not the model in any case, so I guess that probably doesn’t matter too much.’

      ‘You’ll do it,’ she repeated, sounding disbelieving.

      ‘Is it that much of a stretch to see me as a model?’ he asked wryly.

      ‘No, it’s not that at all. You’d be fabulous. It’s just that—it’s a pretty public thing, standing on a catwalk at a wedding show with everyone staring at you, and it’s so far from what you normally do that I thought you’d find it too embarrassing or awkward or...’ She tailed off. ‘Oh, my God, Sean. You’d really do that for me?’

      ‘Yes,’ he said firmly.

      ‘Thank you.’ She hugged him fiercely. ‘That means I only have to find five.’

      ‘You’ve already got enough to do. I’ll find them for you,’ he said. ‘I reckon we can count on Luke and Tom, and I have a few others in mind. Just tell me the rough heights and sizes you need, and I’ll ring round and sort it out.’

      ‘Your