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“It’s Kane, and no, I don’t mind.”
The relief in her eyes was almost palpable. “I’ll put them in the cabin.”
“I’ll load them.”
“I don’t mind doing it,” she said.
“That’s okay. I’d rather do it myself.”
Serena eyed him warily. He waited for her to say something to challenge him. He was surprised when she didn’t.
“You can put the food in the galley if you want,” he offered. “It’s in a box near the door.”
“Fine.”
Not fine if the tightness around her mouth was anything to go by. At least she didn’t pout like Amber. Though he’d bet Serena could work wonders with that full bottom lip of hers.
As he removed several long, bulky white dress bags from the van, he heard his father.
“Kane prefers doing things on his own,” Charlie explained.
“So does Serena,” Belle added. “She likes being in control.”
“Then the two of them should get along fine.”
Nope, Kane realized. The exact opposite. Flying with two captains in the cockpit was a recipe for disaster because neither wanted to give up control. And that meant one thing. It was going to be a really long flight to Seattle and back.
Serena had a checklist for her Mr. Right: polite, attentive, articulate, smartly tailored. All qualities her parents had taught her to value. All qualities Rupert had possessed in spades.
All qualities Kane Wiley lacked.
She unfastened her seat belt and moved back to where he’d secured the gowns.
What had Belle gotten her into?
Serena checked each of the dress bags. She repositioned three of them. Not much, but she felt better taking control. That is, taking care of her dresses. That was her job even if Kane didn’t seem to realize that.
The man was arrogant and rude, the polar opposite of his kind and generous father, who epitomized a true gentleman. If not for the price of the flight—free, thanks to Charlie—and the ability to personally oversee the transport of the gowns, Serena would have found another way to Seattle. But any extra money The Wedding Belles had was going into a fund to pay for their cherished assistant, Julie’s, wedding next June. They couldn’t afford to be too choosy after losing money on the Vandiver cancellation and the negative publicity that had followed.
She thought about how much Julie and Matt were in love. Her other friends, too. Serena would find the same kind of love, the same kind of forever love, they had found. All she needed was her Mr. Right. One who didn’t just look good on paper, but whom she could love, too.
Looking out of a window, she caught a glimpse of Kane as he performed his preflight walk-around. Light glinted off his sun-streaked light brown hair that fell past the collar of his dark leather jacket. A jacket that emphasized his broad shoulders.
Talk about Mr. Wrong.
Some women might find him good-looking. If they liked tall, classically handsome guys with chiseled jaw-lines, square chins, sharpened noses and intense brown eyes.
Serena didn’t object to any of those things, exactly. She just preferred them packaged in a suit and tie, and paired with a short, styled haircut and clean-shaven face. She didn’t want a man who looked as if he’d rolled out of bed, bypassed the razor and brushed his fingers through his hair as an afterthought.
He glanced up at the plane, at the window she stared out of to be exact. His gaze met hers. His eyes, the same color of her favorite dark chocolate, made her heart bump.
Uh-oh.
She hurried back to her seat, sank into the comfortable leather club chair and fastened her seat belt. The temperature in the cabin seemed to rise even though the door was still open. She removed her coat, picked up her sketch pad and fanned herself.
What was the matter with her? Of course, she hadn’t been sleeping well lately. Or eating, either. One good meal, and she’d feel better.
She’d like to take a bite out of Kane.
“Hot?”
Her sketch pad fell onto her lap. She looked up.
Kane stood at the entrance to the plane. The interior suddenly seemed smaller. He appeared larger. She gulped.
“Excuse me?” Serena asked.
“Are you hot?”
“I—I…” Something about him made her flustered and tongue-tied and heated. She didn’t like the feelings, either. “I’m a little warm.”
“I’ll take care of it.” He closed and latched the door. “Are your dresses okay?”
Serena heard the challenge in his voice. She raised her chin. “They are fine. Now.”
The intensity in his dark eyes sent heat rushing through her veins. She sucked in a breath. Looked away.
“Seat belt fastened?” he asked.
Not trusting her voice, she nodded.
“The same rules apply on this flight as your typical commercial flight,” Kane explained. “When we reach cruising altitude, you can visit the lavatory or help yourself to whatever you would like in the galley.”
“No flight attendant?”
“Not unless you want to fly the plane while I serve you lunch and a beverage.” He pointed out the exits and where the oxygen masks were located. “If we lose cabin pressure, place the mask over your nose and mouth and breath normally. Did you bring a laptop?”
“No.” She’d wanted to escape from the constant pretending of her life in Boston. Her prying friends, her fake phone calls…even e-mail was a hassle these days. “Just my cell phone. I know not to use it during the flight.”
“Even if you miss your boyfriend?”
She tried not to cringe, but the thought of lying to a total stranger left a bitter taste in her mouth. “It won’t be a problem.”
“Not using your cell phone or missing him?”
“Either.”
At least that was the truth.
“If you need anything,” he said, “let me know.”
Serena could just imagine his reaction if she asked for, oh, a bag of pretzels and a fiancé. She bit back a smile.
No matter how desperately she wanted to maintain her image with her friends and family, she would never ask someone like Kane—someone so obviously wrong for a woman like her—to help in her quest to find a new Mr. Right and one true love.
That was something she could do on her own. And would.
CHAPTER TWO
“THE doors will open in ten minutes,” announced a feminine voice over the convention center loudspeakers.
Ten minutes? Kane scanned the large hall, balancing the gold-wrapped box he’d promised to deliver to Serena. He’d thought he had more time.
Little-Miss-I’m-In-Charge Serena had sounded really upset when she’d called and asked if the box was still on the plane. When Kane had finally found the package in the tail-cone baggage compartment and brought it over, she’d told him she’d be right out. But he was already there, wasn’t he?
And—admit it—he’d been curious to see the blonde in action. Curious enough to volunteer to deliver the box himself.
Man, was he sorry now. This wedding stuff gave him the heebie jeebies.
He might as well be standing in the middle of a wedding nightmare. Instead of fire, heat and screams, this place reeked with flowers, tulle and as much pipe organ music as the soundtrack of some cheesy Dracula movie.
A woman dressed in black with spiked red hair, flushed cheeks and a clipboard in her hand raced up to him. “Are you a fashion show model?”
“No.”
“Where could they be?” Her face scrunched, then, as she studied him, brightened. “Would you want to be one of the models?”
Kane pictured himself dressed up like a penguin and escorting models in white dresses down a runway. He didn’t mind models, but the other stuff…Not his thing. “No, thanks.”
With a frustrated sigh, she ran down the aisle and disappeared out of sight.
She wasn’t the only one in a hurry. Exhibitors rushed around, putting finishing touches on their booths and applying their lipstick. Kane didn’t see many men, not like yesterday when he’d dropped off Serena to set up, but a few guys remained. This seemed like the last place any male would choose to spend an hour. Let alone a day. Or two.
Once, he might have thought about settling down someday, but now, after all he’d seen, Kane knew better.
As he searched the booths, every company seemed to have the word wedding somewhere in its name and everything looked sort of similar. He felt lost and out of place.
“Kane.” He turned to see Serena waving at him. “Over here.”
Relieved, he walked across the aisle to her booth. Whatever panic he’d heard in her voice wasn’t visible on her face, looking fresh and rested with expertly applied makeup.
That’s right, dummy, look at the lipstick. Keep your eyes on her face. She is so not your type.
But man, she looked good in that dress.
Her gaze was intent on him. “You made it.”
“With minutes to spare.”
“Minutes?” Serena asked.
“A few. Were you getting worried?”
Kane already knew the answer was yes. She seemed to keep a tight hold on her responsibilities, on pretty much everything within her sphere of influence. He happened to be the exact opposite, taking things as they came. It was probably a good thing she had an almost-fiancé. Because the way she looked, he could have been tempted into a fling. And the last thing he wanted or needed in his life was a cool blond control freak with a thing for weddings.
Serena took the box from him. “I wasn’t worried, but I was getting a little impatient.”
“Not the patient type?”
“Waiting for someone to come through can be hard.”
“Sometimes.”
But he wouldn’t mind waiting right there. He didn’t have to want to spend the rest of his life with her to enjoy the view. What man with blood running through his veins wouldn’t want to look? Her brown and blue dress clung in all the right places. The hem fell above the knee, and her high heels made her legs look long and sexy. She defined “it” girl.
He didn’t know whether to envy that Rupert fellow or pity him. Serena James was the type who knew how to make a guy roll over and beg. And Kane didn’t sit, stay or play dead for any woman, no matter how hot she looked in heels.
“I do appreciate your bringing this over.” She walked toward a linen-covered table with one of the elaborate floral arrangements she’d brought with her in the center. Candles in silver holders sat on either side. She tossed a smile his way. “Thank you.”
Her gratitude sounded genuine. Kane couldn’t tell whether she was sincere or not, but he was willing to play nice. “You’re welcome.”
The gentle sway of her hips and the swirl of her dress hem around her legs captured his attention. The lingering scent of her light floral perfume filled his nostrils.
Serena opened the box. “Now all I have to do is set these things out and the table will be ready.”
The table already looked finished and fancy enough to him. A little too fancy, but probably what the monkey-suit, bouquet-tossing set expected. “What’s in there?”
“Chocolate.” As she unwrapped each item, she placed the pieces of candy on an oval beveled-edged mirror setting on the table: three chocolate truffles shaped like three-tiered wedding cakes, small gold and silver boxes tied with ribbon, oval and heart-shaped engraved chocolates packaged in a gold base and wrapped with tulle and a ribbon, gold and silver engraved foiled coins. “No wedding is complete without something chocolate.”
“I don’t care much for weddings, but I like chocolate.”
Her eyebrows rose at his not-so-subtle hint, but she tossed a coin his way.
He unwrapped the gold foil and took a bite. Good stuff. “Aren’t you having any?”
“I don’t sample the merchandise,” she said in her cool, controlled voice.
Yeah. Right. Probably one of those salad-and-rice-cake types who wouldn’t let herself eat a piece of candy. Too bad. She had a sweet little body, but he’d rather see a woman enjoy a meal with dessert than starve in order to fit into a smaller size.
She hid the box underneath the linen tablecloth–covered round table displaying a four-tiered white-iced wedding cake decorated with real flowers cascading down from the top like a colorful pink and white waterfall. “All done.”
He’d say so. Judging by this booth, The Wedding Belles was a high-class, high-end operation. From the neatly stacked full-color brochures to the maroon leather embossed photo albums, everything shouted “money.” Including Serena herself.
Kane leisurely finished his chocolate, surveying the booth. He noticed a stack of boxes. Board games, actually. Who would have thought to make a game out of getting married? Playing that sounded more like torture than fun.
A burgundy upholstered chaise longue sat at a right angle to a row of headless mannequins in white—the Wedding Shop of Horrors. “Looks like someone went furniture shopping last night.”
“We contracted with a rental store here in Seattle who delivered all this yesterday.”
