Going to the Chapel: A Novella (12 page)

Izzy sank into the kiss, her pulse fluttering as need spiraled through her.

Levi tasted just as strong and heady as she’d imagined. His mouth moved against hers. His tongue probed her lips apart, teasing her and deepening the kiss.

She made a low, throaty sound, and threaded her fingers in his thick, dark hair, pulling him closer. His fingers trailed over her arms, then he cupped her face with his big, wide hands. Hands that looked masculine, like they’d done hard work, but hands that felt gentle and loving as he stroked his thumb along her cheek.

Hunger and passion exploded inside her. She’d never kissed a man who made her feel so needy. The kiss grew more feverish, more passionate with each second, and her toes curled beneath the table.

Yet she felt something scratch at her foot, and realized the kitty was nipping at her toes. Maybe the feline was smarter than she was.

Suddenly a noise bled through the haze of desire. “Izzy, what are you doing?”

Daisy’s voice.

Levi tore his mouth from hers, pushed his chair back and strode toward the front door. Izzy stared after him, still lost in the bliss of the moment, but Daisy tapped her arm.

“What’s wrong with you?” Daisy hissed. “He’s the client, and he’s engaged to another woman.”

Her breath rasped out in sporadic puffs, her ears ringing with Daisy’s accusations.

Tears burned the backs of her eyelids as she glanced down at the candles, the wedding cake, and champagne flutes.

The setting had been so romantic she’d gotten caught up in it.

Or maybe she’d just gotten caught up in Levi. Or the illusion of his romance with . . . another woman!

“I’m sorry.” Was she destined to fall for men who were already taken?

“Sorry?” Daisy sounded close to tears. “I thought you wanted this to work for Aunt Dottie. That maybe you’d changed.”

Izzy pressed her hand to her chest, Daisy’s verbal blow hitting her hard.

She did want the shop to work so her sisters wouldn’t think she was a screwup. But she had just screwed up.

“I’ll fix it,” Izzy said, panicked. “I promise, Daisy, I’ll fix it. Just don’t tell Caroline.”

“Don’t tell her what?”

Izzy’s stomach plummeted as she swung around and saw Caroline staring at her. “What did you do now, Izzy?”

Heart pounding, Izzy glanced at Daisy, silently pleading with her not to tell.

Daisy scooped up the plates and began stacking them. “That Izzy forgot to ask Levi about what kind of entertainment he wants.”

Relief surged through Izzy, and she mouthed the word
thanks
to her sister. Daisy still looked unhappy with her, though.

And she desperately needed to straighten things out with Levi. Apologize.

Make sure his wedding to Elsa was still on.

Levi cursed himself as he left the shop. The bells jingling as he closed the door might as well have been announcing his failure.

He stalked across the street to the park, desperate for some distance to clear his head.

What the hell was wrong with him? When he’d kissed Izzy, he’d imagined her in a wedding gown, the two of them tying the knot, then rushing to bed and making love all night.

No, sex wouldn’t be quick with Izzy. Well, maybe the first time. But they’d do it over and over and over . . .

He inhaled the chilly mountain air, his body still hot from Izzy’s response. That little moan in her throat had nearly undone him.

He slumped down on a park bench and knotted his hands together, fighting the urge to go back and repeat the kiss. Maybe the mountain air and high altitude were affecting his brain.

The afternoon sunlight was fading, winter storm clouds gathering as if it might snow, casting shadows across the park and street. The door to One Stop Weddings opened, and Izzy appeared outside, her expression tormented.

She scanned the street, spotted him, crossed at the intersection, and walked toward him like a woman on a mission. The urge to take her in his arms and soothe that worry off her face seized him.

But if he did, he’d want more.

So he kept his butt on the bench and renewed his resolve to finish this investigation, then get the hell out of Matrimony.

The wind tossed her hair in disarray around her face, making her look wild and wanton, and riddling him with hunger.

When she reached him, she slid onto the bench beside him. “Levi, I’m so sorry. I . . . that was completely unprofessional of me.”

“It’s not your fault.” Dammit, that was the truth. “I started the kiss.”

Silence vibrated between them, thick with regret and unspent passion.

“It was simply the atmosphere, the candles and champagne,” Izzy finally said. “You were probably imagining Elsa there beside you.”

Hell no, he wasn’t. “Yeah, that was it.”

She touched his arm, then pulled her hand back as if she’d been burned. “It won’t happen again,” she said in a shaky voice. “I know what it’s like to be cheated on, and I would never do that to another woman.”

The warble in her voice sounded so sincere that guilt nagged at him. “I wouldn’t cheat either.”

“Good, because I don’t want to hurt Elsa.”

His gut churned. “Like your husband hurt you?”

She emitted a low sound of pain. “Yes, like he hurt me.”

He wanted to pound Ray’s head in. “I’m sorry, Izzy.”

She shrugged off his words. “Let’s just forget what happened. You aren’t angry with me?”

“No.” In fact, he wanted her more than ever. And, in spite of his suspicions, he was actually starting to like her.

And believe her.

“Because if you’d prefer that Daisy or Caroline handle the plans, I’ll step aside.”

“No, we’re both professionals. We’ll finish what we started.” Not the kiss, though. Because if they started that up again, he wouldn’t be able to stop with a simple kiss.

Not that kissing Izzy had been simple. It had evoked a tangle of emotions inside him, confusing him to the core.

His phone buzzed with a text. Elsa.

“I guess you should answer that,” she said.

“Yes, it’s Elsa.”

Her eyes flashed with some emotion he couldn’t define, then she brushed her hands down her dress. The scooped neckline offered him a sweet glimpse of her creamy flesh. And the memory of those fingers on his thighs as she measured his inseam sent another jolt of awareness through him.

The neckline of his own shirt suddenly felt tight, choking. “Maybe we can discuss the music tomorrow?” Surely by then Elsa would have some concrete evidence against Ray, and Levi could end things in Matrimony.

She agreed, and started back across the street, her hips swaying seductively as she walked. Needing a distraction, he checked the text. Elsa wanted him to call her, so he punched her number.

“Please tell me you have something.”

“What’s wrong—that little town getting to you?”

No, but the wedding planner was. “Just fill me in, Elsa.”

“Man, you’re a grouch.”

“That’s because I’ve been trying on monkey suits.”

Elsa chuckled. “Doesn’t make you want to tie the knot for real?”

Hell no, he didn’t want to walk down the aisle with Izzy, just walk her to bed. He unbuttoned the top button of his shirt, his lungs fighting for air. “Hardly. Now what do you have?”

“All right, all right. All work and no play.”

He’d been playing too damn much already.

“I spoke with three women from the country club, and all of them denied having an affair with Ray. In fact, they raved about him being a gentleman, said that he gave them great comfort after their husbands passed away.”

Her comment raised more questions. “All of them lost husbands?”

“Yes,” Elsa said. “And all three admitted that Ray had done business with their spouses before they died.”

“Did he ask for money from the women?”

“No, that’s the odd thing,” Elsa said. “They claimed no money was exchanged. That he simply consoled them in their darkest hour.”

Levi scrubbed a hand through his hair. He didn’t believe that for a moment.

“I also interviewed some of the neighbors. One of them said Izzy set the bedroom on fire one night, that she tried to burn down the house for the insurance money.”

Levi jerked his head up and stared across the street. Izzy was just stepping back into One Stop Weddings.

Was
Izzy the devious one, not Ray?

There was one way to find out.

He cleared his throat and made a snap decision. “It’s time we move this investigation along.”

“What are you going to do?”

“Call Ray and tell him where Izzy is.” Levi watched Izzy close the door to the store. “If I get the two of them together, we’ll find out the truth.”

“I’ll follow him to Georgia,” Elsa said.

“Good. Then we can set a trap.”

Levi disconnected and punched Ray’s number. He had to find out if Izzy was a crook before he completely fell in love with her himself.

Ray hung up with that PI he’d hired, barely able to contain a hoot of pleasure. The bastard had found Izzy.

Things would be all right now. Once he got his money back and paid off his debt, he’d lay low for a while.

He had to. One of the widows from the club told him some nosy female cop was still asking questions.

A car engine sounded outside, and he checked the window. Blue lights swirled around the yard. Shit. The cops were here now.

Stomach churning, he ducked out the sliding glass doors to avoid having to answer the front door.

Damn that white-haired battle-ax Beatrice for talking to them. He had a bad feeling when he’d left her at her husband’s funeral that she was too nosy to let things slide.

His phone buzzed just as he climbed over the metal fence. The neighbor’s yappy little dog barked and raced toward him, chomping at his pant leg as he dove between the bushes.

He quickly silenced the phone, afraid the neighbor would shoot him for trespassing. Some people were too damn paranoid for their own good. Just because the bastard, knee-walking drunk on brown whiskey, had caught Ray watching his wife over the hedges one day when she was sunbathing, he’d declared war on Ray.

Like he needed another problem.

The phone started up again. Loudon.

He pressed answer. “Listen, I’ll have your money to you day after tomorrow.”

Loudon grunted. “You’d better or you’re dead.”

“No worries,” Ray said, although the police cruiser rolled by and he ducked low again.

Finally when it passed, he slipped from behind the hedges and hurried down the street to Patty Jane Watkin’s house. She might be in her seventies, but she was spry and could still drive herself, and would give him a ride to the airport.

Then he’d collect what Izzy owed him and disappear for a while. Izzy just better not have spent a dime of that money.

If she had, he’d kill her.

Izzy fretted the rest of the day. Caroline took the kitten home before it could tear into the dresses, while Izzy tried to arrange a window display of a mannequin in a bridal gown.

But she dropped the dummy and its head fell off just as a family with three children walked by.

The kids screamed and ran as if they thought she’d killed someone right in front of their eyes. They’d probably be in therapy for the rest of their lives.

As if that weren’t bad enough, she splattered her café mocha all over a display of white linens.

Daisy looked up from her computer where she was searching want ads. Apparently she couldn’t wait to leave town and start a new job.

Guilt suffused Izzy. Daisy had witnessed her mishap in that kiss.

Daisy probably thought she was always chasing other women’s men.

Rule number nine:
Ladies don’t chase men who are already attached
.

She should have learned her lesson with Caroline and Blake.

She couldn’t make the same mistake with Levi and Elsa.