The Paid Bridesmaid(15)

She was a bit different than what I’d first initially imagined her to be.

What if the same was true for Camden? Maybe there was something beyond the spy stuff.

I straightened my back, lifting my head. It didn’t matter if he was the world’s greatest guy and this was all a misunderstanding. I didn’t date men I’d met at weddings. A rule I’d set for the whole company.

I couldn’t ask the women who worked for me to follow one important rule that I was ready to ignore because of a pair of pretty eyes. As president, I needed to lead.

When I went looking for a soul mate, I’d have to find him somewhere else.



Later that afternoon Krista and I walked down to the bridal shower together, gifts in hand. We hadn’t picked them out; they’d been provided to us by event sponsors. I hoped Sadie was going to be excited about getting a bunch of alcohol and lingerie.

The first thing I noticed on the south lawn was the decorations. There were massive balloon arches of pale-pink and gray balloons, banners with Sadie’s name and their hashtags, a dessert table laid out with treats in various shades of pink, white couches with pink and gray pillows. It was like walking into somebody’s Pinterest board.

The next thing I realized was that there were men here.

“This is coed,” I said to Krista as an employee put a lei of pale-pink flowers around my neck.

“So?” she asked.

“So . . . it would have been nice if someone had brought that to my attention before right now.”

“Why? Oh,” she said in a serious tone. “Because of your boyfriend.”

“Seriously? I’m going to get more of this from you?”

“I can’t help myself. It’s hilarious. From my perspective, anyway. Plus, I never have things to tease you about and this is too much fun.”

Her calling Camden my “boyfriend” made me question whether he was seeing someone. If he was flirting with me solely to seduce information out of me, that meant he wasn’t interested in really pursuing me. He might have someone back home waiting for him.

The thought made me uneasy.

This party was listed as being “casual.” Not sure what that meant in wedding planner Troy’s world, I’d opted for my favorite lavender sundress. Most of the women were in skirts or dresses and a bunch of the men were wearing linen shirts and cargo shorts. Like some kind of uniform.

Knowing Sadie’s sponsors, it might actually be a uniform.

“There’s Dan’s mom. I’m off to socialize,” I told her. Krista said goodbye as I approached Irene. Dan’s mother looked peaceful, her headscarf a pink and gray mixture, just like the wedding colors. I thought it was a particularly sweet touch.

“Irene, right? I’m Rachel. The maid of honor. May I join you?”

“Please do.” I sat down next to her on the couch, putting my purse by my feet. “So you’re Rachel! You’re the one Camden’s been going on and on about.”

My heart did flips at her words. Until I realized that it might not have been positive. “Good things, I hope.”

She patted my hand. “Nothing but good things!”

It would be wrong for me to accuse someone who had cancer of being a liar, right? Because this was something I’d dealt with a lot before—weddings did tend to bring out the matchmakers in people. All that love and happiness. They wanted to spread it around, like Sadie had been doing. Apparently Irene was on board.

I settled on, “I find that a little hard to believe.” I had no idea how far he’d spread his corporate-espionage theory.

Irene gave me a motherly smile. “He said he thought you were beautiful.”

Whoa, that sent my stomach into free fall. “Did he? Well . . . I’m sure his girlfriend wouldn’t appreciate that.”

I couldn’t help myself. Even if I couldn’t date him, even if he suspected me of trying to ruin his company, I wanted to know if, under different circumstances, there might have been a chance for us.

“Camden doesn’t have a girlfriend. He hasn’t seriously dated anyone in . . . well, it’s been quite some time.”

“Oh.” I didn’t have a better response because I was far too happy about her statement and knew I shouldn’t be. What if she was just guessing? How could she have any real insider information into Camden’s love life?

While I was wrestling internally with trying to figure out if I could trust what she said, Irene asked where I was from and our conversation grew from there. I genuinely enjoyed getting to know people and talking to them. It was one of the things that made my job so enjoyable. I’d been defensive and on edge at this particular wedding only because of Camden’s shenanigans.

She had just finished telling me an adorable story about her knitting club and how they made hats for infants at the local hospital when she tacked on, “If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to find a restroom.”

I’d noted earlier that she’d either been sitting or on Dan’s arm whenever I saw her and so I said, “Do you need any help?”

“You’re a dear, but no thank you. People fuss over me all the time. I can manage.”

She scooted carefully to the end of the sofa and had a bit of a struggle standing up. I wanted to assist her but didn’t interfere because it seemed important to her to do it on her own.