Midnight Kiss (Virgin River #12)(12)

“Like I said, I thought I’d work it out in my head, be ready in time.”

Talk about shock and awe. “You’re an infant. How did I not realize what a liability that could be?”

“Excuse me, but I lay my life on the line every day! I go to work in a bulletproof vest! And you’re calling me an infant?”

“Oh, I’m so sorry, Glen. You’re an infant with a dick. With a little, tiny brain in it.” She took a breath. “Pack a bag. Take some things and see if you can find a friend who will take you in for a few days. I’ll move home to my mom and dad’s as soon as I can. I hope you can make the rent alone. If I recall, I was making more money with my boring old weekend job than you were with your bulletproof vest.”

Sunny sat back on the bed, then she lay down. Still gowned in a very big wedding dress, holding her valuable bouquet at her waist, Sunny closed her eyes. She heard Glen rustling around, finding clothes, his shaving kit, the essentials. Her mind was completely occupied with thoughts like, will the airline refund the money for the first-class tickets because the groom didn’t show? How much non-refundable money had her parents wasted on a wedding that never happened? Would the homeless of L.A. be eating thousands of dollars worth of exquisite food discarded by the caterer? And since her name was also on the lease to this townhouse, would fun-man Glen stiff her there, too? Hurt her credit rating and her business?

“Sunny?” Glen said to her. He was standing over her. “Wake up. You look so… I don’t know… Funereal or something. Like a dead body, all laid out.” He winced. “In a wedding dress…”

She opened her eyes, then narrowed them at him. “Go. Away.”

SUNNY GAVE HER HEAD a little shake to clear her mind and looked up to see Drew standing in front of her. He held a glass of wine toward her. “I salted the steps, got you a wine and me a beer. Now,” he said, sitting down opposite her. “About this photography of yours…”

“It happened a year ago,” she said.

“Huh? The picture taking happened a year ago?” he asked.

“The wedding that never was. Big wedding—big party. We’d been together three years, engaged and living together for one, and all of a sudden he didn’t show. I was all dressed up in a Vera Wang, two hundred guests were waiting, little sausages simmering and stuffed mushrooms warming, champagne corks popping…and no groom.”

Total shock was etched into his features. “Get out!” he said in a shocked breath.

“God’s truth. His best man told me he couldn’t do it. He wasn’t ready.”

Suddenly Drew laughed, but not unkindly, not of humor but disbelief. He ran his hand through his hair. “Did he ever say why?”

She had never told anyone what he’d said, it was too embarrassing. But for some reason she couldn’t explain, she spit it right out to Drew. “Yeah. He wasn’t done having fun.”

Silence reigned for a moment. “You’re not serious,” Drew finally said.

“Deadly. It was all so stunning, there was even a small newspaper article about it.”

“And this happened when?” he asked.

“One year ago. Today.”

Drew sat back in his chair. “Whoa,” was all he could say. “Well, no wonder you’re in a mood. Fun?” he asked. “He wasn’t done having fun?”

“Fun,” she affirmed. “That’s the best explanation he could come up with. He liked to party, go to clubs, flirt, dance, whatever… He’s a Saturday-night kind of guy and just wasn’t ready to stop doing that and guess what? Photographers work weekends—weddings, baptisms, et cetera. Apparently I’m a real drag.”

Drew rubbed the back of his neck. “I must be really backward then. I always thought having the right person there for you, listening to your voice mails and texting you to pick up her dry cleaning or saying she’d pick up yours, someone who argued with you over what sushi to bring home or what went on the pizza, someone who would come to bed na**d on a regular basis—I always thought those things were fun. Sexy and fun.”

She grinned at him. “You find dry cleaning sexy?”

“I do,” he said. “I really do.” And then they both laughed.

CHAPTER FOUR

SUNNY SAT FORWARD, elbows on her knees, a smile on her face and said, “I can’t wait to hear more about this—the things you find sexy. I mean pizza toppings and dry cleaning? Do go on.”

He took a sip of his beer. “There is a long list, Miss Sunshine, but let’s be clear—I am a boy. Naked tops the list.”

“Yes, there are some things all you boys seem to have in common. But if I’ve learned anything it’s that showing up na**d regularly apparently isn’t quite enough.”

“Pah—for men with no imagination maybe. Or men who don’t have to push a month’s worth of work into a day.”

“Well, then…?” she asked. “What?”

“I like working out a budget you’ll never stick to. There’s something about planning that together, it’s cool. Not the checkbook, that’s not a two-person job—it’s dicey. No two people add and subtract the same, did you know that? And the chore list, that turns me on like you wouldn’t believe. Picking movies—there’s a real skill to that. If you can find a girl who likes action then you can negotiate three action movies to every chick flick, and you can eventually work up to trading chick flicks for back rubs.” He leaned close to whisper. “I don’t want this to get out, but I actually like some of the chick flicks. I’m picky, but I do like some.”