Damn her Swedish ancestors. “Sorry, I pale very easily.”
Naomi grinned, even white teeth gleaming from her lovely face. “Yeah, you white girls do that.”
“Bitch.”
“Back at ya.” Naomi looked down at her cell phone. “She hasn’t called. Maybe I should call.”
Gemma put her hand down on the phone. “Don’t. She wanted you to have a couple of hours out. She’s fine. She has your number. She has Doctor Burke’s number. Actually, he’s sitting right over there.”
He got up and so did a gorgeous dark-haired man. Alexei Markov, former mobster and a key state witness in some very high-profile trials. Everyone in Gemma’s office had followed those trials, watching them like a gory soap opera. He’d been a spectacular witness. Charming and intelligent, he’d won over the juries. It was odd to see him here in small-town Colorado.
Holly, her fellow waitress from Gemma’s two-day stint at Stella’s, looked up as the men surrounded her. A hush fell over the whole bar. The music that had been rocking the walls was suddenly at a lull.
Gemma’s stomach took a long, slow dive.
“Hey, guys.” Holly got a faint grin on her face. “What’s going on?”
The big Russian got to one knee. “My dushka, Caleb and I have questionings for you. We wish to make offer you can’t to be refusing.”
Caleb grinned. “Sorry, baby, I let him watch The Godfather. But you’re not going to refuse us, are you?”
“I don’t know the question yet, so I don’t have an answer,” Holly shot back, but there were tears in her eyes.
Both men pulled out velvet boxes and diamond rings flashed.
“Yes.” Holly didn’t wait for the actual question. She just started kissing them. One and then the other.
Patrick hadn’t proposed. Hadn’t bought her a ring. She’d brought it up over lunch one day. She’d laid out the business plan of their marriage and presented it to him. He’d agreed. No romance. No protestations of love.
Cam stood up. “Excellent, now we’ll show you how two men who don’t mind talking do this thing.”
That was why Cam had been smiling all afternoon. Cam was getting engaged, too. She wanted to be happy for him. She liked Cam. All she could think about was the date. Tomorrow’s date, really. It was burned into her memory since she’d sent out two hundred and fifty “save the date” cards with tomorrow’s date on them.
Cam’s partner, Rafe, got up beside him, both men looking down on Laura Niles, who put her hand to her mouth, tears pooling in her eyes. “Laura, it’s been a long road, but every turn led us right here.”
“Every stop sign and detour didn’t matter because we had one destination in life. You.” Cam reached out and touched her hair.
“We’re here now, and we won’t ever leave again. Laura, will you marry us? Will you build a life with us, a home, whatever family we’re blessed enough to have? Will you grow old with us and stare back at the life we were granted, happy it was a shared one?”
“Oh, yes.” Laura accepted her rings.
Caleb looked at Holly. “What they said.”
She shook her head and hugged him. “I love you just the way you are, Caleb. You, too, Alexei.”
The whole bar erupted in a long cheer.
Tomorrow was supposed to be her wedding day. She’d planned that wedding out with the same type A–fueled adrenaline she’d used on her career. She’d found the perfect venue, the perfect dress, the right band. She’d concentrated on a wedding, but those people in the bar would have real marriages.
A warm hand covered hers. “Are you okay?”
She shook her head. It wouldn’t help to think about it. Six months ago she’d been ready to get married, on the cusp of becoming a junior partner, had her whole life ahead of her.
And it hadn’t meant a thing.
She’d worked her ass off, done everything right, and it hadn’t worked out. Her mother had followed her heart and it had all gone wrong. And she still told Gemma to do the same.
Follow her heart? She hadn’t listened to it since she was a little girl.
“It’s okay to be upset, Gem. I know what tomorrow was supposed to be. Your mom had that wedding invitation on her refrigerator. When I first met her, she told me she had to live long enough to see her baby get married.”
There they were. Those tears that she always seemed on the edge of. Every time she was about to fall into self-pity, she thought about her mom. She took a deep breath. It was past time to pull up her big-girl panties. She wasn’t getting married tomorrow. She wasn’t a lawyer anymore. But she was still her mother’s daughter. “Well, it’s better this way. We get to spend more time together.”
Naomi sighed as though slightly disappointed. “Yes, you do, hon.”
“What can I do you for, ladies?”
Gemma felt her eyes widen. God, they grew them hot in this town. She’d seen him around the valley and at the little barbecue in her mom’s yard. The man in front of her was at least six and a half feet tall with emerald green eyes and pitch-black hair. His face was scarred, but it was oddly lovely on him as though pain had molded him from picture perfect into something infinitely more interesting. She had to find her voice.
“Vodka tonic.”
The Bartender God winked her way. “Sure thing. You’re Gemma, right? The new office manager at the station?”
“Through very nefarious means, yes.”
A brilliant smile crossed his face. “Excellent. You give Nate hell, hon. And you should know that all your drinks are on the house. I know how hard it is to deal with that man.”
She couldn’t help it. She smiled back. “You’re Zane Hollister.” Callie’s other husband. Callie had been into the station several times, but she hadn’t met Zane. They lived not a quarter of a mile from each other. He’d cooked dinner in her mom’s yard while he’d talked to Cade. She worked for the man’s partner, but she hadn’t taken the time to meet him.
He gave her a little salute. “I am indeed. I’m the one who’s going to make sure you don’t kill your boss. Lunches are on the house, too. You’re part of the family now.” He turned to Naomi. “How about you?”
“White wine spritzer. And heavy on the spritzer. Just one. Thanks.” That was Naomi. Always in control. It was probably a good thing in a nurse.
“Will do.” The wretchedly hot bartender turned and started mixing drinks.
And Gemma sat there for a minute. Part of the family? She didn’t buy it. It wasn’t true. He’d just said it because they needed someone to man the phones. Part of the family was just one of those things people said to get a person to do what they wanted. That was all. Bliss wasn’t any different than the real world. It just liked to say it was.
And where were all the non-hot guys? It was stupid. She was in a rural small town. It should be filled with men she would never sleep with, but no, not Bliss, Colorado. Bliss, Colorado, had to be the world’s epicenter for sexy men.
She took a sip of her vodka tonic when Zane passed it to her, her eyes wandering. So many beautiful men.
And she couldn’t even handle Patrick. No. She really shouldn’t be sitting here thinking about Jesse and Cade and whether or not she should go to the jukebox.
Like they really wanted her anyway. There weren’t a whole lot of available women. The men left had to double-team. But they hadn’t latched on to Naomi, and Naomi was gorgeous and sweet.
“Miss Turner.” The doctor set his empty glass on the bar along with a delicate martini glass. “It’s nice to see you out and about.”
Naomi turned his way, a big smile on her face. “Lynn insisted. She said she wanted some alone time.”
Doctor Burke leaned against the bar. “She knows what she wants. She’s been through enough. She should have her way now. As long as she makes her checkups, she’s going to be fine.” The doctor gave Naomi what Gemma thought was supposed to be a smile, but it kind of looked like a shark sizing up his dinner. “Which is why you should seriously reconsider my offer.”