She went perfectly still, then blinked twice, certain she was seeing wrong.
But there was no mistake. Brett stood on the sidewalk below, looking up the stairs, his gaze fixed on her.
For several stunned seconds she couldn’t move. Couldn’t breathe. Could only stare. For one crazy instant she thought he was a guest-some cruel trick of fate that he somehow knew Meg or Robert and had been invited to the wedding, not realizing the bride was her sister.
But no, he was dressed casually in jeans and a short-sleeved shirt.
Her heart jumped back to life and she reached out to grip the banister lest her trembling legs gave out. Afraid to so much as blink, in case he was some sort of mental mirage brought on by misery and biscotti deprivation, she excused herself to Daniel, then moved down one cautious step. When Brett didn’t disappear, she risked another, then another.
His gaze never moved from her, and she continued with her jerky steps. When she passed by where her mother stood, Kayla heard her ask, “Honey, are you okay?”
She nodded. At least she thought she did. She tried to. She could feel the weight of her mother’s stare on her back, but she didn’t stop. Didn’t pause until only six feet separated her and Brett. And then, wouldn’t you know it, her throat slammed shut. She had to swallow three times to find her voice, and then only managed to say, “Hi” in a high-pitched voice she didn’t recognize.
“Hello, Kayla.”
A breath she hadn’t realized she was holding whooshed from her lungs. Until he’d spoken, part of her had really wondered if he might be a mirage.
“Wh-what are you doing here? Out for a walk?”
“No.” He regarded her through very serious eyes. “I came here to see you.”
Oh, God, she was going to fall down. Right here, on the sidewalk. After locking her shaky knees, she wet her lips then said, “You did?”
“I did. I’ve been trying to get in touch with you for the past week, but since we’d never exchanged phone numbers or addresses and you’re unlisted, it’s been challenging.” He slipped his hands into his back pockets and she pressed her lips together, trying to force back the memory of those talented hands skimming down her body. Gently framing her face.
“I tried to find you through La Fleur, but when I called the company, all the receptionist would tell me is that you don’t work there anymore.”
She nodded. “That’s correct. I don’t.”
He studied her for several seconds, and she wondered what he was thinking. “Then I remembered about your sister getting married. I checked the announcements in the Times, and found the name Watson, saw that the wedding was here, today. And here I am.”
Yes, and here he was. Looking so big and strong and gorgeous she wanted to throw herself into his arms. And staring at her with an unreadable expression that had her heart jumping in her chest.
“It’s good to see you,” she whispered, appalled when her voice broke on the last word. She offered up a quick prayer to the Patron Saint of Tissues to please not let her cry. Surely such a simple prayer could be answered, seeing as how they stood right outside a church.
“Do you have a few minutes?” he asked. “Or do you need to leave right now?”
“I have some time. Meg and Robert are going to stop in the park for a few pictures,” she looked skyward, “or a few hundred pictures, before going to the Waldorf.”
The ghost of a smile touched his lips, and her breath hitched at the suggestion of the dimple in his cheek. He nodded toward the church. “Do you think we could sit in there and talk?”
“I don’t see why not. It’s not as if there aren’t plenty of seats.”
She turned and started up the stairs, carefully lifting the hem of her Wang because of all the times to go splat, this would be a really bad one. She heard him climbing the stone steps behind her and an image of them hiking the trail flashed through her mind, of his teasing smile as he ogled her butt.
She strongly doubted he was ogling her now. In fact she hoped he wasn’t, because if he was, he’d surely notice that there was more to ogle.
As she neared her mother and Cindy, both of whose avid glances were bouncing between her and Brett, she shot them a please-don’t-ask look and said, “I’ll be along soon. Don’t wait the limo for me. I’ll just grab a cab and meet you at the Waldorf.”
And then, in case they missed the don’t-ask look, she kept on climbing, not wanting to perform introductions to a man they’d never see again. As it was, she’d have to field dozens of questions the moment she arrived at the reception.
“Who’s that man with Kayla?” she heard Cindy whisper to their mother. Unfortunately, Cindy didn’t know how to whisper, and when she tried, she was invariably louder than if she’d just spoken normally.
“I don’t know, but it’s my guess he’s the reason she’s been so distraught,” answered Mom, in the same loud whisper she’d passed along the gene pool to Cindy.
“She’s been distraught?”
“Oh, yes, dear. Ever since she returned from Peru. You’ve just been too busy barfing to notice.”
Kayla winced and kept climbing, trapped from sprinting up the steps by her high heels and tight Wang.
After passing through the vestibule, Kayla led the way into the empty church, then slid into the last pew, relieved to be off her feet. Brett sat next to her, turning sideways in the seat to face her, then setting a shiny blue shopping bag on the floor. Where had that come from? Obviously he’d had it all along and she just hadn’t noticed. Not surprising, given her shock at seeing him.
The last thing she wanted was to look into those golden-brown eyes that had once regarded her with desire, knowing that no longer seeing it would hurt. But she owed him the courtesy of meeting his gaze.
And when she did, her heart hurt at the unreadable expression with which he regarded her. Well, she supposed she deserved this. For whatever reason, he obviously wanted to have it out face to face, so she might as well get it over with.
“What did you want to talk about, Brett?”
“A lot of things. But first, I want to know about your job. Why don’t you work at La Fleur anymore?”
“Does it matter?”
“I wouldn’t ask if it didn’t.” He frowned. “Did you lose your job because of me?”
“No.”
He looked…surprised? “I’d like to know what happened, Kayla,” he said quietly.
She hesitated, then, looking down at her hands, said, “Very well. I resigned. I gave my two-week notice the day I returned from Peru.”
Silence greeted her answer, then one quiet word. “Why?”
She looked up and again met his gaze. “Because I couldn’t look at myself in the mirror. Because I was ashamed of my boss for expecting me to spy on you and of myself for agreeing to do so. I no longer wanted to be involved in any way with anything to do with your formula, so I took myself out of the game.”
“By resigning.”
“Yes.”
“So you don’t have a job?”
“I don’t.” She lifted her chin. “But I have my integrity and self-respect back, or at least I’m working on it. Unfortunately they don’t pay the rent, but I have a few promising prospects lined up.” She paused, then said, “I want you to know…I didn’t repeat anything you said about your formula to my boss. I know you don’t have any reason to believe me but-”
“I believe you.”
Those three softly spoken words stilled her and she pressed her hands together so he wouldn’t see them trembling.
“Thank you. That’s more than I deserve.”
She waited for him to say something, anything, but when the silence swelled and he merely kept looking at her, a frown bunching his brows while his gaze roamed her features, she finally asked, “Why had you wanted to get in touch with me?”