He waved her out of the door then took her bag. “I hope everything’s okay.”
“Actually, I’ve got a wedding emergency.”
Dark brows curving, he shot her a look as they waited for the elevator to arrive. “A wedding emergency. I thought—”
“Oh, God! Not mine!” She waved her hands like she was guiding in a plane. “No, I made a dress for a girl but something happened to it and the wedding planner called me in a panic. I don’t even know what’s wrong yet and . . . Damn, I just realized I won’t have my box. Shit.”
The elevator doors opened and she hurried inside, as if that would get her to Reading any faster.
“What box?”
“My sewing kit. I’ll need that to repair whatever happened to the dress.”
“Why don’t you call Annabelle and have her bring it to you?”
“I would, but I don’t want to disturb her.” The elevator took them directly to the parking garage and they headed for Tyler’s car. “I guess I’m going to have to. She’s gonna hate me.”
“Do you want me to call Jed?”
She gave him a smile as they got into the car and got on their way. God, she really was an idiot or he really was too good to be true. “No, that’s okay. I’ll call Annabelle.”
As she pulled her phone out, her gaze brushed by his big hand on the gearshift. Long fingers that had brought her so much pleasure. She wanted those hands on her again.
And now was definitely not the time to be thinking about that because she had an emergency.
Annabelle didn’t pick up until the third ring. “Kate! Are you okay?” Then her voice dropped into an almost-whisper. “Did you really leave with Tyler last night and go back to Haven with him? Where are you? Did you have fun?”
“And good morning to you, too.” Kate felt a blush flare and hoped Tyler couldn’t hear Annabelle’s overly exuberant voice. “Hey, I need a favor and I’m so sorry to have to ask—”
“What’s wrong? Is everything okay? Do you need me to come get you?”
Kate couldn’t help but smile. “Nothing’s wrong. Yes, I did. I’m on my way to Reading, and no, I don’t need you to come get me. But I do need you to bring my full kit to Reading for me.”
“Whose— Oh no.” Dread filled Annabelle’s tone. “The Shanahan wedding’s today, isn’t it? And there’s a problem with the dress? Ooh, that can’t be good.”
“No, probably not. I didn’t get a lot of detail from Talia because she was already freaked out, so that’s not a good sign. It must be bad.”
“I’ll get your kit and meet you— Where should I meet you?”
“At St. Catherine’s in Mount Penn. I’m so sorry to interrupt your, uh, morning.”
Annabelle laughed and Kate heard the rumble of a male voice in the background.
“No worries,” Annabelle assured her. “We can’t stay in bed the entire day.”
A pause and Kate definitely heard Jared say, “And why not?”
Annabelle laughed again. “I’ll be there with your kit. See you soon.”
Annabelle hung up, and she set her phone back in her purse, sighing.
“I like Annabelle,” Tyler said after a few seconds of silence had passed. “She seems like a great friend.”
“The very best. We met in college and have been best friends ever since. When my mom died, I don’t think I would’ve managed without her.”
“I’m sorry about your mom. Was she ill?”
She really didn’t want to talk about her mom but she didn’t want to be rude either. And in her current state, she might just snap off his head. “She had an undiagnosed heart defect. Went out for a run one day and never came home. She had a heart attack, fell over, and hit her head on a rock. She was dead before anyone found her.”
He paused. “I’m so sorry. How old were you?”
“Twenty.”
Please God don’t let him ask any more questions. She hated talking about her mom because it always made her cry. And that made her angry. It’d been more than seven years since her death. Most people figured she should be over it by now. Or at least have moved on.
Which she had. Really.
As if he’d picked up on her silent pleading, he changed the subject.
“So this dress, is it your first custom gown?”
Breathing a hopefully silent sigh of relief, she shook her head. “No, but it is the first I’ve designed for one of Talia’s clients.”
“And Talia is . . . ?”
“Talia Driscoll, event planner. This is her first major wedding and she’s been running on Red Bull and dark chocolate for the past week. I was kind of afraid she wouldn’t be able to hold it together until the actual wedding day, but so far she’s managed. Talia’s brilliant. She was able to pull this wedding together in record time.”
“Why the rush?”
“The bride’s fiancé is about to ship out with the Peace Corps for a two-year stint in Africa and the bride didn’t want to wait to get married until he came home. When the Shanahans couldn’t find anyone else to take over the wedding on such short notice, Talia’s mother offered up her daughter’s services. It’s a great opportunity. It’ll make her career if the day comes off without a hitch.”
“But that can’t happen unless you fix the dress. Will you be able to?”
She couldn’t afford to believe otherwise. “Unless the thing got dumped in a sludge pile and shredded, I can fix it.”
“You sound pretty sure of yourself.”
She was, actually. “The dress is pure Cinderella. Lots of tulle, big puffy skirt. The bodice is fitted, but even if I have to resew a few seams, it shouldn’t be a problem. I guess I should’ve asked Talia what happened but I’m almost afraid I’ll psych myself into a panic before I get there.”
His mouth quirked into one of those smiles she couldn’t seem to get enough of. “Sounds like you’ve got this all worked out.”
“Yeah, except now I’m wondering if I shouldn’t have had Annabelle pick up some extra fabric and the bolt of tulle . . .”
Even as she spoke, she reached for her cell to text Annabelle.
“Better safe than sorry.”
Tyler’s voice hit that spot deep inside that made her shiver. Her thumbs fumbled the message and she had to retype it before she hit send.
Then she noticed the tremble in her hands and her racing heart.
Damn. She couldn’t afford to panic.
“So, Tyler. Tell me all about the hotel business.”
Tyler turned to look at Kate, noticed the shaking hands and the tremor in her voice.
And realized he didn’t know enough about her to know what to say to calm her down because she was about to lose it. He figured that wouldn’t be a couple of sniffles and a tear or two.
He knew just where to touch her to make her shiver and he knew that if he sucked on her breasts a certain way, she moaned.
But heading off a meltdown?
Shit. Jared handled women much better than he did. He knew what to say to calm them down, to get their minds turned in another direction.
Tyler had known that when Mia dissolved in tears, he could pull her into his arms and let her cry it out against his chest.
He hadn’t pegged Kate as a crier and, as he watched her struggle to maintain her composure, he realized she didn’t want to cry. Was fighting against it hard.
Her bottom lip trembled but she bit down on it as she took a deep breath. She stared straight out the window, her hands held tight in her lap.
Strong. Battling.
He liked that.
So he talked about zoning laws and union workers and waste management contracts, figuring if nothing else he would bore her into a state of numbness.