Free Awakened By A Kiss (Once Upon A Romance) by Laurie LeClair

bright red. Candace touched her hair, and then the necklace she wore, a small diamond on a chain. “Candy wants to kick off the wedding season,” Dex mumbled. “There’s this rock star getting married the same night—” He jerked when she jabbed his arm. Rubbing the spot, he looked at her oddly.
    “Rock star?” Evelyn asked, her stomach dropping.
    “Some guy.” Dex snapped his fingers. “What’s his name?”
    “Could it be Austin? Austin Rhoades, by any chance?” she asked numbly. She jerked to look at Peg, strangely silent, as she clutched her clipboard to her chest.
    “Yeah, that’s the guy. Rhoadies—that was the name of his band.”
    “Funny you should mention that,” Ev said, not laughing. “That’s the other wedding I’m involved in.”
    “See, I told you King’s was doing that wedding, too,” Candace said to Dex. “It’s all over the news.”
    “So you understand why I can’t be in charge, or involved, in yours, right?” Shane’s cold stare had her turning to him. His face could have been made of stone. We had a plan, remember? he seemed to be asking her silently.
    “Drop them. You’ll do ours.” Candace’s triumphant declaration rang in the still room.
    “No can do.” Evelyn used one of Peg’s sayings.
    “Of course you can. We insist.”
    “Not gonna happen,” Ev insisted right back. She had a mental image of a bull standing in place, snorting and grunting, kicking his hooves in the sand, ready to charge. Yep, that’s me right about now. Calm down, girl!
    “Griff, make her,” Candace implored, gazing at him with wide eyes and a pout.
    He shook his head. “Not on my watch.”
    Candace glared at him and twisted to Ev. “Really? You would choose that one over mine? You’d favor a mere little, what is it now? A three-member band, grungy rockers, maybe drugs and possibly wild sex over an orchestra, instead of attending the most prestigious museum looking over the water, at night, with only the best food, with fireworks—the most glamorous wedding of the year? Only a fool would consider there’s a decision to be made here.”
    There were murmurs from her friends. Evelyn rose quietly and went to sit by Peg, who was shaking now. “Let me at her,” Peg muttered. “I can get in one, maybe two, punches before they pull me off her.”
    Evelyn smiled at her future in-law. “Witnesses, remember? We can’t have any.”
    They shared a low chuckle.
    “Well?” Candace asked, gazing around at the room and then zeroing on Evelyn.
    “I guess you can call me that fool then. I like rockers, grungy or otherwise.” She lifted her chin a little bit higher.
    Candace sputtered. “Dex, do something.”
    “Nothing you can say can make me change my mind, Miss Hightower.” The formality dropped into the middle of the room. “That grungy three-piece rock band happens to be very near and dear to me. I grew up with them. One of them, literally.”
    “That’s ridiculous.”
    “I don’t think you realize your faux pas. I’m in the wedding party. The best man or woman, whichever you prefer. You see, the groom, Austin Rhoades, is my brother. And Peg Newbury here,” she put her arm around Peg, “is my dear, beloved future sister-in-law. It’s a family thing.”
    Candace’s mouth opened in the shape of an O . All the blood drained from her face.
    “Priceless!” Peg muttered. “Now, can I punch her lights out?”

 
     
     
Chapter 9
     
     
    Every time he thought of the fiasco, Shane groaned as if in pain. Days passed, the wedding had been gently, but firmly shifted to another day—the next day: a Sunday night, and Evelyn wasn’t speaking to him.
    How in the world had it gone so wrong? Just when he thought they were making progress, it fell apart at his feet.
    Dex bent over backwards to comfort Candace. He spent less and less time in his makeshift lab in his parents’ garage and more with her.
    It looked like the sham of a wedding was going to take place after all. Short of shaking