Free Pros and Cons by Janet Evanovich Page B

imminent death by the use of flowers and twinkle lights.” He turned to Caroline. “And you, my dear, will be the ultimate distraction in your one-of-a-kind, shockingly flimsy wedding gown.”
    Caroline shivered in excited anticipation. “I’ll be the talk of the town.”
    “Dumplink, you’ll be the talk of the entire country,” Nick said.
    Caroline gave him an earnest look. “I want everything to be perfect.”
    “Perfection is my middle name,” Nick told her. “If one of your guests choked on a meatball and died, if one of the millions of candles we’ll be using set your living room on fire and everything went to cinders, I’d still make sure your wedding ended in perfection.”
    “I knew I could count on you,” Caroline said.
    Milton wistfully looked over the edge of the rooftop at the traffic below.
    “If you jump it’ll make a mess,” Nick told him. “Your head will crack open like a cantaloupe, and they’ll have to scrape your brains up with a spatula. And that would be such a shame, because you’re a very attractive man when your head is intact.”
    Nick winked at Milton, and Milton grimaced.
    “On the big day I’m going to escort Caroline out of the master suite to the French doors leading to the garden,” Nick said. “She’s going to stand there and let everyone ogle her. There’s going to be a lot of
oohhh
and
ahhh
. And we might need to have some paramedics on hand in case any of the really old geezers has a heart attack when he sees her.”
    Caroline giggled and clapped her hands. “Yes,” she said. “Yes, yes, yes.”
    Nick smiled. The human race never ceased to amaze him. Particularly, he was intrigued by the way people found each other. In an odd way, Caroline and Milton were a perfect match. They were both totally self-absorbed and ruthless and, by their own standards, very successful. Milton would tolerate Caroline until something new caught his eye, and Caroline would peck away at Milton until he was carrion.
    And Nick knew that Milton wasn’t the only male on the roof deck at risk of becoming roadkill. Nick was playing a dangerous game of cat and mouse with Kate O’Hare, taunting her with clues designed to annoy. Truth is, he was inexplicably attracted to her. She was a tantalizing mix of girl next door and junkyard dog.
    “This is going to be so majestic,” Caroline said. “When do I start walking down the aisle?”
    “When you hear the band playing Burt Bacharach’s ‘The Look of Love,’ that will be your cue to slowly glide down the aisle,” Nick told her. “You will be a vision in white, and you will walk very slowly so you don’t slip on the rose petals and break your back. Also if you walk too fast your breasts will bounce out of your bodice.”
    The slow walk down the aisle was important to Nick because he neededfour minutes and eleven seconds of distraction to steal all of Milton’s treasures, including his priceless collection of golden Chachapoyan tribal artifacts.
    Caroline looked across the terrace to Milton. “Will Burt be here?”
    “No, he will not,” Milton said. “Burt was unavailable.”
    Not that Milton had bothered to check. The wedding was already going to be too expensive without flying in celebrities.
    Caroline frowned. “It won’t be the same without him.”
    Nick patted her shoulder. “I’ll make sure you have the highest quality digital sound system money can buy.”
    Caroline continued to pout.
    “What about Dionne Warwick?” Nick said. “Maybe Dionne is available. Wow, what a voice.”
    “Yes, Dionne!” Caroline said.
    “She’s not available either,” Milton said, staring daggers at Nick, who pretended not to notice.
    “What about her sister Celine?” Caroline asked.
    Milton looked incredulously at his fiancée, and for a moment Nick feared he might cancel the wedding on the spot.
    “Dionne Warwick doesn’t have a sister Celine,” Nick told Caroline. “You’re thinking of Celine Dion.”
    “Yes,” she said. “How