The Wedding Pact Box Set - Denise Grover Swank Page 0,99

may have struck out there, but that doesn’t mean I came up empty-handed.”

It turned out that Noah had already made more progress in two hours at Bart Vandemeer’s office than Josh had made in a day. “Don’t ever become a detective, Joshy,” Noah chuckled. “You couldn’t investigate your way out of a paper bag.”

“Hey, I got the password.”

Noah just laughed. “Which you already admitted was a lucky fluke.”

“Who did you screw to get what you needed?” Josh asked dryly.

“While I’m flattered you think I could seduce someone so quickly during a weekday, and in an office to boot, that’s not how I did it.”

“So how did you do it?”

“Flattery and asking the right questions.”

“That’s great. Gloat all you want. What I really want to know is what you’ve found.”

“I think you might be right about Bart Vandemeer being a part of this.”

Josh’s heart sank. He had hoped to be wrong, even though the email seemed like pretty substantial evidence. “Why would you say that?”

“The bookkeeper let it slip that Bart has been siphoning money off the company. Thousands of dollars.”

“That’s no surprise. Nicole Vandemeer spent fifty-six grand on a wedding Megan didn’t even want.”

“Down boy. You nearly jumped down Nicole’s throat at the tuxedo rental store.”

“She deserved it.”

“Well, cool your outrage. You need to stay in that woman’s good graces.”

“Why?” Noah didn’t answer and an anxious ball formed in the pit of Josh’s stomach. “Noah? Why do I need to stay in the woman’s good graces?”

“You can’t break up with Vandemeer’s daughter tonight.”

A disarming mixture of relief and dismay washed through him. “Why not?”

“Because the partner’s son, Drew Peterman, is showing up for the wedding tomorrow. I saw a photo of him in the partner’s office with his fiancée.”

“Is that supposed to mean something? Do I really care who’s on the guest list?” Josh was still trying to decide whether postponing his inevitable breakup was a good thing or not.

“Peterman’s fiancée is the woman I slept with the night the plans disappeared.”

“Holy shit.”

“Exactly.” Noah sounded smug, not that Josh could blame him. It was a monumental find. Of course, Noah was the one who’d lost the plans to Drew Peterman’s fiancée in the first place.

“If Drew Peterman stole the plans, how does Bart Vandemeer come into play?”

“Bart’s been taking so much money from the company that the firm needs this patent to survive just like we do.”

“Shit. That’s the proof we need.” This should have made him happy, but all it did was make him nauseated.

“Yep. It’s shitty as hell, but it’s their firm or ours, and they didn’t play fair, so which one do you pick, Joshy?”

“You know damn well which one I pick.”

“Maybe, maybe not,” Noah murmured. “But all of this is to say that we need to be around tomorrow. I’m going to corner the fiancée and get her to admit she stole the plans.”

“How in God’s name do you propose to do that?”

“I have my ways. Now you need to use yours. Convince Vandemeer’s daughter to keep the charade going.”

“We’re getting a marriage license this afternoon, Noah.”

“I heard.”

“I’m pretty damn sure you have to provide ID to apply. Megan’s mother is going to be there.”

“Take care of it.”

“That’s helpful.”

“Look, Josh. I know this is totally unlike you, but it’s obvious you like the girl, so keep playing house.” He paused and his voice softened. “Dude, I know I’ve sucked as a brother, and what I’m asking you to do sucks more than any of it all combined, but we need this. Think about Ted—yeah, I know about Ted. Where’s he going to be if we close our doors on Monday?”

Josh didn’t answer. He didn’t need to.

“Maybe you can get the happy ending you truly deserve, Josh, but for now we need you to keep this going.”

“I don’t think I can do that.” Josh’s voice cracked.

“You can and you will. Now I have to go. I’ll see you at the rehearsal.”

The conversation had sucked something out of Josh, and he’d taken it out on Megan. She didn’t deserve any of this. Not her mother, not her cheating ex-fiancé, and especially not Josh and the havoc he brought with him.

Now, as he waited for her to join him, he wrestled with his conscience. The way he saw it, he had three options: One, tell her everything right now. Two, break up with her at the rehearsal dinner like they’d originally planned. Or three, follow through with Noah’s crazy plan. But what would happen then? Was he supposed to