Real Romance - By Ginny Baird Page 0,39

stepped backwards and bumped into a shelf. "Thought for sure you'd be expecting me."

"Well, I..." Marie brushed some imaginary crumbs off the front of her dress. "What are you doing here?" she asked, lowering her voice along with her glasses, peering at him.

"I came to discuss plans."

"Plans? Oh, David, how sweet. Joanne will be so touched."

"Joanne? I didn't know you two were that close."

"Oh, yes," Marie said. "She's like a mother to me."

"Well, then by all means—"

A customer walked over and interrupted Marie with a question. When she'd finished directing him to the New Parenting section, she turned back to David.

"So, anyway... Here's what I was thinking. It's too cold to have it outdoors. But the ceremony really shouldn't involve much fuss."

"No fuss?"

"Well, come on, now, David. Once you get to a certain age, white lace and frills do seem a little ridiculous."

She sounded like she was already putting them out to pasture. David didn't feel that old.

"Besides," she said, her lashes fluttering lightly behind her frames. "I think our focus should be on the part that come afterwards."

"Right," he said, stepping forward eagerly.

"David!" Marie said, halting his advance with a hand to his chest. "What's gotten into you? I'm talking about the reception."

David wiggled his eyebrows. "And I was talking about the honeymoon."

"Honeymoon?" Marie looked a little baffled. "Well, I don't think you and I need to worry about that!"

David cleared his throat. She might be walking all over him where the other arrangements were concerned, but she was not going to take the reins away from him on this."You just go ahead and worry about everything else. I'll take care of the honeymoon."

"You? But David, you barely even know Chad and Joanne. I mean, offering to help with the wedding is one thing—"

"Chad and Joanne?"

"Of course, Chad and Joanne. Who in the world did you think we've been talking about this whole time?"

David searched his brain for a quick answer.

"Oh, I knew who we were talking about, all right," he said with a modest laugh. "It's just that I was so surprised that old Chad hadn't planned anything, I thought I might suggest—"

"Now don't go offering unsolicited advice like Cecil," she said, squaring her shoulders and closing in. "You've already seen where that sort of thing can lead."

David stepped forward and drew his arms around her waist. "Oh, I don't think things have turned out too badly in the end."

"David!" Marie said, pounding his shoulders. "I'm working!"

"Working when it comes to me, but not when it comes to planning Joanne's wedding?"

"She's a coworker, silly! For heaven's sake, it's practically company business."

David still didn't let go.

"Wait a minute," she said, finally breaking free of his grasp, "you're not wriggling out of your offer to help, are you?"

"To help with Joanne's wedding? Of course not, I meant every word I said."

"Good, because it's going to be sort of crazy between my helping with hers, and Johnny and Meg's ceremony coming up next month."

"And when will you get a chance to take a break?"

"Oh, I don't know," she said, running her fingers through her hair. "Unless Fabio sneaks in and steals me away to Jamaica, I'll probably be stuck here till New Year's."

Well, he wasn't exactly Fabio, but... David smiled brightly and gave her a whopping kiss on the lips. She'd just given him the most brilliant idea.

Marie tried hard not to get too concerned that she hadn't heard from David in a couple of days. After all, he'd warned her that Caroline was planning to take inventory for the rest of the week, so he'd be working long hours.

It was probably for the best anyhow. Because, as much as David had expressed his interest in helping, Marie had her hands full planning Joanne's reception. When she thought about it, she realized he would just be in the way.

The bookstore had been incredibly busy ever since it had reopened after Thanksgiving. At peak hours, the aisles were so crammed Marie often had trouble simply maneuvering to do her regular duties. The business was good for the store, as well as its employees, who would all be getting healthy bonuses this year. But the extra paperwork high-volume sales produced made additional demands on her already limited time.

Although Johnny seemed to be heading for his upcoming nuptials with a certain degree of nonchalance, his fiancée Meg was positively frantic. With only two brothers and a misguided, twice-divorced socialite mother to help her, she'd been phoning Marie almost daily for support. With the wedding