“Don’t change the subject,” he replied. “If you have everything planned, why is it going to take you ten months to plan this fateful event?”
“Because that’s how long it takes. There are dress fittings and…”
“You haven’t picked out your wedding dress?”
She took another bite, closing her eyes and groaning with appreciation of the tender meat and the spicy sauce he’d made. “This really is amazing!”
“Answer the question. It’s hanging in your closet, isn’t it?”
She nodded, shifting so that she was more comfortable in her chair. “Of course I bought my dress.”
“But you haven’t gotten it hemmed and…whatever else a fitting might require?”
She took a long sip of the lemonade and smiled. “I hemmed it last year. It’s the perfect length for the shoes I bought.”
He paused, frowning at her as if she’d just said something crazy. Which, in his mind, she had. “Okay, so you have the dress, you have the shoes and the dress is hemmed. What dress fittings might be required?”
“I don’t know, Lincoln” she sighed with irritation. There was more color to her cheeks now, a rosy glow that hadn’t been there before. “But I’m not taking any chances. I don’t like to be rushed. So if there are any alterations needed, I want to have enough time to wear the dress perfect.”
He took another bite of his sandwich, then handed her a fork. “Isn’t the dress already perfect?”
She rolled her eyes. “Men!”
“What am I missing?” He pulled out a container of potato salad, the kind with chives and vinegar.
“A woman dreams about her wedding all her life!” she huffed, as if he should already know this.
“Not every woman, but go ahead.”
She tilted her head, conceding her point. “Maybe not all women. But I have. And I just want things to be perfect.”
“And having a dress that doesn’t fit would make the whole event imperfect?”
“Of course it would. A dress that doesn’t fit means that I’m focusing on how uncomfortable my dress is. I’d much rather focus on having a good time with the wedding guests.”
“And Carl,” he pointed out.
She blinked. “What?”
“And Carl,” he repeated. “You’ll want to focus on Carl on your wedding day too. Not just your wedding guests, right?”
“Oh!” she shrugged dismissively. “Yes. Of course. That goes without saying.”
That was a very revealing comment, Lincoln thought, relaxing now that he understood more about her relationship with her almost-fiance…and his muscles tightened again at the realization that the lovely and heretofore unattainable Kinsley wasn’t quite so unattainable. “How many people will attend your wedding?”
She sighed. “I think that it shouldn’t go over two hundred and fifty guests. Anything larger and I wouldn’t be able to greet everyone.”
“And greeting all of the wedding guests is important?”
She shot him an odd look. “Of course. Many of my relatives will have come from a long way away. I can’t have a party and not greet them properly.”
He downed the last of his lemonade, then refilled his glass, topping hers off as well.
“What would happen if you didn’t greet everyone?”
She gave him another curious look. “Why wouldn’t I?”
“Because maybe Carl,” he said the name as if it disgusted him, “would like a bit of your attention.”
Kinsley waved that aside. “Carl will understand. I’ll let him know before the wedding what the appropriate etiquette is at a wedding reception.”
“What if he disagrees?”
Kinsley laughed. “Carl is a very easy going man. He doesn’t disagree with me.”
“I would,” Lincoln commented, then pulled out a box of chocolates. “Here. Dessert.”
“You bought chocolates for dessert?” she gasped, obviously delighted. “I don’t let chocolate into my house,” she told him.
“Why not?” he asked, waiting patiently while she selected one of the dark chocolates.
“Because I’d eat them all in one night,” Kinsley admitted. “Chocolates are my Achilles heel.” She paused to gaze lovingly at the chocolate, nibbling on the beautifully decorated treat. “Oh my! This is delicious!” She closed her eyes, savoring the confection. A moment later, she opened her eyes and looked at him. “What would you disagree with?”
He shrugged and leaned back, popping another chocolate into his mouth, eating it whole without savoring it, or even appearing to appreciate the artistry of the piece.
“Seems to me that you have everything ass-backwards.”
“Don’t be crude.” She selected another. “Explain.”
He laughed, shaking his head. “You think that ‘ass-backward’ is crude?”
She sighed heavily, waving her hand. “Fine. It’s just normal, everyday language. What about my plans would you disagree with?”
“All of it. The wedding dress, for one.”
“What’s wrong with my wedding dress?” she demanded, sitting up straighter.
Lincoln lifted an eyebrow, then nudged the chocolates closer. She selected another, nibbling on it to make it last longer. “Well, first of all, I wouldn’t want to see the wedding dress until my wife-to-be is walking down the aisle towards me.”
“Really?” she stared at him.
He shrugged and nodded. “Sure. It’s sort of a thing with men. We want a bit of surprise.”
“Surprise?”
“It’s just like lingerie.”
She made a sort of squeaking sound that Lincoln thought was cute. Sort of sexy too, in an odd way. “Sure. Men love naked women. But when we’re taking off her clothes, we really love the surprise of lingerie.”
“But…the lingerie just comes off. Fast. There’s no point in wearing pretty lingerie when the man doesn’t even pause to enjoy the effort.”
He looked at her with an interested
