Donna Alward - Best Man For The Wedding Planner

“Another beer, Dan?” Pete nudged his arm.

He shrugged. “Why not?”

Pete ordered another round as the noise in the pub got louder. Was he getting old? At first Pete’s younger sister had suggested a nightclub, but the idea of a crowded place with too much bass and bodies grinding was unappealing. Dan had assumed tonight would be a little more upscale, but instead they’d hit one of the local pubs. He was glad of it, actually—it had been too long since he’d chilled out in such a relaxed atmosphere.

He looked over at Pete and gave a grin. “This reminds me of when we both started with the company. Paying off student loans and heading for wherever had cheap beer and a decent steak sandwich.”

Pete lifted his glass. “Those were the days, huh? Just like old times.”

Yeah, it was. Sometimes he missed it. Now he put in longer days and drinks and dinner were usually business events and not downtime.

He sat back in his chair and let out a sigh. He’d had a good steak and some cold beer and was looking forward to being back in his room and in a comfortable bed. It was past ten, which meant it was past midnight home in Toronto, and he wasn’t in a party mood. He was finally taking a whole week’s vacation and she had to be here. Seeing Adele had taken his celebratory mood and soured it, despite the old times feel to the evening.

The waitress came back with a tray of drinks and put one down in front of him, offering a bright smile. He smiled back, but only out of politeness. She was pretty enough, but once again Adele was in the front of his thoughts. He resented her being there. He’d moved on with his life. She hadn’t really given him a choice about that.

“Dude, are you all right? You look ready to kill someone.” Pete took a drink of his own beer and lifted an eyebrow.

“Didn’t Holly tell you?”

“Tell me what?”

He took a long drink of the brew and put the glass down on the table. “Your wedding planner is my ex.”

“Denise?”

Dan shook his head. “No, of course not. I was never serious about her. I mean the ex.”

The emphasis was all that was needed. “Oh. The one from university.”

“Yeah. And I had no idea. Just boom. There she was, standing in the lobby this afternoon.”

“How does she look?”

He picked up his beer again and angled an eyebrow. “You’ve met her.”

Pete laughed. “I mean, how does she look to you?”

His brain conjured up an image of her standing in the lobby, her warm coat bundled around her, her eyes wide and startled to see him, too. “Too good,” he admitted, and finished the glass. The drinks were going down a little too easily, but there was a limo waiting for all of them to take them back to the hotel. He only had to stagger from the car to his room. Then maybe he’d fall asleep and forget about her.

Pete nodded. “I’m sorry, man. We had no idea.”

“How could you? It’s halfway across the country.” He and Pete had been fresh out of university, and met working for the same eco-energy company in Toronto. Pete’s career had taken him to Alberta, the oil-and-gas capital of Canada, while Dan had stayed in Toronto, rising up through the ranks until he was chief financial officer of the company. It was a massive achievement to reach that level before he was thirty.

“What are you going to do about it?”

Dan looked up at Pete, realizing that despite the generous slab of beef and fries he’d eaten, his reflexes were slowing. No more beer for him. “Nothing. It’s your wedding, and she’s supposed to be making it amazing. I’ll just avoid her is all. Shouldn’t be too hard.” After all, he’d been avoiding thinking about her for at least the last eight years. It had taken nearly two of those years for him to even start dating again. Not that he’d admit that out loud.

Pete grinned. “Well, Lisa’s been looking at you all night. And I know she’s single. Might be a good distraction for you.”

Dan considered. The blonde was cute, for sure, with an easy smile and an attractive figure, particularly in the leggings and snug sweater she’d worn tonight. But he shook his head. “I don’t think so, pal. Wedding hookups can be messy, and I’m not in the mood to play games.”

Even if, by doing so, he could give Adele a glimpse of what she’d walked away from.

He didn’t want revenge. He just wanted to put her in his rearview mirror for good.

The subject was dropped for a while, and after one more round of drinks the group departed for the limo and the hotel. Tomorrow they had free time until the rehearsal at six, with the exception of the last-minute fittings.

As he opened the door to his room, he realized he was looking forward to a morning of actually sleeping in and maybe going for a hike or something. He hadn’t been to Banff since he was in high school on a class trip to Calgary. The only thing that would make it better was if his brother, Drew, was here. His younger brother lived for the outdoors, and the wilder, the better. The opulence of the hotel was great, but right now Dan missed his family. They were all grown and spread out all over the country. Drew wasn’t even in Canada all that often anymore. When had they become so divided?

The bed was turned down and he crawled inside, the ache in his gut growing hollower by the minute. Family...love...it seemed both had taken a back seat to success. Or maybe it was that he’d tried to use success to fill the absence of close relationships in his life. Even the women he’d dated...he didn’t ever get too close to them. Why?

He flopped to his side and sighed. And maybe he should stop thinking so much. Damn Adele for being here, and for dredging up all these feelings, anyway.

The wedding was the day after tomorrow. She was the planner. After that, he wouldn’t need to see her at all, would he?

And he could enjoy what remained of his vacation and go back to his regularly scheduled life.

Without her.

A WAITRESS REFILLED Adele’s coffee without asking as Adele opened her spreadsheet with today’s itemized list. The hotel coffee shop had become her temporary office, as it allowed her to be closer to everyone involved than her home office did.

Still, her stomach was in knots, and it was more to do with seeing Dan than the wedding. The distraction was stealing her focus. By tomorrow, changes couldn’t be made. Everything had to be in place by tonight.

Her email notification dinged quietly and she let out a frustrated sigh. Holly and Pete had been talking about the cocktail hour and wanted a change made to the signature drink and an addition to the hors d’oeuvre menu. Two extra people were now attending who had declined before, so final plate numbers also needed to be adjusted. And they were family, so the seating arrangements would have to be tweaked, too.

Nothing was earth-shattering, but Adele seriously appreciated those brides who knew what they wanted, set it up and stayed the course. Still, the fee from this event was significant, and as long as everything went off without a hitch, it was a great addition to her portfolio. She was smart enough to know a lot of her grumpiness was brought on from the arrival of Dan. Particularly since he’d plainly shunned her yesterday.

She took a sip of coffee, her stomach rumbled, and she knew she had to eat some breakfast before tackling anything. Within moments, she’d ordered an apple Danish and yogurt—something healthy to balance out the sweet pastry. Dutifully, she ate the yogurt first, and had just taken a first sticky bite of Danish when Dan walked in, dressed in jeans and a sweater so cozy and soft that he looked incredibly huggable. Add to that his thick, dark hair and the shadow of stubble on his jaw and hers wasn’t the only head that turned.