The next week, my car needed towing, and I met the woman of my dreams. All five-foot-four slender body with stunning green eyes, red hair pulled into a ponytail through the back of her baseball cap with the Canucks logo, and a streak of grease on her face.
Truly, the grease had done me in.
I was in fashion—looks were everything.
Taryn didn’t give two shits what she looked like.
And I loved her for it.
I pressed my fingers to the photo of her Mad Hatter’s outfit. “We are going to look spectacular together.”
“I know, right?” She grinned. “With Cooper as the Queen of Hearts and Lachlan as the White Rabbit.”
My snort had both men turning toward us. I waved them off. “At least we’re not asking him to wear a rabbit costume.” I whispered that to my fiancée.
“No, his white tails and pants will be perfect.” With the wig and top hat, of course.
Cooper wanted to go full costume, though, so he’d secured the perfect dress to be queen.
Lachlan sputtered when he saw the photograph.
My fiancée had to intervene before her brother said something he might regret.
Which had been funny, because usually Cooper was the one running off at the mouth and saying the most inappropriate things.
I adored him.
My sisters were dressing as ladies-in-waiting for the family photos.
I felt kind of guilty Taryn and Lachlan didn’t have a big family.
Both their parents had been only children. They had some third cousins somewhere back east, but we’d chosen a small and intimate wedding, so they hadn’t been invited.
Hell, I wasn’t even certain we’d told them about the wedding. I ran my finger along the cloth napkin. “This feels fancy.”
“Sweetheart, I want you to have the best.”
Taryn stroked my hand.
Our families were contributing quite a sum to the wedding—another reason to keep it small. I was still paying off student loans, and Taryn had a mortgage on her house that she was determined to pay off as quickly as she could. She’d offered to foot more of the bill, but both sets of parents had refused.
Her parents were likely doing so because they didn’t see Lachlan marrying anytime soon. The perpetual bachelor, they called him.
Taryn had a stash of photos of him. As an entertainment attorney with a boutique law firm in Toronto, he was often invited to fancy events and was photographed with different women. All glamorous. All stunning.
All ice queens, as far as I could tell.
But then I wasn’t always the best judge of character.
“Is Lachlan bringing…what’s her name—”
“Lydia.”
“—Lydia to the wedding?”
“He said he didn’t need a plus one. I assume she was too busy. Isn’t she a client?” Taryn frowned. “I should know this.”
I laughed. “Given he’s your brother? Yes, you should. She’s a client of the firm, but not of him specifically. So no conflict of interest.” I sighed. “She is gorgeous.”
