A car screeched to a halt in front of the building, and Penny stuck her head out the back window. “Jump in! Someone stole my scoop on you two,” she said, opening the door.
Blade looked down his nose at the scene. “I’m not running away,” he said. He wrapped an arm around me, pulling me close to him as several people held out cameras to record us.
“You want to know how she snagged me?” he said, low voice rumbling through me. “She was funny and sexy and competent. I love her more than anything, and I’m so lucky to have Avery in my life.” Then he looked down at me with a slight smile, tipped my head up, and kissed me. He drew back with a shit-eating grin on his face.
“Look at you smiling!” I teased him. “He hardly ever smiles,” I said to the reporters.
“It’s true,” Blade said. “I’ve smiled more around her than anyone else.”
“Get in the car.” Penny pulled us toward the vehicle. “Look onVanity Ragonline for scoops about New York’s hottest couple!” she announced to the cameras. “AndVanity Ragis going to run a feature on their wedding. We’re giving away tickets to people who participate in a contest!”
“We’re giving away tickets?” I said when we were in the car and driving down the avenue.
“Magazines are a dying industry,” Penny said, donut in one hand, phone in the other. Penny and I were clearly kindred spirits. “Want one?” she asked, pointing to a box on the seat next to her. I pulled out a chocolate-and-raspberry donut and took a bite.
“Where are we going?” Blade asked irritably.
“I was supposed to pick up Garrett, but then he disappeared. I’ve been circling the block.”
“I hope he hasn’t been kidnapped!” I exclaimed.
“After the way he treated you, he deserves it,” Blade said.
“Look at you being all protective,” Penny cooed. “Now look, since I have you, let’s go meet with Gunnar. We need to get the schedule straight for the wedding events.”
“We couldn’t do this as a conference call?” Blade growled.
“This is important!” Penny protested. “It’s your wedding! Besides, a good way to get your brothers off your case is to be involved. They’re jumpy because of Evan Harrington. His fiancée didn’t allow him to be involved at all, and look how that ended up. Oh, pull over,” she called to the driver. “There’s Garrett.”
“Keep driving,” Blade protested.
“Where were you?” Penny said, opening the door when the driver pulled up at the curb.
“I have irons in the fire,” Garrett stated. Penny leaned over and kissed his jaw, then his mouth. Garrett smiled at her then glared at me and Blade.
“Move over,” he ordered Blade. Blade crossed his arms and stared at Garrett.
“Fine, be like that. I’m only looking out for your best interests and single-handedly keeping this family from going up in flames,” he stated and got into the passenger’s seat.
24
Blade
“You two are all over the gossip websites!” Penny said when we walked into her magazine offices in Manhattan. Like my company, theVanity Ragmagazine was moving its headquarters out to Harrogate to save on operations costs.
With all the forced together time with my brothers, I was starting to wonder if it was a good idea to move out to Harrogate. I would have to be with them all the time. Wait, actually, no I wouldn’t. I would be living with Avery somewhere. I guessed I’d better buy us a house. I didn’t know if she wanted me living in the mansion she was going to turn into a wedding venue. Maybe I would have to live at home; then Garrett would really have a fit. At least Gunner seemed excited about the upcoming wedding.
“Man, this is going to be good,” he said, rubbing his hands together when Penny waved us into a conference room.
Dana Holbrook, his business partner, was sitting next to him. She seemed a little bemused. “You just met her and you’re getting married?” she said. “I had a cousin do that once, except it turned out his fiancée was fake. It was all a ruse to get back at his parents.”
My stomach dropped, and I didn’t dare look at Avery.
Dana rolled her eyes. “Carter is so immature. He really hasn’t changed much at all. So,” she said, making a note in the large book in front of her. “What kind of wedding are you planning? Do you have a schedule?”
“We do,” Avery piped up. She handed Dana her tablet with a spreadsheet on the screen.
“Very nice. I like people who are organized.”
