“Define reason.”
“We’re going to be friendly about it. We’ll attract more flies with honey.”
“That’s a terrible analogy. Who would want more flies?”
Her lips curve upward. “Maybe you could try to look less intimidating?” she asks.
“I look exactly like a businessman with a PhD in astrophysics. How is that intimidating?” I’m tall to the point of awkward, lean enough that my jacked-up brother-in-law roasts me for it, and my hair looks like it survived a tornado eighty percent of my life. “I havefreckles.”
She studies my eyes with a smile in hers. “Just . . . try to be nice.”
“I am nice,” I say, affronted. “Children and animals love me.”
Her entire face softens. “Yes they do.”
When she aims to place a kiss on the cleft in my chin, I swoop down and catch her lips with mine. After a too-short moment of my mouth on hers, I raise my head, and she grins.
“I’ll attemptpleasant,” I concede.
She squeezes my hand.
Spencer beams. “Thank you. Truly. You really are perfect for this.”
I’m a man with no filter and a Glock under my suit jacket about tofinessea twenty-year-old kid with the survival instincts of a kumquat.
I am not perfect.
But I hold on to Franki’s hand, and we step forward, prepared to take on the most dangerous task of the weekend.
Small talk.
2
About Damn Time
Franki
Betweencheckingonallour charges, Phyllis and kittens included, Henry and I haven’t had more than five minutes alone. At least Noah’s brother, Elliot, made our jobs easier. According to his mother, he hasn’t left his room for the last two hours.
When we finally step onto the terrazzo where we’re meant to perform a dry run of the ceremony, Henry catches me with an arm around my waist, just in time to prevent me from face-planting in front of half the wedding party.
“Are you okay?” he asks, alarmed.
I nod. “Just startled.”
“By what?” He assesses the area with deliberate intent, clocking everything in sight.
I nod to the place where the wooden lectern used to stand. “By that.”
The replacement is marble—hand-carved with fluted columns along the sides, and a top wide enough to support a smallorchestra. If a Roman senator were about to denounce a rival, this is where he’d stand to do it.
“I was assured it would arrive in time, and it did,” Henry says.
I gnaw on the inside of my cheek. “Did you pick it out?”
“Not exactly. We had very short notice, and this is a small village with limited options. I made a phone call and had it transported here.”
“From where?”
