Carly caught her breath and pivoted on her heel. “I thought you were staying the month until the wedding.” To her dismay she hadn’t kept the hint of panic from creeping into her voice.
Mike smiled, a warm, engaging smile, not the boyish grin he’d treated her to earlier. It was almost as if he knew she sought reassurance and wanted to relax her. But that was silly. “I am,” he said with certainty. “I wouldn’t miss this for anything.”
“Oh.” She swiped at her bangs. “Well then, I’d better get going. I can’t afford to be late.” She leaned forward and brushed a kiss on Peter’s cheek.
She dared a brief glance at Mike. His penetrating gaze met hers. “ ‘Bye,” she whispered before heading for the door.
The tinkling of bells echoed long after she’d left. “Well,” Mike said, turning toward his brother. “This trip home has been extremely interesting.”
“How so?”
“I never thought I’d see the day you’d trade your freedom for a white picket fence.”
Peter opened the top button on his white, starched shirt and tucked his paisley tie into his jacket pocket. “People change.”
“Not that much. I thought you had one thing in mind: the fast track toward partnership.”
Pete grinned. “I’m doing just that.”
Which is what had Mike worried. “You’re sure about this marriage?”
“Absolutely. Look, sometimes in life you compromise to get what you want. Carly and I get along well. She understands that business is important to me.”
“She’s something, all right” Mike muttered. He’d touched her and she’d nearly come apart in his arms. The memory still lingered, teasing his tenuous restraint. Even in passion she radiated innocence, something lacking in his jaded life. “How’d you two meet?” he asked his brother.
“At a dinner honoring her father. She’s been a good friend for the last few years.”
Not an easy feat where his uptight self-absorbed brother was concerned. “I know it’s none of my business, but is that a reason to get married?”
Pete sighed. “She’s looking for a little stability, a happy home life, kids and her career. She’ll have those things with me.”
Mike watched his kid brother fidget the way he’d done after accidentally breaking the porch light with his baseball. Looking to protect him from their uncle’s wrath, Mike had taken the blame and the punishment. And Peter had let him. Mike had a hunch that given the chance, Pete would still take the easy way out. “And what are you getting out of this... arrangement?”
“She’s a sweet woman, Mike.”
Tell me something I don’t know. “And would her father being senior partner have something to do with this sudden urge to say ‘I do?’ ”
“Doesn’t hurt,” he admitted. “Lately new partnerships are rare. Even the most outstanding associates have been passed over. Things should return to normal with an economic upswing like this firm experienced this last year.”
“So Carly’s added insurance.” Mike couldn’t suppress a groan.
“It’s not like that.” Pete gestured toward the door, and Mike followed his brother out to the street. The summer heat drifted up from the pavement. Mike broke into a sweat before they’d reached the corner.
“Do you love her?”
“No.” Pete didn’t hesitate before answering. “Not like you mean. But she’s not in love with me either.” He shrugged. “We have a mutual respect for one another, though, and that’s more than a lot of married couples can say. I do care about her, Mike.”
Not liking the matter-of-fact way Pete laid out what should have been emotional feelings, Mike clenched his fists at his sides. “You’re something else, Pete.”
“We’re both adults and we understand each other.”
So Carly had said. Mike didn’t like the picture he’d gotten of this relationship, but their lives weren’t his concern. As long as he repeated the mantra and believed it, he’d be fine. “Okay then, I’ll drop the subject.”
“I’ll probably work late to make up for lost time this afternoon.” Pete grinned. “So you’re on your own for cold pizza. Unless...”
“I ate it this morning.”
Pete groaned. Mike shrugged; he’d eaten a lot worse in much worse conditions. He pushed the encroaching memories aside. He glanced at his kid brother. “Hey, let me know how Carly’s meeting with the publisher went.”
Pete lifted an eyebrow. “What meeting?”
“Forget it. I must have misunderstood,” Mike said, sensing that he’d understood perfectly. It was Carly and Pete who had yet to catch on.
“You’ll be at dinner tomorrow?” his brother asked.
“To meet your boss?” His brother’s future in-laws. Carly’s parents. “Sure.”
“Great. That means a lot.” Peter turned toward the street and then back to Mike. “One more thing.”
“What’s that?”
“I’m training a new associate and my time is even more limited than before. If Carly needs any help planning or anything... would you be there?”
Mike hesitated, knowing time with Carly was dangerous for them both. Then again, his brother needed a favor, and Mike could use the distraction from dealing with his own unsettled life. Since his return, Mike had had too much free time to think. “No sweat.”
“Thanks.” Pete smiled and Mike knew he’d made the right decision. Time to discover whether these two were headed for disaster had nothing to do with his sudden agreement.
His brother hailed an empty cab. “I’m glad you’re back.”
“Me, too, Pete.” But he hoped his brother didn’t live to regret that sentiment.
However different Pete and Carly turned out to be, Mike had no right to interfere. The sooner Carly planned and executed this wedding, the better for everyone involved.
Especially Mike.
* * *
“A book contract. Carly Wexler, I am impressed.”
“Glad you took a shot on a rookie?” Carly asked the editor of her column.
Juliette Parsons leaned forward in her seat, hands clasped in front of her on the age-worn desk. “I’ve been glad since day one.”
“Me, too.” And Carly wasn’t just talking about her job. Since the day she’d hired on as an intern at the magazine, Juliette had taken her under her wing. Professionally she treated Carly to stern lectures on proper writing technique. And Carly had turned to Juliette for personal advice far more than she’d ever allowed herself to turn to her own mother.