And then the other dancers parted, and there he was. Cole. He was watching them as well, his expression both wistful and happy. He must have felt the weight of my gaze, because after a moment, he turned and his eyes immediately found mine. For a moment, there was no one else in the world but us. Then he smiled, and the spell was broken, but that was okay. I could handle the rest of the world just fine, because I had this man.
He ignored the dancers and cut across the dance floor, taking the shortest route to my side. “Someday,” he said. He took my hand and gazed at me with such longing it made me tremble. “Someday you will make a beautiful bride.”
My heart skipped a beat or two, but before I could think about his words—before I could process them, or even allow myself to wonder if he truly meant what I hoped he meant—he’d swept me onto the dance floor as well, and we were lost in the music and the crowd and the gaiety of the moment.
Happy. Such a simple word, but it packed so much punch. That was how I felt with Cole.
There were so many other emotions as well, of course. Desire, lust, need, discovery, hunger, tenderness. And on and on.
But at the core, he made me happy, and the thought was so huge, so powerful, that it propelled me through the rest of the evening.
I was still grinning foolishly hours later, after the cake had been eaten and the stretch limo had whisked Evan and Angie away to begin their fantasy honeymoon. I was standing there, hugging myself near the champagne fountain when Damien and Nikki came up to say goodbye.
“I wish we could stay longer,” Nikki said. “We’d love to spend more time with you and Cole, and I’ve barely seen any of Chicago. But maybe some other time.”
“We’d love it,” I said sincerely.
Damien gave me a kiss on the cheek, and I noticed the looks of awe and jealousy from some of the other female guests who’d been surreptitiously taking photos with their phones all evening. “You better be careful,” I said wryly, “or that’s going to end up on Facebook.”
“If there’s gossip, it must be Tuesday,” Nikki said, then tilted her head to indicate Damien. “He got used to it long ago. I’m finally getting to the point where it doesn’t feel like I live in a fishbowl. Or, more accurately, I’m starting to feel like a fish who can ignore everything outside the bowl.”
I laughed, but I couldn’t help but think that I had it lucky with Cole. Yes, he made the Chicago papers frequently, and yes, I’d undoubtedly be included in those pictures from now on, but his celebrity was limited to Chicago. Nikki and Damien were recognized all over the world, and god forbid they were caught up in any sort of scandal because then there was nowhere to hide.
Frankly, I liked my side of the coin better.
“Have you seen Cole?” Damien asked.
“All evening, and usually right beside me,” I said. “He pulled Tyler aside a few minutes ago. I think I saw them go down toward the water.”
As they left to finish their goodbyes, I searched out Mrs. Raine to get my post-wedding marching orders. A few minutes later, I caught a glimpse of Cole and Damien talking near the edge of the pavilion. Apparently Damien had more to say than goodbye, because Cole didn’t look particularly happy.
I was about to go ask what was going on—and if I needed to be concerned about my dad—when Mrs. Raine pulled me in to deal with the caterers and the florist. I hesitated, but I also knew that Cole wouldn’t do anything to put my dad in danger—or to let him stay there if danger had found him.
By the time I finished my post-wedding maid of honor duties, the crowd had thinned considerably, and I was ready to go, too. I still wanted to know what Damien and Cole had been talking about, but I could wait until we were in the car to ask.
The only problem was that I couldn’t find Cole.
This wasn’t a crisis at first—he’s a grown man and there were still enough people lingering at the reception that he could easily have gotten pulled aside to talk with a friend. But after more than a half hour passed I started to get truly fidgety.
“Not for at least an hour,” Tyler said when I asked if he’d seen Cole.
“He was talking with Damien, and neither one looked happy. Do you know if something happened?”
“Not that I know of,” Tyler said. “I know there was trouble in the gallery in LA a few days ago—some kids in Malibu throwing rocks through windows. Could be that.”
I frowned. Could be, but it didn’t feel right. “At any rate, I’ve lost him. If you see him, tell him to track me down.”
“You’ve texted him?”
I nodded. “But he probably forgot to turn his phone off silent.”
“Maybe he went to the catering office,” Sloane suggested as Tyler left to go talk with someone he recognized. “Someone actually delivered documents to a wedding, so they were probably important.”
“What are you talking about?”
“You didn’t see the messenger? About twenty minutes ago, I think. Maybe he needed to sign something and fax it back.”
I frowned, then went to find the woman on staff who was our assigned coordinator. She called back to the office, but was told that Cole wasn’t there, and hadn’t been there all day.
“Well, he has to be around somewhere,” Sloane said, but I was getting a bad feeling.
“I’m going to go see if the Range Rover is here,” I said.
Sloane lifted a brow. “Don’t be absurd. He wouldn’t leave you without a ride.”
“I have a ride. You’re here, aren’t you?”