Bedding The Best Man (Bedding the Bachelors Book 7) (21 page)

Just then, the sound of buses pulling into the camp site set Brianne’s heart racing. Damn it, she’d wanted to speak to Gabe before everything went crazy, but now she was out of time. It would just have to wait until afterward.

And for some reason, that felt okay. Now that she’d talked to Eric, now that she knew Gabe had actually tracked Eric down to talk to him, now that she’d looked into Gabe’s eyes and held his hands, she knew that they had time. No matter what happened, they’d have their time to work things out.

“This is it,” she breathed. Her hands were shaking. Evie took them in her own.

“We’ve got this.
You’ve
got this. Let’s goddamned do it.”

* * *

Hours later, after dinner, it was clear they were a total hit.

“Congratulations,” Evie murmured, handing Brianne a crystal flute filled with champagne. “I’ve never seen so many rich people having so much fun in all my life.”

“I know!” Bri couldn’t believe it. Before dinner, guests had changed into casual clothing and explored the outdoors. Then they’d had dinner, during which time the dancers and actors performed, and now there was dancing for the guests. The silent auction was taking place, too, in a tented area to the side of the dance floor. “It seems too good to be true.”

“Not at all,” Evie corrected her. “It’s all the result of a lot of hard fucking work.”

“True.” They touched glasses and drank.

“And between you and me, I’ve already heard positive murmurings from among the guests…along the lines of how much they can’t wait to vote for us.” Evie made a “lip zipping” motion with her fingers, then grinned.

Then, catching sight of something over Bri’s shoulder, she took her boss’s glass and turned away with a little smile. Brianne was confused…until she heard a familiar voice over her shoulder.

“Looks like you’re a hit.”

She turned, her heart in her throat. Gabe stood there, all tall and broad and dark, his green eyes flashing at her in the light from the lanterns all around them. She’d caught glimpses of him throughout the event, but for the most part, he’d stayed in the background, and she knew he’d been a big reason things had gone so smoothly.

“Gabe,” she whispered, her voice full of emotion, her eyes filling with tears again. God, first she’d cried with Eric, and now she was about to cry in front of Gabe. It was just that she felt so emotional. Hopeful and scared at the same time. “I talked to Eric.”

“So did I.” He smiled tenderly and tipped her chin up, then kissed her lips softly, and it felt like the most natural thing in the world. “Come on, baby. Let’s have a dance before the musicians get tired.”

Taking her hand, Gabe led her to the dance floor. She would have gone anywhere with him, but especially so if it meant being in his arms.

She searched his face, wondering if it was the right time, knowing it was in her heart. “I love you.”

A smile broke over his face. “I love you.”

They kissed gently as music floated through the air, then the sound of a small explosion rang through the air. Brianne’s eyes flew open to see Gabe smiling, then the second firework went off. She looked up, marveling at them.

“Who did this?” she asked, watching the pink, gold and green flashes light up the sky.

“Who do you think?” Gabe wrapped his arms around her.

She leaned her head against his chest. “You don’t have any more surprises for me, do you?”

He chuckled. “I don’t know about surprises, but I do plan on more fireworks. But that’s only because I—”

“Stop this farce!”

Chapter Twenty-Two

Brianne and Gabe both gasped, and turned toward the sound of the shouting. The other guests did as well, the beautiful explosions of color forgotten.

Gabe heard Brianne mutter something fiercely, but he couldn’t hear her over the whispers and murmurs from the guests.

There was a man standing on the stage—he’d sneaked up there while everyone was busy looking at the sky. Gabe didn’t recognize him, but Bri clearly did.

“That son of a bitch,” she said.

“You’re all here under false pretenses,” the man on stage said. He was extremely theatrical, waving his arms around. He had perfectly styled blonde hair and was very well dressed. Gabe instantly hated him. There was something about him that seemed extremely studied and false.

“What do you mean?” Brianne called out. “They’re here for the contest, just as they were for your event.”

The guests were looking at each other, still murmuring. Gabe knew this would all be seen as highly improper by the Beverly Hills bluebloods.

“He’s the other planner?” Gabe whispered in Bri’s ear, and she nodded before moving toward the stage. Gabe let her go, but stayed close behind. He saw Evie, Brianne’s assistant walking up as well.

“I felt it my duty to come here and inform you all that this event wasn’t planned solely by Lavish Events. Most of it was planned and secured by another company, completely unrelated to event planning. This hardly falls under the rules of the contest.”

Gabe could nearly feel the heat radiating from Brianne’s body. She was trembling from head to toe, but Gabe knew her well enough to know it was rage she was barely holding back.

“Another company
was
used in a subcontractor capacity, Leland; everything the company provided was approved by me. They performed just as any other subcontractor would,” Brianne called out.

“Any other subcontractor?” Leland’s eyes narrowed dangerously. Gabe knew with a sick pit in his stomach what he was going to say a split second before the words came out of his mouth. “Let’s see the invoices, then.”

Bri’s eyes widened as it obviously dawned on her there were no invoices. Because while she’d insisted on paying him, Gabe had wanted to help her free and clear. Only in trying to help her, he might have ruined things.

As he watched, Brianne’s shoulders slumped, but then she straightened. Glancing at Gabe, she smiled and mouthed, “It’s okay,” trying to reassure him. As always, she was grace under pressure, but Gabe wasn’t going to let her go down without a fight.

“I’m the president of Nolan Adventure Stores. Ms. Whitcomb and I are friends. I did the work for the sake of the charity involved.” Another round of murmurs from the crowd. “It was a donation,” Gabe continued.

Leland shrugged. “Well, ladies and gentlemen, you’ve heard it yourselves. The bulk of the work was done by this man’s company and his vendors. I leave it to you to decide whether that was unethical or not.”

“You’re a snake!” Evie shouted.

Gabe expected Bri to protest, to beg Evie to stop, but she didn’t. She stood there, hands on hips, nodding her head to every word. He figured if that’s how they were playing it, that’s how it was going to be.

“And now we resort to name calling,” Leland said, sounding dramatically disappointed.

Brianne had enough. She marched up to the stage and stomped up the stairs. Gabe held his breath, afraid of what she might say. But she was a lady, of course, raised to handle herself in polite society.

“All of this—the grand entrance, the dramatic announcement—is sour grapes. You feel threatened. And I don’t know how you have inside information about how my event was planned, but the fact that you have any at all tells me that you dug around for it—that doesn’t reflect well on you, Leland.”

Brianne turned to the crowd. “Let’s hold an informal vote right now.” She was smiling, and Gabe knew it was a gamble. But Evie was smiling from ear to ear, too, giving Brianne a thumbs up. “Let’s let our guests decide whose event they preferred, your or ours.”

“I don’t think that’s necessary,” Leland said, waving his hands. “Let’s keep this all above-board.”

“Why? You afraid of what you’ll find out?” Brianne asked, folding her arms.

“No, but you must understand that this isn’t usually done. I wouldn’t want the guests to be swayed by the votes of their friends.”

“Vote!” Evie called out. There were mutterings all around them, most of which sounded positive.

Leland shrugged, and Brianne went through with the vote—winning by a huge margin. When she asked for hands from those voting for her event over Leland’s, nearly every hand shot up. Gabe beamed with pride.

Brianne smiled at her guests. “Thank you, and I’m sorry your evening was disrupted. Please, enjoy yourselves. The bonfire has been lit, music is scheduled to continue throughout the night. Have fun, and thank you so much for coming.” The crowd erupted in gracious applause, and Brianne left the stage without a look back at Leland. Gabe watched as Bri’s competitor slinked off into the shadows.

Evie rushed Brianne when she reached the dance floor, throwing her arms around her boss. They hugged and laughed.

Gabe joined them, and Brianne threw an arm around his waist. He kissed the top of her head. “Well done, you.”

“I’m so fucking proud of you. You really showed him,” Evie said.

“You know what?” Brianne looked at the both of them. “I don’t even care if we win anymore.”

“Say what?” Evie’s jaw dropped.

“Hey, we can always start again. I’m not firing you,” Bri laughed. “I know we did the better job. We
should
win. But if the magazine decides I went outside the rules, so be it. I proved myself. That might be enough to win back business, either way.”

And it was, if the crowd of people who quickly surrounded them meant anything. All of them congratulated Brianne, telling her she threw a beautiful, original event. A few of them even promised to call her during the coming week, to discuss new events they wanted her to organize.

“You’re a hit,” Gabe murmured, pulling her close when they were finally alone again.

“I couldn’t have done it without you,” she said. “And I wouldn’t have tried. No way could I have pulled this off, in this timeframe. Thank you. You saved my business, and my reputation in this town.”

He squeezed her tight, and they watched the guests mingle and dance and head up to the bonfire, where they made s’mores and sang old campfire songs late into the night.

Chapter Twenty-Three

Brianne stumbled into the yurt, deliriously happy but just as exhausted. It was still filled with flowers, and the scent of the blooms combined with the dancing light from the lanterns and fire pit were enchanting. Maybe it was the combined emotions of the evening, but everything seemed even more vivid than usual. The sky had been starrier, the air crisper, the sounds of the crickets more musical.

It was one of the happiest nights of her life, and it didn’t matter to her one bit whether or not she won the contest. She already felt like a winner, thanks to the presence of the man who followed her into the yurt.

“This has to be the most interesting
Life and Society
contest in history,” Brianne said, kicking off her shoes before flopping down across a pile of cushions. “No matter what the outcome, it’ll be talked about for ages.”

“Then you’ll be happy to know you handled yourself like a real pro out there,” Gabe said. “You were a Whitcomb, all the way. No, scratch that—you were you. Which is just as good, if not better.”

She grinned up at him, knowing he gave her the courage to say the sort of things she’d been dying to say to Leland for years. While she couldn’t exactly tell him what she thought about him, she did have the satisfaction of knowing he’d slithered off like the snake he was. It must have been a long, lonely drive home. She wasn’t even sure if she cared who his inside source was—it wasn’t Evie, which was all that mattered. Otherwise, she was too satisfied at the way he’d made a fool of himself to pay it much thought. She smiled even wider at the memory.

Then she noticed the way Gabe’s expression changed. He’d been looking down at her with admiration and affection…but now, his look had a hint of lust, of need.

Her body responded immediately to just that look.

“I’ve been dying for you,” he whispered, falling to his knees beside her.

“Me, too,” she murmured, wetness already flooding her, her pulse already picking up. “It’s been torture.”

“I can’t believe we’ve only been together a handful of times, but being apart for a couple of weeks was so tough. I need you, all the time, every day. I think I’ll always need you, if that’s okay with you.”

Brianne smiled, her dark eyes staring into his green ones. “It’s okay with me.” They kissed, sweetly, and the feeling of his lips on hers reminded her of rain on desert sands. She’d been thirsty for him.

She leaned back, lowering herself onto the cushions as Gabe crawled on top of her, his mouth now grazing her body as he went. The closer he got to her mouth, the faster her heart pounded. She knew he would take her, and she would take him, and they would experience pleasure after pleasure before the night was over. Her body tensed in anticipation.

“There’s a reason this yurt is set way back from the others,” he murmured, nipping at her jaw, her chin. She tilted her head back, giving a throaty chuckle.

“Good thinking,” she whispered. “You always think of every detail.”

Then his mouth was over hers, and he was licking her plump lips with his tongue. She whimpered, parting them, her own tongue darting out to meet his. They both sighed, touching each other ever so gently. Taking their time. There was no hurry now, and no guilt. Gabe had told her everything, and she felt absolved. Now they could focus on each other.