Chasing I Do (The Eastons #1) (3 page)

Which wouldn’t have been a problem if they’d decided to be like every other couple on the planet and give themselves at least a year to plan a wedding.

“How much would it cost for you to look the other way for once and let someone else run the show?” Gage asked.

“I looked the other way once. It didn’t work out so well for me,” she said, painful silence weighing thick in the air.

“I’m not Kyle,” he said quietly.

Even though Kyle and Gage were twins, they couldn’t have been more different. Where Kyle was impulsive and outspoken, Gage analyzed every possible outcome and didn’t mince words. Kyle loved the flash, and Gage was content to be the guy behind the curtain.

“No, but it doesn’t matter, because Kyle will always be there. Every time I think I can move on, start over, he’s there.”

Anger simmered beneath the surface. “You’re blaming him for not being able to move on? It was you moving on so abruptly that landed us all here to begin with.”

“You don’t think I know that? That every day I don’t think, ‘If I had just confronted him instead of running, would he still be here?’ I know what I did, and I am so sorry for not having the courage to stand up in front of everyone I knew and loved, and say I couldn’t go through with the wedding. But things were complicated, Gage. Everything with Kyle was always so complicated, so one sided. The man could fight with a tree stump. Out of everyone, you should know that.” She rested a hand on his arm and an intense charge shot though him.

He looked down at her hand and let it stay there, just this once, let the heat of her hand melt through the fabric, slide along his skin, and he imagined what it would feel like to have her touch other places on his body.

“I get why your mom blames me,” she said, and his gaze jerked to hers. “But at some point, I figured the emotions would fade and you would see that maybe there was more to the story than me getting cold feet.”

Gage wasn’t sure what had gone down between Darcy and Kyle, but for as many great things as Kyle had done, he’d also racked up some pretty shitty ones.

When their dad passed away, Kyle took it the hardest. He was so angry at the world he ignored the strength and direction he’d gained from working alongside a man as great as Benjie Easton. He tended to veer off course from time to time and make questionable decisions, but Darcy had a calming strength that grounded him.

“I’m not asking you to forgive me, Gage. I’m just asking you to understand,” she said. “I’ve worked too hard to rebuild this house to ever look the other way again.”

“Even if you lose what could be the biggest wedding of your career?”

“Your client is looking for a premiere venue with a six-week lead time at the beginning of peak wedding season. There is no other option.”

“You and I both know that a spread in
Wedding
Magazine
opens up a lot of options.”

“It does, but your client signed a deal with
Wedding Magazine
,” she said. “They signed it knowing that they’d be working with me. I already gave Lana a verbal agreement, so as far as I am concerned,
your
issues with
me
have nothing to do with this deal. If you don’t want to see me, then don’t come, but don’t you use those big agent,”
she punctuated the last two words with a finger to his pec, “scare tactics on me, Gage. I’ve seen you negotiating a multi-million-dollar contract, just like I’ve seen you begging to the porcelain god for mercy after too many tequila shots. So you don’t scare me.”

Darcy was good at masking her emotions, but he knew her well enough to see the signs. She was scared of losing this account.

“I’m not trying to scare you, just pointing out the facts,” he said. “If my client walks because of your unwillingness to be flexible, do you really think
Wedding
Magazine
won’t just roll over for the chance to follow him to the next venue?”

He watched her confidence fade and the uncertainty of it all take over as the woman, who’d once looked at him with nothing but warmth and trust, looked up at him with panic and betrayal in those caramel eyes.

“I know you have no reason to help me, Gage. But I can do this. I need to do this wedding,” she said quietly. “You know how good I am, and how much I’d bring to this kind of event. Your client won’t get the same experience with any other planner. I’m not asking for a handout. I’m just asking for a fair shot.”

There was something about the way she looked at him, it was the same look she’d had when she’d confided in him about how hard she’d worked to create a better life than the one she’d been born into, that tugged at his heart. That made him want to give in.

So he glanced up at the sky and took a deep breath, trying like hell to distance himself from the desperation he saw on her face. What it was about the leggy brunette with the sad smile that still got to him? It was her eyes, he decided. Her big, brown, melt-your-soul eyes that he could never ignore.

She was as real as a woman could get. Funny, caring, sexy, and so damn warm it drew people in. Darcy didn’t just listen, she took a genuine interest and great care with peoples’ dreams—with their lives. Around her, he couldn’t help but feel loved.

Which was why her runaway bride moment had come as such a shock. Darcy was honest, loyal, and devoted—right up until the second she walked out on Kyle and shattered his world.

No, she didn’t let him drive that night, but Kyle wouldn’t have been at a bar shitfaced and spinning off his axis if she’d handled things differently.

So yeah, he’d signed that magazine deal on Rhett’s behalf. And, yeah, it was obvious Darcy needed the publicity this would bring, but none of that mattered. It had taken his family five years to get back on track, and he wasn’t about to blow that. This time, his mother would see her son walk down the aisle.

Collateral damage or not, Darcy had to go.

“The client is Rhett,” he said, and her face went completely pale. “So you being the planner is not an option.”

“I was hired to plan an Easton wedding?”

“Yup. Which is why I’ll have a list of five of the best planners in the country emailed to you tomorrow. I’ll leave it up to you to pick the final one, but, Darcy, if you want this event, it won’t be you.” Then, before he gave in to the way her eyes misted over, Gage upped his douche factor and hollered, “Fancy, come.”

❀❀❀

Gage walked through the doors of the historical craft beer bar in downtown, letting loose a string of choice words when he saw three of his five brothers. He knew why they were there. Even knew why they wore amused as shit looks on their faces.

After the day he’d had, Gage wanted nothing more than to go home, shower, and grab a cold beer. Which was ironic, because the day he’d had left the first two as non-options. Only leaving the cold beer still in play.

That was the reason he’d asked his brothers to meet.

Stout was known, not only for its deal making environment, working as the official meeting place for politicians, businessmen, and celebrities, but it was started by their late father. So not only did it feel like a second home, it was the one place the brothers always came when they needed to talk.

And tonight, they had a lot to consider.

Deciding the best course of action was to man-up, take the reaming, then drop the bomb that was sure to wipe those smug looks right off their faces, Gage headed toward the bar. Fancy pranced behind him with his head high and his tail waving proudly, as if he wasn’t the pussiest dog known to man.

“You courting a new client around town?” Clay, the youngest and, up until two seconds ago, his favorite brother, wanted to know. He was dressed in his usual sports jersey with a cracked lip and black eye, looking as if he’d been in a bar fight or training hard for the upcoming season—which being an NFL MVP, it could have been either.

“Funny thing about that,” Gage said, handing Rhett the leash. “I called Stephanie to see where she wanted to meet for the hand-off, you know, the one I offered to do on the way to my big meeting, because you were at that interview and she couldn’t make it to the groomer in time. She explained she was getting her dress fitted in L.A., then thanked me for agreeing to dog sit.”

“That was nice of you,” Rhett said, picking up the dog and setting him in his lap.

“I’m not dog sitting,” Gage clarified. “And how the hell is she supposed to plan a wedding if she’s out of state?”

“The woman could organize a hostile takeover of a first world country from her iPhone.” Rhett leaned back and folded his hands behind his head, making himself right at home. “The in-person stuff, that’s why we have you.”

“You don’t
have
me. I said I’d pull a favor with the location. Not plan a wedding while dog sitting a glorified rat who likes to tear off people’s fingers.” He glared at Fancy, who was too busy licking himself to notice. “What’s up with that?”

“They must have been wearing R-I-N-G-S,” Rhett said.

“Rings?”

Littleshit lunged forward, nearly taking Gage’s hand off in the process. “Jesus, what’s wrong with that thing?”

“Nothing.” Rhett patted the rat’s head in praise. “Stephanie paid some fancy dog trainer to the stars to teach him how to carry the rin—” Rhett stopped abruptly when Fancy’s eyes went into Cujo mode. “He’s our R-I-N-G bearer, so he’ll carry
it
down the aisle.”

Rhett pointed to his ring finger in case anyone missed what
it
referred to. Then he glanced at Gage’s shirt, wrinkled with little muddy paw prints, and grinned. “How did the meeting with the potential client go?”

“He was the NHL’s rookie of the year, right?” Owen, the middle brother and the owner of Stout, asked. He reached over the bar to refill the pitcher, sure to ruffle Littleshit’s ears in the process. “Tony Carter. He was in here the other night, served him and a couple of his teammates. Nice guy, big tipper.”

“But did he seem like a dog lover?” Rhett asked, and all of the brothers burst out laughing. Loud, amused, shit-eating laughter that made Gage want to punch someone in the nuts.

Even Littleshit was laughing. Those lips of his peeled back to give a nice flash of his damn needle teeth. The ones that had done a bang up job of turning his leather car seats into strips of jerky on the ride over.

“Didn’t matter,” Gage said, taking a seat, sure to elbow Rhett in the process. “Told him my brother was so pussy-whipped that he had a set of matching bows and collar at home that his soon-to-be-wife bought him. Playtime attire, is what I hear they call it.”

“Jesus, man,” Rhett said, suddenly serious. “That leaks and the press will run with it. I’ll never be able to go into a pet store again without someone wondering why I’m buying dog treats.”

Fancy never came up in his meeting because he paid the doorman at his building a hundred bucks to watch the rat while he landed a new client. Not that Gage mentioned that to Rhett. He’d gone out of his way to screw with Gage’s day, so letting him sweat it out for a bit wouldn’t hurt.

“So he signed?” Clay asked.

Clay might be two years younger than Gage, making him the baby of the family, but he was the most level-headed of the brothers. Always had been. His ability to keep focused in the storm made him one of the best running backs in the NFL. And a big reason why Gage wanted to meet with his brothers—get their opinion.

“He signed,” Gage said. “Thanks for intro, the way the kid was pumping my hand, like I was the pope, told me you really hyped me up.”

“It’s not hype if it’s true. You got me a ten percent jump in bonus during the last negotiations with the Seahawks. That’s more than any other running back in the league makes. As far as I’m concerned, Tony is the lucky one,” Clay said, then raised his glass. “Congrats, bro.”

Gage did a round of toasts, with a few hard pats to the back from each of his brothers, and he waited. Waited for the rush, the excitement he normally experienced after closing a big deal. But, just like at the meeting, it was nowhere to be found.

For a fleeting moment, when Tony had signed on that dotted line, making Gage the top agent at his agency, he’d felt the adrenaline course through his body, felt that cocky thrill of accomplishment, knowing he’d done it. Knowing he’d created a profile of clients that was unrivaled by someone his age.

But it faded as fast as it had come.

And now looking at Clay’s smile, one that was identical to Kyle’s in every way, any lingering excitement Gage had left was snuffed out by the heavy weight that came whenever he thought about Kyle. About how their team was one man short.

Then he thought about his mom, and what she’d do if she found Darcy at Rhett’s wedding, and he downed his mug of beer.

“How set is Stephanie on having the wedding at Belle Mont?” he asked.

“I’d say things are pretty set. She’s picked out the dress, the …” He paused to cover Littleshit’s ears with his hands. “The ring is on hold. Why?” Rhett studied Gage for a long intense moment, then his face went hard. “Is that why you called us here? To talk about the wedding? Shit, that’s all I hear about from Mom. I don’t want to talk about it here.”

“I called you here to give you back your damn dog,” Gage said. And when his brothers sent unconvinced looks his way, he added, “And to see if she’d be open to other venues.”