Love So Tender: Taking Care of Business / Play It Again, Elvis / Good Luck Charm. Joanne Rock

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      CHAPTER SIX

      WITH HER ARMS FULL OF COSTUMES and her heart clicking like mad, Gracie manufactured the best smile possible under the scrutiny of her boss. “Hi, Cordelia. Did you need something?”

      Cordelia wore a bemused expression. “Just checking on you two.”

      Gracie walked over an air conditioner floor vent and realized with a frosty jolt that she wasn’t wearing underwear. A hot flush began to make its way up her neck. “We were just having a fitting.”

      “Ah.” Cordelia pursed her mouth. “And did everything…fit?”

      “Not exactly,” Gracie murmured.

      “But you’re getting there?” Cordelia prompted.

      Gracie’s skin tingled in embarrassment.

      Cordelia sighed. “Gracie, you know I don’t like to butt in to your life, but I don’t like standing by and watching you get hurt, either. Don’t fall for this guy.”

      Gracie’s heart jerked sideways. Cordelia cared more about her happiness than anyone in the world. “Do you know something about him that I should know?”

      A frustrated look came over her boss’s face. “Only that Steve Mulcahy isn’t the type who’s going to stick around.”

      Gracie pressed her lips together. Hadn’t Steve just reiterated that he didn’t like staying in one place for long? Had he been warning her? Don’t fall for me—I’ll leave.

      Cordelia’s expression softened. “Gracie, you told me you were going to hold out for a guy who would be there for the long haul. Do you still feel that way?”

      A lump formed in Gracie’s throat and she nodded.

      “Then stay away from Steve Mulcahy. Trust me—he will break your heart.”

      Moisture gathered in Gracie’s eyes. Cordelia was right. She’d made a pact with herself to wait for love and a ring before she gave herself and her heart to another man. Yet she’d met Steve Mulcahy only yesterday and here she stood with her bare privates being subjected to an arctic blast. Shame rolled over her. “I understand what you’re saying,” she said carefully. “And I appreciate your concern, Cordelia. But you have nothing to worry about—Steve and I aren’t involved.”

      “I’m glad to hear that,” Cordelia said, although she didn’t look completely convinced. Then she straightened, all business. “What time is our first wedding?”

      Relieved at the subject change, Gracie inhaled deeply. “Four-thirty. Between answering the phones, I should have time to do these alterations by then.”

      Cordelia nodded. “And what will Mr. Mulcahy be doing?”

      “I thought I’d take a few pictures of the chapel,” he said, walking up behind Gracie. He was fully dressed and looked completely collected, the strap of his camera over his shoulder. But the memory of him without his shirt made her pulse skyrocket.

      “Your shift doesn’t start until four,” Cordelia said to him. “You don’t have to be here until the weddings begin if you’d like to leave and come back.”

      Guilt prodded Gracie because she knew the veiled antagonism Cordelia directed toward Steve was because of Cordelia’s concern for her.

      But he seemed to brush aside his new boss’s slight. “I also brought a toolbox and thought I’d take a look at the Caddy, if that’s all right, Ms. Conroy.”

      Cordelia hesitated, then nodded briefly. “If you wouldn’t mind keeping an eye on H.D.—he needs to be outdoors more.” On cue, the fat dog waddled into view, his tongue hanging almost to the floor.

      Gracie smothered a smile at Steve’s wry frown. “Okay,” he said finally, then excused himself and walked out into the hall. He snapped his fingers at H.D. The hound turned as quickly as his thick body would allow and followed him, his collar СКАЧАТЬ