Chapter ?
Roman Baranov, cellist and de facto director of the Jacksonville-based Jax Hax String Quartet, accepted the roll of white knit lace with a curious look.
He unrolled it as three more rolls were presented to his quartet mates, and he smiled when he realized it was a set of Candace’s signature stockings.
A new set, of course.
It wasn’t like her great-niece got for-real married every day.
This was special. And since the entire eight-episode series was being filmed in one week and featured a different set of professionals, from florists to caterers to dressmakers and now to bands in each episode, no one knew that anyone else had gotten the stockings.
She patted his cheek. “You’re a good boy,” she said. “You stay out of trouble, now.”
Mike Robbins leaned over to murmur in Laurin’s ear, “She knows he’s nearly fifty, right?”
Laurin chuckled. “She says the same to Old Billy John when he swings by the bakery to flirt with her, and the man’s eighty if he’s a day.”
Mike shook his head. “And do you think she knows his cousin is the head of the Russian Bratva that runs most of the West Coast?”
That gave Laurin a moment of pause. He’d chatted with Roman during breaks in filming.
He’d seemed like a normal guy. As a former top-tier athlete, Laurin was unfortunately not a stranger to organized crime — he’d been approached about throwing games in exchange for big money on several occasions — and he didn’t get that vibe from Roman.
He probably wouldn’t have even cared so much usually.
But Roman was currently chatting with both Great-Aunt Miriam and Candace, whom Laurin had been feeling far more protective about since Candace’s recent announcement.
“Everything’s fine,” Mike said, his tone jovial but his grip on Laurin’s arm firm, like he knew Laurin was a half second from pulling Candace away. “We are not defined by our families.”
“There’s a difference between families and families,” Laurin growled under his breath as he crooked his finger at Candace to draw her away from Roman under the guise of just wanting her nearby.
He didn’t consider himself the possessive type, was fine with all the guest residencies Candace did at bakeries across the south and mid-Atlantic, and even the cross-country croissant-truck trip and the two months she’d done in Vegas, but the last three months? He’d been even clingier than Candace.
She’d also been clingy.
Mike chuckled, the sound robust and joyful.
Mike was a big, intimidating man in his photos, but no one could ever think he was anything less than a teddy bear if they met him outside the boardroom.
“He’s thoroughly vetted. Even made a note of it in his application to the show, warned us in advance so we’d know for his background check.
No secrets there. It’s your secret I’m more concerned about. ”
“What secret?” Laurin said flatly, holding onto his cool long enough that by the time the grin broke out on his face and his eyes lit up, it could be reasonably assumed that it was over Candace and not their secret.
Their obvious secret. They’d only just wrapped up the third season of Vine Cakes a month ago.
There were a couple weeks there that Candace was running to the bathroom every twenty minutes.
It would have all been caught on camera.
Between that and the sudden, urgent wedding?
The call they made to Mike, telling him the exact date their wedding would be, and it was up to him to make it work if he wanted those exclusive rights? There was no way Mike didn’t know.
But he wanted them to tell him.
Candace was flushed and excited and simply glowing as she approached.
Her smile was bright enough to be a beacon in the night.
Life wasn’t perfect, of course. Nothing could be.
But it was about as close as possible, and it showed on every inch of Candace.
She was finally what she’d always meant to be, despite the terrible world she’d gotten stuck in.
Laurin knew there was at least one camera facing their way.
The last couple of years had gotten him both more comfortable with the cameras and also able to identify where every damn one of them was pointed at any given moment.
He knew he should grab Candace by the waist if he wanted to bring her close.
In fact, he’d gotten at least twenty iterations of that lecture this past season alone.
Still, he couldn’t resist snagging her hips and digging his fingers into the soft, ample flesh, loving the way he knew her toes curled as the camera undoubtedly caught him groping her.
She threw her arms around his neck. He bent down to kiss her, wishing he could lift her up so she’d wrap her legs around his waist and then they could sneak off and—
—Well, they’d save that for later. Not too much later. Candace was insatiable lately, and what Candace wanted, Candace got.
“Everything okay?” she asked when she caught him sneaking a look at poor Roman, who probably didn’t deserve any wary glares.
“Just missed you, bonbon. Mike thinks we’re keeping a secret from him.”
Her jaw dropped as she shot the most innocent, guileless eyes at Mike. “What?” she gasped. “We would never keep a secret from you! We love you!”
Mike shook his head, not believing them for a second. Especially not when she was talking like that. “Just remember, I’m going to be extremely offended if you make some blanket announcement at the wedding and haven’t told me before then,” he said as he walked off.
“We would never!” Candace called after him.
Under his breath, Laurin said, “The rehearsal dinner, right?” and laid his hand on her belly, where their secret was safe and sound.
“Yeah, definitely.”