One Night with Prince Charming (Aristocratic Grooms #2)(20)
Author: Anna DePalo

He’d thought of using the theme music from Jaws for her ringtone, but then he figured that while it might be appropriate, given the sparring nature of his relationship with her, she didn’t need further encouragement, if she ever found out, to attempt to annihilate him.

With a grin, he took the call.

“Hawk, where are you?” Pia demanded without preamble.

“I’m about to hand my cars keys to the valet,” he responded. “Should I be anywhere else?”

“I’ll be right there! The bride left her veil in the back of a Lincoln Town Car that departed minutes ago. I need your help.”

“What…?”

“You heard me.” Pia’s voice held an edge of crisis. “Oh, I can’t be associated with another wedding disaster!”

“You won’t.” Not if he could help it. “What’s the name of the car service?”

As Pia gave it to him, Hawk shook his head at the valet and jumped back into his car to start the ignition.

“Call the car company,” he told Pia, “and tell them to contact the driver.”

“I already have. They’re trying to get in touch with him. He can’t go too far. Otherwise, we’ll never get the veil back in time for the ceremony.”

“Don’t worry, I’m on it.” He started to steer back down the drive with one hand. “Do you think he’s heading back to Manhattan?”

If he had some idea in which direction the car was heading, he’d know which way to go once he got out of the Botanical Garden. Then when contact was made with the driver, at least he’d be nearby and they could meet at a convenient exit or intersection.

“I think he is heading south, and I’m coming with you,” Pia replied.

“No, you’re needed here.”

“Look to your left. I’m heading toward you. Stop and I’ll hop in.”

Hawk turned to look out the driver’s-side window. Sure enough, there was Pia, hurrying toward him across the grass, a phone pressed to her ear.

“Good grief, Pia.” He disconnected the call and stopped the car.

Moments later, she pulled open the passenger-side door and slid inside.

As he pulled away again, he observed with amusement, “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a woman so anxious to get into a car with me.”

“It’s an Aston Martin,” she said, breathing heavily from her jog. “You can really accelerate, and I’m desperate.”

“The first time I think I’ve been praised for my ability to go fast.”

“J-just drive.” She breathed in deep, then, pressing a button, put her phone to her ear once more.

Hawk assumed she was calling the car service again.

He glanced at her. She was wearing a short-sleeved caramel-color satin dress with a gently-flared skirt and matching tan kitten heels. He’d already identified the outfit as she was racing toward him as another of what he’d come to think of as her working-party dresses—festive but not so eye-catching that they’d detract attention from where it was meant to be.

Now he listened to her half of the conversation with the car service. It seemed as if she was getting good news.

In fact, when the call was over, Pia slumped with relief.

“They got through to the driver,” she said. “He’s getting off the highway and meeting us three exits away at a gas station rest stop.”

“Great.” On to more enchanting matters. He nodded to her dress. “You look nice.”

She threw him a startled look, as if not expecting the compliment. “Thanks.”

He felt a smile pull at his lips as he tossed her a sidelong look. “Do you pick your wedding clothes with an eye toward being able to make a quick sprint? You made good time across the grass. Rather impressive in those shoes.”

“Weddings can be full of the unexpected,” she replied. “You should know that as well as anyone.”

He arched a brow. “Still, I’m curious. You phoned me to come to your rescue. Am I your modern-day knight riding to the rescue in a black sports car?”

“Hardly,” she replied tartly. “There are very few people I know at this wedding, and you got me into this mess—”

He laughed.

“—so the least you could do when you arrived at just the right moment was to lend a set of wheels.”

“Ah, of course.”

He let the discussion go at that, though he was tempted to tease her some more.

Moments later, he took the highway exit that she indicated and found the gas station.

The driver of the car service was waiting for them, a shopping bag in hand.

After Pia took the errant veil from the driver and thanked him quickly, she and Hawk hopped back into his car.

“The day has been saved,” Hawk remarked as he put the key back in the ignition.

“Not yet,” Pia responded. “The wedding isn’t over. Trust me on this one. I’ve been to more weddings than there are lights in Times Square.”

“Yes, but isn’t this the moment when you thank your hero with a kiss?”

She jerked to look at him, her eyes widening.

Not giving her a chance to think it over, he leaned forward and touched his lips to hers.

Lord, he thought, her lips were as pillowy soft as they looked. Just as he remembered.

Even though he knew he should stop, when he heard and felt Pia’s breath hitch, he deepened the kiss, settling his lips more firmly on hers.

She didn’t pull away, and he drew out the kiss, molding her lips with his. With his hand, he stroked the soft skin of her jaw and throat.

She relaxed and sighed, and leaned toward him. And it was all he could do not to draw her into an embrace and feed the desire between them.

He finally forced himself to pull back and look at her. “There…recompense received.”

“I—I—” Pia cleared her throat and frowned. “You’re quite the expert at stealing kisses, aren’t you?”

Solemnly, he placed his hand over his heart. “It’s a rare occasion that I have the opportunity to act so gallantly.”

She hesitated, and then gave him a stern look and faced forward. “We need to get back.”

They made it back to the New York Botanical Garden in record time while Pia filled him in with desultory wedding details.

When he pulled up in front of the valet again, Pia rushed away to help the bride. As Hawk dealt with the car and the valet again, he reflected that he’d heard nothing but good things from Victoria and Timothy about Pia’s eleventh-hour help with their wedding. He was impressed by how professionally Pia had handled herself with little time to prepare.