Mending Hearts With The Billionaire (Artists & Billionaires Book 6) Read online

  Candace tried not to smile at Araceli’s mixing of Texas lingo with her light Massachusetts accent. With three hours to prepare for Abbie’s “real” wedding, flying in from Haiti hadn’t been possible. Tessa hadn’t been able to fly to Chicago from New York either. Since both Candace and Zoe were unlikely to marry soon, if at all, this could be the last hen party the roommates had. Arguing would kill the fun of the party, so Candace stood still as her friends worked feverishly to create a paper dress. Araceli worked on the sleeves. “Tell me all the news. Are you and Colin officially dating yet?”

  Mandy tsked and shook her head. The other group stopped talking.

  Candace answered louder than she needed to. “We are just friends. I am done with dating. I realize that with all the wedded bliss going on around here over the past year that this is hard for some of you to understand, but marriage is not for everyone. It’s certainly not for me. Please stop asking about Colin. He. Is. A. Friend. I talk to him just like I talk to all of you.”

  “Really? You talk about everything? Even—” Tessa raised her brows.

  “We don’t discuss feminine hygiene if that is what you’re asking. I don’t think that is something he could handle hearing much about. And as I said, he is my friend, and sending him into a blushing fit is not one of my goals.” Not like she’d told any of her female friends about the fact she didn’t need to buy products as often lately. My doctors believe I am already going into menopause—one of the side effects of having chemo at age sixteen. She hadn’t had that conversation with anyone outside of the medical team. The big M word was for grandmothers, not women who hadn’t reached their twenty-eighth birthday.

  Not content to stick her foot in her mouth just once, Araceli turned her questions to Zoe. “So, are you going to follow the trend and find yourself a ten-figure husband? There should be one or two here in New York. Sean’s other groomsman is single.”

  Glad to have the spotlight off her, Candace didn’t attempt to stop the impending disaster.

  Tessa joined in. “Nick Gooding is really nice, and he is one of the good guys. You should do something with us while you are living here.”

  “I don’t think double dating with newlyweds would be that fun. Besides, as a graphic designer, I think I should be exempt from the curse. It is my duty to break it. So no thanks to the offer.” Zoe broke off a piece of tape with her teeth.

  “You never know. I am not really an artist at all.” Abbie’s wedding ring caught the light as she spoke. “I had no intention of falling in love on the job and not with one of those rich, snobby millionaire types I have worked with for years. Present company and their spouses excluded, of course.”

  “Daniel and Colin both went to school with Nick, and they like him. Just imagine how much fun we could have if you did marry him.” Mandy added a tissue rose to the creation.

  At Zoe’s reddening face, Candace decided to end the torment. “I think it is about time for judging so we can clean up and be out of here. We only reserved the room until ten.”

  “I agree.” Tessa tried to turn around in the dress taped around her body. “I don’t really want to have O’Malley smirking at us for the next couple months for wearing paper goods.”

  Ten minutes later, Tessa declared the dresses a tie, and the paper creations were packed in a produce box for Tessa to use later. In less than twenty-four hours, another roommate would be walking down the aisle. Dreams Candace had packed away a decade ago—of orange blossoms, white satin, and lace—came back to haunt her.

  Colin tried not to take his phone out of his pocket to see how well his latest app worked. He had never been one for large groups—not that the gathering of Sean’s friends and the spouses of Tessa’s friends was large, but he did feel out of place. He wasn’t even an official boyfriend and had only been invited to the bachelor party, held in one of the private rooms at the Irish Pub owned by one of Sean’s groomsmen, because of his association with Daniel Crawford and Nick Gooding. At least the party wasn’t wild like those he had seen on TV. The classic video-game contest was something Colin could appreciate. He waited for another turn on the Pac-Man arcade game. The presence of Sean’s grandfather, who was a minister, and the various bodyguards who worked for the men in the room may have been a factor in the low-key party.

  Nick joined him in watching Preston Harmon fail at Frogger. “I wasn’t expecting to see you here. How do you know Sean?”

  “I don’t. I think I was invited because Tessa thought Candace and I are dating and it evened out the numbers, since Sean’s best man is married.”

  “But you came anyway?”

  “I’d like to date Candace, and I was hoping another wedding might push her in that direction.” If anything, the third wedding of the year was doing the opposite.

  “Which one is Candace again?”

  “The maid of honor. At the rehearsal, she was wearing the Van Gogh T-shirt.” Most people described Candace by her wigs, which missed so much of who she was. Colin avoided the descriptor whenever possible.

  “Zoe’s cousin?” Nick mentioned the bridesmaid who was his partner for the ceremony.

  “Yup. She—”

  “Hey, Colin, beat that score!” Daniel shouted from the vintage Pac-Man game.

  Colin nodded at Nick, happy to have the conversation over. Explaining why he was the odd man out wasn’t improving his comfort level. If only women could be as logical as a video game.

  Colin tried to forget all about women as he ran from the ghosts in the virtual maze. But the ghosts kind of looked like veiled brides, and he couldn’t decide if he was the Pac-Man or if it was Candace running away from the idea. Great, now she was even on his mind when playing a game. The ghost tagged him, prompting the game-over screen. He watched as Sean earned one of the highest scores of the night. Not fair. If anything, it should be the groom who was distracted. He went on to play Frogger. Surely nothing could remind him of Candace in that game. Other than the way she teased him about the “fancy red car” he never drove. A purple race car squashed his frog.

  Daniel shook his head as he took the controls. “Better luck next time.”

  Not a chance. Colin doubted he could win at any game unless he figured out the dating one first.

  three

  As the bride and groom waltzed around the marble floor of the restored Blue Pines courthouse-turned-museum, Candace wondered if they’d even noticed the rest of the people in the building. If dancing with your new husband was anything like dancing with Colin, then not only did the newlyweds not see the guests, they had entered their own little world.

  Rats. She had only gone two minutes without thinking about him. She needed to put an end to the relationship before he got hurt. She hadn’t intended for things to keep deepening between them. She met him near the end of year nine of her ten-year plan. At some point, she’d decided he would even be her tenth kiss, but she had never acted on the completion of that bucket-list item since the friendship had grown more intense than with any guy she had ever known. Colin had made her question all her teenage assumptions about men and drop that one item from her bucket list. Because of that, she had never even tried to kiss him, or anyone else, since she had gone out with the law student almost a year and a half ago.

  Zoe sat down next to Candace as Tessa’s mom and Sean’s grandfather joined the dance. “We’re up next.”

  “Speaking of which—how are you getting along with Nick?”

  “We’ll survive the day.” Zoe had barely finished the sentence when Nick and the best man joined them.

  Candace loved dancing. However, the best man had barely mastered the two-step shuffle. It was a relief when Colin cut in and they could do their own variation of the fox-trot. It had been a pleasant surprise last year at Mandy and Daniel’s wedding, where she had also been the maid of honor, to learn that Colin danced—and not just
the standard moves. He danced ballroom, including the cha-cha and tango, and he led with the finesse of Fred Astaire.

  “Do you think you can swing in that dress?” Colin spun her out.

  “East Coast or West?”

  “Texas push.”

  Candace took an extra step. “Maybe, but nothing fancy. The skirt is too long for any flips.”

  The current song ended. The tempo of the next song was faster. “Did you manage to sneak a salsa beat into their playlist?”

  “Maybe.” Candace started the basic step, encouraging Colin.

  “You know I need to work on this one.”

  “One, two, three, five, six, seven.” She counted out the beats, skipping four and eight, where the dancer’s feet remained in place.

  Colin laughed. “Not that much help. Just practice. You should come to Chicago, and we could find a place to dance.”

  His neck reddened as it had more often of late. Candace wasn’t sure how to answer. He had been hinting about a date for months, never getting closer than a vague “maybe we could.”

  “There is a new studio opening this weekend. Come up next week, and we can try it out.” Colin maneuvered a turn.

  Candace spun away from him, not sure how to answer. “I hate crashing at Mandy’s. Maybe some other time.”

  “Why crash at the Crawford’s? You can use the VIP apartment Abbie lived in.”

  So much for that excuse. “That apartment has eyes in the walls.” The security features had been enhanced during Abbie’s stay, giving new meaning to Big Brother as all four of Abbie’s brothers had taken their turn monitoring their sister’s undercover activities.

  “Hastings security removed all of their equipment when Abbie got married. It is back to normal. Just the security pad on the door and standard alarm system. No cameras, no microphones.”

  The song ended.

  “I’ll check my calendar. Would you mind getting me some water?” Candace sat down at a table, hoping to come up with a way out of going to Chicago. Dancing, yes. Dating, no.

  Colin met Nick on a similar errand.

  “Ogilvie, I had no idea you could dance like that. Next time I get one of those invitations to be on Dancing with Divas, I’ll refer them to you.”

  National television. There could not be a worse nightmare. “Please, no. I only can dance with Candace.”

  “Is everything all right?”

  This was not the place to explain. “Just tired of the friend zone.”

  “Candace?” asked Nick.

  Colin accepted two water glasses from the wait staff. “Who else? I was hoping now that she will be roommate-less I could get her to come to Chicago more, but she is more averse to change than anyone I have ever met.”

  “I thought Zoe lived with her. Wait—she is the one with the internship, right? Doesn’t Candace have other roommates?”

  “Candace hasn’t been replacing her roommates these past few months.”

  The waiter handed Nick the lemon water he’d requested. Nick took a napkin as well.

  Colin ventured a question to change the subject. “What’s up with you and Zoe? Watching you laugh in the carriage on the way over, I thought you had a connection with her, but she has pulled one of her disappearing acts.”

  “You were watching us?”

  “Candace was. It looked more than friendly to me.” Surprising was a better word, but he could be wrong.

  “I am not sure we are even at friendly. She is keeping to herself.”

  “She is a Wilson woman. Runs in the family. Good luck.” Colin raised one of the water glasses before walking in the direction of the tables.

  Not sure whether to be buoyed up or downhearted in discovering that Nick also had difficulties with women, Colin took the long way around the room back to Candace. Perhaps he should ask her on a date outright, but it was not anything he had ever done before. Where was one to seek such advice? For the last six months, his usual mode of learning had failed him. The advice he found online was either aimed toward seduction or sounded as if it came out of a cheap romance novel. Unlike programing, there were no reliable message boards with expert advice. Using multiple search engines and query strings hadn’t helped.

  How had Daniel, Kyle, Preston, and Sean all managed to get the women they loved to marry them? And in less than six months? There must be some formula he was missing. After all, some of the singles sites claimed to match couples based on algorithms, so there must be a formula for falling in love too.

  When he wasn’t dancing, he spent the rest of the reception studying various couples, trying to figure out what elusive concept he’d missed.

  After the bouquet and garter toss, he danced the last few dances with Candace, who managed to duck catching the bouquet entirely. As they waltzed along the edge of the floor in the shadows of the room, every once in a while, Colin would notice a couple other than the bride and groom kissing on the dance floor or wandering out of the main gallery. What would Candace do if he tried to kiss her? It hadn’t been the first time he had wondered about the effects of a kiss on their relationship. Frankly, it was impossible to dance the tango with this woman and not wonder. Not that he ever dared find out.

  Colin worked to steer Candace toward a column that partially blocked the view of the north alcove from the dance floor. When he was only three yards away, the song ended, and someone took the mike and announced it was time to see the bride and groom off.

  “That is me.” Candace gathered her skirts and nodded before crossing the floor.

  Colin looked longingly at the column. The entirety of their relationship could be summed in the remaining nine feet. So close . . .

  Guests filtered out of the museum after the departure of the bride and groom. The bridesmaids left in the limo headed back to the Blue Pines Inn. Candace and Zoe offered Colin a seat, but he had no desire to be caught in the middle of a bunch of giggling girls.

  Nick joined him. “Are you staying at the inn?”

  “I didn’t want to stay in the city.” There were not any other options in the tiny town of Blue Pines.

  “Come out to the family house with me. There is plenty of room, and the remainder of the wedding party isn’t on the floor above you.”

  “That sounds like a deal I can’t pass up.” The women weren’t bad, but they tended to talk too much, and being the only single guy was as awkward as the time he’d impulsively corrected his advanced calculus teacher in front of the class.

  Nick pulled out his keys. “My car is around back. Let’s get your things.”

  The short drive from the museum to the edge of Blue Pines passed in a blur. Nick barely slowed down as the gate at the end of his drive rolled back to let them enter.

  Colin gave a low whistle as Nick rounded the curve of the drive and the nineteenth-century mansion came into view. “My mother would kill for a place like this. She is forever complaining our place is too modern for her.”

  “Welcome to the Cottage.” Nick indicated that Colin should leave his suitcase with the butler who greeted them. “He’ll get that up to your room. Do you want the grand tour or the shortest way to my man cave?”

  A yawn proceeded Colin’s answer. “I think the man cave sounds good for now.”

  “So, how long have you been dating Candace?”

  “You mean how long have I been trying to date Candace? That woman has more tricks for keeping a relationship in the friend zone than the Pentagon has to keep hackers out. The Pentagon is easier to hack.”

  Nick gave Colin a sideways glance. “I am not sure I want to know about that.”

  “I was only twelve. Thanks to Dad’s money, they didn’t make a big deal of the break-in other than making me create a fix for the hack I exposed. Why are women so difficult?”

  “I have no i
dea.” Nick shook his head. He turned the conversation back to Colin. “How long have you been interested in Candace?“

  “Since I first saw her spiky pink hair on my computer screen over a year ago. 512 days.”

  Nick whistled and shook his head. “And she won’t date you?“

  “Nope, I tried for a kiss last New Year’s Eve and came up all cheek. The annoying thing is I know about all these guys she has kissed. Not that she has since some law student activist dumped her to go protest in California. She tries to keep me in the friend zone by talking about the guys she’s dated like I am one of the Art House women. But the guys she kissed don’t know her at all. She doesn’t let them see anything beyond her rotating wig collection before she moves on.”

  “That explains a lot. I thought I saw her the other day down on the square, but since her hair was different, I thought I was mistaken.”

  “My favorite wig she has is this blonde, with green ends. Ombre or something, but it’s soft and sassy just like her.”

  “Oh, you have it bad. What are you going to do?”

  “I need a new idea. Maybe you can help.” Colin took a breath and dove in. “Nothing is keeping her in Indiana. If I could find a way to get her to come to Chicago, maybe we could spend more time together. When she does come up, we are always with Mandy and Daniel. If she lived there, we could spend more one-on-one time together. From the articles I have read, that is important.”

  “You read articles about dating?”

  Colin hated the fact that his face heated up. “While you and Daniel were flirting with girls, I was programming. I may have missed out on some social milestones.”

  Nick kept a straight face.

  Colin defended himself. “They wouldn’t write the articles unless there were other guys like me who needed them.”