Will Work For Love by Amie Denman Page B

the late
day light. “Poor Taylor. Her wedding—” Whitney broke off her
sentence because she turned back and saw that Chris was grinning.
No, he was smirking.
    “How is this funny?” she demanded. She looked angry
enough to pick him up and toss him into the ocean.
    “I’m sorry,” he said. “It’s just that I finally
figured out that you’re not getting married.”
    “Married? Me?”
    “To Taylor. I thought for the last three days that
you were marrying a guy named Taylor East. You even said ‘I love
you’ on the phone.”
    Whitney huffed out a sigh. “Girls say that to their
friends. Good friends anyway.”
    “I know,” he said. “I was just a little
confused.”
    “A lot confused,” Whitney said. She paused. “So
that’s what happened last night. You thought I took a call from my
fiancé while I was out with you.”
    She laughed out loud. Her green eyes sparkled in the
sunlight and he wondered how he could resist her or anything she
asked of him.
    Her look darkened quickly, though. “No one is
getting married here,” she said. “Look at this place.”
    Chris turned and looked at the whole scene. He knew
exactly what he was going to see and the guilt stabbed him a little
as he pulled Whitney closer to him.
    “The wedding is off,” she said sadly.
    “It doesn’t have to be,” Chris said, unable to keep
his hands off her face as he caressed her and spoke gently. “I can
help you.”
    “How?”
    “My dad owns a construction company in Maine.
Believe me, I know a thing or two about building. I grew up working
for him.”
    “But why would you—” she began.
    “Just say yes,” Chris said. “Maybe it’s a good
excuse to spend more time with you.”
    Whitney turned to look at the yard that was still a
mess, the pavilion that still looked shattered by the storm, and
the gazebo that was still totally out of the question for wedding
guests. Only the trees and natural debris had been cleared
away.
    “Is there any chance of getting it fixed up in
time?”
    “With the right motivation, I can work like a
machine.”
    “But your trading business—”
    “Closed until after New Year’s. I’m giving my guys
some time off.”
    “So, you’re…”
    “All yours.”
    ****
    Whitney couldn’t believe what she was hearing for
the second time that day. Her earlier phone call to Blue Isle where
the message on the machine announced their closure for the next two
weeks left her stunned and speechless. Closed. No work. No
hurricane repair. No dream wedding for Taylor.
    Whitney had stood on the warm sand staring out at
the water wondering what on earth she could possibly do. Calling
Taylor’s family with the bad news was the only thing she could
think of, and she was about to do just that when a slight sound
made her turn around. Chris could not have looked any more handsome
as he had stood on the far edge of the lawn, just looking at
her.
    Now, she could not believe her ears. Was he really
offering to do her construction work? Could it be done in only the
ten days they had left? Should she trust Chris or call Taylor right
now so she could make an alternate plan for her wedding?
Considering the work may not finish on time, maybe Taylor deserved
the chance to decide for herself if she wanted to take a chance on
it.
    Whitney looked into the sincere blue eyes staring
intently into hers, waiting for an answer. For whatever reason he
wanted to help her, she was going to take what he had to offer.
Maybe it was a risk, but right now it seemed like the best risk she
could take. And her only option.
    “Thank you, Chris.”
    He didn’t answer her, but pulled her gently against
his hard chest and stroked her hair as he held her. “It’ll be all
right,” he whispered.
    ****
    “Which is more important,” Chris asked a little
while later, “the pavilion or the gazebo?”
    “Both,” Whitney said.
    “Agreed. Let me rephrase that. Which one do you want
done first?”
    Whitney looked them both over, picturing