The Wedding Planner and the CEO

‘Really?’ Rafe couldn’t help the note of scepticism. ‘Does anyone really believe that those vows mean anything these days?’

Uh-oh... Maybe he should have ruffled the spiral of hair down her back instead of dropping some kind of verbal bomb. The look he received made him feel like he’d just told a kid that Santa Claus didn’t really exist.

‘I believe it,’ Penelope said.

She did. He could see it in her eyes. A fierce belief that it meant something. Something important. He couldn’t look away. He even found himself leaning a little closer as a soft word of query escaped his lips.

‘Why?’

* * *

Oh, help... His eyes weren’t really as black as sin, were they? The mottled light sifting down through the leaves of the tree was enough to reveal that they were a dark brown, with flecks of gold that made them more like a very deep hazel. And the way he was looking at her...

The eye contact had gone on far too long to be polite but Penelope couldn’t break the gaze. It felt physical—almost as though he was holding her in his arms. No...it went deeper than that. He was holding something that wasn’t physical. Touching something that was deep inside. The part of her that couldn’t be seen.

But Rafe was seeing it and it made her feel...vulnerable?

Nobody had ever looked at her like this. As if they could see that dark, secret part of her. As if the world wouldn’t end if the door got opened and light flooded in.

And he wanted to know why she believed in something he clearly had no time for. Marriage. Could he see that she had to believe in it? Because there was something about it that held the key to putting things right?

The exchange of vows had been completed on the stage of the gazebo and the applause and raucous whistling told her that the first kiss was happening. The flash of cameras going off was there, like stars in the periphery of her vision, but Penelope still couldn’t look away from Rafe’s gaze.

‘It’s about the promise,’ she found herself saying softly. ‘It’s not about the dress or the flowers or...or even the fireworks.’

He raised an eyebrow.

‘I don’t mean they’re not important. That’s what weddings are all about. Celebrating the promise.’ Penelope drew in a breath. She’d said enough and she should be using the time to make sure the photographers had everything they needed for the next part of the programme. And that Jack was ready to keep the guests entertained with food and wine for as long as it took. ‘I can’t wait to see the show,’ she added with a placating smile. ‘I know it’ll be fabulous.’

‘Oh, it will.’ Rafe nodded. ‘I’ll make sure you get the best spot to watch it, shall I?’