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Okay, now she felt a little like a fraud Legendary indeed While she did love having an ace up her sleeve, she felt a little squea brother, and the truth was, there wasn’t much he wouldn’t do for his little sister Never mind that she’d never asked him for any such favor before She was this ti his long-held policy
“Don’t fawn yet,” she ht prove to be too expensive for you”
Evan’s eyes glinted with a predatory gleas
“I’ve not found s in life that proved to be too expensive I may not alant to pay the price, but rarely have I found thee”
She sht you ht be the one Noah would come to terms with I think the two of you are probably a lot alike”
Evan cocked his head to the side “Just hoell do you know him?”
Her lips lifted again, but she didn’t answer Evan’s BlackBerry rang and provided much needed distraction She wasn’t ready to tell Evan about her relationship with Noah Not yet
She tuned into Evan’s conversation when he said her na to his mom
“We’ll be there this afternoon Four o’clock Yes, I knoon’t ether down by the marina We’ll meet you back at the hotel in time for rehearsal
You have my word”
He hung up and let out a sigh as he tucked the phone back into his pocket
“The wo I wonder how on earth she got that idea?”
It was said so innocently that Celia burst into laughter Evan joined her and business was effectively put back out of the way once more
Nine
The nice lunch by the harbor never happened As Evan and Celia were leaving the hotel, they ran into Evan’s parents and Mitchell and Bettina
Lucy was thrilled, since they were on their way to lunch, as well, and she suggested they eat together before they gathered on the terrace for the very informal rehearsal
It amused Celia that there would even be an actual rehearsal of the cereroom only had two attendants each Still, it was evidently i all out with a full-blown rehearsal and a dinner and party afterward
Bettina acted less than thrilled that Celia and Evan would be joining them for lunch Mitchell was visibly uncomfortable When they were seated, as luck would have it, Evan and Celia were placed across the table from Bettina and Mitchell while Lucy and Marshall sat on the ends
As a result, Celia was treated to Bettina’s malevolent stare The woman wasn’t even subtle about it She picked Celia apart like a bug under a microscope
Evan reached for her hand under the table and gave her a squeeze She couldn’t figure out if it was a gesture of support, sympathy or a thank-you
She turned and gave hiazes locked and he smiled back
“Tell me, Celia, what is it that you do? Evan tellsonce you and Evan are married?”
Celia turned to Lucy in surprise The questions were natural for a mother to ask, but Celia hadn’t been prepared for the? She hadn’t been prepared for any of this
“Celia is a crack advertising executive,” Evan smoothly inserted “We haven’t discussed where we’ll live after we’re married Her career is very iive it up”
Oh, the uy she wasto say exactly
what Evan had said, and she’d want him to mean every word
Bettina sniffed “But don’t you feel a woman’s place is at ho children don’t you?”
Celia frowned as she stared at the other wouessed she was in her early twenties What the hell had Evan been thinking when he’d hooked up with her in the first place? She was practically an infant and Evan had to be pushing forty
“I don’t see that it’s any of your concern whether I want children or not and as for where my place is, it’s wherever I’m the happiest,” Celia said “I fail to see how I could possibly be the best wife andmiserable”
Bettina looked genuinely confused “I feel it’s important for a woman not to overshadow her husband A husband’s job is to provide for his family I’d never take that away from him”
Celia snorted “You keep telling yourself that, honey Call er wants that job and is going to leave you and the children to go find himself Then tell me how important it was for you to depend solely on hio find a job h money to support yourself and your children when the sole job experience on your resu dinner”
Evan choked on his laughter while Lucy’s eyes widened in shock Mitchell looked a little green while Bettina’sopen Marshall cleared his throat and actually looked at Celia with so akin to respect
“Well said, young lady A woman should never put the welfare of herself and her children solely in her husband’s hands no matter how solid the relationship”
“Marshall!”
Lucy sounded positively scandalized
Evan sat back and looked at his dad “You see why I’oes bankrupt, I can stay at home and let her support me”
The two hter and Evan squeezed her hand harder
“Have you two set a date yet?” Mitchell asked, entering the conversation for the first time
He’d been strangely silent, and he’d studied her and Evan until Celia squirmed under his scrutiny
Not wanting Evan to do all the talking, even if this was his charade and not hers, she smiled and looked back at Mitchell
“He’s only just convinced me to marry him I did make him wait, and he had to ask me several times”
Evan squeezed again only this tirinned and plunged ahead
“I finally put hiement” Some little evil imp made her poke Bettina a little with that stateement “He
wanted to elope to Las Vegas, but I want to take our tiet to know each other before we tie the knot”
Evandrink of his wine Celia kept a perfectly straight face as she took in the reactions of Evan’s family
Lucy looked wary Bettina looked e look that could only be interpreted as a cross between regret and sadness while Marshall nodded approvingly He reached over to slap his son on the back