The Wedding Contract

Chapter 12





I toss and turn all night, devising ways to sabotage Nick. I can’t play fair, not after seeing his pictures. Each photograph was well executed. His histograms were perfect—at least on the shots I had time to view. The next day, Sophie manages to keep Mandy away from me as we walk along the shoreline.

“You shouldn’t have let her bait you like that.” Concern fills her voice and her fingers twist her flowing ivory skirt. She’s already dressed for dinner.

I shrug. “You have options. I don’t.”

She takes my arm and turns me toward her. My own dress swishes with the movement. We both stop walking. “Yes, you do. You can go home. Your parents can help you. Your mother has offered a million times.”

I sigh dramatically, “Which is exactly why I can’t close my shop and go crawling back to them. Sophie, I need to do this on my own. That bet with Mandy gives me a chance.”

“Yeah, but you’re going to have to do some things that aren’t like you to ensure you win, aren’t you? I mean, Nick doesn’t suck, right? Otherwise, Mr. Stevens wouldn’t have hired him.”

I can’t hold her gaze. “I am not ruining your wedding, don’t worry, and I’m not going to break his gear.” Hide it maybe, but not destroy it.

Sophie tilts her head at me and folds her arms over her chest. “You seriously expect me to believe that?”

I offer a half grin. “Enjoy your wedding and stop worrying about me. Come here for a second.” I tug her hand and ask her to stand on a rock that’s in the water. “Here, hand me your shoes.”

Sophie doesn’t want to do it. I can tell by her posture and the way she looks at the water. “Sky, the rock is slippery—I’ll fall in and ruin my dress.”

“They’d still be awesome pictures: a wet, white, wedding-ish looking dress. It’d fit right in with the boudoir shoot we’re doing tomorrow night.”

Sophie sighs, hands me her shoes, and pulls up the hem of her long dress. “I’m not doing that kind of shoot. I already told you I’m not comfortable with it.”

“And I already told you that you can wear your wedding gown, lingerie, or whatever you want. The idea is to show off the sexy side of you.”

Sophie snorts. “I don’t have a sexy side.”

“Yes you do. You just don’t know it yet.” I point. “Stand there and turn away from me, like you’re considering swimming into the bay.”

She laughs again as she turns. “With the mermaids?”

“You know that’s why mermaids swim around topless all the time, right? It’s because their boobs are too big and all bras are C shells.” It’s the worst joke I can think of, but it works.

Sophie looks over her shoulder at me and right before she makes a horrible face, I get the perfect shot. Her lips are parted and the worry line between her brows is gone. The setting sun highlights her hair and outlines her dress like it’s made from moonbeams. It’s perfect.

But she has no idea what I’m doing, so she looks appalled. “That is the worst joke I’ve ever heard. Like, ever.”

“Well, D shells don’t fit and that’s why I can’t swim away and be a mermaid.” I sigh and look past her at the bay, wondering what life would be like if I didn’t have to grow up and do this alone.

Sophie wades back to shore and puts her hand on my shoulder. “Come on, let’s head to the rehearsal before we’re either late or you’re abducted by mermaids with big boobs. Knowing you, you guys would form a club and I’d never see you again.”

I burst out laughing and look down at my girls. “I don’t think I’d make the cut.”

“Don’t be silly. You’d be their leader.” Sophie and I walk back up to the house and just before we head down the road to the chapel, I tell her to go ahead. In a warning tone, she scolds, “Skylar.”

Palms up, I back away. “I’m going to get my gear. Damn, Soph. You can’t be suspicious of me the entire time. I only have my camera. I need my bags and reflectors and stuff. You know that.”


“Fine, but leave Nick alone.”

I smile broadly and my brows jut up, hiding beneath my bangs. “You like him.” It took me a while to realize it, but she actually respects him. What the hell? “Sophie, he’s the dick that’s putting me out of business! How can you like him?”

“I don’t like him!” She shushes me and leans in, grabbing my elbow conspiratorially as she does it. “I just think that something seems off. How can a guy so nice be such a jerk?”

“Uh, because he is a jerk?”

“Sky.”

“Soph.”

I make a noise in the back of my throat and pull away. “No, we’re not doing this now. Go to the rehearsal. I’ll be right behind you.”

Sophie nods and walks off. The place we’re staying has grounds with little paths that lead everywhere. Sophie’s mother and father pass me on the front steps of the inn and hurry to catch up with her. I catch a glimpse of her dark eyes watching me slip inside. Thank God she left me. I’m not messing with his gear at all. I wouldn’t do that. There just needs to be a little accident that looks like a mistake. I know exactly what to do.