Groomed to Perfection: A Meet Me at the Altar Novel Read online

  “How’s it going out there?” Emilie asked. “Did they like any of the first four?”

  With a shrug, Ally told her, “The Tropical Coconut Guava was not a hit…”

  “As I knew it wouldn’t be. I knew it was too specialized to be a crowd-pleaser.”

  “You were definitely right. But Mrs. Vandergrift refused to even try the Peanut Butter Cup one because she said it was too common.”

  Yeah, she rolled her eyes because she had a feeling the more exotic the name, the more these people would gush, but give them a common name, and they’d snub it.

  Snobs.

  “However, the Spiked Red Velvet and the Luscious Lemon both got favorable reviews.”

  “Yippy,” she muttered as she turned to double-check the presentation on the next four. “Okay, Bananas Foster, Grand Marnier, Ginger Spice, and Carrot Cake.” Pausing, she sighed. “Want to place bets on which one will automatically be eliminated?”

  “I’m sure the Carrot Cake will, but that next tray? There’s no way anyone is eliminating the Sultry Chocolate. That cake is lethal!”

  “And that’s why I made an extra one for us for later,” she said with a wink. “It is my absolute favorite and the only one where I lick the bowl!”

  Laughing, Ally picked up the tray. “You coming?”

  “Um…just give me a minute to make sure the bleeding’s stopped. No need to gross everyone out again.”

  “Oh, stop. It wasn’t that bad. Everyone was really concerned.”

  “Yeah, that I’m a klutz and how they’re having second thoughts about hiring us. Great.”

  But Ally simply chuckled as she walked out of the kitchen.

  It was wrong of her to try to kill time while avoiding going back to the tasting room, but she wasn’t ready to face the Vandergrifts.

  Especially Cooper.

  What are the odds they’d be done tasting all thirty-two cakes? She wondered with a sigh.

  “Slim to none,” a deep masculine voice said.

  Emilie knew that voice.

  She heard it almost every night in her dreams.

  Turning, she faced Cooper. “Excuse me?”

  “I figured you were thinking what the chances were of leaving here without anyone noticing,” he said casually as he strolled into the room.

  “I hate to break it to you, but that wasn’t what I was thinking at all.”

  Although I’m thinking about it now…

  “Hmm…” Cooper walked around, hands tucked into his trouser pockets, as he examined the space. If possible, he looked even better than he had the night of the wedding. “I’ve never been in a baker’s kitchen before. This is pretty impressive.”

  “How would you know if you’ve never been in one before?” And yeah, maybe there was a slight snap to her tone. As much as she wanted to ask how he was and if he’d been thinking about her the way she’d been thinking about him, right now she was ticked off because he’d told her some massive lies two months ago.

  But…what difference would finding out the truth make? It was clear he was from a very upper-class, mega-rich family, and he was here because they were planning his wedding as well as his brother’s.

  Oh, God! Cooper was marrying someone else!

  He’d kissed her when he knew he was marrying someone else!

  Okay, that sealed the deal. She didn’t care why he said what he said or did what he did. From this moment on, he was just…

  Wait…who was he?

  “I couldn’t help but notice that you weren’t introduced as Cooper,” she said smugly as she crossed her arms over her chest. “So, are you Beau or Alastair?”

  He frowned.

  “Alastair,” he said grimly before letting out a long breath.

  A dozen snarky replies were on the tip of her tongue, but she couldn’t seem to put a voice to any of them.

  “But no one calls me that,” he said in a near growl that had Emilie on the verge of apologizing when…

  “Alastair! What’s taking you so long? You simply must try this Grand Marnier cake!”

  Emilie couldn’t help but smirk triumphantly.

  “Okay, fine. No one other than my parents calls me by that name.”

  And just because she felt like pushing some buttons, she asked, “What name?”

  Raking a hand through his hair, he paced along the opposite side of the room. “You know, I’m not the only one who wasn’t one hundred percent truthful that night. It seems to me you told me you were related to the bride.”

  Now it was his turn to look smug, but…

  “Technically, I didn’t. You simply assumed that.”

  Cooper immediately stopped pacing. “No. You distinctly said…

  “You asked if I was there for Felix or Mary Beth,” she replied. “And technically, I had been dealing specifically with Mary Beth, so…” She shrugged. “You just assumed I meant I was related to her.”

  It was cute how befuddled he looked, and as much as she could probably stand here all day and just look at him—because he looked even better today than she remembered—she had a job to do. No doubt Ally needed a hand and Skye was wondering why she hadn’t returned yet.

  “I need to get back inside,” she told him as she headed out. “Oh, and will your fiancée be joining us for the tasting?”

  But she didn’t wait for a response. She walked back to the tasting room with her head held high and apologized profusely for taking so long.

  There was no issue with Cooper distracting her because his mother was like a force of nature who demanded all of Emilie’s attention with her constant critique and commentary on each and every cake she tasted. Honestly, Emilie had no idea how she could even tell how anything tasted by the eighth cake. It was overkill. Most brides and grooms—and their families—knew better than to try to taste too much. It was overwhelming, and chances were they were going to end up with a cake they didn’t love simply because there were too many choices.

  “You know, this Chocolate Orange Citrus Cake is positively decadent,” Mrs. Vandergrift was saying, “however…should either of you choose it, we’d need to name it something different. Isn’t there a French name we can use?”

  “Gâteau au chocolat et à l’orange,” Cooper said with a soft French accent, and Emilie’s knees practically went weak.

  “You can name it whatever you’d like, Mrs. Vandergrift,” Skylar chimed in. “These are simply the flavors.”

  Ally walked around refreshing drinks while Emilie continued to serve samples—although how anyone could still be interested in eating even one more forkful of cake was beyond her. Rather than focus on that, she turned to the bride and groom-to-be.

  Well, one of them.

  “Did either of you have a favorite?” she asked.

  Kim gently cleared her throat and said, “I’d like to take anything with lemon out of the running. I’m really not a fan.”

  “You can’t take it out of the running,” Mrs. Vandergrift said dismissively. “It’s a classic.”

  “There were at least twenty-eight other cakes without lemon, Mother,” Beau said, and Emilie had to give him props for defending his fiancée. “I think we’ll still have plenty to choose from if we eliminate four.”

  “And the coconut guava along with the peanut butter,” his mother said.

  “Actually,” Kim began nervously. “I really liked the peanut butter cup. It’s my favorite candy.”

  A snort of derision was the only thing from Mrs. Vandergrift.

  “I think in order for you to start narrowing things down, why doesn’t everyone list their top five choices?” Emilie suggested. “I know this was a lot of cake, but I’m sure you can each pick at least five that you wouldn’t mind having again.”

  And as much as she wanted to narrow it down to just the bride and groom choosing, she knew that was never going to fly.

  Skye gave them each a pad and pen to write down their choices, and Emilie discreetly left the room to get herself something to drink.


  “Everything okay?”

  “Oh jeez!” Hand on her chest, Emilie turned and saw Skye walking into the kitchen behind her.

  “Sorry! I didn’t mean to scare you. You just sort of disappeared and I wanted to make sure you were alright.”

  Grabbing a bottle of water for each of them, she handed Skye hers and let out a long breath. “Please tell me not all tastings go like this.”

  “They don’t. This is a first for me, too. I almost feel bad for the poor girl! And the sons!”

  Yeah, Emilie would say she felt sorry for Beau, but Cooper deserved to be uncomfortable. “I honestly don’t know how they could possibly choose a cake with all those flavors swirling around out there. I mean, after a while, I would think your tastebuds would just rebel!”

  “I’m sure they have, but…we gave them exactly what they asked for.” Skye took a sip of her water. “You ready to start the tally?”

  Not really, but what choice did she have?

  “Sure.”

  Slowly, they began to walk back to the tasting room. “Which one do you think they’ll choose?”

  “Whatever it is, it certainly won’t be Kim’s choice,” she whispered, and they both stopped and laughed softly.

  “At least she’s getting some input. The other brother—Alastair?—his bride will just have to deal with whatever Mrs. Vandergrift decides. Can you imagine?”

  “Hell, no.” Emilie reached out and stopped Skye before she could walk away. “Can I ask you something?”

  “Of course!”

  Emilie glanced toward the tasting room and could hear how they were still discussing things and pulled Skye back toward the kitchen a bit. “How could they plan a wedding if the bride isn’t here?”

  “That’s just it,” Skye whispered. “There is no bride yet.”

  She felt her eyes go wide and then remembered the conversation from a month ago. That’s right; they were going to plug in a bride at a later date.

  She shuddered at the thought.

  “That’s just wrong.”

  “I completely agree, but…is it any wonder the poor guy doesn’t have a bride? Would you want to marry into that family?”

  Two months ago, she might have said yes. But now?

  No. Freaking. Way.

  It appeared she dodged a bullet where Cooper was concerned and it just proved how looks could be deceiving.

  Sure, he was absolutely perfect to look at—and yummy to smell—but once you got past all that, his life was a hot mess.

  And twisted.

  Planning a wedding before there was even a bride…pfft…

  “Um…Em?”

  “Right. Right. Uh, no. No, I would not,” she said, shaking her head. “Okay. Let’s go see what the lucky cake finalists are!”

  And honestly, the sooner they got the Vandergrifts out of here, the better off she’d be.

  When the time came for the weddings, she’d be sure to talk to Leanna about not being the one to handle them.

  Either of them.

  Especially…Alastair’s.

  Because…yeah. It was better for her to start thinking of him that way.

  The man she’d met—the man she’d kissed—didn’t exist.

  And it was just another disappointment to add to her already disappointing life.

  Two days later, Cooper found himself staring at a large, somewhat flat box that his assistant placed on his desk. He didn’t recognize the return address and knew he wasn’t expecting anything, but…

  “Only one way to find out,” he murmured as he grabbed a pair of scissors and carefully cut along the tape seam. A slow grin spread across his face when he pulled the cardboard apart.

  It was his suit jacket.

  She was thorough; he’d give her that. It looked like it had been dry-cleaned and carefully packed on a hanger to decrease wrinkling. Overall, it was very considerate of her, yet he hated how she rushed to give it back.

  Okay, maybe not rushed. All things considered, she’d had it for two months. But as soon as she found out who he was, Emilie made sure to get it back to him.

  The fact that she didn’t return it in person told him she wasn’t interested in seeing him again. Not that he needed the extra proof—she treated him like an absolute pariah for the remainder of the cake tasting the other day. Of course she’d been perfectly polite.

  To everyone but him.

  Hell, she never even looked at him.

  When they were going over all of their top favorites, Skylar was the one to take his list and read it out loud. And when they were done and getting ready to leave, she had wished Beau and Kim good luck, thanked his parents for their time, and then walked away to take a call.

  Convenient.

  He couldn’t prove it, but the timing was most definitely suspicious.

  Glancing at the box again, he wondered if the address was hers and—not that he was proud of it—he sat down and googled it.

  It was the address of a local UPS store.

  Although really, what would he have done with her address anyway? It wasn’t like they ever needed to see each other again. He knew she’d tell her bosses not to schedule her for either wedding, so…

  The weddings.

  The groan was out before he could even stop it.

  It was the most ridiculous thing in the world, but he hadn’t been able to talk his mother out of it so far. She was just going to keep moving right along like a damn freight train, ignoring his wishes, wants, and dreams.

  Not like that was anything new.

  It wasn’t like he was opposed to marriage; someday he genuinely did want a wife and kids. But he wanted them when he met the right woman and fell in love and not because his crazy family already had the venue booked and were willing to send him down the aisle with someone who met their criteria.

  Theirs, not his.

  Because if Cooper had his way, he would meet a woman someplace…casual. They’d strike up a conversation—maybe share a few laughs—and it wouldn’t matter that he was a Vandergrift or if she was from a suitable family. The only thing that should matter was that they had a fondness for each other that would lead to them falling in love.

  Raking a hand through his hair in frustration, he cursed the fact that Emilie’s face immediately came to mind.

  Personally, he blamed the jacket that was staring him in the face.

  Liar.

  The truth was that the scenario he pictured so vividly in his mind was almost exactly what had happened the night of Felix’s wedding. For those few short hours, it hadn’t mattered who he was. Emilie hadn’t sought him out because of his name or his family. She had simply sat and talked with him because…well…because she liked him too. At the time, not giving her his last name had been an oversight. However, as the night had gone on, he found it freeing not to be under the scrutiny that went with the Vandergrift name.

  The name was like an albatross around his damn neck and it was slowly choking the life out of him.

  It wasn’t that Cooper didn’t love his family or that he wasn’t grateful for all the opportunities he’d been given thanks to his last name. His great-great-grandfather had started their dynasty by hitting oil. Over the years, their fortune grew and diversified through investments and numerous ventures which currently included automotive tools and machines for assembly.

  All of that was enough to ensure that the next several generations of Vandergrifts would all live very comfortable lives. But Cooper had wanted to leave his own mark on the family legacy. When he was seventeen, his grandmother suffered a stroke that left her paralyzed on her left side. Before that, she was a very active woman and hated having so many people do things for her. That’s when he sat down and designed the prototype for a vehicle that offered more than simply a ramp and space for a wheelchair. With his ideas, it would allow for the disabled person to get themselves into the vehicle—in this case, a luxury minivan—where controls would be set up to their specifications so they would be able to control their env
ironment. They could control things like the radio, the heat or air conditioning—and could even adjust their own seatbelt, if possible.

  His parents had brushed him off, saying it was ridiculous and there would be no market for it. On top of that, his father claimed no one would even look at a design from a child.

  It's funny how he was told he was a man from the age of fifteen in every other aspect of his life, but when it was time to contribute like a man, he was suddenly a child.

  Either way, Cooper hadn’t let them deter him at all and went directly to his grandfather, who was always tinkering around with new ideas for machinery. The two of them worked together on the prototype, had a patent filed almost immediately, and within three months, they were already receiving orders.

  That was when his grandfather set up an account solely in Cooper’s name and told him it was his escape hatch should he ever want to break free.

  Sort of like one of those cases that said “Break Glass in Case of an Emergency.”

  Maybe it was time to break the glass…

  Standing, he picked up his jacket and hung it up properly in his closet. His office was essentially a luxury studio apartment. Just as he was about to sit back down, he heard the knock on his door.

  “Come in!”

  His brother walked in looking casual. “Hey, I’m heading down to the gym. Want to join me?”

  “The gym?”

  Beau nodded. “After all the cake the other day, my pants were feeling just a tad snug. Kim and I were going to play tennis later, but she decided to go dress shopping with some friends.”

  “Dress shopping as in wedding dress?”

  “Exactly. She was hoping to go at least once without Mom tagging along.”

  Leaning back in his seat, Cooper couldn’t help but laugh. “Tagging along? Don’t you mean more like taking the lead and dragging everyone with her?”

  Fortunately his brother laughed with him. “Yeah, well…what can I do, right?”

  “You could tell her to back off. Or perhaps remind her how this is your wedding and not hers,” he suggested.

  “Right,” Beau said with a mirthless laugh. “Just like you’ve done so well with reminding her that you’re not even dating anyone and, therefore, don’t need a wedding planned yet.”