Carolina grinned. “And your hormones must be surging.”

“That they are. But I’d think he was hot even if I wasn’t pregnant.” After the staff hustled Gray into the dressing room for a change, Evelyn turned to her. “You’ve done an amazing job, Carolina. I’m going to want to order all those clothes for Gray. He looks hot as hell in them. I would say, like they were made for him, but really, they were.”

Carolina laughed. “They do look good on him, don’t they? I’m really pleased with how everything turned out.”

“You should be. How’s your stress level right now?”

“Actually, not as bad as I thought it would be. Things are running pretty smoothly and I’m more or less on schedule.” Carolina glanced at the dressing room, and not seeing Gray, she pulled out her notebook. “Since Gray’s no doubt being stuck with pins at the moment, I have a few wedding dress concepts I’d like you to look at.”

Evelyn’s eyes widened. “Seriously? Already? I didn’t think you’d have any time to work on or even think about my wedding dress until after the launch of your line.”

Carolina shrugged. “It’s a stress reliever and takes my mind off this whole Fashion Week thing. And when an idea pops into my head, I can’t help but work on it.”

She showed the drawings to Evelyn. “These are only concepts. Not fully fleshed out yet, just a few ideas.”

Carolina held her breath, watching as Evelyn flipped through the three dress concepts she’d created. Evelyn looked at each one, studying them carefully, then going over them all again, which Carolina appreciated.

Evelyn laid her hand over the notebook and lifted her gaze to Carolina. The excitement on her face was evident. “These are gorgeous, Carolina. But how am I supposed to choose just one? Is it possible to wear three wedding dresses?”

Carolina exhaled, then laughed. “I’m so glad you like them.”

“Like them? I love them. All of them. Oh, my God, they’re amazing. I can’t believe you designed these in the short time since Christmas.”

Carolina flipped through each one, discussing how they could make subtle changes. “Anything you want, however you want it, we can alter. We can even take portions of one dress and add it to the other. And each one can be easily altered for your expanding waistline.”

Evelyn grinned. “That’ll be helpful, since I have no idea how big I’ll be by May.”

“How are you feeling, by the way?”

“Surprisingly good so far. No morning sickness. A little tired, but your father is giving me a lot of leeway in that regard. He’s already told me to hire an assistant to help me out because he doesn’t want me to work so hard.”

“Well, that is his grandchild you’re carrying. I don’t think he wants you working twelve-hour days right now.”

“I’ve been to see the doctor, who assures me I’m perfectly healthy and can carry on my normal duties for as long as I feel like it, so I’m thrilled about that. But I have a feeling your father is going to be watching me like a hawk the entire time. Along with Gray.”

Carolina nodded. “And my mother.”

“Yes.”

“How did your parents take the news?”

“They were elated,” Evelyn said with a wide grin. “They’re so excited about the baby and the wedding. We’re all getting together next weekend in D.C. along with Gray’s parents to talk wedding planning. I’ll be sure to take a lot of notes since I know you’ll be too busy to attend.”

“Thanks. I’ll get up to speed on the whole wedding-planning thing with you as soon as I get Fashion Week out of the way.”

“Honestly, Carolina, there’s no hurry. I think with your mother in charge, neither you nor I will have to do much of anything, anyway. Which gives me a huge sense of relief.”

Carolina laughed. “You’re probably right.”

“So back to the dresses. Can I get copies of these to look at?”

“Of course. I’ll email them to you.”

“And you won’t give these to anyone else until I choose one?”

“Absolutely not. You’re my first—and so far my only—wedding dress client.”

Evelyn laid her hand over her heart. “I’m so honored by this, Carolina. And I love these dresses so much. But I think I already know which one I’m in love with.”

“Which one?”

Evelyn scrolled to the second one. “This one. The scalloped edges and the sweetheart neckline. It’s so modern, yet classic and traditional at the same time. And with the empire waist, I think it’ll fit the expanding baby belly perfectly. It’s the one that’s in my head right now.”

“I’m so glad. I think a dress like that will look beautiful on you.”

“So do I. But I want to look at all of them again, just to be sure.”

“I’ll email them to you, and you can show the moms and get their opinions.”

“Oh, good idea. Thank you, I’ll do that.”

Gray emerged from the dressing room and Carolina quickly closed the file. “But not the groom-to-be.”

“Definitely not.”

“What are you two talking about?” Gray asked.

“Wedding dresses,” Evelyn said. “Which you can’t see.”

“Okay. But you know, I’m a pretty good judge of fashion.”

Evelyn stood. “Not in this case. You’ll just have to remain in the dark.”

Carolina stood, too. “Thanks for coming up to play dress-up.”

He kissed her on the cheek. “Don’t you know? It’s my favorite thing.”

She laughed. “Yeah, I’ll just bet it is. Which is why I appreciate it so much. But now you’re good to go until the day of the show.”

“Have you got time to have lunch with us?”

She didn’t, but she would, for her brother and for Evelyn. “Absolutely.”

She told her staff she’d be back in an hour. They acted like it was no big deal, which to them, it probably wasn’t. They all had their assigned tasks and didn’t need to be watched over. That’s why they were all awesome. To her, she felt like she had to stay on top of everything, which was probably her own OCD nature coming out.

“Come on, Carolina. The world of your fashion line won’t stop turning just because you grab a sandwich with us,” Gray said, dragging her out the door.

He was right, of course.

They went down the street and ordered sandwiches from one of her favorite delis, which made Gray ecstatic, since they were huge sandwiches. Carolina and Evelyn split a sandwich, since the deli loaded about a half pound of turkey on each one. They split a fruit salad as a side dish, too.

“How are things going with you and Drew?” Gray asked.

“Oh, just fine.” She had no idea how to have this conversation with her brother.

“So he treats you good?”

“He does.”

Gray shook his head. “I still can’t believe the two of you are a couple.”

Carolina looked at Evelyn, who just gave her a helpless look in response.

“Well, we are. Sort of. I don’t know. We’re seeing each other. For now.”

She cringed, even as the words came out of her mouth.

Gray frowned. “What the hell does that even mean?”

Evelyn laid her hand over Gray’s. “I think it means your sister would like for you to mind your own business.”

Gray’s gaze shifted from Evelyn back to Carolina. “What did I do? I just asked how things were going. It wasn’t like I was asking how good he was in bed.”

Carolina laid her head in her hands. “And it goes from bad to worse.”

“Okay, fine. I give up. I won’t ask anymore.”

“I’m sorry,” Carolina said. “It’s just . . . awkward, because the two of you are such good friends.”

“So that means there are problems between the two of you, and you think if you complain about him to me that I’ll get pissed off and go punch him out.”

Carolina laughed. “No. Well, I mean yes. That could happen. Or maybe it wouldn’t. God, I hope you wouldn’t do that. That would be so juvenile.”

Gray slanted her a look across the table.

“Okay, fine. No, there are no problems between us at the moment. We get along great. We have fun together. I can’t define what it is that’s happening between us, Gray, because, honestly, I just don’t know. We enjoy being with each other, but we’re both so heavily invested in our careers, I don’t know where it’s going. Or if it’ll last.”

“And if it doesn’t, and you two break up, you think it’ll come between Drew and me.”

“Yes. And I’d rather that doesn’t happen. I didn’t want you to know about Drew and me at all.”

Gray leaned back in his chair. “Cutting me out of that part of your life just because you think it will affect how I feel about my best friend kind of sucks, Carolina.”

She blew out a frustrated breath. “For me, too. You and I have always been really close. There wasn’t anything I couldn’t tell you.”

“Until now.”

She nodded. “Because I also know how close you and Drew have always been. My relationship with him will affect your relationship with him. And it shouldn’t.”

“You can’t change that. He’s been one of my best friends for a lot of years. But you will always and forever be my sister. Family. Nothing trumps that bond. Not even friendship.”

Gray’s words shouldn’t have made tears fill her eyes. But they did. He was right. The bond they shared had always been strong. And it always would be. How foolish of her to think anything, or anyone, would come between them.

She reached across the table and grasped his hand. “Thank you for that. But I’m a grown woman now. And if it doesn’t work out between Drew and me, just know my eyes are wide open. And I can handle it, okay?”

Gray nodded. “Okay.”

TWENTY-FIVE

TRICK PASSED THE PUCK TO SAYERS. DREW WAS IN position, and despite the elbow from the defender trying desperately to shove him out of the way, he was determined to stay in front of the defender’s goal.

So when Sayers shot the puck to him, Drew turned and took the shot.

And the goalie scooped it up in his glove.

Shit.

Sawing breath until his lungs ached, Drew skated down the ice toward his own goal. They were only down one goal and there was still time left in the third period. They could pull this game out against Philadelphia, at least tie it up and then make a comeback. All they had to do was score. They were so damn close Drew could taste it.

But in order to do that, they needed the puck at the other end of the ice. Kozlow, their best defender, shifted and went after it, slamming the Philadelphia forward against the boards. Drew wanted, needed desperately, to be in the middle of that, but he stayed in position, moving fast when Kozlow wrestled the puck away and shot it down the ice.

Trick was there to take it and make the turn and dashed, time moving too fast for Drew’s liking. He knew they were no more than a minute or two from the end of the game. If they tied, they’d go to overtime.

Drew took the pass from Trick and got an elbow to the neck from the defender. He fought for it, but another defender swooped it up and took it.

Shit. He dug in his skates and went after him, but Kozlow and Ebers were there.

It went back and forth like this for what seemed like an eternity, with the defense holding on, keeping Philadelphia from scoring, while the offense couldn’t get the damned puck into the net.

And when the buzzer sounded signaling the end of the game, it was the worst damned sound Drew had ever heard.