Going to the Chapel: A Novella by Rita Herron

renewed his resolve to finish this investigation, then get the hell out of Matrimony.
    The wind tossed her hair in disarray around her face, making her look wild and wanton, and riddling him with hunger.
    When she reached him, she slid onto the bench beside him. “Levi, I’m so sorry. I . . . that was completely unprofessional of me.”
    “It’s not your fault.” Dammit, that was the truth. “I started the kiss.”
    Silence vibrated between them, thick with regret and unspent passion.
    “It was simply the atmosphere, the candles and champagne,” Izzy finally said. “You were probably imagining Elsa there beside you.”
    Hell no, he wasn’t. “Yeah, that was it.”
    She touched his arm, then pulled her hand back as if she’d been burned. “It won’t happen again,” she said in a shaky voice. “I know what it’s like to be cheated on, and I would never do that to another woman.”
    The warble in her voice sounded so sincere that guilt nagged at him. “I wouldn’t cheat either.”
    “Good, because I don’t want to hurt Elsa.”
    His gut churned. “Like your husband hurt you?”
    She emitted a low sound of pain. “Yes, like he hurt me.”
    He wanted to pound Ray’s head in. “I’m sorry, Izzy.”
    She shrugged off his words. “Let’s just forget what happened. You aren’t angry with me?”
    “No.” In fact, he wanted her more than ever. And, in spite of his suspicions, he was actually starting to like her.
    And believe her.
    “Because if you’d prefer that Daisy or Caroline handle the plans, I’ll step aside.”
    “No, we’re both professionals. We’ll finish what we started.” Not the kiss, though. Because if they started that up again, he wouldn’t be able to stop with a simple kiss.
    Not that kissing Izzy had been simple. It had evoked a tangle of emotions inside him, confusing him to the core.
    His phone buzzed with a text. Elsa.
    “I guess you should answer that,” she said.
    “Yes, it’s Elsa.”
    Her eyes flashed with some emotion he couldn’t define, then she brushed her hands down her dress. The scooped neckline offered him a sweet glimpse of her creamy flesh. And the memory of those fingers on his thighs as she measured his inseam sent another jolt of awareness through him.
    The neckline of his own shirt suddenly felt tight, choking. “Maybe we can discuss the music tomorrow?” Surely by then Elsa would have some concrete evidence against Ray, and Levi could end things in Matrimony.
    She agreed, and started back across the street, her hips swaying seductively as she walked. Needing a distraction, he checked the text. Elsa wanted him to call her, so he punched her number.
    “Please tell me you have something.”
    “What’s wrong—that little town getting to you?”
    No, but the wedding planner was. “Just fill me in, Elsa.”
    “Man, you’re a grouch.”
    “That’s because I’ve been trying on monkey suits.”
    Elsa chuckled. “Doesn’t make you want to tie the knot for real?”
    Hell no, he didn’t want to walk down the aisle with Izzy, just walk her to bed. He unbuttoned the top button of his shirt, his lungs fighting for air. “Hardly. Now what do you have?”
    “All right, all right. All work and no play.”
    He’d been playing too damn much already.
    “I spoke with three women from the country club, and all of them denied having an affair with Ray. In fact, they raved about him being a gentleman, said that he gave them great comfort after their husbands passed away.”
    Her comment raised more questions. “All of them lost husbands?”
    “Yes,” Elsa said. “And all three admitted that Ray had done business with their spouses before they died.”
    “Did he ask for money from the women?”
    “No, that’s the odd thing,” Elsa said. “They claimed no money was exchanged. That he simply consoled them in their darkest hour.”
    Levi scrubbed a hand through his hair. He didn’t believe that for a moment.
    “I also interviewed some of the