Mr Destiny by Candy Halliday Read Free Book Online Page B

shop.

    The surprised look on Kate's face was nothing compared to the shock Tony felt when he made his way to the back of the bridal
     shop and found her standing on that platform. The sight of her in a wedding dress straight out of some fairy tale completely
     overwhelmed him. For one brief moment, Tony wished Nonna's prediction had been more than just a cruel joke.
    As for the speech he'd been rehearsing since he'd received the panicked phone call from his father that morning, those words
     escaped Tony faster than a crook with a head start in a high-speed car chase.
    All he could do was stand there and stare.
    He didn't snap out of his trance until Kate pushed her friend Alex aside and picked up the folds of her dress.
    “Wait,” Tony called out, as she hurried from the platform. “Please. I need to talk to you for a minute.”
    “Go away,” she yelled back over her shoulder. “We have nothing to talk about.” She disappeared through an archway and out
     of sight.
    Alex grinned when Tony walked in her direction. “Kate won't be hard to find,” she said, motioning toward the archway. “Don't
     worry, it's safe. She's the only one in the dressing room.”
    “Thanks,” Tony said.
    Alex put her hands on the woman's shoulders standing next to her, then started pushing the petite redhead toward the front
     of the store. The redhead kept looking back over her shoulder at him. Tony heard her say “Jack Scalia but ten times better.”
    Her comment made no sense at all to him.
    But it made Alex throw her head back and laugh.
    Dammit!
    This was not working out the way he'd planned.
    He hadn't planned to interrupt Kate. Or to ruin some special moment she was having with her friends, which is pretty much
     what he suspected he had done. What he'd planned to do, when he finally tracked her down at the bridal shop, was simply to
     take a second of her time, ask for her help, and hopefully walk away with her agreeing to a quick trip to Queens on Friday
     night.
    But his potential accomplice had fled the scene.
    And he had the entrance to the women's dressing room secured as if he were on some high-profile stakeout.
    To hell with that.
    Tony took a deep breath and stepped through the entrance to no-man's-land. A quick look up and down the narrow space told
     him where he'd find her.
    “Kate,” he said, rapping lightly on the only closed door in the dressing room. “I apologize for disturbing you here. But I
     need your help. Please. Would you just hear me out for a second?”
    She didn't answer.
    Nor did she open the dressing room door.
    Tony stood there for a few more embarrassing moments before he said, “Look. I don't blame you if you already think I'm certifiable.
     I won't even blame you if you decide not to help me. But I do have a problem. And believe it or not, you really are the only
     person who can help me.”
    Still no response.
    “Okay, you're right,” he said. “It was wrong of me to barge in on you here at the bridal shop.”
    She jerked the door open.
    Tony jumped back.
    “That's the first intelligent thing I've heard you say,” she said, her green eyes flashing.
    Hell.
    She was still wearing the dress.
    Mouth in gear.
    Brain stuck in park.
    All Tony could think to say was, “You really do look beautiful in that dress.”
    “Congratulations,” she said. “That has to be the
second
corniest pickup line I've ever heard.”
    She tried slamming the dressing room door.
    Tony reached out and caught it in time.
    “I swear. I am
not
trying to hit on you.”
    She raised an eyebrow. “Says the cop to the victim he's obviously stalking.”
    “Let me prove it,” Tony said. “If you agree to help me out, I'll buy your wedding dress for you. Think about it. Would a guy
     who was trying to pick you up buy the dress you were going to wear when you marry another man?”
    She let go of the door.
    She sent him a smug look when she reached for the price tag attached to the front of the dress and flipped it