Thank you so much for your reviews, guys :) This last week before my holidays is draaaaaaaaagging, but reading your reviews always brightens up my day :)

Now, John seems to have made his decision, but temptation is always around the corner. . .

Chapter 37

When Clara didn't hear from John in over two weeks, she thought it was for the best. After their second kiss, she had realized that what Amy had told her was probably the truth. John liked her and she liked him in return, but Clara knew that she couldn't possibly interfere with his upcoming wedding – except for what she had been hired to do. And that was the only reason she made her way towards his office because the date was slowly coming closer and closer and there was still a lot left to be planned. Yet it was hard to silence that little voice inside her head that was eager to see John simply because she missed him.

"Hey," Clara greeted him with a smile as she stuck her head through his office door. "Am I interrupting your lunch break? Martha told me to go right through."

At first, John looked confused, then a smile spread across his face and he gestured for her to step inside.

"Hi," he replied coyly. "I completely forgot that you and Martha know each other."

"Yep," she confirmed while she closed the door behind her. "Planned her wedding and all. Which is why I'm here."

Clara noticed that the corners of his mouth twitched when she mentioned the wedding, but she decided to ignore it. This wasn't the time for false hope.

"You still haven't decided on a band and, you know, we're running out of time here, so I got you a little surprise," Clara explained.

John raised his eyebrows in response. "You booked a band and I don't have to worry about it anymore?" he asked hopefully.

"Not quite." She chuckled and drew the concert tickets out of her jacket pocket, placing them neatly on John's desk with a broad grin. "This is a great band and they're not usually available for weddings, but I went to school with the lead singer and he still owes me a lot of favours for endless hours of tutoring. And I got you three tickets for a concert they're gonna play in a small club on Friday night."

With knitted eyebrows, John reached for the tickets and took a closer look at them while Clara went on to explain her motives behind the present.

"You should take Liz and your sister," she told him. "Listen to the band, tell me if you like them."

"Do you like them?" he wanted to know.

She nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah," Clara agreed. "I mean, it's different. It's not what you would usually hear at a wedding, but that's the exact reason I thought you might like them."

"Oh, I'm sure I will," John replied and he granted her a smile. Even now, with his desk between them, it made her knees a little weaker.

"Uhm," she spluttered, "what makes you think that?"

"Oh, uhm," John stammered and suddenly he seemed nervous. "I just. . . I don't know. We have a lot of other stuff in common. I just thought. . . nevermind."

Clara was surprised when he slid one of the tickets back across the table and she heard him take a sharp breath. She had no idea what was going on, so she just raised her eyebrows at him.

"Well, Liz is gone for the weekend," he explained. "And I'm not really talking to my sister right now, so-"

John broke off and pushed the ticket further in her direction.

"You want me to come with you?" Clara asked just to be sure she hadn't misunderstood him.

He smiled at her in reply. "Yeah. You said you like them, so why not?"

"Yeah," she breathed. "Why not?"

Clara could think of a lot of reasons why this was a bad idea, but when John looked at her, she just didn't have the heart to voice her doubts. They really shouldn't spend any more time together and this was not what she had intended when she had bought the concert tickets.

"I might bring Susan if you don't mind," John went on. "We had plans for Friday, but I'm not sure if this music is her thing."

"Of course," Clara agreed instantly. Nothing could happen if his daughter was there as well. Susan was the perfect chaperone. "Please, you have to bring your daughter. I'm sure she'll love it."

A strange smile crossed over his face when he looked at her and Clara wasn't entirely sure what it meant, but it didn't matter. She was going to spend some time with John and there was absolutely no danger to it at all. Everything was going to be perfect. Well, except for the fact that she was in love and John was going to marry someone else.

"I should go," Clara said after a moment. "Meet you at the club on Friday?"

"Absolutely," John replied, beaming at her.

"What are you doing on Friday night?" John asked enthusiastically and waited for his daughter to reply. She was a young woman, she probably had plans already, plans that didn't involve her father, but he really wanted to try.

"Uhm, not sure. Why?" Susan asked back. "Do you have suggestions?"

He cleared his throat. "Well, my wedding planner gave me concert tickets for a band that might be suitable for the wedding and told me to check them out."

"Shouldn't you go with Liz?" his daughter wanted to know. "I mean, it's her wedding, too."

"Liz is out of town for a spa weekend with friends," he explained and John doubted that she would have accompanied him either way. "I'd hate to see those three tickets go to waste."

"Well, in that case, count me in," Susan replied happily, but then her tone changed all of a sudden. "Wait, who's the third? Not your sister, right?"

"Oh, uhm," he hesitated. "Clara. She's, uhm, she's coming with us."

There was a short pause on the other end of the line right before John heard a soft chuckle.

"What's so funny?" he demanded to know.

"Nothing, just. . . are you sure you want me there on your date?" Susan giggled.

"It's not a date!" John protested.

"You told me you kissed her. That concert is most definitely a date."

"Clara got them for me and Liz!"

"Well, that plan has obviously changed and now it's a date."

"It's not!"

His daughter sighed. "Are you absolutely sure you don't want to be alone with Clara?" Susan wanted to know and John didn't even have to think twice about it. He wanted to be alone with Clara, which was exactly why it was such a bad idea and having Susan there was the perfect excuse. Nothing could happen in his daughter's presence.

"Yes," John confirmed determinedly. "I want you there."

Susan paused for a moment. "Fine, but. . ."

"But what?"

"Listen, I know we have only known each other for a few months and I'm not trying to tell you what to do with your life."

"I feel like there's another but coming," John growled.

"But if you're into Clara, you shouldn't get married to someone else. The way you talk about her, it sounds more than just a little crush to me," Susan explained, her voice sincere. "She sounds perfect for you."

John snorted. "She sounds young and out of my league," he retorted. "It's basically cradle-snatching."

"Alright," she replied, still chuckling softly. "Suit yourself. I'll see you on Friday then?"

"See you on Friday," he sighed and hung up.

In the back of his mind, John thought that maybe his daughter was right. Maybe he really shouldn't marry Liz when he was obviously in love with another woman. But what would his fiancée say if he left her for the wedding planner, a woman he would never have a real chance with? No, John couldn't possibly break her heart like that. He and Liz had lasted for years. His feelings for Clara would fade in time.

John would never see her again after the wedding and the thought about it was breaking his heart already.