Page 4 of Some Kinda Romance

After approving the invoices on some major orders for a few of our upcoming events, I hung up with my liaison in the finance department and extinguished a few more fires before lunch. At noon on the dot, I got up, grabbed my purse, and hightailed it out of my office.

As I passed Amelia, my assistant, on the way out, I gave her a pleading look. “Hold my calls for the next couple hours, please.”

“Lunch with Julie,” she said, nodding as she smiled at me. “I’ve had it on your calendar for weeks. I’ll buy you the time you need to catch up, but I’m afraid the most you can afford is literally a couple hours.”

“Right,” I said. “I’ll be back at two. I promise.”

Winking at her, I took off and strode quickly across the immaculately polished tile floors to the executive elevator. I didn’t relax until I was in my car, the top was down, and I was cruising along the short stretch highway between my office and the restaurant my friend and I had agreed to meet at.

With the beach on one side and hills on the other, I finally allowed myself to breathe. In the rare moments I had to think, it was still hard to believe everything that had happened in the last year.

By the time I pulled up in front of the restaurant, I was still reeling, but thankfully, Julie had my back. She was already waiting, her light brown hair pulled up into a high, smooth ponytail and a couple of margaritas on the table in front of her.

I sat down, twisted my fingers around the stem of one glass, and immediately brought it to my lips. “You’re an angel. I love you. How are you?”

She chuckled. “Both of those were actually mine, but sure. Have one.”

Tasting the tangy lemon and tequila, I moaned and went straight back for another sip before I even acknowledged what she had said. “We shouldn’t be day-drinking. I don’t know about you, but my afternoon is jam-packed, and if yours isn’t, then I’m sure your boss has a few things you could help her out with.”

“Well, considering that it’s my boss I’m doing the day-drinking with, I’m sure she’ll understand.” Julie pumped her eyebrows at me, then lifted her glass. I tapped mine against it. “To midday margaritas and finally getting to work together.”

“I’ll drink to that.”

Julie had been my roommate in college and my best friend ever since. She also worked at the company I now owned, but contrary to what some thought, I hadn’t appointed her because she was my friend. She was fantastic at her job and she knew everyone there was to know.

A straight-talking, loyal as fuck badass I’d poached from another wedding-coordination company, she had a guy for everything and I adored working with her. Unfortunately, we’d only just gotten our food when we were interrupted by the ringing of my phone.

I cringed as I looked at the screen. “I’m so sorry. It’s Amelia. I asked her to hold my calls, so this must be important.”

Julie waved a hand at me. “Don’t sweat it. Just answer and get it over with.”

I answered and pressed the device to my ear. Amelia didn’t waste any time, barely saying hello. “I have Diana St. Clair on the line for you. I thought you might want to take it because it’s, you know, Diana St. Clair.”

I nodded. “Yeah. Of course. Thanks, Amelia.”

“You got it.”

A moment later, another voice came from the other end of the line. It was older with a more graceful elegance to it. I’d only spoken to Diana myself once, but I recognized that familiar lilt in her tone immediately.

“Serenity? Is that you, sweetheart?”

“It’s me,” I said, unable to help the smile that appeared on my lips. I hadn’t even met her in person yet, but I already liked her. “Is something wrong? We’re still on for tomorrow, right?”

“Most definitely,” she said. “I just wanted to let you know that my son will be joining us. Dash is going to be helping me plan the wedding.”

“That’s so sweet,” I said, meaning it. “I look forward to meeting the both of you.”

“Excellent. Thank you, Serenity. See you tomorrow.”

As I hung up the phone, Julie gave me a curious look. “What’s so sweet?”

“One of the St. Clair boys is joining his mom for the meeting tomorrow. Apparently, he’ll be helping her with the planning.”

“Is it Dash?” she asked eagerly, nearly knocking over her drink as her hand shot out to reach for her phone. “I bet it’s Dash. I wonder if he’s said anything about it on his page yet.”

“Yeah. Dash. That’s the name she mentioned. Do you know him?”

She pursed her lips before rolling her eyes and quickly unlocking her phone, her fingers flying across the keyboard. “Found him. He’s everywhere, so it’s not like it’s hard, but there he is.”