Page 51 of Some Kinda Romance

24

SERENITY

Mildly hungover after my night with Julie, I had another meeting with Dash and his mother. A meeting I really wasn’t looking forward to.

Generally, I loved Diana and I adored her loving, bubbly personality, but today, having to face her with her son was just something I didn’t feel up to doing. Unfortunately, we had to finalize the number of guests and the seating chart, and that was the one thing Diana had wanted to be involved in specifically.

“Dash just doesn’t know everyone like I do,” she explained as we got started. “He might seat people next to each other who hate one another. That would be a disaster.”

I nodded, glad that I’d set this meeting for first thing in the morning so I could get it over with. Dash sat next to his mother, quiet and looking a little worse for wear himself. As I glanced at him, noticing the slight smudges under his reddish eyes, I nearly snorted out loud.

Good. I’m glad you’re feeling some pain too.

Just this morning, new pictures dropped of him with some other woman, apparently taken last night. The headline had read, Dash St Clair LA’s new It Man.

Logically, I knew it could’ve been nothing. A friend he’d greeted on his way out or an ex-girlfriend he’d run into at the bar. Hell, for all I knew, it could’ve been his illegitimate sister he’d had a night out with, but my brain was refusing to be rational when it came to him.

Deliberately dragging my gaze back to his mother’s, I smiled. “You’re absolutely correct. Seating the wrong people together can ruin any event, but it’s so much truer with a wedding.”

“Only if you allow it to ruin the event,” Dash interjected. “Any good coordinator would be able to solve those problems on the fly, should they crop up.”

I arched an eyebrow at him. “Unless you keep them from cropping up in the first place.”

My tone was syrupy sweet, but he scoffed. “When you’re working with people, there’s no way to guarantee issues won’t crop up regardless of who’s seated where. The key is to remain on top of things during the event so that you can quietly and efficiently intervene if intervention proves necessary.”

“Which it won’t,” I said, aware that we were on the verge of bickering in front of Diana but unable to help myself. “For this particular event, we’ve got a wonderful, involved bride whose head has remained firmly on her shoulders during the planning phase and she’s aware of the interpersonal relationships of her guests.”

“Exactly.” Diana smiled, a slight crease between her eyebrows as she glanced from one of us to the other. Then she shook her head and focused on me. “Right, so you mentioned that most of the people we invited have responded?”

“Yes, they have.” I cleared my throat, trying to ignore Dash’s haughty expression and that way a single lock of dark hair was hanging over his forehead. Drawing in a deep breath, I met Diana’s gentle brown eyes. “We’ve followed up with the remaining ten couples who have yet to RSVP, but so far, only one couple has declined the invitation. A Jonty Rhodes and his wife who are apparently in Barbados for an extended holiday?”

Diana chuckled. “Of course. We knew they weren’t in town, but we wanted to extend the invitation anyway. Jonty is a dear old friend of Richard’s and we didn’t want to exclude them, but they’ll be getting back about a month after the wedding.”

“We do have a streaming option for the ceremony if you’d like them to be able to watch remotely?”

Her entire face transformed as she beamed at me, grinning widely. “That would be amazing. Let me just ask Richard to check with them before we set it up. They’ve been doing all sorts of guided hiking trails and such, but I’m sure they’d love to watch unless they’re on some excursion. Excuse me for a moment.”

She got up and hurried out of my office to make the call, unexpectedly leaving me alone with her son. I leaned back in my chair but didn’t say anything. He’d made it perfectly clear that he didn’t want to talk and I wasn’t about to waste my time flogging a dead horse.

Dash didn’t believe that there was nothing between Ethan and me, and he wasn’t interested in my side of the story. On a similar note, I wasn’t interested in pursuing something with someone who didn’t trust me, wouldn’t give me the benefit of the doubt, and refused to hear me out when something went wrong.

Healthy relationships didn’t work that way, and I’d learned that lesson the hard way. Content with sitting in silence until Diana got back, I caught Dash glancing at me a few times. Eventually, I couldn’t take it anymore.

“Do you need to say something?” I snapped.

He clenched his jaw, the veins in his neck above the collar of his shirt bulging. He shook his head. “No.”

Frustration welled within me, but before I could tell him to stop staring, Diana walked back in, another wide grin on her face until she noticed the palpable tension in the air. Her grin faded, her brow furrowing as she glanced at her son.

“Dash, honey, you can go now,” she said gently. “I think us girls can handle it from here. It’s only going to be moving people around on a seating chart. I’m sure you’ve got work to do, so I won’t keep you for this part.”

Gratitude crashed into me as he nodded and stood up. “Let me know if you need anything. Bye, Mom.”

He leaned in to give her a hug, brushing a sweet kiss to her cheek before he left quickly, not bothering to say goodbye to me before he was gone. After he’d shut the door behind him, Diana sat down once more and turned back to me.

“Did I miss something?” she asked, her head tilted slightly. “He wasn’t mean to you again, was he?”

“No, not at all,” I said honestly. “We hardly spoke a word while you were out. I think he’s probably just got a lot on his mind.”