Chapter 1
Gracelyn
* * *
I forget how crazy the holidays are.
Every year I think that I’m going to be on top of things this time and every year, I get swamped.
I can probably blame this year’s chaos on starting a new job. Bella, my best friend, and I have been working hard to get our new company, Ivy and Fern Events, off the ground. We had been working for rival event planning companies for years. We were both miserable and one drunken night, I had suggested that we start our own company.
She had surprised me by agreeing right away. Two weeks later, we had turned in our resignations and were officially self-employed.
Bella and I have always been impulsive. It started when we were little kids. We tried hula dancing before we abandoned that to try our hands at karate. From there, we decided we could be bakers. The list went on and on.
We could occasionally talk our other friend, Harry, into the shenanigans too. Well, Bella could talk him into it. He’s been in love with her since he first saw her and I know that he would do anything that Bella asked.
By the time we graduated college, we had changed our majors probably a dozen times between us. The only thing that saved us, was remembering how much we liked to organize pretend weddings and tea parties when we were young.
Party planning was our calling.
I wish that we could have worked together from the get go but the job economy was small and no place was hiring two fresh from college employees.
For three years, I worked my butt off, trying to get the best clients and events, to rise up the corporate ladder. I was doing it too. Rising up the ranks, getting more clients, better jobs, the whole shebang.
Then the rumors started.
I had this client, Joshua Markle. He was a real jerk. Always flirting with me, making inappropriate remarks and comments. I had asked him to stop multiple times. I had requested that I be moved to a different event so that I could get away from him. All were denied.
When Joshua grabbed my ass one night while I was working at the event center where his party was being held, I had snapped. I slapped him and stormed out, returning to work to tell my boss about it. He hadn’t seemed to care but when I threatened a lawsuit, he had moved me to a different event.
Joshua was angry and he started talking shit about me. Saying that I was throwing myself at him and it became too much so he had requested a different planner. My boss hadn’t corrected him, not wanting to piss off a big client.
The rumors and dirty glances started to run rampant. Soon, I couldn’t walk into a room without conversations stopping short. Clients started to switch to other party planners and between the dirty looks from my coworkers and the hostile work environment from my own boss, my love of party planning was almost nonexistent.
That was why I had gotten drunk with Bella. That was why I had suggested we start our own business. It was my only chance to get out of my current situation. After all, who would hire a planner who had been dogged by rumors like mine?
Bella and I were like night and day. Bella is a dark haired, blue eyed, bombshell. She’s always been bubbly and she likes the old school design style. I’m her opposite in coloring. Where as she is dark, I am light.
I’ve got pale blonde hair that is so fine that it’s almost impossible for me to do anything to style it. I’ve got light green eyes the color of fresh cut grass and curves in all of the right places.
My design style is also different. I like things a little more modern. We work well together though.
Bella is busy working on a Halloween party for Harry so that leaves me to meet our newest client. He was apparently a guest at a wedding we did last month and got our information from that client.
He called earlier this week, looking for someone to help plan a Thanksgiving event. I haven’t gotten all of the details yet but it doesn’t sound like it will be that big of an event.
I grab my pumpkin spice latte from the coffee shop down the block from our office. I’m hoping that the pumpkin spice will help get my creative juices flowing. I’m supposed to be meeting Dash, our newest client, at our office in just a few minutes.
I’ve got a folder full of design ideas and a pep in my step as I head inside. I’m going to knock his socks off.
Chapter 2
Dash
* * *
She takes my breath away every time that I see her. How is she even prettier than I remember?
I got to her office early, dying to see her again. The place was still closed so I waited in my car. I watched as she grabbed a coffee from the place a few doors down and then headed inside. She was smiling as she headed toward me and I couldn’t help but grin. There was something about seeing her so happy that made me happy.
Her pale hair is down and blowing around her shoulders and I climb out of my car as she unlocks the front door and heads inside. I’m just a few steps behind her and I breathe in her warm fall smell as I step inside the office building.
The place smells like apples and pumpkin spice and I smile as I take the place in. The walls are white with paintings and other decor hung artfully on the walls. There are two offices and a conference room inside.
Gracelyn is in the one to the left so I don’t bother paying attention to the other rooms. Her office is minimalist with white walls and a colorful abstract rug lying in front of a glass desk. There are two chairs in front of the desk and a modern looking white leather one behind the desk. Framed photos of Gracelyn and another girl and some with a grumpy looking guy are sitting on a bookshelf, mixed in with fabric and paint samples.
I clear my throat and Gracelyn looks up, her eyes locking with mine. It’s like a gut punch when our eyes meet.
I’ve always trusted my gut and my gut has been saying that Gracelyn is the one for me since I first laid eyes on her. She calls to something in me, almost on a cellular level. I’ve been desperate for us to meet ever since last month but I haven’t been able to make it happen organically. That’s why I hired her to plan a Thanksgiving event that I’m not actually throwing.
My plan is to talk about the event and then hopefully I can turn that into us going out to dinner together. I’ll show her that we’re perfect for each other and we’ll start dating.
It’s the perfect plan.
Now I just need to convince Gracelyn to go along with it.
“You must be Mr. Montgomery. I’m sorry, I didn’t hear you come in,” she says with a warm smile.
“Please, call me Dash,” I say as I step forward to shake her hand.
Her hand is small in mine. Her fingers are warm and smooth against mine and she squeezes my hand slightly before she pulls back. I don’t want to let her go but I’m afraid I’ll scare her if I just keep holding onto her.
“Please, have a seat,” she says and I drag a chair closer to her desk before I sit down. “So you’re looking at hosting a Thanksgiving event?”
I nod as she pulls out a notepad and pen and flips to a blank page.
“Yes, it will be held at my place. A small gathering.”
“Did you know how many guests yet?” She asks, scribbling in the notepad.
“Not yet. It’s still a little early to hear back from RSVP’s. I’m hoping after Halloween I’ll be able to tell you more. I just didn’t want you to book up before I could book my date.”