“I resent that you’re being so detached about our wedding. Don’t you even care about any of it?”
“I care about making you happy, and I care about being officially married to you. I don’t particularly care who gets invited and how much money we spend—and I trust that you won’t be turning this into another royal wedding. You don’t seem like you’re the type of woman who tries to emulate Kate Middleton.”
“No, but there’s a lot involved.”
“Just try and keep your mother out of it.”
“She’s my mother, Red. And she’s finally being supportive of us.”
He shrugged. “See? What do I know?”
“Don’t be sarcastic.”
“Listen, if you want some help, I know a fantastic wedding planner that’s worked with all of the A-list Hollywood celebrities. She comes highly recommended. We used to do a lot of advertising for her at Jameson International.”
“That’s exactly why you and I need to talk. Do you think I need a wedding planner?”
He shook his head. “I don’t know. I’m just saying that you could use her if you want. She’s very pricey but she’s incredibly dependable and she can be trusted.”
Nicole put her head in her hands. “I wish you’d just sit down with me and go over some of the details of what you want for this, too. I don’t even know how many people from your family should be invited.”
“I’ll give you my contacts and you can make a list.”
“You just want as little to do with this as humanly possible,” she said.
“Exactly. I’ve got a company to run, I need to have the eye of the tiger.”
Red hit the remote control and the movie started up again. Meeting adjourned, Nicole thought, leaving the room and pulling out her cell in a fit of pique.
A moment later, her mother answered. “Hi, again.”
“Tell Marcie I’ll meet with her for a consultation.”
“Oh, that’s wonderful to hear,” her mother said, and Nicole had to smile. It was so hard to please her, after all.
“Give her my number and tell her to call me to set something up.”
“You won’t regret it.”
Nicole laughed, but inside she wondered if that was true.
***
The next day, Red invited seven of their new employees to the house for an informal brainstorming session. It was basically an all-day meeting, but Red liked to pretend they were just a bunch of cool people hanging out and shooting the breeze, having fun.
Nicole didn’t think it was all that fun. He’d asked her to take notes and she hadn’t particularly wanted to do so, even though it was probably the one thing she was most qualified for at this point.
After all, she’d taken so many notes for Edward when she worked for Jameson International—she’d finally gotten good at it.
But she found that she couldn’t keep her mind on the meeting. Red was talking about branding, positioning themselves in the marketplace, and everyone was shooting out so many ideas that Nicole kept having to ask them to repeat themselves so she could take her notes.
She felt like the lame chick at the keg party trying to collect everyone’s keys to keep them from driving drunk.
The other employees were a lot like the people she’d worked with at Jameson International—hip, attractive, some had tattoos, cool haircuts and weird clothing choices. All of them were confident and funny and she should have enjoyed being around their energy, but all Nicole could think about was her wedding.
What she wanted to be doing right now was planning her wedding, she realized.
Unfortunately, Red needed her help with this new venture and she’d committed to it already.
When they went on break to relax for a few minutes before dinner (which would be followed by a “night session” of even more work discussion), Red pulled Nicole aside.
The seven employees drifted out of the large conference room and toward the kitchen/verandah area, where everyone tended to congregate on breaks.
“Nicole, what’s up with you today?” Red asked her. He was fully in work mode now, she thought. Dressed in his best Armani, his hair perfectly styled, his presence magnetic and commanding—like a different person than the man she’d come to feel so close to after the miscarriage.
“What’s up with me?” she asked, feeling offended even though she knew she wasn’t at her best. “I’m just taking notes like you asked me to.”
Red put his hands on his hips and kept his voice low, but firm. “You look bored.”
She bit her bottom lip. “Is it bad if I’m actually kind of bored today?”
“Yeah. It’s really bad. Your attitude is blatantly obvious and I don’t want the staff to pick up on that. You’re supposed to be my partner in this thing, and I kind of get the feeling lately that you couldn’t possibly care less about it.”
She shook her head. “Of course I care.”
“But?”
“But I’m a little distracted with the wedding stuff. I really want to get to planning but I have no time with these day and night meetings.”