Tempting Kate. Jennifer Snow
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emailed.
Liz Sheffield owned HighRes Media, a multimedia company in Beverly Hills. Her company designed movie trailers for some of Hollywood’s biggest movie studios, plus digital marketing presentations and multimedia websites for big businesses all over California. She had a lot of contacts and a lot of friends. Rich friends who could afford glamorous, if expensive weddings. Her word-of-mouth referral was exactly what Kate needed to restore her business’s name. “Okay, give me three minutes, then send her in, please.”
Kate kicked her feet free of her flip-flops, stashing them in the bottom drawer of her mahogany desk. Crossing the room, she slid back into the designer stilettos that forced her toes to overlap and her arches to ache. At five foot nine, she hardly needed the extra height, but the heels made her feel stronger, more powerful. Lately, her ego needed all the help it could get. She buttoned her charcoal suit jacket and smoothed a hand over her dark hair, hanging loose around her shoulders.
Reaching into the box of books from her publisher, she positioned a copy of How to Get Him Down the Aisle in plain view and ran a hand over the dust settling on the corners of her desk. When business slowed the year before, they’d canceled the office’s weekly cleaning service—a necessary cutback, since she was three months behind on the lease payments for the lavish office in the downtown high-rise. Without three or four new wedding deposits...soon...she’d be packing up shop.
The idea of working out of her home, the way she had at the beginning of her career, felt like a huge step backward. One she wasn’t willing to take.
She sat again and turned her attention to her computer, pasting on what she hoped was her busiest-looking expression as the door opened and Janet ushered Liz inside. Immediately, she stood and came around the desk to greet her. “Liz, hi. Great to see you again.”
“Thank you for meeting me on short notice,” the petite blonde said, readjusting her oversize purse on her shoulder. A new Prada bag, from their spring collection—the one Kate had eyed with longing the week before. “Janet mentioned your schedule was full this week, but I just had to see you today.”
Janet hadn’t lied. Her assistant actually believed that Kate was still as busy as ever. She often left the office for “off-site meetings”—which were actually just stress-induced shoe-shopping trips—but she couldn’t afford to lose Janet’s confidence in her. Her assistant was one of the best client recruiters she could have hoped for. But the truth was, her schedule hadn’t been full in far too long, and spring was well underway. Her dearth of new clients was quickly becoming a problem. One she hoped to resolve by landing the Sheffield-Dillon wedding.
“It’s no problem. I’m glad Janet was able to fit you in,” she said, gesturing to the overstuffed tan leather chair across from her desk, but she checked her watch for effect. “I have a few moments before my next appointment.” A few moments, a few weeks...a few months—who knew, really? “So you liked the proposal?”
“Loved it.”
Thank God. Her professionalism worked to hide the delight she felt as she said, “That’s fantastic news. I’d hate to think your big day would be left in the hands of a less dedicated planner.” Her dedication was full-on. Other than this wedding, the only other event claiming her focus and time was her own brother’s wedding, and that one was stirring mixed emotions in her. She was thrilled for her commitment-phobe brother Chase and his fiancée, but it killed her to remember that he and Hayley had met and fallen in love in the midst of her own disastrous event.
“We’ve made some changes...” Liz said, snapping her back to attention.
They always did. Brides never fully knew what they wanted until she showed them why they’d hired her. “Okay, let’s figure this out.” She reached for the file, stacked beneath several prop ones on her desk, overflowing with dress sample fabrics and pictures of cakes for effect.
“We want to get married next month.”
Next month? “When next month?” she asked, her voice steady, as if she could actually pull off an extravagant wedding that fast.
“Memorial Day weekend...in Big Bear.”
What was with people and holiday weddings these days? Kate wasn’t a fan. Nothing ever went well for a holiday wedding. Guests hated to give up their long weekends. And had Liz forgotten how cold, wet and miserable that particular weekend always seemed to be? She suspected it would be even worse in Big Bear Lake, California. “But I thought you had your heart set on a July wedding in the Napa Valley?” Even four months had been short timing to plan the elaborate ceremony that Liz Sheffield wanted. Six weeks was impossible.
And she’d already prepared so many of the details for the beautiful vineyard wedding to present to the bride-to-be. Wineries were the perfect backdrop for summer weddings and were sure to be a hit with guests...and her future potential clients. Big Bear—not so much.
“Derek is making a new film in Greece starting in June, and he’s needed on set over there the week following the long weekend.”
“Could you put the wedding off a couple of extra months...or could he return for a July wedding?” All of these possibilities were better than rushing the wedding plans and heading to the coldest part of the state.
This wedding was supposed to be her best yet. The comeback wedding to show that despite her own circumstances, she was still the best choice to plan that special day. Liz’s wedding guests presented a gold mine of opportunity. This wedding was too important to rush.
Liz toyed with the Prada logo on her purse. “We’d rather not wait.”
Translation—she wanted to lock this man down as soon as possible. Preferably before he headed to Greece to film a movie with a cast of sexy actresses. Kate could understand that. Not that she believed a ring on a man’s finger was any guarantee against affairs. This was Hollywood, after all.
She shook her head. She’d been spending too much time with Hayley, her brother’s fiancée, who was a divorce attorney. Unlike Hayley, she was in the happily-ever-after business, she reminded herself as she tried to think of a way to talk Liz out of this rushed event, while still convincing her to sign the contract.
“If you don’t think you can do this...” Liz started.
Oh, she was doing this wedding. Somehow, some way. Kate waved a hand and smiled as warmly as she could muster. “I can totally do this,” she said. “I was just confirming that you were sure. After all, we want the day to be what you’ve always dreamed of.”
“I’m sure.” Liz nodded emphatically, then hesitated. “You’re sure you can pull this off?”
“Without a doubt.” Actually with about a dozen different doubts, but she would make it happen and it would be amazing.
“Thank you so much, Kate.” The woman’s look of relief was brief before she was all business, as she pulled out the Belle Affairs contract and signed it.
That was fine with her. She had six weeks to pull off the impossible. Getting started right away on a new plan was absolutely necessary. She dropped all pretense of having somewhere else to be as she opened the couple’s file. “Okay, so venues in Big Bear...” That could pose a challenge. Log cabins and tackle and bait shops. She hid a shudder.
Liz stopped her, rummaging around in her purse. “Wait, we have a venue in mind, actually.”
Kate cringed. Big Bear was a dream for winter enthusiasts but hardly the place for an elegant, Hollywood-style wedding. If this venue had wood paneling on its walls, she might be forced to walk from the whole thing. She needed this wedding to prove she was still the best in the business, not put the final nail in the coffin.
“Here is Scott’s business card,” she said, her voice tight. “He owns West Mountain Resort.”
Kate couldn’t decide whether Liz hated the lodge or Scott, but her tone suggested this venue might not be her idea. She’d get to the bottom of that later. First, she needed to get a visual. Turning to her computer, she typed