And my body reacts like she whispered it against my skin instead of across a flower-strewn lawn.
"Ms.Winters…” I clear my throat, tempted to adjust my collar."My team is ready to begin the SafeStay installation.We'll need access to your main server room, router locations, and?—"
"About that."She's jogging toward me now, auburn hair escaping from what appears to be a pencil-secured bun, wearing a flannel shirt that has definitely seen better days and jeans with suspicious white stains."Tiny complication."
"Complication?"I glance at my project manager, Kenji, who's already got his tablet out and is making his 'this better not delay my weekend plans' face."What kind of complication?"
"The kind that involves thirty drunk people, a jazz quartet, and approximately twenty thousand roses."
I blink."I'm going to need more context."
"The Johnson wedding."She stops in front of me, slightly out of breath."Remember I mentioned it?Well, it's today.Here.In about..."She checks her watch."Four hours."
"Four hours."
"Give or take.Mrs.Johnson likes to be fashionably early to her own events."She gestures toward the inn, where I can now see people carrying flower arrangements through the lobby."So we might have a slight logistics issue with your tech installation."
Kenji makes a sound that's somewhere between a laugh and a death rattle."Did she just say wedding?"
"Wedding," I confirm, watching a woman in a bathrobe and curlers direct traffic from the porch."Sage, we discussed the installation timeline.You approved this date."
"I did!I absolutely did.And then I maybe...forgot to check the booking calendar?"Her smile is both apologetic and slightly manic."But it's fine!We can work around it.You guys can set up in the areas the wedding won't touch."
"Which areas would those be?"
She pauses."The...laundry room?"
"We're installing a comprehensive security system," I say slowly, "not washing delicates."
"Right.Yes.Of course."She's fidgeting now, tugging at her flannel."Okay, new plan.What if you blend in?"
"Blend in."
"With the wedding!"Her green eyes light up like she's just discovered cold fusion."You could pretend to be guests.Or vendors!Nobody questions vendors at a wedding."
"You want my tech team to pretend to be wedding vendors while installing a complex security system?"
"When you say it like that, it sounds complicated."
"That's because it is complicated."
Behind me, Kenji clears his throat."Actually, boss, it might work."
I turn to stare at my project manager, who's been with Sterling Security for six years and has never once suggested anything this insane."Excuse me?"
"Think about it."He's warming to the idea, which is concerning."Weddings have tons of vendors coming and going.DJ equipment, photo gear, catering supplies.We could move our equipment in without anyone noticing."
"That's..."I want to say ridiculous, but three more members of my team are nodding along."We're cybersecurity professionals, not wedding crashers."
"Technically, we wouldn't be crashing," Sage interjects."You'd be invited.By me.The inn owner."
"To install security equipment during someone's wedding."
"To blend in while installing security equipment."She's got that look now, the one I saw when she was chasing Buttercup—determined and slightly unhinged."Come on, Sterling.Where's your sense of adventure?"
"In the same place as my common sense.Firmly intact."
A man appears behind Sage, carrying what appears to be an entire tree made of roses."Sage!Where do you want the ceremonial arch?"
