“Two weeks away. It’s short notice, but—”
“Sorry, not possible.” With no regret, she closed the planner. It would be much better this way. Much better for her, that was.
“You have another wedding scheduled?”
Kelsey hesitated. This wasn’t her problem, her fault. Yet the intense look on his face… “I did, but it was canceled after the bride met someone else.”
The corners of his mouth turned up slightly. “You can coordinate my sister’s wedding, then.” He wasn’t asking a question.
“I can’t. Several clients offered to move their weddings up to Valentine’s Day, but I decided to take advantage of the cancellation and give my staff a well-deserved vacation. Everyone’s gone.”
Hope brightened his eyes, making them sparkle like emeralds.
No, not jewels, Kelsey told herself,but broccoli or AstroTurf or anything else green and unromantic.Remember, he’s married. And even if he weren’t…
“You’re here,” he said.
“Not for long. I haven’t had any time off in months. My flight leaves in three hours.” Kelsey reached for a nearby pad of paper and a pen. “I can give you some names of other wedding planners, but at this late date—”
“You don’t understand.” He brushed his hand through his hair, giving it an even more careless look than before. “It has to be you.”
“May I ask why?”
“Both my mother and my sister want it to be you.” The desperation in Will’s voice almost made her believe it was true. He was a good actor, really good.
“If it’s so important to them, why didn’t they come?”
His lips tightened, and he glanced at the pile of magazines. “It’s…complicated.”
It always was. “Mr. Addison, I’m about to leave the country for a much-needed vacation. I don’t have time for complications.”
He stared directly into her eyes, and Kelsey felt woozy. “My sister is Faith Starr.”
Of all the nerve…
The thought of Kelsey’s previous interactions—and futile wedding planning efforts—with the woman made her blood pressure soar off the charts. “Faith Starr?”
At least now Kelsey knew why Will Addison’s name sounded familiar—he was a blood relative, a brother no less, of the world’s worst client. It was all coming back to her, like acid reflux. Will was the oldest of the siblings who traveled the globe running the family chain of Starr Properties—resorts, hotels, and inns named for his mother—that catered to the rich, the famous, and the not-so-famous. Just as Starr Addison’s husband, Bill, had used his wife’s name for the family’s real estate venture, Faith had taken her mother’s name for her stage name to honor the woman who’d given birth to her.
Not that it made a difference to Kelsey after what she’d been through with the actor.
Nothing made a difference where Faith Starr was concerned.
Kelsey rose, barely able to contain the anger threatening to erupt more violently than Mount Vesuvius. She was an Armstrong and had been raised properly to follow etiquette and protocol, but one could only be polite for so long. “Get out of my office, Mr. Addison. Now.”
He stood. “I understand why you’re upset. Faith hasn’t been the most reliable—”
“Your sister is nothing more than a spoiled starlet who strings along fiancés as if they were her personal puppets.”
Faith Starr, actor extraordinaire and the world’s most notorious runaway bride, had almost given Kelsey an ulcer—four times in the past three years. Faith was a perfectionist both in her craft and in planning her weddings. Never had Kelsey worked so hard with so little payoff in her life.
“I’ve planned four weddings for her. Count them: four.” Kelsey raised four fingers. That was four too many. More business was one thing, but this? “I won’t be involved in number five.”
“Can’t we talk about this? Work something—”
“Out. I have nothing more to say on this matter, so please leave.”
“If you only understood the circumstances—”
