1
EMILIA
Ilied four times before I even made it through the lobby doors.
“No rush,” I texted Amanda. Lie one.
“I’ve got wiggle room.” Lie two.
“It’s totally fine.” That was probably lies three and four, depending on how you count emotional suppression.
It wasn’t fine. My schedule was a Jenga tower made of glass, and someone was already reaching for the bottom block. I had back-to-back meetings, one missing wedding arch, and exactly zero minutes to spare before my day collapsed.
But somehow, I had to keep it together.
As a wedding planner, it was my responsibility to keep everything running smoothly... even the parts that were totally out of control. So imagine my surprise as one second, I was speed-walking into the five-star foyer of Carmel Ashford Luxe Resort and Spa, trying to radiate competence while lying through my teeth as my client announced that she would be here in forty minutes.Forty!
The next, I was airborne.
Phone gone.
Heel twisted.
Ass down.
A dachshund landed on my chest like it was claiming a hill. It stared at me. I stared back. And then it started licking the foundation off my face.
“What the—” I wheezed, blinking up at a chandelier that cost more than my annual salary. The marble floor was cold. The dachshund was still on my chest. And a dozen strangers were watching me like I’d just fainted in church.
“If anyone values their job around here, get Mrs. Barclay,” someone growled from nearby. “And bring a leash...for her or the dogs. Better yet, make it a large net. This ends now.”
Barclay? As in,theBarclays?
I raised up onto my elbows and discovered a handsome man on his hands and knees while two other kielbasas raced around him.
I laughed at the absurdity as I removed the petite speed bump from my chest and started to get up. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.” The guy stood up slowly, glaring first at the dogs, then at me for some inexplicable reason. He reached for the nearest dog, only for it to dance out of the way. The little dog’s tongue lolled out the side of its mouth and I would swear he was laughing at Tall, Dark and Grumpy. With a growl that would rival a German Shepherd, the guy lunged again and with a tiny growl of its own, the sausage dog dodged the oversized hand threatening to end the fun.
“You know that’s not helping, right?”
I managed to get to my feet while Grumplestilskin shouted, “Gordon! Where is Mrs. Barclay?” His voice echoing around the lobby kicked the dogs into overdrive, and they started barking, which quickly grew frenzied as the little dogs yapped at the big scary man.
“You know, if you spoke calmly to them, they wouldn’t be so frenzied,” I said and crouched down to coax one of the dogs closer to me. “Hello! Aren’t you a precious little thing,” I cooed at the little sausage missile who managed to stay just out of reach.
“What are you, a dog whisperer? Because I’ve got news for you.” He waved at the yapping dogs. “You’re not very good at it.”
“I’ll have you know, I’m great with dogs.” I might not have a ton of experience with them, but I could already see that I was worlds ahead of this asshole when it came to not terrorizing them. I began making aspspspnoise.
“Pretty sure that’s for cats,” Mr. Grumpy snapped at me. He lunged for one of the dogs but it darted under a table and poked its head out to growl at him. He growled right back. I was starting to get the sense that he was the kind of guy who tore the wings off flies just because.
“Have you given any thought to the fact that you keep scaring them off?”
“They’re a menace on four legs and I want them out of here and it’s not as if you’re doing much better,” he said. “Gordon! Tell Mrs. Barclay that if she doesn’t come get her walking hazards now, she can pick them up at the pound,” he shouted and the dogs managed to take their barking to the next level.
Yeah, I couldn’t let that happen. Because Mrs. Barclay was the very wealthy grandmother of my newest client who was paying for the entire wedding.I’d been warned that her grandmother could be prickly when she wasn’t happy. I already had a potential bridezilla on my hands, there was no way I was adding the grandmother to the list.
Time for some triage.
