Smiling at his football analogies, she leaned in and kissed him, certain that she and Tessa would figure something out.Tessa loved them both and she was the biggest cheerleader of this relationship, even if it meant Lacey had to give up her job.
At the thought, she slid her hand around Roman’s neck and pulled him closer to deepen the kiss, telling herself that he was the only thing that mattered. The only thing.
Lacey was still holdingthat thought the next day when she made her easy commute to work. In comfy clothes, she merely had to go downstairs, stop in the kitchen for coffee, and head either to the back office—they shared it with Eli and Meredith—or the dining room table.
Today, the architects had some client calls up at Pippin Lake, so Lacey walked to the small but totally functional shared office with two coffees in hand.
Tessa sat at the desk, hair pulled back, a pen tucked behind her ear, looking slightly…different. Not frazzled—nothing really threw Tessa. But distracted. And tired.
“You sleep okay last night?” Lacey asked.
“One word about the bags under my eyes and you’re fired.”
Lacey snorted and dropped into the chair across from her, setting the coffees on the table. “They’re barely noticeable.”
“And she lies.”
“No, she doesn’t,” Lacey countered, taking a sip. “What’s first on the agenda, boss?”
Tessa tapped the laptop keyboard. “We have some very daunting scheduling problems,” she announced.
Did they ever. But not with clients and events—with love and football.
Lacey swallowed coffee and the conversation she knew she had to have, letting Tessa take the lead.
But her boss just threaded her fingers through messy hair, turned her phone over to check it, and sighed.
“Seriously, Tess. Are you okay?” Lacey asked, trying a different version of the same question.
“Mmm.” She checked the phone again. “Long story, but let’s get through this agenda and if we have time, I’ll fill you in as much as I can.”
Intrigued, Lacey opened her tablet. She had a long story of her own, which she was happy to delay while they worked.
“Let’s talk about the wedding,” Tessa started.
“The wedding?” All the blood drained from Lacey’s face, leaving her lightheaded. “We didn’t…there isn’t…”
“The Shakespearean-themed extravaganza for the lovebirds who met at a Renaissance Faire? Billy and Daria?”
“Oh, yes.” Lacey shook off her issues and climbed into work, tapping her tablet screen. “The beach meets the Bard. I talked to the bride yesterday.”
“Perfect. Where do we stand?” Tessa asked. “I know it’s not until September, but there’s a ton of work to do.”
“Yes, yes.” She pulled it together. “What we have are a whopping twelve bridesmaids in corseted gowns and flowing skirts, each one a different jewel tone. Flower crowns. Bare feet in the sand. Oh, Daria said she now wants a hand-lettered program quotingA Midsummer Night’s Dream.”
Tessa blinked. “Of course she does. What else?”
“The officiant needs to wear a velvet doublet,” Lacey said, reading her notes. “And the groom is insisting on carrying a sword.”
Tessa grunted. “If a single groomsman loses an eye, we double our fee.”
“They also want a falcon release.”
“No!”
“Fear not, I researched.”
“Of course you did,” Tessa said with a sigh of relief. “And?”
