But he’s so handsome.
Camilla caught my eye, and I tore my gaze away from Evan.
“Instead of a bag,” I said, pulling out the mood board I had made, “I think we should do a custom-made wooden chest. Then the guests can use it for storage, and we’ll brand your wedding logo on it. I know a guy in Harrogate who can make them. He will handstamp leather handles,” I said, pointing to a picture. “All of the items in the box would be custom-made, including these darling little ceramic bird feeders.”
“Oh, what a cute idea!” Mika gushed. “Immie, isn’t that a great idea?”
“Boring,” Camilla said. “Ivy tried to sell me on those boxes for my wedding. Evan wanted them, of course. But I said no.”
“I agree,” Imogen said. “It’s derivative. I need something memorable. I want the press to cover my wedding.”
“Evan can surely have one of the magazines he owns do it,” her mother suggested.
“No, I want national news coverage of my wedding. I have to do something spectacular.”
“You could make a big donation to charity,” Evan said dryly.
Imogen looked at him in disgust. “Absolutely not. I want to give everyone a puppy.”
I blinked at her. “Excuse me?”
“I want to give everyone a corgi puppy as a wedding favor. That would show up stupid Kaitlyn and her succulents and betta fish she gave out.”
“I’m not sure live pets are a good idea,” I said weakly. “You have three hundred people coming to the wedding. I don’t even know where you could get enough puppies.” I felt faint.
“Imogen,” Teddy said, frowning, “that’s a silly idea.”
Thank God, someone sees reason.
“They can’t all be corgi puppies. You should have several different types. The men will all want hunting dogs.”
Are these people serious?
I looked at Evan. His face was expressionless.
“I think it’s a great Idea,” Camilla said. “You can have little ribbons around their necks with your logo.”
“What if people are allergic?” I said, grasping for any reason to shut this idea down.
“We’ll have allergy meds in the gift boxes,” Imogen’s mother said.
“When you secure the dogs,” Imogen told me, “make sure that they’re all the same color.”
“We have to have them there?” I squawked. The thought of three hundred puppies running around was making my eye twitch. “What if we provided a voucher?”
“I have to have the puppies there to hand out so everyone gets a puppy,” Imogen snapped. “Why are you trying to ruin my wedding? You work for me. Make it happen. And make the boxes look nice, too, since you seem so insistent on them. They need to complement the puppies.”
“Oh, I can’t wait for my corgi!” Camilla exclaimed, wrapping her arm around Evan’s waist. He looked annoyed and blew out a breath. “I love pictures of sexy men and cute puppies. Almost as much as a man with a baby!”
“Ivy,” Imogen barked, “I expect to see results on this. Teddy, come. We have a double date with the Cohens. Mika, take those gift bags back to my house.”
Mika gave me a quick hug, then collected the boxes and scuttled out the door after her family.
I looked at Evan. He and I were finally alone, though I was still reeling.
“That was certainly something,” I said weakly.
He nodded. He didn’t seem that focused on me. Was he mad that I had rebuffed him last night? I took a deep breath and went around the table to him and awkwardly put my hand on his jacket sleeve. He looked at it.
