Rebecca held back a smile. There was a rare note of vulnerability in his question. “Absolutely not.”
“Well, good, because she’d eat you for lunch.”
Whatever chink in his armor she thought she’d detected had been quickly hidden. It was time to get back to business. Jay wasn’t handing her over to Clarissa, and there was nothing they could do about it now anyway.
She glanced at Jay and saw his eyes were on her legs. She adjusted her pencil skirt and his gaze quickly darted back to the road.
Could he feel this inconvenient attraction between them, too? Or was she being paranoid? Well, either way, they’d just have to make the best of it. At some point, they’d have to find a workable normal, though Rebecca wasn’t sure what that was from him. Clarissa thought he was acting odd, so what was normal?
“This bridal luncheon is being held in the Peace Garden?” she asked.
“Yes. The caretakers have already set up the tables and chairs. We’re stopping at the bakery right there to get the cakes and cookies.”
He pulled into the small parking lot, and together they carefully inspected and carried out the boxes of goodies. Betty and George were spending a fortune on this wedding.
The caterer was already there when they arrived at the Las Palmas banquet hall, and the woman jumped out of her van as soon as she saw them.
Jay greeted her with a kiss on each cheek, and ran to unlock the building and prop open the doors so she could wheel in her trays. Rebecca and Jay helped her pull them out of the back of her van.
“Alice, this is Rebecca, my assistant.”
“Lovely to meet you, dear. I’ll take this one. It has all the glassware. If anything breaks, I’d like it to be my fault.”
A polite control freak, Rebecca liked her already. She grabbed the bin with all the beautiful silverware bundles instead and followed them to the garden in the back. Two hours never passed so quickly, with both Alice and Jay calling out assignments as they transformed the lush space into a fairy tea party. The florist delivered the beautiful gerbera daisy centerpieces, the deep red and purple blooms perfect for Betty’s vibrant personality. Rebecca hoped it was all Betty imagined, and more.
Once the guests began to arrive, Rebecca stood in the background with Jay, watching Betty celebrate with her bridesmaids, ranging in age from eighteen to eighty-five.
Alice rushed by with a pitcher of lemonade and Rebecca stepped closer to Jay, their arms and hands accidentally touching. She wished she didn’t feel the immediate twinge in her stomach, the goosebumps up her arms. She quickly stepped away and went to go see if Alice needed anything else done.
***
The luncheon went off without a hitch, but Jay wished everything was as calm inside his head. Every day, he came in telling himself this stupid infatuation with Rebecca would be over. They were no longer college kids. She didn’t even like him as a friend anymore. He’d made sure of that.
And now Clarissa was suspicious. His last assistant, Heather, had been average-looking, newly married, and they got along famously. Clarissa ignored her, which worked perfectly for everyone. He was happy for Heather, out on maternity leave, but he hoped she’d come back soon and neutralize the awkwardness that came from working with Rebecca exclusively.
He couldn’t have the same camaraderie with Rebecca he’d had with Heather, but he’d have to fake it, at least around Clarissa. If it was up to him, Clarissa would have been fired long ago, but Marlise refused to get rid of her. Despite her love of stirring up drama, she was good at her job. Clarissa’s mind had an amazing capacity for details, and her sophistication impressed the brides, as well as their formidable mothers.
Jay waited until they were cleaning up to try to talk to Rebecca about how to handle Clarissa.
Rebecca was concentrating on carrying the crystal goblets Alice had been so concerned about, and he took two more, following her to the kitchen.
“I have a plan for Clarissa’s resumes, but it will make me look like a tyrant. You okay with that?”
Rebecca set the goblets on the counter and looked back at him with a sly smile. “You? A tyrant? I can’t imagine.”
“Save your sarcasm. Just trust me when I say Clarissa was hoping you’d run to me with this. She wants to be justifiably angry with you for not keeping a confidence. Don’t say a word to her. In fact, I’m going to create an errand for you to run and go back to the office alone. I’ll take that stack of resumes right off your desk and go confront her. I’ll even say you tried to hide them.”
Rebecca crossed her arms. “This whole thing is ridiculous. Why do you and Marlise—?” She abruptly shut up and attempted to move past him.
He let her go and followed. “I know. I know it’s ridiculous. But this is Marlise’s company, and she turns a blind eye as long as it doesn’t affect the weddings.”
“How many assistants has Clarissa run off?” Rebecca asked, gathering up silverware and crushed napkins.
“Two in five years. So, it’s not as bad as you think. It’s just, when she decides she doesn’t like someone, she subtly undermines them until they quit.”
“And she’d like me to be number three. Why? What have I done to her in a week that’s so unforgivable?”
Catch me looking at you. Be beautiful and single and just the right amount of sassy.“You haven’t done anything, Rebecca. If anything, it’s me. She said it herself. I’ve been weird.”
