“And I want mine.” Rebecca walked to the window and then back to her desk. “He’s my boss. Even if Jay told you things about me, that was years ago. He doesn’t love me like that now.”
“Are you sure?” Felicity turned to go. “For his sake, I think you might want to figure that out. He deserves to be happy, and I don’t know if he will unless it’s with you.”
***
Rebecca was acting really weird. Jay would ask her something and she’d respond with a distant look, her thoughts far from wedding planning, maybe even far from this galaxy. Now that he thought about it, she’d been weird since yesterday, looking at him as if she’d never seen him before.
“Hey, you.”
She glanced up from her computer and smiled.
“Our last appointment is near your house. Why don’t we drive separate so you can leave from there?”
“Okay. Thanks.” She gathered up her things since she wouldn’t be coming back, and he walked her out, resisting the urge to touch the small of her back. They might have relaxed things over Christmas, but at the office, he couldn’t be too careful.
He’d talked to Shannon about everything last night after she and Bridger got home from their trip: the whole story of Felicity showing up at work, spending the weekend with Rebecca, and how he wanted to date again. Shannon frowned, looking concerned. “If you still have feelings for Rebecca, you need to deal with those feelings before you start a new relationship. Otherwise, it’ll be doomed from the get-go.”
Her words stung, because she was absolutely right. However, he couldn’t live his life as some romantic tragedy. Maybe a date or two, nothing serious, would be better. Something that made him feel like he wasn’t trapped in his own life.
The radio was still happily blaring Christmas music, so he went to his own list, something he’d created a long time ago. None of the songs had anything to do with romance, heartache, or jingle bells. Behind him in traffic, Rebecca’s head bobbed along to whatever she was listening to. He sighed. How was he supposed to move on when she was always with him?
The bride they were meeting with wanted her reception at a swanky hotel, and he handed his car off to the valet before going inside to ask for the hotel representative they’d be meeting with. Rebecca joined him not long after, and then a very serious man with a carefully crafted goatee came around the desk to greet them.
“I’m Stuart. Is this our lovely bride-to-be?” Stuart captured both of Rebecca’s hands with his. “I can’t wait to show you what we have here. We want your important day to be so special.”
Jay gave a quick shake of his head, and Stuart dropped her hands, looking annoyed.
“I’m not the bride. I work with Jay,” Rebecca said. “Sorry.”
“It’s fine. It’s fine.”
“Vanessa will be along shortly.” Jay glanced behind them, not really sure if that was true. He’d expected Stuart to take longer to join them, and he’d expected his usually punctual bride to be here already.
Rebecca glanced around. “Tell us about how you’d manage the outdoor wedding without bothering your hotel guests.”
Thankfully, Rebecca had it together right now. She had Stuart talking for the next ten minutes until Vanessa arrived.
Stuart’s face lit up. “Is this our lovely bride-to-be? I can’t wait to show you what we have here. We want your important day to be so special.” He looked just as delighted for her as he had for Rebecca, and Jay hid a smile. Time for the tour.
***
Rebecca’s mind was like a hamster wheel on full speed, and every time she tried to figure out what to do about Jay, the squeaking would get louder.
First, there was the guilt—all those times in college when she didn’t notice or chose not to notice his attention to her. The fact that after everything imploded with Patrick, she was too ashamed to call up Jay and tell him she missed him, that she’d been wrong. Sitting next to the guilt was the excitement, the possibility that they both wanted to be together and all she had to do was tell him. And wrapping those two in a bear hug was the anxiety that if she rocked their friendship boat, she’d lose himandher job.
She followed Stuart, Jay, and Vanessa out to the edge of the hotel property where they had a grassy hill overlooking the golf course. This would be the site of cocktail hour, blended with a tee-time for all of her husband’s business friends. The reception would be inside, in one of the ballrooms.
“What if we had cocktail hour poolside? Would we be able to reserve one of the pool areas for that?” Vanessa asked.
Stuart tapped his goatee. “That is a possibility. We have seven pools on the property. But in order to cut off our guests from one of the amenities, it would require a substantial extra fee on your part.”
Jay cut in, as Rebecca suspected he would. Vanessa’s fiancée had told her money was no obstacle to what she wanted, but that didn’t mean Jay wanted her repeating those words to anyone they met with. A lot of brides said those kinds of things until they got the final bill. “The bride and groom’s family and friends will need to reserve about thirty rooms for that weekend. Could you put them in the same section and use the pool in that area?”
Rebecca nodded. “If you could write up some cost comparisons of all the locations we talk about, that would be helpful. We could go over the possibilities with Vanessa later.”
Stuart nodded. “Why don’t we go look at the pools so I have an idea of which ones you’d prefer?”
Rebecca took out her phone and snapped pictures as they went along, though Stuart had assured them multiple times he had professional photos of every angle of their property. He didn’t seem to get that she wanted to remember it the way she saw it now, the way it would look if she was standing around holding a drink in her hand, not looking at a professional website.
