Page 15 of Koda's Love

“Good. You look good.” He stepped back and let his gaze travel from my feet to my face.

“Thank you. You clean up well,” I joked.

He adjusted his jacket and smiled. “I do a little something.”

He did a little more than a little something. Koda looked damn good in his suit, and I loved that he made it casual with the sneakers.

“So, is this where you want the party to take place?” I asked as I looked around the room. As soon as I walked in, some ideas came to me.

“Straight to business I see. I like that.” Koda ran his hand through his beard as he licked his lips. He gave me another onceover, and I adjusted the strap on my shoulder, even though it wasn’t anything wrong with it. The way he looked at me made me squirm. “Yes, it can fit around almost fifteen hundred people, but I’m not sure if I’m going to have that many people. We can go sit over there if you want.” He pointed to a table that was near one of the corners.

It was the only table in the room, and I was glad that it was empty for the time being because it gave me a chance to see the full scope of the room.

“Okay. What kind of tables do you typically use in here?” I asked as we walked over to the table.

When we reached it, Koda pulled the chair out for me, then sat in the one next to it.

“It really just depends on the event. People rent this space out sometimes, so we’ve had round tables, but we also had long tables.”

I pulled out my tablet and the swatches I had to show him. Since he told me what it was for, I pulled out colors that I thought he would like and that would go well with the theme of the hotel.

“I think we should do round tables with eight people to a table. At first, I thought we could do gold tablecloths, but I changed my mind. I think we should keep the theme of black tablecloths like in the restaurant, but we could have gold accents on the tables. This is the diamond anniversary, so we need some diamonds. Obviously, not real ones, but something that looks like diamonds. I also think we could put diamond-like plaques on each table. Maybe they could sayHappy 75thAnniversaryor something like that. Also, maybe we can do small ones as well for the guests to take home.” I was typing away on my tablet, adding everything I said to Koda.

When I realized Koda hadn’t said a word, I looked his way, and he just gazed at me with his head resting on his hand and a big ass smile on his face.

“Why you stop talking?” He chuckled.

“Because you didn’t say anything.”

He laughed again and said, “You ain’t give me a chance to.”

I giggled and lightly hit his arm. “I’m sorry. I just had so many ideas come to me over the last couple of days.”

“Nah, don’t apologize. I think you have some good ideas. Plus, I like seeing the way your face light up while you talked.”

Warmth crept up my neck and settled in my cheeks.

“I love what I do, and I love that you pretty much gave me a blank canvas. Do you have anything you want to input? I want to make sure it’s to your liking.”

“Nah, I like everything you said so far. I really want you to do your thing on this.”

“You’ve never even seen my work. Have you?”

I had a website and social media pages, but I never gave the information to Koda. It wasn’t like he couldn’t find it, but he hadn’t said anything about it either.

“I haven’t. I did follow you on social media, but I didn’t go through the pictures. I haven’t had a chance. I’m honestly just trusting your judgment with this.”

I hadn’t done any new projects lately, so I hadn’t posted anything new. Anything that was on my page was old or scheduled, so I didn’t even know he had followed me.

“Oh, wow. I’m honored that you trust me like that. I want you to tell me if you don’t like something, though, and be honest. And don’t hesitate to offer suggestions.”

“I won’t. How did you get into this anyway?”

I put my tablet down and really focused on Koda. The light hit his eyes perfectly and made them look lighter. They were so pretty to me.

“It started when I was in eighth grade. I helped plan the spring social. The principal loved it, and I helped with every one of them afterward. In high school, I was on the planning committee for all the socials, proms, and any other celebration we had. I didn’t have to go to school for it, but I’ve been to plenty of creative workshops over the years. I also have a few certifications.”

“That’s what’s up. When the girls were outside, you were planning parties. I like that. Does that mean you were a good girl?” He smirked.