Chapter 5

Riley had to hustle to get caught up from the work she’d missed during her long lunch. The height of the summer weddings had passed, but that only meant that the consultants at Your Tidal Forever had moved on to their holiday season.

“Lisa,” she said into the phone, waiting for one of her best friends to respond before continuing.

“Go ahead, Riley,” she said, and Riley wished she could sit down with Lisa for just ten minutes and talk about Evan. Charlotte was a good friend, but she was married, and her perspective was different. Lisa would be a better sounding board.

So while she wanted to ask to grab tea that afternoon, she simply said, “I have the Pyne file ready for you, and Gillian called to say she’d be fifteen minute late.”

Lisa sighed into the phone. “That woman is never on time.”

“I can call Fiona and see if she can push back fifteen minutes,” Riley offered, as Lisa had back-to-back appointments that afternoon.

“If you would, that would be amazing,” Lisa said. “And I heard something about a rockstar stopping by for you earlier…bring me the Pyne file, would you?”

Riley almost squealed, but she simply said, “I’ll be right there,” and hung up. She prepared a lot of files for the consultants at Your Tidal Forever. They had a ton of meetings, not only with brides, their mothers, and their grooms, but with vendors as well.

Riley kept track of all the appointments—at least those the consultants remembered to put into the calendar—the receipts, the surveys every bride filled out, the timeline of when everything needed to be booked, ordered, or sampled. The paperwork was never-ending, but Riley actually liked looking at a stack of papers and organizing them into something manageable and easily referenced.

She picked up the file with the blue stickers PYN on them and headed down the hall. Shannon came her way, walking with a man who did a ton of their announcements. He had his thick binder of specialty papers, and Riley wanted him to stop by her desk so she could leaf through them, stroke the silky papers, and dream about the font she’d use on her own wedding announcements.

“Good afternoon,” she said, surprised by her thoughts. Since her dating history hadn’t been going great the past several years, some of her dreams about her own wedding had faded. But with the appearance of the gorgeous Evan Garfield in her life, they’d apparently come roaring back.

“Oh, Riley, I need to talk to you for a moment.” She glanced at Andrew, whose step barely hitched.

“I’ll wait for you at the front desk,” he said, and Shannon grinned at him.

She turned to Riley and put her hand on her arm. “Charlotte said you went out with Evan Garfield.” Shannon’s eyes sparkled as if she were about to get the juiciest secret spilled to her. “And took an extra-long lunch.”

“I’m staying late to make up for that,” Riley said, her version of saying yes, she’d gone out with a rockstar.

Her.

A rockstar.

She couldn’t contain the smile as it spread across her face. Shannon started giggling, and then she said, “I have to tell you not to make a habit of taking a long lunch.” She glanced over her shoulder, looking further into the depths of Your Tidal Forever. “Just so I can tell Hope I did. But I know you’ll stay on top of your work here.”

“I totally will.”

“When are you seeing him again?”

“Tonight,” Riley said, her muscles tightening with anticipation already. “It’s kind of surreal.”

“How long is he on the island?” Shannon asked, and that effectively took all the wind out of Riley’s sails.

“I don’t know,” she said. “I have to get this file to Lisa, and then I have three phone calls to make before businesses close.” She could file paperwork and make to-do lists for the following day after five p.m.

“Of course, yes.” Shannon gave her a quick hug and added, “Text me all the details. I’m so excited for you.” She continued down the hall, every piece of her in the perfect place. Shannon had been through a lot too, and Riley knew her friend was excited for her and would want to know all the details. And not just so she could gossip either.

The women at Your Tidal Forever generally got along really great, and they were a good support for one another. Riley had been with the company for eight years, and while she’d undergone some recent personal changes, her job and her friendships within it had always been a constant for her.

She paused in Lisa’s doorway and tossed her long, dark hair over her shoulder. “I guess the new look attracted someone.”

Lisa looked up from her desk and squealed. “Come in, come in.”

Riley did, closing the door behind her so she could have ten minutes to talk without being overheard. Plus, Lisa’s office was closer to Hope’s, and the owner of the company was in this afternoon.

She handed Lisa the file and sank onto the couch in the office. “I need your honest opinion.”

“Would I ever give you anything less?” Lisa left the file on her desk and came around it to sit in the armchair across from Riley. “But let me guess first. You’re worried about why he’s interested in you. Like, how is that even possible?” She cocked her head, her blue eyes looking right through Riley’s soul. “Right?”

“Yes,” Riley said, glad Lisa had said it so she didn’t have to. “I mean, you know who he is, right?”

“The Sexiest Man Alive in 2016,” Lisa said. “The world knows who he is.”

“Exactly,” Riley said, her insecurities rearing up. She played with the ends of her hair, which wasn’t all real. Since striking out so often, she’d decided she just needed a change. It was easy to dye her hair and put in extensions. She’d started watching makeup videos online, and she had a much more dramatic look now.

“You’re amazing,” Lisa said. “And he obviously saw it. I mean, the man knows greatness when he sees it, right?”

“Or maybe he’s delusional,” Riley said. “Or desperate.” She sighed and leaned back against the couch, closing her eyes. “He doesn’t live here. What if I’m just setting myself up to get my heart broken?”

Lisa remained quiet for a few seconds. “Okay,” she finally said. “Let’s say you only get to be with him for a month. Wouldn’t you want those thirty days? Or would you rather not have him at all?”

“You’re too practical,” Riley said.

“And you’re too wrapped up in thinking ten miles down the road.”

“Ouch.” Riley sat up and looked at her friend, who wore a stern yet sympathetic look on her face. “But okay. I can give you that one.”

Lisa smiled at her and got up to come sit beside her on the couch. “I’d take the thirty days, Riley. Or ten. Or whatever that man has to give, because he’s the Sexiest Man Alive.” She started laughing, and Riley couldn’t help joining in.

“Okay,” Riley said, drawing in a deep breath. “We’re going to dinner tonight. You know my wardrobe. What do I wear?”

“For a man who might only be in your life for a few days? The sexiest thing you own—that little black number with the pink heels.”

“I can barely walk in those,” Riley said.

“Exactly,” Lisa said with another giggle, lacing her arm through Riley’s. “So you just have to hold onto Evan.”

“Lisa?” someone said into the intercom on her phone, and Riley jumped.

“Your appointment.” Horror snaked through her, because that sounded like Hope’s voice. And Hope really hated it when their clients came into the building and someone wasn’t there to greet them, offer them a drink, and personally deliver them to their consultants. In fact, that was Riley’s job.

Sure enough, Hope said, “Gillian is here. I’ll bring her back.”

“Thank you,” Lisa said in a normal voice, having jumped to her feet. She strode to the door and whispered, “Go. Hurry. And call me when you get home, no matter how late it is.”

Riley slipped by her and down the hall and into the kitchen. She could say she was in the restroom, not getting free counseling from her best friend. She waited until she heard Lisa say, “Gillian, hello. Thank you, Hope,” before she left the kitchen and returned to her desk, her thoughts already back on her outfit and jewelry for her date that night.

***

Riley was ready a few minutes early, but she didn’t put her shoes on yet. She was still undecided if the five-inch heels were appropriate. Maybe she’d wait and ask Evan what he had in mind for that night. Maybe they’d be strolling along the beach. Maybe he’d booked them at a luau. Maybe everything she currently wore would need to change.

Because she looked like she was going to a freaking pageant. Crystal dripped from her earlobes and she’d pulled the sides of her hair back into an elaborate set of curls pinned to the crown of her head. Plenty of hair still hung over her shoulders, which were bare as this dress didn’t even have a spaghetti strap.

The dress was form-fitting and fell to just above her knee in a shiny, flirty, fun fabric that hid the fact that she counted walking up and down the halls at Your Tidal Forever as an exercise plan.

The doorbell rang, and she jumped away from the fridge, where she’d been staring for at least five minutes.

Marbles meowed and ran toward the door as if Riley hadn’t heard the bell. Sunshine looked at her from the cat bed in the kitchen, almost like, is the door for you or me?

“Come on,” she said to the cat. “You’ll like this guy.” Some people had cats that hid whenever someone came over, but Riley’s acted more like aloof fathers. They needed to check out each visitor and give their approval.

So each feline arrived at the door before her, and Marbles stretched up on his back feet as if he could reach the door with his front paws.

Riley opened the door, her heart pounding in the back of her throat, making swallowing and breathing and talking difficult.

Evan stood there, looking absolutely stunning in a casual pair of dark gray slacks and a dark purple dress shirt, open at the throat. The inky ends of a tattoo on his chest peeked out from underneath the shirt, and Riley liked seeing only part of it as much as witnessing the whole thing.

“Look at you,” he said, scanning her body from her toes to her eyes. “How’d I get lucky enough to get you to go out with me?” He grinned like he was truly happy to see her, and Riley could do one thing with the ball of emotions stuck in her throat.

She smiled.