Chapter 44

First thing the next morning, I met with Felicia and her team. We went through the menu item by item, and I made sure they knew exactly what Diana wanted and how she wanted it. It was slow going, but by the time I left, I had the fullest confidence in them.

Not a bad start to the day, considering.

I was even smiling a little when Julie walked in for my meeting with her. Relief flickered across her features when she saw my face. "Well, you're looking better today. Did he not revert to Asshole Dash?"

"Surprisingly, no," I said, still wondering what on earth had come over him myself. "He was super nice about it and told me I was handling everything exceptionally well."

She scoffed. "Oh, so he's just a patronizing asshole now?"

"Nah, it wasn't like that." I shook my head to clear it. "Anyway, enough about him. I asked to meet with you about the Montrelli wedding. That's next weekend, right?"

"Yep," she said happily. "Everything is on track for it. I'm meeting with them tomorrow and then again on Tuesday just for a final run-through before the day."

"You're amazing," I said, meaning it. "Do you want me to call her for you? I know I kind of left you in the lurch with it before, but I'm available now and it's my responsibility to handle it with you. I'm sorry I've been so distracted with Diana's wedding."

Julie chuckled. "As soon as you signed her, we knew she was going to take priority for a while. I mean, they're the St. Clairs and it's your first high-profile wedding, so don't sweat it but I think Briana Montrelli would appreciate a call from the boss."

"I'll make it in a few," I said. "They haven't complained about not having seen much of me, right?"

"Nope, not at all, but I did promise her that when we came down to the wire, you'd be personally involved."

"Okay, great. Thank you, and again, I'm sorry. I won't do that to you again." I'd known all along that in times like this, when we were trying to prove ourselves as the new management of the company and when it came to the business end of things, I'd have to be the one to talk to people.

I just felt bad that I'd neglected everyone else while I'd been dealing with the St. Clairs. On the other hand, if Diana's wedding went south, the company would too. Talk about a catch-22.

Either way, at least Julie had saved my butt with the Montrellis. She leaned forward as she caught me up on the last few things they'd decided, and I nodded before I made the relevant notes in our system.

"Wow, you've really done incredible work with this one. I'm impressed, but I'd appreciate it if you'd sit in with me for the remaining couple meetings anyway. I don't want them to think I've just taken it from you."

"You got it, boss lady." When I looked at her again, she arched both her eyebrows at me. "He wasn't patronizing? Are you sure? Condescending, maybe?"

"Nope, and yes, I'm sure. I'm also sure he wasn't being condescending. He was just nice. Supportive. Again though, I don't really want to talk about him. Being nice doesn't make up for everything else he did."

Her head cocked. "Like tell a reporter that you were just friends?"

I nodded. "Among other things. Why does it suddenly sound like you think I should've heard him out?"

"No, it's not that. He's hurt you enough times already. You definitely don't owe him yet another chance. It's just that I still don't quite understand why it set you off the way it did."

I shrugged. "It's simple, really. I don't want to be with someone who's not sure about me. He was so worried about what people would think that he didn't stop to think about me, or even about what he wanted himself. I don't need that. Not after everything with Ethan."

Taking a moment to chew it over, she nodded her agreement. "True. You need a guy who'll put you first. Someone who worships the ground you walk on. Who brings you flowers just because and who shouts about his love for you from the rooftops. I'm proud of you for not settling for less."

"Thanks," I said, but even I heard the hesitation in my voice. I was still proud of myself for taking a stand, but I really did miss him and I was starting to wonder if I'd overreacted by breaking it off without even hearing him out.

Julie stood up, fixing me with a serious, meaningful look. "We're going out tonight. No arguments. We're going out, we're forgetting about work and boys, and we're just going to have fun together. I know you're hurting and I'm sorry about that, but you can't question yourself. Nothing has changed, Serenity. He wasn't willing to stand by you before and I don't see him doing it now, so stop that. Whatever you were just thinking, stop it."

I laughed. "It's like you can read my mind sometimes."

She winked at me. "Maybe I can. Meet me at La Vida at eight. We'll stuff our faces with pizza and then we'll go dancing."

I really didn't feel up to dancing. Not when the last memories I had of it were when I'd done it with Dash, but I nodded anyway. "You've got yourself a date. I love La Vida. Their food is the best."

"I know. That's why we're going there." She grinned and pumped her eyebrows at me. "Get ready to let your hair down and cut loose. We're going big tonight."

I chuckled, waving at her as she left. After making the call I'd promised to the Montrellis, I spent the afternoon combing through all the plans for that wedding and getting caught up on the things that still had to be done.

The afternoon flew past in a blur of new details, but by the time I left the office to get changed for La Vida, I felt like I had a good grasp on the Montrelli wedding. I arrived at the Italian restaurant before Julie, ordering a bottle of prosecco while I waited for my friend.

The waiter had barely filled my glass when she arrived and I was thankful because my mind had already started drifting to Dash again. She rolled her eyes as she sat down. "That's it. We need to get that boy off your mind. Do you want to know what I've been thinking about recently?"

"Uh, okay?"

"A girls' trip," she said, grinning like a Cheshire Cat. "That's another reason why I wanted to come to this specific restaurant tonight. I'm trying to get you in the mood for Italy."

"Is there such a thing as not being in the mood for Italy?" I joked, doing my best not to think about the fact that Dash and I weren't going to get to take that trip we'd been planning together after his mom's wedding.

Julie laughed. "That's the spirit, and you're right. There's no such thing as not being in the mood for Italy, so tell me how you feel about the Amalfi Coast."

"I feel like we should've taken this trip years ago. Why haven't we?"

She shrugged. "You were married to an asshole and then dating another one?"

I sighed. "Fair enough. Okay, so the Amalfi Coast, huh? When do we leave?"

"Well, that's up to you, but I think we're going to need to take at least a week off for it, so we're going to have to look at our calendars and then block out the time well in advance."

I groaned. "How's three years from now sound?"

She giggled. "Not a chance, girl. I know you're slammed right now, but we're going on this trip soon. Before the end of the year. We're going to get even busier after Diana's wedding because it's going to be perfect and it's going to make you an even more sought-after wedding planner than that dude we're not talking about."

While we were talking, we ordered our food and ate it as we started planning what we wanted to see while we were in Italy. I didn't quite know how she'd managed it, but Julie somehow kept my mind off both work and Dash for the rest of our meal and it was amazing.

I didn't know when we'd actually be able to take our trip, but the knowledge that we could plan it for real got me all excited. There was no Ethan holding me back now. I had the money. Julie and I could both take the time off as long as we did it between big events.

There really was no reason for this to be just talk, and it was the most incredibly freeing realization I'd had since I'd seen the court order for the divorce. Bubbly but not drunk, we went to the salsa nightclub once our meal was done.

"How did you find this place?" I asked breathlessly as we walked in. "I've heard about places like this, but I've never been to one."

She shrugged, bumping her hip into mine. "That's one advantage of going on so many dates with random guys. Some of them have some original ideas."

"Does that mean you already know how to salsa?"

"Nope." She wrinkled her nose before she flashed me a smile. "The guy I came here with hit on the bartender just after we arrived, so I took off but I've always wanted to come back."

As we made our way into the brightly colored club with the warm lighting and the music that filled my soul with bubbles of excited joy, Julie flagged down a guy wearing a suit. I watched curiously as she leaned in to talk to him over the music. Then she grinned when she turned back to me.

"He's going to teach us."

"They have instructors here?"

"Nope, he's a waiter, but he's game!"

I laughed, not arguing because this had actually been a great plan. Peter, our waiter/dance instructor came back a few minutes later, showing us some basic moves before he had to get back to work. We drank a little bit, but mostly, we just focused on the dancing and having a good time.

Between the food and the exercise, I wasn't even tipsy when I decided to call it a night. My phone buzzed with the notification that our car had arrived and I waved the device at my friend. "Time to go."

She complained a little bit but followed me out, still doing some salsa moves as we left. "Man, we were awful at that, but just wait. I'm going to find us some classes, and when we come back, we're going to win."

"What are we winning?" I asked, laughing with her at how awful we'd been, though. There was no doubt that we'd been the worst dancers in there. "I wasn't aware that it's a competition."

She waved me off as we climbed into the car. "It doesn't have to be a competition in order for us to win. We're just going to be winning at life and salsa dancing."

I giggled, but that didn't sound bad at all, so I rolled with it. The driver took Julie home first, but before she climbed out of the car, I threw my arms around her neck.

"Thank you for distracting me tonight. I really needed it."

She chuckled as she hugged me back. "No problem, babe. I'm always here for you, but thank me by saying we can go in a little bit later in the morning."

"That seems fair," I agreed immediately. "I don't have any early meetings, and as long as you don't either, I think it should be okay for us to go in a couple hours late."

She whooped, hugging me again before she climbed out of the car and headed inside. Once she was gone, the buzz of adrenaline started fading. I sighed, leaning back in my seat and closing my eyes. The driver started in the direction of my apartment next.

I didn't fall asleep, but I kept my eyes closed for a while. Then I just stared out the window for the rest of the way to my place. As we rounded the final corner, I noticed that the paparazzi was out in full force again tonight and I sighed heavily.

I definitely have to move.

When we got closer though, I realized that they weren't just waiting for me to get back. They seemed to be clamoring around someone and my heart started pounding. Shit. Is this another one of Ethan's stunts?

"Do you want me to keep driving, ma'am?"

I shook my head, squinting when I caught a flash of dark hair through the cameras. That's not Ethan.

The driver nodded and started slowing as he pulled up to the curb, and the paparazzi parted like the Red Sea to reveal Dash standing in the center of them. I got out slowly, confused, apprehensive, and also just a little bit excited as my gaze met his and I started moving closer to him, ignoring the crowd of people—and their cameras—around us.

"What on earth are you doing here?" I asked, too scared to hope until I saw the huge bouquet of flowers he produced from behind his back.

I sucked in a sharp breath, wondering if he'd come to his senses or if it was simply wishful thinking. On the other hand, there were only so many things he could be doing in front of my apartment at this time of night, armed with a bouquet of flowers and clearly having been making nice with the paparazzi. What have you done this time, Dash St. Clair, and will it be really stupid of me if I forgive you yet again?