In Her Wildest Dreams (5 page)

“We have a petting zoo that we rent out for parties,” the man explained.

“Yes, I know, but that won’t suit my purposes.” She clicked on her electronic tablet and pulled up the photo app where she’d downloaded a bunch of pictures of the African savanna. “My client is surprising his wife with a month-long trip to Africa. He’s been planning it for years, and he wants to give her the trip on Valentine’s Day, which also happens to be the couple’s anniversary. He came to my company and tasked me with creating the perfect experience in which to surprise her with the gift. What better way than to have dinner in the company of some of the animals they will see on their trip?”

“It sounds a bit over-the-top,” the director said.

“I specialize in over-the-top.” Erica smiled. Her phone buzzed in her purse, but she ignored it. “I’m not asking that my clients ride the elephants or anything of that nature. I want to have a portion of the zoo cordoned off. I will stage a private dining area—upwind, not too close, just so that they can view the animals while they dine.”

The director leaned back in his chair and studied her, his expression leery, but softening. “It would require a lot of personnel to pull off something like this.”

“I know it would,” Erica said. “I understand that this is a very special request, but this is a very special client and a special event for both him and his wife. He is determined to make this work.”

She wasn’t ready to pull out the “money is no object” card yet, even though her client had told her those exact words. As a businesswoman, Erica knew how to wheel and deal with the best of them. She could sense the director starting to relent.

“I’ll see what I can do,” he said. “I’ll get back to you when I have the chance to go over all of this with my special events coordinator.”

“Thank you,” Erica said, stretching her hand out to shake his. “Please remember that I’m on a very tight schedule.”

“Yes. I’ll get back to you before the end of the day.”

She concluded the meeting with the zoo director and quickly made her way to her car. The numerous errands she had to run today would take her from one corner of the city to the other. And she still hadn’t figured out a solution to the hotel problem.

Erica let out a frustrated sigh as she pulled onto St. Charles Avenue. She kept telling herself that she still had a little over two and a half weeks to go before Valentine’s Day, which meant she still had about a week to look for a new lodging venue before she really had something to worry about.

But that was complete bull, and she knew it. She needed a new hotel
now
. The longer she went without securing rooms for her Valentine’s Day experiences, the more likely they would end up in some generic chain hotel with zero personality and crappy room service. And she had to be careful, because there was a chance even
those
would be booked up.

“You will have a new hotel by tomorrow,” she told herself. The reputation of her business was on the line. She sure as hell would not allow a termite infestation or some bad blood between her and a hotel manager to get in the way. There was the possibility that some groveling would be involved. The thought made Erica swallow back bile, but she was prepared to eat a huge helping of humble pie if necessary.

She hated pie of any kind. She’d rather have chocolate.

Hmm…Erica wondered if she could swing by Decadente on her way to the florist. She glanced at the time on her cell phone. She would be cutting it close, and she really needed to make sure the Queen Mary 2 tea roses she’d asked the florist to procure were up to par.

Probably best that she didn’t visit the chocolate shop anyway. She’d spent way too much time trying to process her last two encounters with Gavin. She still wasn’t sure what to make of his comments.

She’d worked through her feelings of attraction toward Gavin when they first became friends, when it became obvious—to her at least—that theirs would be a strictly platonic, though flirtatious, friendship. But he’d mixed things up this past week, and she wasn’t sure how to respond.

Could she see herself being more than just Gavin’s friend?

Absolutely. What woman in her right mind wouldn’t at least give that man a try? And she had the advantage of knowing that there was so much more behind that magnificent build and
People’s
Magazine Most Gorgeous Man of the Year–worthy face. Gavin Foster was intelligent, hardworking, dedicated, and generous to a fault. The man even cooked his mother dinner on her birthday.

“He’s practically perfect.” Erica sighed.

Why did the thought of being with a practically perfect man who could keep her supplied in heavenly chocolates make her stomach feel as if she’d consumed five pounds of said chocolates in one sitting?

Because, sometimes, even a relationship with the perfect man didn’t work out. How many times had her mother brought home the “perfect” man, only to end up with a broken heart and emptied bank account the next week?

Gavin would never do something like that to her. For one thing, compared with Gavin’s mountainous bank account, hers looked like a speck of dust. But he could shatter her heart to pieces in a hot minute. And then she would lose her best friend, too.

Could she risk losing Gavin as a friend?

The thought sent a cold chill racing up Erica’s spine.

She glanced over at her phone on the front seat and noticed the signal indicating that she had a missed call. Remembering the phone vibrating while she was meeting with the zoo’s director of operations, she dialed into her voicemail and put the phone on speaker.

“This call is for Ms. Erica Cole of Your Wildest Dreams,” the male voice started.

Erica grimaced, already anticipating the rote apology she’d have to issue about not being able to take on any more Valentine’s Day experiences. She’d turned down four people just this morning. Even though she could really use the business, she just didn’t have the time to squeeze in any more clients.

“My name is Hilton Banks of The Hawthorn Group. We are an investment outfit that works with young entrepreneurs.”

Erica glanced down at the phone. That’s not what she’d been expecting to hear.

“We have studied your business concept with interest and would like to discuss franchising possibilities,” he continued. “Please give me a call back at your earliest convenience.”

He rattled off a number, but Erica hardly registered it.

“A franchise? Oh, my God,” Erica breathed, her fingers in a tight grip around the steering wheel.

A car horn blew and she realized the traffic light had turned green. She went through the intersection and headed straight for the mall that ran along the Mississippi River. Despite the mental debate she’d just waged with herself about all the reasons not to go to Decadente today, Erica’s first and only instinct was to run straight to Gavin. This news was too much for her to process on her own. She needed her sounding board.

And chocolate.Lots and lots of celebratory chocolate.

She pulled into the covered parking garage at the Riverwalk Marketplace and rushed to Decadente, but to her utter disappointment, she discovered that Gavin wasn’t in the store.

“He didn’t say where he was going or what time he’d be back?” Erica asked.

Tonya shook her head and gave Erica a knowing look. “Just told me he was meeting an old friend for lunch and asked whether I could handle things for a few hours.”

“He said he was meeting with an old friend?” Erica asked.

An uncomfortable feeling settled in the pit of her stomach, her mind instantly jumping to who that old friend could be. Gavin had texted her yesterday to tell her that he’d run into Whitney Parker just minutes after Erica had left the French Market. And now he was at lunch with an “old friend”?

“Be careful, Gavin,” Erica whispered underneath her breath.

Despite strong resistance from him, Erica had managed to extract the story behind Whitney’s treachery from Gavin a while ago. The woman had hurt him. Terribly. The thought of Whitney sinking her claws back into him brought out a possessiveness in Erica that she had no right to feel.

But she
did
have a right
, her brain argued. It was only natural that she’d want to protect her friend from pain.

Was that all she wanted, or was there something more?
a nagging little voice asked. Erica slammed the lid closed on that voice. She wasn’t ready to face that question.

With her sounding board otherwise occupied, the only thing left to do was head back out to finish her errands. Before leaving, she picked out a few truffles and treated herself to a shot glass of Decadente’s rich drinking chocolate that probably had enough calories to kill a poodle. Erica rarely indulged in the sinfully good treat, but this was a special occasion.

She handed Tonya her credit card, trying to recall the last time she’d actually laid money on the counter in this place. Gavin never let her pay for anything. Tonya, being a businesswoman, gladly accepted the money.

“Do you want me to call him?” Tonya asked.

“No, just have him contact me as soon as he gets back. I don’t want to interrupt his lunch,” Erica said, though a part of her wanted to do just that, especially if he was at lunch with Whitney.

Gavin was a big boy. He could take care of himself. She needed to concentrate on the clients who were counting on her to create one-of-a-kind experiences for Valentine’s Day that they would remember for the rest of their lives. She would not allow Hilton Banks’s call to distract her any more than it already had, just as she would not allow thoughts of Gavin at lunch with his ex-fiancée to distract her either.

“Yeah, right.” Erica snorted.

She didn’t want to think about the obvious reason why the thought of Gavin and Whitney Parker together made her stomach hurt, but she couldn’t deny that it did.

A lot.

***

“I thought this was supposed to be lunch?” Gavin said as he reached up to block a shot.

“We can eat later,” Dalton said, laying the ball into the hoop despite Gavin’s defensive efforts.

“Shit.” Gavin grimaced at his old college roommate and ex–business partner.

“Looks to me as if working around all that chocolate is starting to have some negative side effects.”

“Kiss my ass,” Gavin returned. He tossed the ball to Dalton and signaled for a time-out, reaching over for his water bottle. “Now, what’s so important that we had to meet right this minute? I know you didn’t call me for a pick-up game of basketball.”

Dalton shrugged as he tried to twirl the ball on the tip of his finger. “Maybe I just wanted to hang out.”

“On a Monday afternoon?” Gavin’s brow furrowed with suspicion. “I don’t think so.”

“Yeah, all right.” Dalton set the basketball on the asphalt and reached for his own bottle of water. He took a generous swig before pointing the uncapped bottle toward Gavin. “I’ve got a proposition for you,” he opened. “You know that I’ve been volunteering as a mentor for the MBA program at Tulane, right?”

“Yeah, you told me about that.”

“A couple of the guys I’m mentoring have an idea that is going to turn the computer gaming industry on its head. I’ve never seen anything like it. It combines gaming, social networking, and peer playing across the Web.”

“Okay.” Gavin used his shirt to wipe the sweat trailing down his face. “And I come in where?”

“What do you think? I need you to develop the software and Web interface,” Dalton said.

Gavin shook his head. “I don’t deal in computers anymore. You know this.”

“I know that you’ve been playing around with this chocolate stuff long enough. It’s time for you to get back in the game, man.”

“I don’t want to get back in the game. I’m happy making chocolates,” Gavin stressed, despite the flash of disquiet that clutched his gut at the statement. Dammit, he
was
happy making chocolates.

“Whatever,” Dalton said. “Just hear me out. It’s not as if I’m asking you to become company CEO—though I wouldn’t turn you down if you wanted to become an investor,” Dalton added, ever the salesman.

Gavin rolled his eyes.

“Don’t say no to this without coming back to my office and looking over their pitch.”

“You’re not getting me in that building,” Gavin said.

Now, it was Dalton’s turn to roll his eyes. Unlike Gavin, Dalton had remained at Technology Concepts after the takeover.

“It’s been two years,” his former partner said. “You need to get over the crap that happened with Whitney. And you need to remember it was
your
decision to sell your share of the company.”

“Which I do not regret,” Gavin said. “Still doesn’t mean that I want to go traipsing around my old stomping grounds.”

“Traipsing? Really? Who even uses that word?”

“Shut up,” Gavin said. “Look, if you want me to see this program, stop by my place with your laptop.”

“So, you’re in?”

“I didn’t say that,” Gavin warned. “I said to bring the program. I’m curious as to what these guys could have possibly put together that has you getting a hard-on.”

“You’re going to be the same way when you see it, man. I promise you.”

“Yeah, whatever,” Gavin said.

After another twenty minutes of basketball, Gavin left Dalton at the court, back in the neighborhood where he’d grown up. He needed to get back to Decadente ASAP. Tonya had texted to let him know that the shipment of chocolate discs he’d been waiting on had arrived. They were running low on the praline truffles, one of their biggest sellers.

This was the second time in the past two months that he’d nearly run out of chocolate, driving home Tonya’s point that he needed to figure out how much chocolate they had been selling and readjust their ordering schedule accordingly. She’d suggested she do it because she had a better idea of what left the store, but Gavin had told her he’d take care of it. He needed to get on that. Pronto. He couldn’t afford a misstep that would have them running short, especially with Valentine’s Day fast approaching.

He’d been so far removed from those early days when Technology Concepts was a struggling start-up that he’d forgotten about the tedious legwork involved in running a new business. He didn’t have the luxury of having his staff take care of the grunt work while he did all of the chocolate-making.