My One and Only: Book 1 in the Love and Weddings Trilogy (20 page)

              Asher fumed as he paced his apartment thinking of Meredith’s blasé attitude about their relationship.
Casual?
His feelings were nowhere near casual. They were passionate and crazy and too big for his heart. Sometimes he felt like he was going to explode with his feelings for her. And she could sit there and tell him that it would be fine for him to date another woman because this was no big deal? He felt like screaming.

              Meredith liked being in control.
Especially of relationships.
She felt safer that way. And designating their relationship as casual kept her in the driver’s seat. Well, things were about to change. He walked over to his laptop and pulled up his emails for the day. He clicked on the one from Brogan he’d read earlier that day and disregarded.

             
Hey Ash, looks like our site just had its second four level match. You won’t believe this but               you’re part of it again. You and this girl named Maya are a perfect match. I double checked all               the data and it’s legit. What do you want me to do with it? Trash it or let it happen?

              Asher began typing.
Let it happen, Brogan. Four level matches are rare. It’d be dumb not to see if               there’s anything there, right?

              He sent the email and then turned around in his chair and stared moodily out the window. If Meredith wanted casual, she was going to get casual.

              Meredith woke up feeling excitement fizz through her body like the finest of Italian sodas. Their first social was that night and she wanted everything to be perfect. She’d set up ice skating for all of their local singles down at the ice rink. She’d rented it for the entire evening so it would be filled with the finest of Fircrest’s singles and most of Tacoma’s too if her numbers were correct. She jumped out of bed and showered and got ready for the day. She could just imagine it now, skating around the rink with Asher at her side as romance blossomed around them. She’d even arranged for a local news station to do a story on their new site and their social mixers.

              They were going to get so much traction off of tonight that she might need to hire an assistant. She squealed at the thought and began planning what to wear. She wanted to go snow bunny chic. All white. White skinny jeans, white turtle neck sweater, faux white fur vest with matching hat and gloves. She could already imagine Asher’s reaction. She laughed and couldn’t wait to tell him about some of the fun activities they had planned for the evening. They were going to have a volunteer kissing booth for charity. All proceeds were going to the local homeless shelter and she’d already signed him up. Brogan got a pass because he was married of course. She could just imagine Taryn’s reaction if she ever saw Brogan kissing another woman. She winced and tried to get the image of blood out of her mind. Not a pleasant picture.

              They were going to have fun contests with prizes and games that Jane had helped her to come up with. All the girls were going to put their mittens and gloves in the middle of the rink and every guy was going to pick up the glove and then find the match. They had to skate together for one dance before it was back to free skating. It was a fun way to meet new people and she couldn’t wait to see how much fun everyone was going to have.

              Luckily the day passed by quickly. She remembered to text Pule and Tristan and threatened them with death if they didn’t show up that night. She got two replies almost immediately.

             
No. I’d rather die.

              She glowered at her phone and texted her brother back.

             
Show up or I’ll never forgive you.

              She waited a moment and then she heard a notification beep.

             
I’ll live.

              She growled and then read Pule’s text.

             
I don’t ice skate. I’m Samoan. Stop being bossy.

              Meredith’s good mood began to fade as she stamped her foot in frustration
. Why were men so stubborn?
Did they not realize how much fun tonight was going to be? If only women showed up tonight it would be a huge failure. A failure that would be caught on the evening news. She texted Pule back.

             
Please, as my friend, will you come and support us? We really need you there,
she texted, going for the polite and slightly desperate tack.

              He texted back.
Fine but you owe me for this. FOREVER
.

              She grinned. Who knew polite desperation could work so well? She decided to ignore Tristan’s text and just pray that he’d change his mind during the day. She checked in with Belinda’s Bakery to make sure the hot chocolate and donuts would be ready. She had wanted to have the My One and Only cupcakes there, but she had decided to save those for their big Valentine’s Day dance at The Iron Skillet instead.

              As she was putting the final touches on her hair and makeup, she realized she hadn’t heard from Asher once that day. She’d been so busy she’d totally spaced texting him. Since they’d started dating each other, they’d gotten in the habit of texting a few times a day, a couple phone calls and seeing each other at least once. It was kind of strange to go from a disconnect to a complete connect with someone. Especially someone who she connected with on all four levels. She had to admit that she felt more alive since she’d started dating Asher. Life seemed better and she was … well, she was happy.

              Meredith paused and frowned into the mirror at her shocked eyes.
She was happy
. What did that mean? Did that mean what she thought it meant? Meredith put her lipstick down and sat back in her chair as she stared at her reflection. Being with Asher Murphy made her happy. She felt more energy when she was around him and life was now in Technicolor instead of its regular grays, browns and taupes.

              “Don’t you do it,” she whispered sternly to herself as her face went from happy and carefree to slightly horrified. “Don’t you fall in love,” she ordered.

              She stared at her face and noticed that her eyes were bright and filled with light. She sighed and banged her hand on the counter. “Falling in love with Asher Murphy is so dumb,” she said out loud. “The timing is all wrong. Now is the time to focus on business and building the company. Falling in love would mean everything would change.”

              “Hey! Who are you talking to?”

              Meredith jumped in surprise at Cleo’s voice right outside the bathroom. “None of your business!” she shouted back.

              She finished her hair and makeup quickly, still blushing at being caught talking to herself and walked out, twirling around for Cleo and Tai’s approval.

              Tai smiled and clapped his hands. “You look gorgeous, Meredith.”

              Cleo nodded her head and smiled at her friend. “You look like every man’s winter dream come true. I hope you’re taking a turn at the kissing booth. I bet we earn a ton for the homeless shelter. Make sure you bring extra Chapstick.”

              Meredith winced. “Well, I actually didn’t sign myself up for that. I signed up Asher but um, I never got around to putting my name down,” she said innocently.

              Tai laughed at that while Cleo frowned. “He’s not going to like that. I can’t imagine Asher wanting to kiss a lot of strangers.”

              Meredith frowned. “Well, tough. He’s part owner and we all have to do our part tonight.”

              Tai snorted. “Good luck with that. So are you ready to go?”

              Meredith nodded and grabbed her purse. “Thanks again for coming to help serve the donuts and hot chocolate. You guys are the bestest, best friends a girl could have.”

              Tai smiled and helped Cleo up from the chair. “You helped both of us with our openings. Of course we want to help. Plus it will be fun to watch everyone trying so hard to look cool while falling on their rears.”

              Cleo smiled sadly. “I just wish I could be out there ice skating.”

              Tai picked her up in his arms and kissed her gently. “Soon, sweetheart. Very soon.”

              Meredith sighed at the gentleness Tai showed Cleo and felt grateful that her friend was so loved. What would it be like to be in a relationship with someone like that? Where you only had eyes for each other? Where your partner’s needs and hopes became yours too?

              She thought of Asher automatically and smiled. Maybe,
just maybe
, she’d find out.

              They arrived fifteen minutes later at the ice rink a half an hour before everyone else was supposed to show up. They arranged all the goodie bags and treats and made sure the sound system was working. She’d brought her own playlist so they were sure to have good music to skate to. Music was so important when it came to romance. It could set the mood like nothing else. She wanted the first song to be
Autumn Leaves
by Ed Sheeran. Who wouldn’t want to meet the love of their lives while that song played in the background?

              The minutes flew by and soon she was surrounded by crowds of people. She checked in with the manager and had a quick conversation with Brogan who was manning the door while she urged people to start skating. The more people on the floor, skating and talking, more people would be encouraged to go out and join them. She grinned at the sheer volume of people crowding the ice rink. The first half hour in and the night was already a success.

              Time to earn her money. She grabbed a microphone and welcomed everyone to Your One and Only’s first mixer. “Now this is a girl’s choice dance, so grab a cutie and don’t be shy,” she said and laughed as everyone groaned and laughed and then did what they were told to do. She grinned happily as she saw people holding hands as they skated around to the sounds of
I Bet My Life
by Imagine Dragons.

              “Why don’t you go join them? They’re all having fun. You can take a little break from overseeing everything and everybody.”

              Meredith turned around to see Taryn smiling at her. It still caught her off guard that Taryn seriously wanted to be friends with her, but she was getting more used to the idea every day. And if she was being honest with herself, she was flattered. Having lunch with her the other day had gone surprisingly well and she’d spent an hour talking and laughing with someone she had a lot in common with.

              “I would if I could find Asher. He was supposed to be here by now,” she said with a frown as she scanned the crowds.

              “I saw him ten minutes ago. There he is,” Taryn said pointing across the rink to a man wearing a gray zip up sweater with a bright red scarf around his neck.

              Meredith smiled in relief. “
Oh good
…,” she said before her words faded. Asher was out on the ice. Skating with someone.
What?

              “Wait, is he holding hands with that girl?” Taryn asked, as she stepped forward, frowning.

              Meredith cleared her throat. “Well, of course he is. He has to socialize tonight. I even signed him up for the kissing booth. All the proceeds go to a homeless shelter,” she said, her voice stiff and brittle sounding even to her own ears.

              Taryn glanced at her quickly. “So
uh
, you guys are just dating casually right? Or are you guys exclusive? Because that girl is gorgeous,” she said with a shake of her head.

              Meredith watched as Asher and the girl skated past where she was standing with Taryn and she felt her stomach drop. Asher was skating with Maya, Cleo’s yoga instructor. And Taryn was right. The girl was breathtakingly gorgeous. Where she’d decided to go snow bunny chic, Maya was dressed in a bright pink sweater and jeans which made the pink of her cheeks glow all the more. By the way Maya was smiling up into Asher’s eyes, she could tell that Maya was into him.

              “That’s Cleo’s yoga instructor, Maya. She’s a real sweet girl,” Meredith said, clearing her throat to force the words out. “And Asher and I are just dating casually. He,
um
, wanted to go exclusive, but I felt more comfortable keeping things casual,” she said feeling sick to her stomach.

              Taryn bit her lip and looked at her. “You don’t look so comfortable right now. You look kind of green, like you want to throw up. Are you sure you want to just be casual with Asher?”

              Meredith forced herself to look away from Asher laughing at something Maya had said and smiled brightly. “Absolutely. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go check on something.”

              She hurried away and found the nearest restroom where she hid in a stall for a few moments so she could get her emotions under control. He’d probably just walked in and been pulled onto the floor. It was girl’s choice.
This was no big deal
. She wanted him to be out talking and skating and helping everyone else to relax and have a good time.

              So then why did she feel like running down to the rink and ripping his hand out of Maya’s?
Why did she feel like crying?
She took three deep breaths and urged herself to get a grip. She had to be at her best tonight. She didn’t have time for petty jealousy or emotional scenes
. Not tonight.

              She left the bathroom and took over the mic, leading everyone through a few more games and ways to meet people. Everyone’s favorite game turned out to be the mitten game, or glove game since no one was wearing mittens. She had all the girls throw one of their gloves in the middle of the rink and when she blew her whistle, the men skated out to the center and picked the mitten they wanted. She’d warned everyone so if the men wanted to skate with a certain girl, they had to search for the mitten they wanted.  There ended up being a tussle between two guys over a pair of pale lavender gloves that belonged to a gorgeous blond but when the cameras began filming, the men smiled sheepishly and then fought over giving the glove to each other. 

             
An hour later, Asher still hadn’t found her to say hi.
She decided not to analyze why that was and concentrated on keeping her eye on the goal: Making sure tonight was the biggest social success it could be. Everyone was now surrounding the tables of hot chocolate and donuts. Perfect time to start the kissing booth.

              She cleared her throat and everyone’s head turned in her direction. “As everyone is now aware, we’re doing a volunteer kissing booth. Every kiss is five dollars for the homeless shelter. I have a list here of volunteers. Our first volunteer is …” She turned around and Brogan was there to put the list in her hands. She smiled her thanks and kept going.