My One and Only: Book 1 in the Love and Weddings Trilogy (9 page)

              “What’s going on is that I have feelings for you and you have feelings for me, business or not. Ignoring them or sweeping them under the rug isn’t going to work. Not when what I feel for you is so powerful. After a night like tonight when we’re on top of the world and we’re feeling like celebrating, how can I not pull you into my arms and kiss you?” he asked, shaking his head.

              Meredith sighed and looked down at the button on his shirt because looking in his eyes was just too intense. “I admit that I was caught up in the moment too. I’m not saying that we don’t have feelings for each other. We do and all of them are good and wonderful. But some of them, like that last one, we need to set aside.”

              Asher’s hand stilled on her back as his entire body stiffened. “I’m standing here in front of you telling you that I have feelings for you and you’re asking me to set them aside?” he asked, his voice completely expressionless.

              When Meredith pulled back this time, he let her go. She straightened her shirt and stuck her hands into her pockets, looking anywhere but at him. “Is this going to make things awkward now, Ash? Can we work together? Because this was what I was worried about … things not working out between us and not only ruining our working relationship but our friendship.”

              Asher crossed his arms over his chest as he remained silent for a moment. “Not at all. You’ve been more than clear with me. I apologize for not taking the hint. I’ll put my feelings aside and I won’t bring them up again. You have my word,” he said, sounding actually kind of final about it.

              Meredith’s head whipped up as she stared at him with a frown. “Really?” she asked, sounding doubtful.

              Asher pulled his car keys out and turned and walked away. “
Really
,” he answered, and got in his car and drove away without another word.

              Meredith watched him drive away and felt strangely forlorn. She had practically insisted that he leave the romance out of it and now that he’d agreed, she felt so empty for some reason. She shut her eyes and pushed the sudden loneliness away. She didn’t have time for loneliness, for love
or
romance. She was a business woman now.

              She turned and got into her car and banged her head against the steering wheel for a moment before turning the key in the ignition and driving away. She had to keep her head in the game. Business first. Always.

              Taryn locked the door and turned and followed Brogan back into the family room. He collapsed on their large, overstuffed brown leather couch and she sat next to him. She smiled as she saw the grin on his face and couldn’t help running her fingers through his short, bright hair.

              “You look like the fox that got into the hen house.”

              Brogan laughed and snaked an arm around his wife’s waist, pulling her closer. “I probably do. I have to tell you, Taryn, I think this is going to be huge. With Meredith’s passion, Asher’s business sense and my program and of course your suggestions, this is really taking off. I can feel it,” he said musingly.

              Taryn leaned over and kissed his cheek. “Well, I know how bored you’ve been lately. I’m glad for you. I was leery at first, but seeing you three work together side by side, I can see it.”

              Brogan smiled at his wife as he shook his head. “They’re good people, Taryn. Everyone makes mistakes.”

              Taryn nodded her head. “I guess so. I called Bailey and she told me that she and Meredith had made up ages ago. I guess if Bailey can be forgiving, then maybe I can try.”

              Brogan lifted an eyebrow. “
Try?”

              Taryn blew out a breath and rolled her eyes. “Fine, I’ll do it. Didn’t you notice how nice I was tonight? I didn’t growl at her even once. I even waved them off with a smile on my face.”

              Brogan leaned over and kissed her on the lips. “You were an angel. As a matter of fact, you deserve a treat for being so sweet. What would you like?” he asked, kissing the side of her neck.

              Taryn smiled slowly and turned her face to his. “I’ll think of something,” she said softly and pulled his face to hers.

              Meredith woke up the next day in a foul mood. She growled at Cleo and refused her green smoothie. She felt horrible about putting that hurt look in Cleo’s eyes, but if she had to drink one more glass of liquefied spinach she was going to scream.

             
And
her hair looked hideous. She was out of her smoothing serum and she didn’t have money to get anymore until they made some money from the website. She stared at the pile of bills sitting on the entry table and wanted to pull out every frizzy hair on her head. She stomped back to the bathroom and pulled her hair back ruthlessly into a bun and used enough hairspray to shellac a table. She stared at the results and sighed unhappily. She looked like a Nazi. Just the look she was going for.
Gah
.

              She spent the morning working on Jo’s wedding plans and making calls on her behalf but every now and then she’d look up at the clock and do the math on how many hours and minutes until lunch at The Iron Skillet when she would see Brogan.

             
And Asher.

              Meredith sighed and put her cell phone down. There was no getting around it. Asher had snuck inside her head and he wasn’t going anywhere. He wasn’t budging. Last night she’d even concentrated on visualizing a blank piece of paper to clear her mind of all things Asher and even that had done nothing. He might have turned his back and walked away from her, agreeing to put his feelings aside, but for some reason, hers just wouldn’t stop now.

              Annoying little buggers, those feelings. Always getting in the way and always messing everything up. Her feelings were what got her into so many problems with Kam and Bailey. No, she was done letting her emotions rule her life. It was way past time she let logic and reason rule. They’d had a nice long break. It was time to put them to work. And logic and reason were telling her to keep Asher Murphy far away from her heart. Her emotions on the other hand?
They just wanted to kiss him again
.

              She groaned and leaned her head in her hands. If he hadn’t been such a good kisser, this would be no big deal. The man had kissed her last night as if he was dying to. He had kissed her last night as if he’d been dreaming of kissing her like that all of his life. And how did she respond? By kissing him back and wrapping her arms around him. If she hadn’t encouraged him, things wouldn’t have escalated to the point they had.

              But what she couldn’t forget no matter what, was the hurt in his eyes as he’d turned around and walked away. She’d hurt her friend, a man she cared about, and that didn’t sit well with her at all. If she could make it up to him she would, but she was afraid bringing it up again would just make things worse. Male pride and all that. Very,
very
touchy.

              No, it was best if she just acted as if the kiss had never happened. She’d smile and be pleasant and friendly and leave it at that. She rubbed her cold arms and walked over to adjust the heat. But what if it had happened the other way? What if she’d been the one to make a move on Asher and he had rebuffed her? How would she feel?

              She’d be devastated. She’d be hurt beyond measure.
And she’d be embarrassed.

             
Poor Ash
, she thought and felt sick to her soul. She would never want to hurt her friend, but what was the alternative? Date him? Fall in love with him? Yeah, sorry.
No
. Every relationship she and Asher had been involved in had ended badly. Neither one of them was a good gamble. She had a business to run and everyone knew the first rule of life. Business before pleasure. And Asher was nothing but pleasure. There were plenty of men who were fun, cute, charming and hilarious. Add on smart and chivalrous and you had Asher Murphy. He was actually perfect for her. Too bad he was her business partner.

              She spent the next half hour staring moodily at her laptop before shutting it and getting ready for lunch. She knew she was in a hideous mood, but there was nothing to be done about it. The only thing that would help her mood would be if things could go back to normal between her and Asher. And from where she was sitting, that was going to take a long time. She’d hurt him and things might never go back to normal. And she hated that.

              She changed into a black skirt that flared at the knees with a white button down shirt. It was simple and elegant and at least it went with her hairstyle. The only positive aspect of looking this bad was that Asher would probably take one look at her and feel grateful that she’d turned him down.

              She arrived at The Iron Skillet two minutes early now that she knew her business partners were most likely to be early. She waved at the hostess and made her way to the back of the restaurant where Asher and Brogan were already deep in conversation with Taryn and Rob Downing.

             
Yikes.

              “Good afternoon, everybody,” she said smiling genially at the group.

              Rob stood up and pulled out a chair for her. “Right on time. I love punctuality in a woman.”

              Meredith smiled and relaxed at Rob’s easy charm. “For being punctual it sure feels like I’m late when I see you all here hard at it.”

              Brogan smiled and raised his hand. “My fault. I got here early to spend a few minutes with Taryn and she was here talking to Rob. Asher showed up just a few minutes before you.”

              Meredith relaxed and smiled around the table. She blinked in surprise when Taryn smiled easily back at her.
What the heck?

              “To make a long business meeting short, the answer is
yes
. I want in on this. Taryn walked me through everything and she’s right, the exposure is going to be huge. With radio spots reaching from Tacoma to Seattle, my restaurant will get the best exposure I’ve had in years,” Rob said, looking very pleased about it.

              Taryn tilted her chin in the air and smiled regally. “Like I said, Rob is smart and he knows a good thing when he sees it. And this is better than good. This is going to be brilliant.”

              Brogan kissed his wife’s cheek and grinned at her and Asher. “The deal is done. Now all we have to do is sign the paperwork. I never got any emails from you last night about the name for the business. I can’t wait to hear your ideas.”

              Meredith made a small squeaking sound in her throat as she realized that with all of her angst over Asher, she’d completely forgotten about coming up with a name for their business. She looked down in horror at her hands as she felt the weight of every eye at the table boring into her head.

              “I’m sure Meredith would like to hear all of our ideas first,” Asher said smoothly, kicking her foot lightly under the table.

              Meredith looked up and smiled at Asher in gratitude. “Yes, that’s exactly what I was thinking, Asher. Brogan, what’s your idea?”

              Brogan cleared his throat. “Taryn and I threw a few ideas around last night and I was thinking we should keep it simple. Jensen, Murphy and Moore Enterprises, L.L.C.”

              Meredith nodded her head. “Very simple, but very respectable sounding. What about you, Asher,” she asked, finally looking fully at the man that had kept her up so late the night before with thoughts of the kiss they’d shared.

              Asher smiled smoothly and steepled his hands on the table. “I was thinking something more whimsical to go along with Meredith’s emphasis on love and everything to do with it. True Love, L.L.C.”

              Meredith grinned and nodded her head, immediately loving Asher’s suggestion. “Well, I like both ideas. What do you think about . . .” she said and then paused as her mind remained blank.
Crud, what was she going to say?
Maybe she could combine the two?

              “I say forget my idea, yours sound better, but what if we combine the two? How about True Love Enterprises, L.L.C.?” she said, tapping her chin as she tried to picture what that would look like on a business card.

              Rob smiled and winked at her. “The best of both worlds. I like it.”

              Taryn pursed her lips as she nodded her head. “It does have a nice ring to it. I vote yes.”

              Brogan snorted and put an arm around Taryn’s chair. “Sweetheart, you don’t get a vote. But thanks for your opinion. And I vote yes too. What about you, Asher?”

              Asher nodded his head with a polite smile. “I think we have a winner. Rob, if you don’t mind, can I borrow your printer? I can print off the paperwork right here from my phone with the business name and we can have everything signed in five minutes.”

              Rob stood up and gestured with his hand. “My pleasure. Follow me,” he said and put a hand on Asher’s shoulder as they walked away, leaving her alone with Brogan and Taryn.

              Taryn began to say something and then stiffened a little. “
Mom,
I thought you were having lunch with Bailey today?”

              Meredith turned in her chair to see a woman of average height, dressed in a black skirt and jacket that would look appropriate at a funeral. But it was her hair that had Meredith staring. It was sprayed so stiff it didn’t move at all.
Just like hers
. Meredith reached up and touched her own stiff creation and winced.

              “Taryn, sweetie, there you are. Bailey said I’d find you over here. She had to take off for some emergency. Who knows, but she said that you’d be happy to go over the wedding plans with me. I have my folder right here,” she said, patting a school folder meant for a girl in the third or fourth grade with a picture of a kitten and a flower on the cover, stuffed with papers coming out of either end.

              “I’m going to kill Bailey with my bare hands,” Taryn whispered just under her breath but loud enough for her and Brogan to hear. She shared a surprised look with Brogan but he just rolled his eyes and stood up to pull a chair out for his mother-in-law.

              “Anne, this is Meredith Jensen, my business partner. Meredith, this delightful woman is Anne Downing, my mother-in-law,” Brogan said before Anne reached up and kissed his cheek.

              “Brogan, you’re the best son-in-law in the world,
besides Kam that is,”
she said with a loud laugh that had heads turning. Brogan winced and looked at Taryn pointedly who reddened.

              “Mom, I’m sorry Bailey had to leave, but I’m not sure how I can help you. I had a wedding planner take care of everything for me. I just showed up when I was supposed to and then took off for my honeymoon. I’m seriously the wrong person to help you with this stuff.”

              Anne waved an impervious hand in the air. “Honey, you were born to help me with my wedding. You’re my daughter! You have impeccable taste and you know me better than anyone.”

              Taryn massaged her temples for a moment before answering. “Mom, I have no idea where to even start. You’re getting married in three months and you still haven’t made one decision. Every time you and Bailey make a few decisions you immediately change your mind. Is that what just happened before Bailey had an emergency? Did you change your mind again?”

              Anne nodded her head. “Yes, poor dear was in tears but then she got a text and had to leave. You won’t believe this but I think she’s getting frustrated with me. It’s not like I know what to do. I just want everything to be perfect and that’s why I’m second guessing myself all the time. I need your guidance, Taryn.”

              Meredith looked back and forth between Taryn and her mother and decided to take pity.

              “Mrs. Downing, if you don’t mind, I have a wedding planning business and I do weddings for a living. I’d be happy to help you if you need direction.”

              Anne narrowed her eyes and looked her up and down suspiciously. “You look too young to have a business. Do you know what you’re doing?”

              Brogan cleared his throat. “Anne, she’s the one who planned Jane Matafeo’s portion of the wedding reception if you remember.”

              Anne’s face lit up immediately. “I do! I loved Jane’s wedding reception. Well,
her
part of it anyways. All the Polynesian touches were so cute. I could do something like that.”

              Taryn groaned and leaned her head in her hands. “No, Mom, you can’t. You’re not Samoan or Tongan and neither is your fiancé.
No, no, no
.”

              Anne made an unhappy sniffing sound and turned to her. “I should be allowed to get what I want, don’t you think?”

              Meredith smiled and nodded her head. “True, that’s the whole point of the day, but is that
really
what you want? We want your reception to be a glimpse of the elegant and stylish woman that you are. I’m not sure roasting a pig in the parking lot would give the right picture.”

              Anne sighed and pushed the folder toward her. “Fine, look through all of this and get back to me with a plan for my reception. If I like what I see, you’re hired.”