Chapter 7

Callie

Monday and Tuesdays were my days off unless I had a meeting set up already with a bride. I tried to schedule time off. Otherwise, I would never stop working. Planning weddings was a dream job, but every bride was so caught up in her own fantasy and what she needed that I had to look out for myself and book time off, or they would demand my time all the time.

Even though it was my time off from the brides and grooms I planned for, I still went into the office with Isaiah, and we took care of everything we didn’t have a chance to take care of when we were pleasing brides.

“So, you had a busy weekend,” Isaiah said. “It’s a lot of work to put in when the wedding is so soon.”

“Tell me about it,” I said. It was hard work to make it happen for Abigail so fast, but it was a deadline I didn’t mind. I loved planning my best friend’s wedding, and I knew it was going to work out perfectly for her.

“Run me through what you covered this weekend, so we can tick it off the list. I’m keeping track of what needs to be done and what’s already been taken care of.” Isaiah was ready with his tablet, his finger poised over the screen.

“What would I do without you?” I asked.

“Your company would go under, and you’d lapse into a terrible depression.”

I smiled at how dramatic Isaiah was, but maybe he was right. Hiring him as my assistant had been one of the best choices I could have ever made for my company. Especially when I had had to take time off. A few years ago, I’d been in a car accident, a head-on collision that had nearly put me down. I had been out of action for two weeks and depressed about the other driver who had died for a lot longer. Without Isaiah, my company really would have gone under. But I didn’t say that to him. No need to give him a big head about it.

“We took care of the venue,” I said. “It took time to find the right one, and of course, when there are so many opinions, it gets harder, but we did it.”

“How many opinions were there? Wasn’t it only the bride and groom?”

“And Grayson,” I said. “Of course.”

Isaiah rolled his eyes. “I can’t stand men like him. They’re all alpha males with delusions of grandeur, hiding behind washboard abs and witty one-liners.”

I blushed when Isaiah mentioned washboard abs. I hadn’t seen Grayson without his shirt on. I hadn’t seen or even felt what his abs were like, but I remembered very well what had been below that.

“I saw that,” Isaiah said. “Don’t tell me you’re still not used to me.”

I laughed. “I don’t think anyone can really be used to you,” I said. “But you’re a sweetheart, and you’re right. He’s exactly what you described.” Including the washboard abs, I was willing to bet. I tried not to think about it because if I thought about it, I would think about the feeling of his body against mine when he had pinned me against the wall, his tongue in my mouth. His cock inside me. I shivered and glanced at Isaiah, hoping he couldn’t see right through me.

He was staring at his tablet. “The venue is a big one. It’s good you took care of that. The caterer and cake need to be sorted out as soon as possible. Some of them are so full, you’re not going to have a chance if you want it all so soon.”

I nodded, relieved the topic had moved away from Grayson, and I could think about something other than how amazing he’d made me feel.

“Do you think Grayson will be at all your meetings?” Isaiah asked.

A part of me hoped so, and when I thought about it, I blushed again like an idiot. Isaiah frowned. This time, he hadn’t said anything I could pin it on.

“What was that?” he asked.

“What was what?”

“Don’t be coy,” Isaiah said. “I’m the last person you’ll ever be able to hide a man crush from. That was for Grayson, wasn’t it?”

I shook my head, but Isaiah had seen right through me, and I hated that he’d called it a man crush. Because it was true. I had a little crush on Grayson even though he was a class-A asshole. Why were women always drawn to the bad ones?

“We went out on Saturday,” I admitted. “I wanted to spend time with Abigail because we’ve hardly seen each other outside of wedding planning. And obviously, Carter was there because he’s fused to Abigail’s side since they arrived. And along with Carter comes his entourage.”

“Grayson,” Isaiah said darkly. “That still doesn’t explain to me what you’re blushing about. What happened?”

I shook my head. “We had a couple of drinks. He was a dick, as usual.”

“And?”

“Look, I’m not going to pretend I don’t think he’s hot. You even know he’s hot.”

Isaiah shook his head. “I’ve seen you around hot guys. This is not that.”

I smiled, unable to help it. Isaiah could get information out of me in a way that would have made any law enforcement agency proud. And that was without torture. Maybe it was because he knew me so well.

“You’re hiding something from me, Callie, and you know how I hate secrets.”

“Since when am I not allowed to keep my personal life private?”

Isaiah looked at me like it was a dumb question. “Since your assistant is also the love guru, and I see you heading down a very bad path.”

“You’re being a little dramatic, aren’t you?” I asked.

“Am I?” Isaiah teased. “Am I, really? I think I’m right. Come on, tell me. Did you flirt with him? Fantasize about him and give yourself a good time.

I laughed. “You’re disgusting,” I said. “And no, I didn’t give myself a good time. If you must know, I let him do that for me.”

Isaiah was smiling, but when I said it, his smile faded and his eyes widened slightly.

“Are you joking?” he asked.

I blushed, realizing I’d let it slip. We had been joking, and I thought I was being cute. Isaiah didn’t wait for an answer. He didn’t have to. He did know me much better than I was comfortable with sometimes.

“Oh my God,” Isaiah said, pressing his fingers to his lips. “You didn’t. Did you sleep with him?”

I blushed even harder.

“It’s not like it was a big deal,” I said. “It was in a closet at the club. It wasn’t like it counted.”

“What are you talking about? How can it not count?”

I shrugged. “It all happened so fast.

Isaiah shook his head. “Honey, let me get something straight. Was his dick inside you?”

I turned bright red, this time because I was downright embarrassed at how open Isaiah was being. He had never stood on formality. He was always brutally honest, and those were qualities I liked about him. But sometimes, I wished he wouldn’t put it out there in black and white the way he was doing.

I nodded.

“So, that means you slept with him. It counts.” Isaiah sat back, his tablet and his work updates forgotten.

“Normally, I would high-five you and say you’re a rock star. But it’s Grayson,” Isaiah said. “The man who’s making your wedding planning a living nightmare, the man who isn’t happy for his best friend or yours.”

“You don’t have to rub it in,” I said. “Do you think I don’t know it might have been a mistake?”

Isaiah shook his head. “I think you’re blushing too hard to think of it as a regret.”

He was right. I didn’t regret it. I probably should have, but it was too soon, the aftereffect still hanging around me. I could still remember exactly what he had felt like, how he had tasted, the thrill that had come with doing something so wrong just because it had felt so right.

“It was just a quickie,” I said. “We were both drunk and attracted to each other, and it happened. It’s not going to happen again.”

Isaiah reached across the table and squeezed my hand.

“If it’s what you want, go for it,” he said. “I’m shocked, but it’s your life.”

I frowned. “That was a sudden change of heart.”

Isaiah shrugged. “You’re a grown woman. Like I said, I’m shocked, but I can’t tell you what to do, and it might have been a little much to react that way.”

I nodded. It might have been, but I also knew he was right.

“Besides, you’re getting more than I am right now,” Isaiah added, and his joke broke the tension. I laughed, shaking my head.

“You’re too much,” I said

“That’s what every man needs to hear.”

I laughed again.

“On a serious note,” Isaiah said. “Be careful of him. If he’s a good fuck, go for it. But don’t trust the guy.”

I tried not to blush about the part where he had said Grayson was “a good fuck” but focused on the rest of his words instead.

“Why not?” I asked.

“I think he’s trying to ruin the wedding. You don’t want to get involved with that, not if you’re trying to make it amazing. Opposites don’t always attract.”

I nodded. I had been thinking the same thing.

“I have to go,” I said, glancing at the clock, relieved that a previous appointment would bail me out. “I’m meeting Abigail for dress shopping.”

“Alone?”

I laughed. “I’m not going to screw him in the changing rooms if that’s what you’re asking.”

Isaiah shrugged, a smile creeping onto his face. “You never know.”

I left Isaiah in the office and headed out to a bridal boutique where Abigail was already waiting for me. It was just the two of us, and I was relieved. It was the first time I got to see her one on one without anyone else interfering.

“Let’s get this party started,” I said.

Dress shopping wasn’t often a part of my job. I could remind the brides they needed to do it, but I oversaw the event itself, not the apparel. This was the best part of it, though. This was where the bride chose the outfit she would wear when she committed herself to someone for the rest of her life.

It took half a day to work through the shop, and Abigail found the perfect dress. It was formfitting with lace covering satin, and it had a row of tiny pearl buttons all the way down her back.

“This is it,” Abigail said, looking at herself in the full-length mirror.

I nodded, a lump rising in my throat. “I think so too.” It was amazing seeing my best friend in her wedding dress, taking that next step. I thought it was all very sudden, but what I had seen of Carter so far showed me a man who was inherently good, and I had never seen my friend so happy before. I wanted her to be happy. I wanted her to have the day of her dreams and the fairytale wedding she had always dreamed of. If it had taken her no time at all to find her Mr. Right, who was I to say it was wrong?

After Abigail paid for the dress, we worked through the bridesmaids’ dresses and found the most beautiful pink bridesmaids’ dresses that went with the theme.

“What do you think?” Abigail asked when she put the dresses next to the wedding dress to see a fuller picture.

“I think it’s perfect,” I said. And I was being truthful. This was the best wedding I had planned, not only because everything was going so well but because it was for my best friend. What was better than that?