"Are you almost ready, dear?" Potter asked her through the door.

"Almost?" Lenni called back. She was not almost ready. She had her dress on, but she couldn't decide how she was going to do her makeup. She had thought it all out the night before when Potter asked her to come with her to the "rehearsal dinner." It was just a meet and greet dinner for Jasper and Leah's closest friends and family. Both Potter and Beckett had been invited, and Lenni had planned on spending the night relaxing.

Unexpectedly, Potter has asked her to come with. She had a dress, the same one she'd worn to dinner with Beckett on the island. It was a little naked for a formal dinner, but this was a hip restaurant that had a club attached. It was more of a drinking establishment than a dining one Potter assured her. But now she was panicking. What if Beckett didn't want her there? He hadn't asked her after all.

If she showed up looking sexy, it might reflect badly on him or Potter. She didn't want to embarrass anyone. A barely-there dress and sexy makeup would make her look like a streetwalker. She needed to come up with a whole new makeup look in the next two minutes or she and Potter were going to be late. And the last thing she wanted was to call more attention to herself when she showed up.

"Dear, that sounded like a question." Potter knocked on the door when she didn't answer. "Lenore? Are you in there still?"

"I'm here." She grabbed her mascara and hastily put on three coats, then reached for a her favorite lipstick. It hadn't let her down yet, and this seemed a great time to break it out again. Red lips and mascara. She had great skin so she could pull this look off. It was chic. She would spend the whole night pretending she was a chic, aloof French woman. They didn't wear makeup, right? And she could use some sophistication. She would be spending the evening with billionaires and their gorgeous partners after all.

"Do you think you'll be coming out soon?"

"I do." Lenni took a deep breath and slipped her lipstick into her clutch before exiting the bathroom. Potter's eyes bulged and she wolf-whistled.

"I guess I'll have the hottest woman in the room on my arm tonight. Goodness dear, if I'd known you were going to look like that I would have warned poor Leah. You better have something much frumpier for tomorrow."

Lenni smiled and looked at the floor. "Go on. I won't look as nice as Leah. This dress cost less than a hundred dollars. I'm sure she's wearing something designer that literally cost a million bucks."

"It doesn't matter how much what you're wearing costs. It matters how it looks on you. And you, my dear, look like a million dollars. Beckett is going to be so jealous that I asked you first."

Lenni's head snapped up. "Was he going to ask me to come?"

"I'm sure he was. He asked me what you were doing tonight and I told him you were accompanying me to the dinner. He sounded disappointed."

"Disappointed that I was coming or you asked me first?"

"I'm not sure. Does it matter?" Potter grabbed her clutch from the front table. "Are you ready?"

"Yes."

It did matter, Lenni thought as they pulled away from the guest house. It mattered a lot. If Beckett didn't want her to come, it was going to be a disaster. His entire family would be there and many of his closest friends. This may as well be an event for him too. He and Jasper were close with so many of the same people. It was insane she didn't ask him before accepting the invitation. She was overstepping her bounds. She should have been more considerate of his feelings.

He had stressed that he wanted this to be a professional time. He hadn't even driven with her to Jasper's house. What was wrong with her? One little weekend trip and she was already acting like they were something serious.

By the time they got to the restaurant, she was in a tizzy. She didn't even remember what she and Potter had talked about the entire way there.

"Mrs. Potter!"

A woman who looked like a model ran toward them, waving. She was followed by two men, one younger and one older. They were an attractive trio.

"Stephanie!" Potter embraced the woman and kissed her on both cheeks. "I was wondering if you three had beat me here."

"I'm just glad Connor could get himself ready in time," Stephanie looked back at the younger man and touched his cheek. "He's as vain as his granddaddy."

"I am not vain," the young man pulled on the lapels of his blazer. "I have to spend a lot of time making sure I don't outdo the groom when it comes to events like this. This is your fault really. You made me too beautiful."

"Hey, she didn't make you herself." The older man straightened his tie. "I know the lion's share of beauty comes from your gorgeous mother, but something must be said for my masculine handsomeness. It had to add something."

"Look at us going on about our good looks," Stephanie laughed. "We must be scaring this poor girl. What's your name, honey? Are you one of Potter's great-nieces?"

"I'm Lenora Belle, Beckett Hansen's assistant." She held out her hand and Stephanie shook it with wide eyes.

"You are Beckett's assistant? You are?"

Lenni tried to keep smiling, but the silence was making her skin crawl. Had she done something wrong already? Was she not supposed to say who she worked for? Was it bad form? She really should have asked Potter for some advice before agreeing to come to a thing like this.

"I'm Stephanie Hansen, Beckett's stepmom, and this is his dad Greg and his younger brother Connor."

She should have guessed. Looking at the older man, he had Beckett's eyes and face shape. The younger boy did look like a combination of his parents. He was fair where Beckett was dark. Both were still very handsome of course.

"Stephanie, over here."

The older woman quickly put her hand around Lenni's waist and pulled her close. "Smile big and try not to make any funny faces."

Lenni smiled big and there was a flurry of flashes.

"Who's your pretty friend?" one of the cameramen shouted.

"This is my stepson's friend," Stephanie called back.

"Beckett's got a new friend, huh? You the girl from the island getaway or are you new?" another cameraman asked.

"No time for more questions." Stephanie led her into the restaurant at a fast clip. "Don't worry, Potter and the boys will keep up."

"Why did you let them take your picture?"

"They would have taken it anyway. At least this way, they have something that looks good to sell. I know Beckett hates the flashing lights, but I try to stay on good terms with these guys."

"Why don't they ever yell my name?" Connor asked when he'd caught up with them.

"Why would they when they have your mother and Lenore?" Greg kissed his wife on the cheek. "You and Potter will be sitting with us."

"Of course they will," Stephanie said.

Great. Beckett was going to love this. She had just gotten her picture taken and she'd be sitting with his evil stepmother. The night was getting better and better.

"Please call me Lenni," she told Greg.

"Lenni it is. How long have you worked for my son?" He pulled out her chair and pushed her into the table once she sat down.

"A few weeks."

"He must really like you," Connor said. "He took you on vacation and he let you come here."

"He didn't let her come anywhere," Potter corrected. "I invited her to come with me tonight and to the wedding tomorrow."

"Speaking of Beckett, have I showed you what I've been working on?" Stephanie asked.

"The pictures?" Potter asked.

"I've been digitizing all the pictures of Connor and Beckett I can get my hands on," Stephanie explained to Lenni. "I don't want them to get lost in a fire or something else terrible."

She showed Lenni a bunch of pictures of the boys as children until Connor made her stop. "Mom, we're at someone else's wedding party. Please don't make this about us."

She put the phone away reluctantly. "Did you know we let Beckett name his little brother?"

"No I didn't know that," Lenni told her. "An odd choice for a kid. No offense Connor, but it's kind of an old-guy name."

Stephanie laughed and slapped the table. "You got it, girl. It was the name of Beckett's imaginary friend. He was a seventy-year-old man and when he died Becks was crushed for weeks. He didn't cheer up until I told him that he could call his little brother after his friend."

Connor groaned. "I hate this story."

"It's adorable," Lenni said. "I don't know how imaginary friends die, but that is the cutest thing I've heard all day."

"Mom is telling the naming story again," Connor said to someone behind Lenni.

She swiveled around and there was Beckett. He looked great in the outfit she picked out. She was going to keep that to herself. She could only imagine how Stephanie would react to that bit of information.

"Becks! You look so handsome." Stephanie hugged Beckett while he kept his arms stiff at his sides. "I just came to remind Lenni to be careful of the cameras. There's a horde of them outside."

"She can see the cameras just fine, son," his father said. "She has working eyes after all."

Beckett nodded curtly and walked away.

"Rude as always," Connor said with a grin. "There's nothing better than how embarrassed my older brother gets at these things."

Rude indeed. And now it was going to be even more awkward when he saw the pictures of her and his stepmother. Lenni was going to have to figure out a way to soften the blow with that one.