Page 4 of Exposed

He sets his water down. “She’s dying.”

My red-hot expression falls as he throws me for another loop. “Oh my goodness. I’m so sorry.”

Daniel shrugs again.

He actually shrugs.

The man is devoid of compassion.

“It is what it is. We all have our time, right?”

“I … I guess.”

He leans in and rests his forearms on the table. “I need a wedding, and I don’t know how to plan a wedding. I want to make sure all Trippy’s dreams come true before, you know…” Daniel proceeds to slash his hand across his neck. “She keels over.”

I sit back in my chair in awe—and not in a good way.

In the worst possible way.

My embarrassment from talking about juices of any kind flies out the window and disintegrates into the ocean breeze. It’s replaced by pure and complete mortification. “Trippy?”

Daniel doesn’t have a chance to explain because the waiter returns. “Good afternoon. May I offer you a drink or cocktail, sir?”

Shoot. It’s too late to run from this diabolical, callous man.

The scariest prospective client I’ve ever entertained sighs. “I’d kill for a whiskey, but I can’t. A Coke and an iced tea—no sugar.”

“Of course.” Daniel and I have collectively killed all our waiter’s dreams of a decent tip. “I’ll be back to take your order.”

Daniel wastes no time. “Trippy is my aunt. She wants to marry her long-time companion before her ailments do her in. I promised her I’d make it happen. I’m willing to pay a rush fee—whatever it takes.”

A rush fee. No one has ever offered me a rush fee before. This givesshotgun weddinga whole new meaning.

My make it or break it era likes the idea of a rush fee.

That is, if I can put up with Mr. Armstrong. But if his aunt with a strange name won’t be with us much longer, I can grin and bear it. And in the spirit of paying rent and eating, I’m willing to do almost anything.

“I can make this happen. I want to help you and your aunt create a memory. Tell me more about Trippy, her companion, and the details that are important to her.”

He levels his intense stare on me. “She has one last wish in life, and I’m determined to make it happen.”

Call it my bleeding heart or my undying belief in happily ever afters, but it doesn’t take long for me to want to do everything I can to make all Aunt Trippy’s wishes come true. I lean forward and lower my voice. “I’ll do everything I can to make that happen, Mr. Armstrong.”

He smacks the linen tablecloth, making me jump. “She wants to be married at The Pink.”

My eyes widen. “The Pink?”

“Yep. You know of it?”

“Everyone knows The Pink.” I feel the blood drain from my face. All of a sudden, my bleeding heart only aches for myself. “That’s a tall order. It’s booked solid for the next two years.”

“You haven’t even checked. How do you know?” he bites. “Do you do a lot of events there?”

“Mr. Armstrong, I don’t want to mislead you. I’m very good at what I do, and I’m willing to work with all budgets. Even though I’ve only been in Miami for a short time and am still building mybusiness, I can promise you, I have no pull to get into The Pink at the last minute.”

“It’s all Trippy wants. How do you know without asking?”

It’s everything I can do to keep my sigh from expressing the loss I feel—and not for Aunt Trippy. I’ve lost this job before Daniel Armstrong has a chance to choose someone else or fire me. There’s no way The Pink will answer my call. “I know the owner, so I know for a fact there are no open weekends.”

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