Page 148 of Mr. Wicked

Heat radiated from our hands.

But when I’d met Grayson, he was cold.

Ice.

A growly, grumpy asshole who did anything and everything to take away my sunshine.

That wasn’t who he was anymore.

I felt that evolution every day.

And I felt it in his hand right now.

“Warmth.” I looked at him. “I want to feel it. I want to see it. I want to smell it in the air.” When I gazed back at Jade, I added, “I want it to be everywhere.”

She wrote something on the paper and then addressed Grayson. “What’s your word?”

Grayson’s eyes were on me, causing me to look at him again, his stare so intense, I could feel it across my entire body. Tingles erupted inside me. And without glancing away from me, he replied, “Passion.” He finally looked at Jade. “I want everyone in that room to know the passion I feel for Jovana.”

“I’ll make that happen.” She set her pen down. “Unless you have any questions or anything else you’d like to discuss, then I think I have enough information to get started.”

“I can’t wait to see what you put together,” I said. “But if we have questions in the meantime, we’ll be in touch.”

We stood from our chairs and met her at the door of the conference room.

While we walked down the hallway toward the exit, she said, “To give you a quick rundown of what’s to come, you’re going to have a full menu tasting that will include desserts and wedding cake flavors, along with a wine sampling. You’ll need to listen to demos from the bands I’m going to recommend. We’ll have meetings with the florist, photographer, and videographer. There’s much more, but those are some of the main points.” She smiled as we neared the doorway. “What I’m trying to say is that it’s going to be a busy, but very exciting, time. How flexible are your schedules?”

“Since I work from home, I can meet whenever, wherever,” I told her. “Grayson’s days are a bit more strict, but we’ll make it happen.”

“Excellent,” Jade replied.

We reached the main door, and she opened it. “Thank you for coming in. It’s been lovely to meet you both. I’m honored you chose me to plan the wedding of your dreams.”

Grayson’s arm slipped around my shoulders, his stare holding mine for several seconds before he said, “We are too.”

We shook her hand, and we walked out through the front, Grayson handing the valet attendant his ticket.

While we waited for the car, I wrapped my arms around him. “So, on a scale of one to ten, how badly did you hate that meeting?”

He laughed and kissed me.

And as though the first embrace weren’t enough, he kissed me again.

“I didn’t hate it. Jade was cool. She knows her shit. She’s going to make sure the wedding is everything we want, and it sounds like she can make it happen even though we’re hardly giving her any time to do it.”

What I really wanted to ask was how badly he was freaking out over it.

But I didn’t have the courage.

Or maybe I just didn’t want to know.

“She’s good. I’ve seen her work. I’ve been following her for a long time. I have a feeling we’re going to be blown away with what she designs.”

His hands lifted to my face, and our eyes locked. “I know what you’re thinking. I can see every question in those beautiful, bright-blue eyes.”

My voice lowered to a whisper as I said, “Grayson ...”

“I’m standing right here, aren’t I, and I haven’t left your side once today. I didn’t lose my shit during the meeting. I didn’t walk out. I didn’t have you go by yourself, or have you pick out all the colors and features and elements—I contributed and gave her my opinion.”

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