Page 2 of Dreaming of You

"What happened this time—traffic jam, flood or an act of God?" Shari asked dryly, knowing that Kate had a penchant for running late.

"We had to wait for the seamstress to arrive at the boutique and she got stuck behind a broken-down bus and a double-parked truck. Is Melanie here yet?"

"No. She isn't coming. She has a cocktail party to go to tonight, and she decided she didn't have time to squeeze us in. She's going to call and reschedule tomorrow."

She sighed. "This is the third meeting she's canceled. I wonder if she's interviewing other planners."

"Possibly, or she could just be a flake, which seems the most probable explanation."

She pulled the band out of her hair and shook out her long waves, rolling her neck around on her shoulders. "Well, it's fine. I have the Hunts' dinner party to get to tonight. I could use a little break before I put on my happy wedding planner face and try to convince Olivia Hunt to hire us for her daughter's wedding."

"I'm sure you'll be very persuasive."

"Any other calls I should know about?"

"Yes. I spoke to our landlord, or at least a woman calling on behalf of Fox Management, and she said that the downstairs office will be leased starting Monday. We need to move the life-size cupids we accidentally ordered for Davina Smythe's wedding somewhere else before then."

"What?" she asked in dismay. "That's impossible. We'd have to find a storage unit and hire someone to move the dozen six-foot-tall statues. How are we going to do that before Monday?"

"Beats me. She just called. I haven't had a chance to get on the phone and find a solution." Shari gave her a wry smile. "That's a mistake that just keeps on getting worse."

"Tell me about it," she muttered, thinking about the enormous statues that were supposed to have been cute six-inch cupids to go with a floral centerpiece. "I guess we need to figure something out."

"And fast."

A loud crash reverberated through the building. She and Shari both jumped to their feet in alarm. As the sound of swearing drifted up the stairs and through the open door, a terrible thought occurred to her.

"You don't think—" she whispered as the phone rang.

"I think you better go find out. I'll get this."

She hurried into the hall, her mouth dropping open at the whirlwind of dusty plaster fragments blowing out of the downstairs office. She ran down the stairs, peering nervously into the darkened room for one second before hitting the switch and flooding the room with light.

"What the hell is this? And who the hell are you?" an angry voice demanded.

A very tall, good-looking man stood in the middle of the room, holding a Cupid's arrow in one hand, a layer of white dust covering his obviously expensive suit. "What's going on here?" he added furiously, running one hand through his dark, wavy hair, unaware that he had just streaked it with more dirt.

As he stared dumbly at the Cupid's arrow in his hand, her lips began to twitch at the absurdity of the situation.

"You just got hit by cupid's arrow. You never know when he'll strike," she said lightly.

He stared at her as if she were crazy, and she took an instinctive step backward as he put down the arrow and walked over to her. Wishing she could add a few more inches to her five-foot-three-inch frame, she squared her shoulders and tried not to look intimidated.

"What did you say?" he asked.

"Never mind. I'm sorry. You just looked funny standing there, holding Cupid's arrow." Her voice drifted away. "Can I help you in some way?"

"Yes. You can tell me what the hell these—things—are doing in my office?" He waved one hand around the chaotic room.

Her mouth dropped open in surprise. "Your office? You're the new tenant?"

"I'm not only the new tenant, I'm also the owner of this building." His voice was clipped and to the point as he began to brush the dust off his sleeves. His Armani suit was completely ruined, she thought in dismay.

"I'm Kate Marlow," she said, her humor fading at his words. The last thing she wanted to do was offend the owner of her building. "I own the Romantic Affairs Wedding Agency upstairs, and these cupids are part of a wedding celebration."

"I wasn't aware that you had permission to use this office space."

"Well, not officially, but since the room was empty, the building superintendent said he didn't think anyone would mind."

---