Page 8 of Dreaming of You

"Well, let's see, you fell into the wading pool at the Jacksons' engagement party."

"I was pushed by their six-year-old twins."

"And you dumped wine, not down your dress, but down Mrs. Bradington's white gown at her elegant soiree."

"Her drunken husband grabbed the bottle out of my hand, and he spilled the wine."

"And—"

"Stop already. The last thing I want to do is remember every embarrassing incident that has happened in the last few years. Besides, none of those things happened at the Hunts' party."

"Not even the hot guy?" Shari gave her a thoughtful look. "Or have I hit the nail on the head? You met someone, didn't you?"

Kate shook her head, not really wanting to get into her very brief conversation with Barrett Fox. "No. And there's nothing to tell. I spoke to Olivia and Candice, and I think they're genuinely interested in using us. They want to set up a meeting this week."

"Great."

"I'm going to start work on their proposal now."

"Before you do that…we have one more problem. Our downstairs neighbor wants our pink-and-white wedding wallpaper removed from the entry and stairwell."

"That's ridiculous. We got permission from his company to put up our wallpaper when we moved in."

"Some woman who calls herself his assistant says that it's inappropriate for his business," Shari replied. "She called a short while ago."

"Well, then he should just take his business back to wherever he had it before. I am not removing that wallpaper. This is just ridiculous. I already spent a fortune moving the cupids, and now we have to live through his remodel. It's too much."

"I don't think we have a choice. He's the landlord."

"We'll see about that," she said, knowing that with her splitting headache and her inexplicable desire to see Barrett again, she probably should not go downstairs. But she couldn't stop herself.

After several knocks on his door went unanswered, she pushed it open. There were two guys pulling down sheetrock, and she could see Barrett standing in the larger office by the front windows. He appeared to be putting together a bookshelf, which seemed a bit odd, but she was too irritated to think about that.

She moved quickly into the inner office. "We need to talk," she said. "Now."

He slowly turned his head, an odd look in his eyes. "Hello, Kate. How are you?"

"How am I?" she sputtered. "I'm extremely annoyed."

"Why?"

She frowned at his calm question. "Because you are turning everything upside down. I have clients coming to my office this afternoon and the stairwell is covered in dust, not to mention the fact that we can hardly hear ourselves think. And now I find out you want us to remove our very expensive wallpaper."

"Yes, that has to go. It's not appropriate for my business."

"How can wallpaper interfere with your business? And why are you renovating this office? If you don't like it, surely, you have another space you can use in some modern downtown building. Why wreck this beautiful, charming historic space?" she demanded, tapping her foot on the floor impatiently.

"This space suits me. It's private, and I think my clients will like that."

"Your clients? I don't understand. Doesn't Fox Management deal in real estate?"

"Among other things. But Fox Management is run by my father and brother. I'm an attorney—a divorce attorney. And I don't think your wedding wallpaper will make my clients happy."

She stared at him in astonishment. "You're kidding."

"Why would I be kidding?"

"Because I can't imagine why on earth you would want to move your offices right downstairs from a wedding planning firm."

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