Page 1 of The Sweet Spot

Chapter One

Wolseley

Today was about Tangi and Ethan. I kept telling myself that and promising that I would put all my problems aside and wait until the after-party tomorrow was over to tell my friends the truth before it came out. Of course, the humiliation would be unbearable, but for now, I’d pasted on my best smile and tried not to cry when Tangi came down the aisle accompanied by her parents. She was the star, and I was about to be a pariah.

I could and should have told Jill. She would have counseled me on what to do, or at least found someone who could have helped me navigate my impending catastrophe, but instead, I stuck my head in the sand, hoping the shit that was about to fly would go away. And it didn’t, because this was real life, and I wasn’t in some kid’s cartoon.

Yes, I would get through today, cater the after-party tomorrow, and when all the guests had gone home, I’d take my two best friends aside and tell them the truth.

And then my career would be over.

My staff hadn’t caught on why I’d prepaid them for the next two weeks. I’d spouted off some lie about a change in my bank account, and I didn’t want them to miss their next paycheck if something glitched. So, as they worked hard setting up the tables for the buffet we’d be serving at Tangi and Ethan’s wedding after-party, I had to bite my lip several times not to cry. They’d worked so tirelessly getting the meal ready that morning, while I took an extra hour to sleep. I hadn’t gotten home from the wedding until after three in the morning, and unlike me, I’d had a lot to drink. Probably to shutter away the thoughts that kept following me today. Getting out of bed was nearly impossible, but I had to do it for Tangi. I needed her to have another special day. She and Jill meant the world to me.

“We have all the ingredient tags for the food?” I asked Wren, my restaurant manager. She’d been with me from day one, helping me get the restaurant off the ground, working social media, doing press, and basically making me the success that I was. Again, she hadn’t questioned the bonus I’d given her weeks ago. I’d told her she’d deserved it, and she had. I had no idea what would happen to her tomorrow or the day after, and my recommendation certainly would be worthless, but I’d pull every connection I had to make sure she found a job.

“You bet. We’re going to make sure the vegan table is set apart from the vegetarian and meat proteins. We can’t have that mixed up.”

No. And if only she’d known the half of it. Just the thought carved out a pit in my stomach.

“Guests will be arriving around noon. We should have the food out by one thirty. Appetizers by twelve thirty. Are the bartenders here?”

“They got here ten minutes ago,” Wren said. She had theability to remember everything in her head, while I always needed my trusty notebook or the reminders I’d programmed into my phone.

I checked my watch. We had two hours. It was more than enough time, but I needed to get my ass in the kitchen and leave Wren to the setup.

While I worked, likely in the last commercial kitchen of my life, I wondered what bankruptcy would be like. My lawyer had already assured me the corporation would take the hit, and other than my credibility, I had nothing much to lose. Right. Just my credibility. And the irony of it all was that the restaurant had finally turned a profit.

But he’d also warned of the possibility that some of my former customers could sue me personally. He’d said it so casually like I had nothing to worry about, but I knew how this worked. If people thought they could land a payday, they’d sue. Only problem was that I would also be bankrupt. I suppose that was why he’d said it so casually. You can’t collect from someone without a dime to their name.

The tent had been assembled the night before, and now the chairs were being set up. Half the wedding was going to be here, including all of Ethan’s teammates. With all that had gone on, I hadn’t met many of them, or really much of anyone, for that matter. I’d been so preoccupied dealing with my self-inflicted, looming catastrophe, while trying so hard to put on an act that I had no time to socialize.

I did tell two people about the impending firestorm, the two people in the world who always had my back and who loved me unconditionally: my parents. As expected, I had their full support, and they’d assured me that they’d help with anything I needed. They’d even called a lawyer friend of theirs even though I’d told them I already had one. But they’d always been the type to help even when it wasn’t asked for, and I’dalways appreciated them for that. I’d won the parent lottery with them.

Jill was the first of our friends at arrive to the after-party event. As the maid of honor, a title I insisted she have, she had taken her role seriously and wanted to make sure everything was up to snuff, not that she doubted me, but if you knew Jill, she had to be on top of everything.

We’d been friends for so long that we knew each other inside and out, and that was why she kept giving me an odd look. She could see through me as she strolled toward me, over six feet tall in her three-inch heels. She was nearly a foot taller than me in those, and since I didn’t even own a pair of heels before yesterday, she was always looming over me.

She pointed at me and narrowed her gaze. “What’s wrong?”

She had on the prettiest blue sundress with small white daisies on it. She looked like a model and a goddess in it, the color bringing out her blue eyes even more. I could see why Jeremy fell for her despite every effort she took to push him away. Jill was the hard-ass of our crew, a badge of honor she wore willingly and proudly. Life had dealt her a crappy hand that included an absentee father and the most narcissistic mother a person could have. How Jill came out of that dismal environment to be the successful, centered woman she was came down to Jill’s determination to succeed. She’d never let anything or anyone hold her back, and that included the opposite sex … until Jeremy. He had made a mess of his life and lost the captaincy of the Kodiaks when he decided to screw around with another player’s wife—just about the worst thing a teammate could do to another teammate. Jill, as the new head of PR for the Kodiaks, had been left to clean up his mess, and in the process, she’d finally met her match. And when the sparks started to fly, she couldn’t fight them anymore. I couldn’t blame her. Jeremy oozed sex appeal.

“Nothing is wrong,” I said with a smile that felt so forced.

Jill sighed dramatically. “You can’t fool me. You’ve been off since we got back to Minneapolis.”

“Stress,” I said with a shrug. “I’ve been working a lot. Oh geez, do those tables crooked to you?”

Jill glanced over at the tables, and I knew it was all I needed to say to get her to wander off and make sure everything was neatly arranged. I took that opportunity to sneak back to the kitchen to decompress for a few minutes in one of the empty corners. I scanned over the scribbles in my notebook to make sure we’d covered it all. Then, I checked in with Wren one last time before making my way to the ladies’ room to change into something more appropriate for the day. I couldn’t pull off a sundress like Jill, but I put on a nice pair of black trousers and a simple pink blouse that didn’t accentuate my cleavage much. It was definitely more conservative than what I usually liked to wear, but I didn’t need to stick out today, not that I would. While Jill was the goddess, Tangi was the toned and sexy athlete. I was the frumpy one who liked to change my hair color on a whim, wore comfortable and fun clothes, and was neither a goddess nor a sexy athlete. Now don’t get me wrong; I didn’t care that I was the curvy one with boobs that seemed to always get in the way or the short one with chubby cheeks who wanted to save the world. I loved who I was, and I was totally comfortable in my own skin.

I’d been thinking about that when I exited the ladies’ room and walked into the human equivalent of a brick wall. I nearly fell back, but a strong hand gripped my forearm and helped me keep my balance.

“Oh, sorry,” I said, staring up into deep-blue eyes. It took me only a second to realize it was Brandon Warde.TheBrandon Warde. Once the most hated player on the Kodiaks, he was now team captain. Long story, I was told. Something about Ethan not wanting the job, which, honestly, was pretty smart of him. Ethan was a lot of things, but a leader really wasn’t one of them. He wasn’t known for making stellar decisions, and one of those decisions had lost him Tangi their first go-round. He was lucky to win her back, especially when the blue-eyed Adonis in front of me had nearly stolen her heart. Well, that probably wasn’t accurate. I don’t think he stood a chance, but Ethan hadn’t known that. Good thing he’d finally smartened up and fought for the woman he loved.

“No, don’t be sorry. I should have been paying attention,” he said.

“Neither of us were hurt, so all is good. Can you imagine if I had injured the team captain right before the start of the season?” I laughed but quickly realized I was babbling.

I was about to walk away, my face burning from the embarrassment of not only running into him, but noticing how hot he was. But then he started talking again, and I couldn’t be rude.

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