Page 11 of Love, Honor, and Ink

“Colleen—”

“See? You already have an employee,” Harper interrupted. “You’re well on your way.”

“Exactly,” Colleen agreed. “And then, when I’m able, I’ll buy in as partner, and we’ll go even further.”

Arianna slammed her hand down on the counter. “Stop it. Stop making plans that I haven’t even thought of. Stop counting on this whole big idea when I don’t even have the idea yet. I haven’t even made a decision as to what I’m doing.”

Colleen rolled her eyes while Harper moved so he stood in front of Arianna. He cupped her face, and her breath caught.

“Calm down, Ari.”

“Don’t tell me to calm down. Freaking out is working just fine, thank you.”

His thumbs brushed her cheekbones, and she pulled away before that treacherous feeling of wanting more could come back.

“You are a wedding planner, Ari. You already had a vision of how you’d change your father’s company when you became president. Why not just do that but with your own?”

Arianna blinked, the simplicity of Harper’s statement not computing. “That was for King’s. When I had money, backing, and a reputation. I’m nothing now.”

Harper growled. “Stop saying that or I’m going to spank you.”

Colleen cleared her throat behind him, and Harper blushed. The huge man over six feet with broad shoulders and a strong jaw actually blushed, his cheekbones a slash of red. Though she was pretty sure he wasn’t as red as she was.

Where had this alpha man come from, and could she keep him?

No. So not going there.

“Like I was saying before,” Harper began, his voice gruff, “you’re a wedding planner. You have the connections, the people in the business who know you and all that you can accomplish. You had already said you wanted to cut back and do something that works for you, handle smaller weddings. Why not start there.”

“He’s right, Arianna,” Colleen agreed. “Remember when we were drinking that one night, and you told me your real dream? Smaller weddings for the couple and not brides with tempers who take money from Daddy’s pockets. What were you going to call it?”

“Just for Them,” Arianna whispered, a new kind of excitement filling her.

“See, baby? You can do this.”

Baby?

Harper squeezed her hand then moved back to his sandwich. “You might be starting from scratch on some things, but you have it down with others. I’ll help you when I can, you know that. Between the three of us, you can hit the ground running. You’re a planner in more ways than one, Ari, just believe in yourself.”

Believing in herself sounded almost far-fetched at this point, but maybe, just maybe, she could shake off this funk and actually do something.

Feeling oddly enthused and energized, she went to the kitchen table, pulled out a pad of paper, and started jotting down notes. While she could have used her tablet, right then, she wanted something her grandmother would have used. It just seemed right—one new planner to another. Her grandmother had started the business Arianna loved, and she knew she needed every connection to the woman who had meant so much to her and everything she worked for that she could get.

Arianna let out a breath. “So, instead of changing what King’s had become, or at least part of the whole program, I’d start a business doing what I love with people who truly need my help. I’d have to do everything on my own.”

“Not on your own,” Harper said softly. “And between the both of us, we know a lot of people who have their own businesses. Hell, half the Montgomerys do at this point. I’m sure they’d be able to help you figure out where to start.”

Arianna took a deep breath before sipping her tea, her mind going in a million different directions.

“Okay, so I’ll need licenses, a storefront, a website, furniture, connections, business cards, pricing, documents, oh my God, okay, I need to start making more lists. And lists of my lists.” She wasn’t even thinking in a linear fashion, and that made her stomach hurt. She needed to breathe, but hell, the excitement about actually having something to do was already better than sulking for three days.

And there was no way she’d admit to Harper she’d been moping on her ass as she had been. He wasn’t allowed to know everything about her.

Colleen laughed and sat next to her. “Let me help, lists are crack to me.”

Harper brushed a hand over Arianna’s shoulder, sending goose bumps down her arms. “Tell me what you want from me and I’m here. Always.”

She looked into his eyes and had a feeling he was talking about more than Just for Them, but she couldn’t get into that right then.

Or ever.

Harper was her best friend. Thinking about him as more than that would only ruin everything they had, everything she already relied far too heavily upon. Harper had been part of her life for so long that the thought of losing him sent an ache through her heart.

She’d just have to clear her thoughts of these new casual touches and endearments. He was Harper. Justin’s brother. Her best friend. He couldn’t be more than that.

He couldn’t.

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