Page 26 of Love, Honor, and Ink

Chapter Seven

Some might call a Valentine’s wedding cliché, but Arianna loved them. What better way to show your love to one another than on the day made for love? Today’s wedding wasn’t too large of an affair because they’d wanted only their close friends and family to join them on their special day. Honestly, Arianna didn’t mind that as it allowed the couples not invited to enjoy their day in other ways.

As for her romantic relationship, Harper would once again be there to help out if she needed, but they didn’t have any plans after the wedding to celebrate the holiday. She wasn’t sure how they would celebrate at all. The wedding was an evening one, and she wouldn’t be done for the day until almost into the next morning. She would probably pass out on her bed after it was over and not have enough energy to do anything else.

She sighed and ran her hands over the back of her hair, making sure the pins stayed in place. Her business had been going very well despite the odd issues that kept coming up at each venue. If she were a superstitious person, she might have thought she was cursed when it came to planning weddings, but as she wasn’t; she hoped it was just a string of bad luck that would soon be over.

It was her job to plan for every possibility and outcome. Usually, however, people didn’t need to use their seven backup plans for each event.

Yet with all of that, she was still happy with her new life and new job. She was doing exactly what she wanted, even though she hadn’t known what that was for so long. She’d spent her entire life working toward a goal that in the end, hadn’t been the one she wanted in the first place.

Though she’d been kicked, and it had hurt like hell, her father giving her that ultimatum had been the best thing to happen to her.

She had friends she loved and depended on and who could depend on her.

She had a job where she could do what she was good at, and excel at it.

She made people happy and got to see them live their own dreams.

Everything she had was hers now. And though she relied on others, it was her blood, sweat, and tears that had gone into everything.

And through it all, she had Harper.

Harper.

Her hands fisted in the folds of her dark blue dress, and she forced herself to breathe once again. She couldn’t think of Harper, not now. He’d always been there for her, always, and yet it was different now. Things had changed so quickly that she could barely keep up.

One minute, he was her best friend, and she was doing her best not to think about how attractive he was with all those strong muscles and sweet smiles; the next, he was making her come against her front door with his hand over her mouth so she didn’t yell too loudly and scare the mailman.

She’d gone into this whole thing lying to herself about her true feelings about Harper, and now, she wasn’t sure if she could continue the lie. Maybe it was the whole Valentine’s Day theme, but she couldn’t quite keep her mind on her work, and off the man who filled her thoughts during the day and her dreams at night.

What would happen after this wedding? What would she do once the two of them had time to actually talk about their relationship and who they could be?

She’d done back-to-back weddings for the past couple of months to make sure she was ready for what would come next. She’d needed as many jobs up front as she could get so she had a cushion. Though she slept more than she had when she worked with King’s Weddings, it still wasn’t that much, and the wear on her body and nerves was beginning to show.

After this wedding, she had a couple of weeks where she only had to plan things and set up the next phase of her business. She’d done that on purpose, but now, she knew the time would come where she and Harper would actually have to talk.

What would they do when they actually spoke? She’d gone into this—whatever this was—telling him that it would only be for a night, and then later, for only a short time with no strings.

Yet all she could see were strings.

Holly’s voice sounded in her ear, and Arianna quickly pushed all thoughts of futures and Harper out of her mind—at least as much as she could.

Though Holly didn’t work for her as she had a perfectly amazing job on her own, because today was a holiday, her friend had offered herself and her new man up as aides for the day so others could have time off to be with their loved ones. Holly and Brody were beyond adorable, and they hadn’t minded working on the romantic holiday as long as they could be together.

“What is it?” she asked over her Bluetooth.

“We’re set up in the back to finish prep if you want to see,” Holly said. “It looks wonderful, Arianna.”

Arianna smiled, though the other woman couldn’t see her. “Well, let’s hope the front looks just as nice. I’ll be there soon.”

“No need, I’m here,” Holly said with a grin. The other woman had curled her pale blonde hair and pinned it back from her face. She wore a long, off-the-shoulder, deep blue dress that matched the bride’s colors. Brody stood behind her; his hair brushed back from his eyes, though Arianna knew it would fall forward soon. It tended to do that when he smiled, and she knew Holly loved it so much she practically melted in his arms.

“You were fast,” Arianna said with a grin.

“I was walking as I talked to you. I wanted to see your dress, and oh my God, Arianna, you look amazing. It’s like stars on moonlight.”

Arianna slid her hands down her dress and sighed. She truly loved this dress and was so happy she’d found it on clearance when she was looking for the perfect dress to match the wedding. She felt like a fairy princess in it. Plus, she remembered the way Harper’s eyes had darkened when she’d tried it on for him that day…

---