Page 80 of Happily Never After

“Almost done,” she said. “Streamster’s been instrumental in completing the finishing touches. He was able to shorten his timeline by almost six months with their help.”

“Luke Islestorm, sellout. Never thought I’d see the day.”

She narrowed her eyes. No one talked shit about her boyfriend’s life work, even if he was paying her a crapload of money. “Luke’s still in complete creative control. He’s just added some resources, that’s all. But anyway, what did you want to talk about today?”

Brad pulled out a folder of his own and flipped it open. Printed copies of their emails were hole punched and grouped neatly inside. His binder skills definitely needed work though. There wasn’t a sheet protector or a tab in sight.

“Let’s talk about my vision for the trail ride.” Brad leaned forward and shoved his folder at her. A lighting scheme complete with oscillating spotlights and LED color-changing string lights stared back at her. Great. It was going to be borderline impossible to acquire and install all the materials before the proposal.

They dove into conversation about the trail. Claire cursed herself for even bringing it up. It would be a sunset ride,wouldn’t the natural beauty of the hillside have been enough? The patchy grass and stunted trees stood out in her mind like a sore thumb though. It was annoying, but this was the right way to do a proposal of this magnitude.

She glanced at her watch. An hour had passed since they had started the meeting. Surely Rosie had gotten Luke up by now. Her phone was in her bag, and she wasn’t about to check it while she was with a client. Hopefully the coffee she had brewed would improve Luke’s mood.

Next, Brad wanted a complete financial update. Claire pursed her lips as she wiggled her laptop out of her bag and pulled up the shared spreadsheet that Mindy had been updating religiously. She scrolled down to the bottom so Brad could see the final tally. He leaned back in his chair and nodded.

“Now does that include the quote for the upgrades to the trail?”

“Not until we decide on exactly what you want. It’ll be probably an extra couple hundred to a thousand, depending on how much you want.”

“What about fireworks?” Brad said thoughtfully.

She shook her head. “Rita at the ranch explicitly said no fireworks. It would spook the horses, risk injuring someone, and getting the permit would be nearly impossible. You don’t want Karen to get hurt on proposal day.”

“No, you’re probably right. I just wish there was something else, some final element we could add for real pizzazz.”

Apparently flying in fifty-foot-tall self-lit letters wasn’t pizzazz-y enough for Brad.

“You know, I really think we have enough.” She peeked at her watch again. Another hour had gone by. Luke was definitely going to be pissed. “You don’t want to overwhelm Karen with too much. All that matters to her is the question. Have you been working on your speech?”

“As a matter of fact, I have.” He ducked his head and slid open a desk drawer, then pulled out another folder containing several handwritten and stapled documents. He dropped them on the desk. Damn it to hell. Why couldn’t she shut her mouth? “I have several different versions. Can I try them out on you?”

“Of course.” She gritted her teeth. This would never end.

Brad read six different versions of his proposal speech over the course of the next ninety minutes. With Claire’s help, he narrowed it down to three versions.

“I really like the way you incorporated the story of how you met in this version.” She pointed to the speech she had marked with a yellow highlighter. “I think if you combine that with the anecdote about your first date at Alcatraz and your cross-country Christmas road trip from year four, you’ll really highlight all the beautiful things you love about Karen. That’s a powerful proposal right there.”

“Do you really think so? Because I was kind of partial to the story in this version where we?—”

Bang.

Brad’s office door flew open.

Instinctively, Claire stood and kicked her chair toward the door before tucking and rolling. Shit, her pepper spray was in her purse, and she had kicked her purse at the intruder. Her instincts needed some work. She grabbed a book off Brad’s shelf and hoisted it like a Frisbee.

A scream was caught in her throat. Was it ESA? Had they grown tired of their cat-and-mouse game and stormed the studio?

But no. It wasn’t a chloroform-toting lackey staring at her from the doorway. It was a very grumpy Luke.

“Sorry, Brad, Claire has another meeting,” he said. He crossed the office in two steps and pulled Claire up from the floor. Her world inverted as he tossed her over his shoulder likea rag doll. “She’ll email you later.” He stopped for a brief wave before slamming the office door behind him.

“Luke! What the hell? I was right in the middle of a meeting.” The blood was rushing to her head, which did nothing for her mood. She kicked her legs, but he held her in a vise grip.

“We have a date planned,” he said simply.

“I know that, that’s why I planned the meeting so early.”

“It’s been five hours,” he snapped. “I texted you three times.”

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