Page 113 of Reputation (Tempt)

“Event planner, yes,” I said, shaking her hand with a smile. “Nice to see you again.”

Juliana and Emerson hugged. I gestured at the flowers. “I should’ve realized you were behind this.”

Juliana smiled. “Surprise! And congratulations.”

“Thank you,” I said to both her and James. “It’s beautiful.”

“I guess I shouldn’t be surprised you two know each other,” James said. “Since you both seem to know everyone.”

“Juliana has planned several of Brooklyn’s birthday parties.” I peered over at Brooklyn, who was sitting with Knox and Kendall, grinning from ear to ear. “As well as a number of events for my studio.”

“Oh good,” James said. “Then hopefully you won’t mind that I reached out to her about the wedding. With how busy we all are, I thought it might be good to get the ball rolling. I hope I didn’t overstep.”

“Not at all,” I said, because what else could I possibly say? Meanwhile, Emerson clenched my hand in warning. “And, of course, we’d love to work with Juliana.”

“Do you have a date in mind?” she asked. “Or a venue? Then I can start seeing what’s available.”

I opened my mouth to feed Juliana our standard line about enjoying our engagement and not being in any rush to the altar. I loved Emerson, but our relationship was still new. I wasn’t sure when, or even if, I’d want to get married. And I didn’t know what that would mean for our future.

Emerson wanted marriage. Children. And while I wanted to give her everything her heart desired, I didn’t know if I could.

I hoped I’d have a clearer head about the situationaftereverything was resolved with Trinity. But the fact that I was still dealing with her bullshit nearly a decade after our divorce definitely made me hesitant to walk down the aisle again.

James said, “Emerson’s always wanted a spring wedding.”

“I, uh—” Emerson’s mouth gaped open and closed. She tilted her head. “Yeah.”

“Now is the perfect time to start planning for next spring,” Juliana said. “I can have my assistant reach out to schedule a meeting.”

“Great,” I said, not really sure what else to do.

I hadn’t expected James to put us on the spot like this. But if I were getting married, Juliana would’ve been my first choice to plan the wedding. So, for now, I went along with it.

“You should enjoy tonight.” Juliana smiled. “My office will be in touch. Congratulations again.”

“Thank you.”

Declan and Astrid joined us as Emerson took another glass from a passing server.

“Are you sure that’s a good idea, Emmy?” Declan asked.

“Don’t be a buzzkill, Dad,” Astrid said as Emerson downed it in one gulp. “I mean, can’t we just take a minute to revel in the fact that Emmy is engaged to her celebrity crush?”

I turned to Emerson, brow raised. “Is that so?”

Emerson glared at Astrid, and I tried not to laugh. I liked Astrid.

“Oh yeah,” Astrid said with a smug grin. “She used to have a poster of you on her wall. And one year for Christmas?—”

“Okay.” Emerson covered her sister’s mouth with her hand, dragging her away from the group. “I think that’s enough. Thank you very much.”

Oh, I was definitely holding on to that information for later.

James was pulled into another conversation, leaving me alone with Declan.Great.

“Walk with me,” he said, clapping a hand on my shoulder and giving it a squeeze.

I forced a smile and walked with him to the house. He led me inside, closing his office door behind us.

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