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“Good morning, sugar,” Chase says. There’s a little…edge to his voice, and I look up at him and find him glaring at Hudson.
He’s jealous.
“Chase, this is?—”
“Hudson,” Chase says with a nod. “We’ve met.”
Hudson rocks back on his heels, that charming smile still in place, and nods slowly. “I get it. It was nice to meet you, Pretty Summer.”
And with that, he winks and then sets off to catch up with the women.
“Was that necessary?” I ask as I turn in Chase’s arms and give him a hug.
“Fuck yes, it was. I didn’t like the way he was smiling at you.”
“And how was that?”
“Like he wanted to eat you for fucking breakfast.” He lowers his lips to mine, and I’m immediately swept up in him, the way I always seem to be whenever he’s near me. “And only I get to do that.”
“Hmm.” I pat his chest and grin up at him. “If he had suggested any such thing, I would have turned him down. Probably.”
Chase growls in his throat, making me laugh.
“Okay, caveman, I have to get back to work. I’m on a schedule here.”
I wasn’t wrong this morning when I told my staff that it would be a long, grueling day. It was just that, and I was like a mother hen, hovering over everyone to make sure they were hydrated, had food, and weren’t overworking themselves.
To my absolute shock, Chase has asked me to be his date tonight. At first, I decline because I’m working, but it seems the man can talk me into just about anything. However, I don’t have time to run all the way home to get ready and then come back, so thankfully, Erin lets me use her guest suite in the farmhouse so I can get ready for the party.
My staff leaves when I do. They are going out to dinner and then home to rest for a few hours, but they’ll be back around midnight to help me tear everything down so we have a clean slate for tomorrow morning.
I hurry through my shower and do my hair and makeup in record time before donning my red, off-the-shoulder dress, just in time for Chase to pick me up and bring me out for the party.
I have to admit, everything out here looks spectacular. We pulled off the faerie garden look, complete with twinkle lights and a waterfall in the far corner of the tent. Chase’s bar is in another corner, with my flowers draped across the front. Two bartenders bustle behind it, filling orders.
To my surprise, there’s a full stage set up on the opposite end of the tent, complete with instruments and microphones, and I’ll be interested to see what they use that for, given how many musicians are here tonight.
“Have I mentioned that you’re fucking gorgeous?” Chase whispers into my ear. We’re sitting across from his parents, who I really like. Joy, Chase’s mom, keeps grinning over at me. But it’s disconcerting to have her son whisper sweet nothings in my ear while she watches us dreamily.
“You have,” I murmur and take a sip of my wine. His jaw just about came unhinged when he saw me in my red dress.
“Summer,” Joy says from across the table, “I just have to say, these flowers are absolutely beautiful. You did a wonderful job.”
“Thank you. My team and I worked hard to make sure Erin got exactly what she had in mind.”
“I love it,” Joy continues and winks at me, then moves her gaze to Chase, and I can see the wheels spinning in her head. “Is this your first date with Summer, Chase?”
“No, ma’am,” Chase says with a shake of the head. “And it won’t be the last.”
“How nice,” she says, and if I’m not mistaken, her already wide smile grows. “How is your aunt Paula, Summer? She didn’t make it to our last book club meeting.”
“She’s great. I’m sorry she missed the meeting. She was probably helping me at the shop. She spends more time there in the summer, which I really appreciate.”
“Did I overhear that you’re the florist?”
I turn to the woman sitting next to me and nod, butterflies suddenly filling my stomach. Somehow, I was seated next to Sidney Sterling. The Sidney Sterling. My favorite country singer of all time. The woman whose every song I know by heart, and even got to go see in concert last summer in Seattle. I’ve been tongue-tied since she introduced herself to me and shook my hand.
A hand that I might never wash again.
