12
The day before the wedding, Kelly sprang out of bed first thing. She knew they could get the entire wedding set up within a few hours if there were several people to help, but she couldn’t leave it to chance. This was her opportunity to prove to herself that she could do this. That she wasgoodat this.
And maybe she could go back home and tell her family all about it and how she wanted to branch out with her own business.
Or maybe not. But it was fun to think about.
She went to the coffeehouse, as she had made a habit of doing every morning, and grabbed a coffee and breakfast sandwich for herself. As an afterthought, she grabbed another coffee for Miles and a hot chocolate for Emma since Miles mentioned she didn’t have school today. She took a chance that the ladies behind the counter would know what Miles preferred. They did, and they confirmed he hadn’t been in there that morning.
She used a drink tray to carry the three drinks while she ate her breakfast sandwich with the other hand. She finished the sandwich just as she was walking along the sidewalk to the resort. A familiar car pulled into the parking lot, and she stoppedto wait for Miles to park. He saw her and smiled as he pulled into the same parking spot he had on the first day. She looked down at the wrapper in her hand and closed her fist to wrap it into a ball and chucked it at the hood of his car.
He opened his door while laughing, and she laughed along with him. Then Miles pulled open the back door and Emma got out. She looked at the wrapper that sat on the hood of the car and frowned.
“Why did you litter? That wasn’t nice.”
“Oh, it was just a joke, honey,” Kelly said. She stepped forward and reached for the wrapper, but Miles waved her away and grabbed it himself.
“It wasn’t very funny,” Emma said, clearly confused and still frowning at the wrapper that was now in Miles’s hand.
Miles chuckled. “It’s just an inside joke between us.”
“What does that mean?” Emma asked.
“It’s a joke only Kelly and I understand.”
Emma’s frown deepened. “Littering is not funny. Uncle Ethan would be very mad.”
Kelly looked at Miles, and he smiled apologetically at her. Kelly only winked and looked back at Emma.
“I’m sorry I littered. I won’t do it again. Maybe a hot chocolate will make it up to you?” Kelly asked. Then she looked quickly at Miles. “If it’s okay with your dad, of course.”
Emma’s face lit up, and she looked at Miles. “Can I?”
Miles nodded as the three of them walked through the resort doors. He tossed the wrapper into the first trash can they passed.
Kelly pulled the small hot chocolate off the tray and handed it to Emma, who eagerly took a sip. Then she pulled another coffee off the tray.
“And, Daddy, this one is for you,” Kelly said.
Miles raised an eyebrow, and a smirk appeared on his lips. Her ears tinged red as she realized what she had said. He took the drink from her and leaned in close so only she could hear.
“Good girl.”
His low voice did something to her. She swallowed hard and watched as he took a long drink from the cup, his throat working the liquid down, and she gulped. She hadn’t even intended on it being sexual, yet here they were.
They parted ways at the restaurant, with Kelly heading toward the ballroom. Miles told her that his brothers would be in to help as soon as they were all done with their obligations for the day. Additional staff would come in and help as they could.
She let herself into the ballroom and flipped on all the lights. The same things she had set up were still in place as she had left them, but there was still so much to do. She set her coffee and bag down on a table and stretched her arms above her head, doing a quick stretch before heading to the storage room.
She had set up only three more tables before her muscles were protesting from all the work yesterday. She hadn’t even pulled the chairs out yet for any of the tables except the sample one she had Emma had set up the day before. Kelly pulled a chair out of the storage room and set it up at an empty table and dropped into it. She was already exhausted. She dropped her head into her hands and scrubbed her eyes.
Her phone pinged, and she dug it out of her bag, looking at the screen to find a text from Ava.
Ava: Are you working already?
Kelly: Yeah. I couldn’t sleep.
Ava: Would you like some help?
