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“Like a real adult?” Emma pipes up when she catches on. “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail. Now you’re speaking my language.”
She rubs her palms together, and my brother groans.
“What have you done? We’re going to have a completed business plan by the time we land now that you’ve told her that.”
Her eyes light up, but I like that she teases him for his comment a little. “That would be great. What a wonderful idea, fiancé. It’s about time we finish that business plan on your computer. It’s been bothering me that we’re doing it in drips and drabs.”
“That’s not the only thing we’re planning in drips and drabs.” He nudges her. “Weren’t we going to do some wedding planning once you were done with the chapters you’re working on for your next book?”
“Yes, but we’ll get to that. Our moms have been talking about it almost every day, and I did the most important part when I found the man I wanted to marry. If we end up saying our vows in your parents’ backyard with me wearing a sundress, I’ll still be happy. I don’t need some fancy ceremony to make it official. We just need to make it official, right?”
“It doesn’t need to be fancy, but we’re not just running out for a loaf of bread. It’s our wedding, and we’ve waited long enough. You can bet your ass that I’m still going to make it special.”
“We will make it special.” She agrees, taking his hand before glancing at me. “Business plan first, then wedding. We’re closer to finishing the business plan than we are to finalizing the wedding plans anyway. This way, we get to put the business plan to bed. Plus, Vincent needs this. He’s right about Olivia. If he tells her he’s going to be doing this, she’s going to be worried if he can’t answer basic questions about the company.”
Maxim sighs but then he nods and starts walking me through the plan they’ve already started putting together. They’ve flagged the areas where they’ve been waiting for my input, and we start hammering out the details right there and then.
At this point, it’s just a dream, but he’s serious about turning it into reality once we get home. He’s even already started putting out feelers for office space. Although we’re planning on starting small, he’s also already looking into the areas he’d like to expand into first, and he’s leaving room in the business plan for them.
“I’m impressed,” I say honestly once we’ve been through it all. Dragging a hand through my hair, I blow out a slow breath. “If we can stick to this, we’ll really have our ducks in a row by the time we get back to New York.”
“That’s the plan,” he replies, grinning at Emma before looking back at me. “We’ll be home for a month before the wedding, and if I want to get the company up and running as well as be a good groom, I need to know exactly what we need to do from the minute we touch down.”
“What about a honeymoon?” I ask, suddenly frowning as the thought occurs to me. “Wouldn’t it be better to start the company once you get back?”
Emma shakes her head. “We’re getting married on a Saturday, so we’ll leave for our honeymoon on that Sunday afternoon. I’ve booked a romantic little B&B upstate that we’ll be going to for a few days, but after being gone for as long as we will have once we get back from the tour, we’ve decided against a long honeymoon.”
“Are you sure?” My frown deepens. “Even if we do start the company immediately, I could hold down the fort while you two go gallivanting for a week or two.”
Maxim smiles. “We know, but we’ve talked about it a lot, and it’s just not the right time for an extended honeymoon. Also, we’re both pretty over traveling right now. A few days at the B&B will be perfect just to catch our breath, but Emma’s going to have a lot going on after her next book gets released, and I’ll have to be actively working on signing new bands. Maybe we’ll be ready for a nice, long holiday for our first anniversary.”
I rock my head from side to side as I consider it, but then I realize this doesn’t really have anything to do with me. “Well, as long as you guys are happy, I’m happy. Just a thought, though, why don’t you push the wedding date to—”
“No,” they both insist at the same time. Then they exchange a glance and laugh before my brother turns back to me. “As I said, we’ve waited long enough. We don’t want to wait any longer just so it’ll be a better time to be able to take a longer honeymoon. Honestly, it doesn’t bother us. We’re so over being away from home that we weren’t even sure about the few days upstate. Eventually, we only decided to do it because everyone told us how tired we’re going to be after the wedding.”
Emma nods her agreement, then rubs her hands over her thighs, drums out a rhythm, and gets up. “I’d better get back to those chapters. I think you guys are on the right track here. Just fill in a few more of the blanks, and we’ll have a nice blueprint ready for the next step.”
Maxim grabs her wrist before she walks away, pulling her back to him to lay a deep kiss on her before he lets go. She winks at him over her shoulder as she heads back to her corner, and he keeps watching her until she sits down and turns her attention back to her computer.
“It’s good to see you’re still as whipped as ever,” I tease.
He chuckles, shrugging as he slowly tears his gaze away from her. “I am, and I really don’t care who knows it. While we’re on the subject, how are you feeling about Olivia? Getting cold feet about the relationship thing yet?”
“Nope, my feet are toasty warm.” I shake them around for good measure. “There’s a reason I want to talk to her about this once we get to Bangkok. I want to be able to prove to her that I’m planning for my future, for our future, before I ask her what I’m going to ask her.”
His eyes bulge, and he lowers his voice to a furious whisper. “You’re proposing?”
“No.” I laugh. “I will be soon if things keep going the way they have been going, though. This isn’t that.”
“What is this, then?”
I mime zipping my lips. “It’s a surprise, but you’re going to be happy for me if she says yes.”
“What if she says no?” he counters worriedly. “You’re not going to pull a you and dump her for it, are you?”
“Nope. If she’s not ready, she’s not ready. I can respect that, but you miss all the shots you don’t take, right? I’ve been thinking about it a lot, and I’m ready to take the next step with her.”
Fingers crossed she’s ready for it too.Maxim gives me a long look that tells me he’s still concerned about it even if he doesn’t know whatitis, but he doesn’t need to be. For once in my life, I finally feel like I’ve got everything under control—including myself. That’s a lot coming from me, and even I know it.
