AllFreeNovel
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“Centerpieces?” I laughed. “Music? Lighting? Food?”
“Elliot said he’d perform some songs, but I’m sure he doesn’t want to sing the entire night, seeing as he’s the one who has to be on stage during the reception. So. . . maybe we need to form a playlist?”
“I’ll ask Elliot what he’s performing.”
“And then tell me, and I’ll create the playlist. And the Piano Bar is providing the food?”
“That. . .” I pointed at her. “I don’t know.”
“We should see if that waffle truck can cater. Milo and Maddylovethat waffle truck.” She narrowed her eyes and tilted her head, her hair falling to the side. She had straightened it today, having half of it pinned back, but what I assumed was a million bobby pins.
“I’m sure it will all fall into place. We have time.”
She let out a deep sigh. “And you said not to worry about the party,” she repeated, folding her arms.
I mimicked her stance. “Exactly, there is nothing to worry about. We got it handled.”
Dropping her arms, Ophelia heaved another sigh and turned back to the dress on the mannequin. “We’re both busy,” she said softly, her fingers touching the shoulder of one of the dresses, fixing a wrinkle in the fabric. “Even when you were pretending to work, we didn’t put our focus on this,” she mumbled. “But now you’re actually working and have your lawyer contacting you.”
I shrugged, leaving her by the mannequins. “No overthinking and no stress. We have plenty of time to get this party put together, and when we do, we’ll go bungee jumping again to celebrate.”
She let out a laugh and looked at me over her shoulder. “I am never going bungee jumping again.”
“We’ll see,” I sighed, taking a seat at the desk, placing my laptop next to her with the files from the office.
“Nope.” Ophelia popped herPand turned back to the dress.
“I love it when you do that,” I mumbled, opening my laptop to try to at least get some work done.
“Do what?” She turned quickly, her hand finding her hip.
“When you pop thePat the end of words.”
“I don’t do that.” She rolled her eyes and turned back to the mannequin, Carter instantly showing up at her side.
“Of course you don’t.” I chuckled under my breath.
I knew her Instagram had reached new heights. People were following her left and right, and the designs of the wedding gowns she had posted were being shared over and over again. She was accomplishing so much in such a short amount of time. It simply amazed me. And even through all this, she was worried about a party. She somehow was managing to put others first, even me.
This woman. No matter how hard I tried in the past, I couldn’t shake her. Through all the women, all the promotions and material things I had gained, she was always in the back of my mind. Even when those things were directly in front of me, all in arm's reach, I never realized how much I missed this feeling Ophelia gave me. And now here she was in front of me again, with a dream that was coming to life even with the exhaustion hiding behind her sweet eyes. Ten years of trying to forget her only landed me here: in love with her again, determined to find a way to make whatever we were work.
“Ophelia,” I muttered, unable to stop the words that were falling off my lips. She turned, placing her hands on her hips once more. She smiled and tilted her head, almost making me lose the words at the tip of my tongue. “Let me take you out.”
She pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes, moving her hands from her hips to cross her arms over her chest. Her gaze was heavy on mine, and I desperately needed to say something.
Ophelia exhaled and simply said, “No,” before turning back to the dress.
My heart dropped. I inhaled, holding my breath as I forced my brain back to my computer, booting it up and reaching to grab the file. I asked. And she said no. Don’t know what compelled me to, but I asked. It didn’t change anything. I would still come here and hold that pin cushion when she needed me to, and we would plan the party.
Ophelia’s hand appeared over mine. The warmth of her touch compelled me to look up to her. I tried to show no emotion that her no hit me harder than I expected, so instead, I gave her a smirk and raised an eyebrow.
“Clay,” she said sweetly. “You can’t take me out becauseIwould like to take you out.”
Have I mentioned that I was royally screwed?
Chapter Twenty-Eight
-Ophelia-
