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Thank God Savannah had gone to bed early and slept through the whole thing.
A dumb smile kept taking over my face all morning. Despite my exhaustion, which I battled with copious amounts of caffeine, I felt happier than I remembered feeling in years.
I spent the day securing the rest of the gala transportation donors, sending out invitations and coordinating with the florist.
Surprisingly, things were shaping up rather nicely. Jack offered to make a few calls, taking care of several items on my to-do list for which I was grateful.
He made for a great assistant.
As I applied my makeup in preparation for the major donor pre-gala dinner, I ran through all the updates I’d needed to share. Fortunately, Barb was technically the host, so I just needed to show up and regale the group with the plans for their biggest event of the year.
No pressure.
I thrived on talking to groups, whether a room full of wealthy donors or celebrities. I always felt secure enough in my work and my ability to find more work to mitigate any nervousness I might feel.
But things were different in Haver’s Creek. It felt like the stakes were higher here than in LA, with its big market and even bigger population.
If I messed up, which let’s be honest, I never did, I could avoid terrible clients or vendors.
Not so much the case here in Haver’s Creek.
This return home needed to pan out. I needed to build a career here and making a good impression on the gala donors would help significantly.
I needed to put my best foot forward.
Pressing down on my eyelash curler, I finished the final steps of my make up routine and wondered what Jack would make of me. I wanted to look good for him.
He planned to just meet me at the diner since he was scheduled to patrol today.
It gave me another thing to be equal parts nervous and excited about. Seeing him after a long day apart.
When I arrived at the diner an hour later, I made the rounds introducing myself to the major donors as Barb checked in with her staff about preparing our meal. The diner bustled, but we had a quiet corner in the back roped off for this occasion.
Such a casual setting for a donor dinner. Only Barb possessed the ability to bring wealthy people together at a place that served burgers, shakes and pies, and know they’d leave happy about it.
That woman oozed charm and could convince anyone of anything.
A bell above the entrance door chimed, sending my head in that direction. I quickly masked my disappointment at finding Katie Kooney and not Jack.
Tall, gorgeous, and peppy, Katie made her way around the group giving everyone she came across an air kiss on each cheek.
How European.
Finally, when she reached me, she gave the same greeting. “Whitney. I haven’t heard from you.”
I furrowed my brow in confusion. “Have you not been getting my messages?” I found that highly unlikely. “Can we meet tomorrow? I want to finally lock down the paperwork.”
She flashed a smile, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes. “Sure.”
That was weird.
Just then someone tapped on Katie’s shoulder, and she turned to greet them. Meanwhile, I felt an arm wrap around my waist and warm lips grace the skin behind my ear.
“Hey there, Sprinkles. Miss me?” Jack’s velvety voice sent a shot of lighting to my core.
It took everything in me to step away from him. We were together, but it was another thing to broadcast it in a professional environment, especially when we were just figuring it out ourselves.
Jack clenched his jaw before his eyes found Katie. He gave a quick, understanding nod.
