Tangled in Tulle: Tulle and Tulips, Book 1 (2 page)

“Your proposal is very well thought out.”

“Thank you.”

“But there’s more to getting a business off the ground than a plan on paper. And we both know things that matter rarely work according to plan.” That last bit hinted at something deeper. Something she wasn’t thinking about.

“Listen, Trevor, I appreciate what you’re offering, but I can’t agree to your terms.” Ignoring his reference to the future they’d half-planned, she focused on the present.

He may know business, but she had no desire to have him sticking his nose into hers. Coming to him for money was one thing. A loan she could pay back and never have to see him or face their past. His way would keep him in her life. “I need to do this according to my vision.”

“I have no intention of stepping into the design side of your business, but with me as a partial owner, you would not be limited to a set figure. I will bankroll your start-up costs, including construction, decorating, supplies and marketing to ensure a strong launch.”

You see the man who can grant your dreams.
Misty’s conviction-filled words rushed Lori and shoved their hopeful way into her hammering heart.

“What’s the catch?” There had to be a big one.

“I ask to be involved in the choice of location and the selection of the construction crew. I know of an empty space with more than adequate room for what you’ve lined out. Also, I have some contacts in construction who may fit your needs. With them, you can rest assured they’ve been fully vetted and are properly insured.”

“The final decision will be mine on where to open and who to use.”

“Okay.”

She knew better than to believe he was giving in. He negotiated contracts every day. Her specialties were intel gathering and hand-to-hand defense. He was certain he would make her see things his way. “What else?”

“The first month the business turns a profit, twenty-five percent of the income will be mine.”

Was he kidding? She could have an unlimited budget to set things up her way and she didn’t have to pay back a loan or deal with interest? As for the twenty-five percent, it could take a year or more before he saw any return on his investment. Unless she was missing something, he wasn’t getting the best deal.

“Ten percent,” she countered. “It is, after all, my sweat and blood going into it.”

“Twenty.”

“Fifteen.” She was testing him sure, but she also wanted the best deal she could get.

“Eighteen is the best I’ll give you.”

“Fifteen,” she repeated. “Or I say no. And I want a detailed contract. I’ll have my own attorney read it over before I sign.”

“Deal.”

Hesitant, almost too afraid to believe the offer, Lori extended her hand. “Thank you.”

He took her hand into his slim-fingered one and squeezed gently. Sparks zinged through her, inciting every banked fire of desire he’d ever aroused. “There’s just one other catch.”

She tugged on her hand, but he held firm. Damn if his face hadn’t resumed the indiscernible mask. She’d known there was a trap somewhere. “What?”

“I want to be your first client. I want you to plan my wedding.”

Her eyes widened with her plummeting heart.

Chapter Two

Fighting back a satisfied grin in the face of Lori’s shock wasn’t easy, but Trevor managed. Barely.

Her tanned cheeks flushed and her eyes trembled just a bit at the corners. She didn’t know how to respond. When he’d first seen her name on his schedule he hadn’t known what to think. Feeling though... Feeling had been easy.

Months of wondering where she’d been and worrying what had happened to her, of missing her and hoping she was safe had snapped to an end. Distracted moments of loving her when he couldn’t have her had slammed into him with the pleasurable anticipation of seeing her again.

Lori Mullins had spellbound him within moments of their first meeting. She’d aroused the playful side he’d lost track of between business deals.

When the conspiracy that almost cost him his life imploded harder than a Trojan infested CMOS she vanished. Gone until his FBI buddy’s team found her. Breck had assured Trevor she was okay, but she’d stayed silently hidden…beyond his grasp.

Not the kind to be caught off guard more than once, he’d done some checking to see why Lori was coming to him. It had taken more cajoling than effort to learn about her new venture and why the banks had turned her down. The economy had been their excuse. He saw the unspoken truth. Her unwillingness, or inability, to divulge her professional background made her an unsafe bet.

He was betting on her.

“You want me to plan your wedding?”

“Yes.” Betting on her in a way he’d known he would agree to before hearing her pitch.

Of course, his original plan had been to attach the condition of dating him to the deal. He’d reconsidered that angle. She was trying to put her life as a call-girl in the past and such a condition would stink of blackmail, or worse, as payment for companionship. This was his chance to start fresh without the stigma of prostitution lingering in either of their minds. It was his chance to prove he loved her for her.

“When is the big day?”

“The date hasn’t been set, but if things fall into place for us, I hope before the year is out.”

“It’s already fall. You’d have to get the planning started immediately.”

She tried to keep her tone modulated, but he heard the miniscule shaking. He just wasn’t sure if it was from an uncertainty of her ability to plan a wedding on such short notice, or a little fear at how quickly things were turning for her, or if it was from the thought of him getting married in light of how much they’d felt for each other. The jealousy idea pleased him most, especially if it helped in his planned negotiations.

“I know some of what I want. It shouldn’t be too big an affair, but not too small either. Maybe fifty people or so. Possibly at my parents’ estate, so outside with the water in the background.”

“Sounds lovely if you don’t freeze your guests.”

“We can see the water from inside the great room too. Nothing will be as lovely as the bride in what I’ve no doubt will be a classy gown with embellished simplicity.”

“I suppose you know what flowers you would like as well?” She responded with a snarky disdain he’d seen hints of before, but each time he’d expected it to be revealed she’d pulled back. He didn’t want her pulling back, so he chose a response intended to prick her defenses.

“Eh, whatever she wants, but I do have a preference to pale purple roses.”

“Sterling roses.”

“Yes.” Lori’s favorite. “Oh, and the traditional cakes. Chocolate groom’s cake with chocolate covered strawberries and the tiered white cake. Melt-in-your-mouth light and fluffy for them both.”

“Are you really interested in those kinds of details?”

Her monotone question wasn’t the reaction he’d hoped for.

“It’s my wedding too, but my mind can easily be swayed by the bride I’ve chosen. And I guess with only fifty people we could do with only one cake.” He smiled slowly and captured her milk chocolate gaze with his. “There’s nothing about her I don’t want to know. Nothing I don’t love.”

“She’s a lucky woman.”

He didn’t blink or look away. “I’m a lucky man to know her.”

“Do you want to talk details now, or at another meeting?”

His vote was now so he could spend more time with her, but going for later gave him more time to plan. This was one merger he couldn’t afford to miss a step on. “It’s going to have to be later.”

“Fine.” Lori stood and smoothed the seam of her pleated slacks. “I have someone waiting for me, and you and I need to finalize the business deal first or I have no reason to plan anyone’s wedding.”

“Of course.”
Except this one.
He followed her to the door, almost placing his palm at the small of her back, just a small touch, but he resisted the suggestive intimacy. “I’ll contact you as soon as the contract is drawn up.”

“I look forward to hearing from you.” Without a trace of personal meaning in her words, she shook his hand tersely, then strode to the elevator.

He couldn’t see her face, but the rise of her ears and the shift of her scalp told him she grinned. It wouldn’t be the last time he put happiness on her face, and she wouldn’t always hide it from him.

“Lori.”

She stopped, but didn’t turn. “Yes?”

“Would you begin sketching a dress? Anything you would love will be more than suitable.”

If she found his request for sketches odd, she kept it to herself and only nodded once. “Of course.”

Smiling, as much from the sad quiver in her voice—he’d bet on jealousy—as from seeing her again, Trevor turned to his new assistant. “Gina, would you get Bill from legal and Randy from maintenance up here? Warn Bill we’re possibly in for a long afternoon and let Randy know her maintenance team is in for some overtime.”

He had the perfect space for Lori’s shop and it was conveniently located. For him.

“Yes, sir.”

“And once they’re here, take the rest of the day off. Maybe go to a salon for a massage or facial or something. Use the company card. You’ve put in your share of long afternoons lately.” They both had since he’d taken the company back from Breck, because no matter how fancy his degrees or how great his intentions were, his best friend was better suited for leading his FBI team than for running a large corporation.

And since returning with a new drive and hiring Gina, Trevor had been intent on erasing the damage Edwin had caused the company—publicly and internally. Thankfully, things were smoothing out, new securities and policies were being implemented. He was still scouting for the right person to head up security, but now was as good a time as any to shift some of his focus to Lori.

She wouldn’t see him coming.

Chapter Three

“Ms. Mullins.” Damien Spencer, her attorney for the last fifteen years, smiled as he held her hand in his firm and slightly over-friendly grasp. Because he’d been privy to some of her secrets he thought he knew her and mistakenly believed they’d make a sensible merger. “I’m not sure where you found Mr. Masters, or how you got this deal put together so quickly, but you couldn’t have asked for better terms.”

Except the part where I now have to deal with him on a permanent basis.
“He’s been more generous than I’d hoped.”

“Well, congratulations. Let me know if I can do anything else for you.”

“I will. Thank you for being available today.” Extricating her hand as casually as possible, she nodded and pushed the down button on the elevator. Damien’s work here was done, but Trevor had asked her to stay—probably to talk about his wedding.

Her belly bottomed out at the idea of Trevor marrying another woman. Images of standing mid-ceremony, listing the reasons he shouldn’t get married swam in her head in a dizzying swirl.

“Anytime.” His voice dropped to an intimate level.

“What?” She shook her head and looked at Damien.

“Anytime.”

Again she thought he’d like to see their relationship travel a less professional path. Even with Trevor off the market she wasn’t interested. Damien was a nice man, but he did nothing for her. Even if he did, a merger he thought would look good on paper for the sake of his political goals wasn’t for her. Hell, the reporters would rip into her past and Damien’s dreams would shatter. Some of her skeletons could never be cremated.

She waved as he stepped into the waiting elevator and headed back to Trevor’s office. He sat at the small conference table where he’d been throughout their afternoon-long meeting. The table where he’d once spread her out like his buffet. And then they’d switched places.

“Are you satisfied?”

“Excuse me?” He’d asked the same back then, in the same tone. Could he know where her mind had traveled?

“Are you satisfied?” he repeated with a quizzical tilt to an eyebrow. “With the contract?”

“Of course.” She moved back to the chair she’d vacated and picked up her copy of the contract left by Gina. The papers bound at the top with a heavy blue cover, with initials, signatures and notary seals on the pertinent pages rested between her fingers with a heavy freedom. It was real. Her dream was real. “Do I want to know how you knew who represented me? I might have liked to call my attorney myself.”

“It’s nothing as underhanded as you think. You and Bill spoke about him. I took a chance and called to see if he still represented you.”

“Which could have put me in an awkward spot if he didn’t.”

“But he does so there’s no problem.”

“You’re arrogant and take too much for granted.”

“And you were eager to get this contract finalized.”

“Apparently so were you, but that doesn’t mean I appreciate the liberties you take. It makes me wonder if I’ve made a mistake taking you on as a partner.” If perhaps he wasn’t primarily driven by his wedding plans, because the sooner she was set up for clients the faster she could work on his special day. And meet his fiancée—an inevitable event she dreaded.

“You won’t regret me, Lori.”

“Mr. Masters.” Gina stepped just inside the office and folded her hands in front of her, not quite demure so much as proper. Lori much preferred her to Trevor’s last, and very pompous, assistant Edwin. “Randy is ready for you.”

Taking the announcement of Trevor’s next appointment as a dismissal, Lori began gathering her things. She almost missed the pleased grin flirting with the corners of his mouth, and damn if it didn’t have her pulse pumping harder for a beat and her heart wishing she was the cause.

“Lori, leave that.” He moved around the table and pulled her from her chair. “I’d like to show you…something.”

Something
slid off his tongue like a secret she shouldn’t trust. Surprises had never been friendly to her but operative work had taught her how many insights could be gained by following without argument. “What are you up to?”

“Business.”

“We agreed—”

“That I could pass on contacts to you. I’m only going to introduce you to someone.”

“Then why say you had some
thing
to show me?” He was leaving out details.

“Poor word choice.”