Don't Tell the Wedding Planner Read Free Page A

a large outdoor park with adequate parking. Food, for another. A menu based on medieval times? Complicated. And from what I remember about LARP, there are games revolving around the video. And they’ll need to be authentic.”
    “Tommy and Penny won’t care about the details,” he lied.
    They would care. In fact, they’d care too much. That’s what made a fan crazy enough to base their entire wedding around a video game. An obsession about even the minutest of details.
    “I once had a client who said she didn’t care. But she did,” Callie said. “Despite the fact the bride and groom were thrilled with my work, the one paying the bills wasn’t.” She tipped her head. “Who’s paying for all of this?”
    “Me.”
    Something flashed in her eyes that he didn’t recognize. Probably questions and comments and opinions about a wedding being paid for by the brother of the groom. Not your traditional arrangement. But then again, who else was there? No one.
    And there hadn’t been for a long time.
    Callie, to her credit, didn’t pry. “Then, officially, you’d be my boss. If you want me to agree to plan this event, you’re going to have to at least stick around long enough to make a few of the major decisions.”
    “How long?”
    “Depends on how our hunt for a venue goes. Can’t say for sure. Maybe a week?”
    Damn. That would mean he’d go almost a month without physically checking in on Tommy. The last time Matt had done that, he’d missed some early clues, and Tommy had wound up in rehab again.
    But that was two years ago and he’d promised Tommy he’d take care of this.
    Matt turned his options over in his head. As far as he could see, he didn’t have any. He’d only just convinced the woman to take this project on. Refusing her now would be counterproductive. And finding someone else to participate in this harebrained idea would be absolutely impossible.
    “All right,” he said, raking a frustrated hand through his hair. “I’ll give you until Tuesday and then we can reassess from there.”
    “Fine. But we need to get started right away, beginning with a meeting to list exactly what y’all want. I have to go out of town tomorrow, family stuff I have to take care of. But I’ll put together a list of potential park sites and Sunday we can make the rounds to check them out. We can use the drive to put together our ideas for the wedding weekend.”
    Sticking around to help nail down the details for this crazy event? Not exactly what he’d had in mind when he’d climbed on the plane today. Matt could afford two more days in New Orleans before heading home. And Callie’s brilliant smile helped ease the frustrating turn of events.
    “Sunday morning it is,” he said.
    “Forecast calls for a heat wave the next few days or so.” Callie’s grin grew bigger. “Hope you like the weather hot, Mr. Paulson.”
    The playful grin brought about one of his own.
    “Ms. LaBeau,” Matt said, leaning close. “I like everything hot.”
    * * *
    Matt entered his hotel room and toed off his shoes, unbuttoning his shirt as he headed toward the bathroom. Fatigue made his movement clumsy as he flicked open the front of his pants. After tossing his clothes aside, he flipped on the water and stepped inside the marble shower, groaning as hot water coursed over his hair and down his skin.
    The ache in his muscles had started during the cramped four-hour flight, and now finally eased. Matt leaned his hand against the wall and bowed his head, letting the wet heat wash away the remainder of the stress of the past thirty-six hours.
    It looked like his plans to get in and out of New Orleans quickly so he could check on Tommy had just bitten the dust. As a consolation, he now had a little more time to spend with Callie LaBeau. And the next time they saw each other, he will have had a full night’s sleep.
    As far as screwed-up plans went, this one could have been worse.
    But the time had come to rethink his