Tangled in Tulle: Tulle and Tulips, Book 1 Read Free

“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