Chapter 4 #2
Unable to believe my eyes, I clicked on the email, and the words—his words—popped up.
Hi Brooke, long time no see. I know it’s a little strange to reach out to you like this but hear me out.
I’ve recently been approached by a man—let’s just say he’s a well-known movie star and leave it at that—who attended one of our beach receptions last year.
He says his fiancée wants that exact vibe, and he’ll pay well for it.
Most of that vibe was your idea, and I’ll confess that my recent attempts to replicate it haven’t been quite as successful.
If you’ll agree to work with me on this gig, I’ll split the profits with you down the middle.
Just like old times. Whattaya say, Brooke-bear?
My hands were shaking by the time I reached the end of the email, but I wasn’t sure if it was because of grief or rage. The whole thing just stank of Ethan’s smarmy charm. Brooke-bear? Offering to split to commission? As if he wasn’t begging me to work with him because his untalented ass couldn’t—
“Brooke?”
At first, I didn’t remember where I was, and it wasn’t until the large green hand closed around mine, blocking the phone from my view, that I blinked and shuddered. Oh yeah, this was most definitely rage.
“What is it?” Sylvik’s tone was calm, low. Soothing. “What’s wrong? Is it your mother?”
I was still shaking as I pulled the phone from him to type a quick text to my mother, then emphatically deleted the email from Ethan. “It’s nothing. I’m sorry,” I managed as I slid it back into my pocket.
But Sylvik wasn’t fooled. “That was not ‘nothing.’ I couldn’t tell if you were going to cry or scream.”
My breath whooshed out of me with a little laugh.
“Both, probably.” Taking a deep breath, I rolled my shoulders.
“That was from my ex-partner. We had a wedding planning business on the West Coast—Wish Upton A Starr, a combination of our last names. His came first, of course,” I muttered with a roll of my eyes.
“Who came up with that name?”
“Him.” My eyes cut toward Sylvik. “Why?”
He shrugged without lifting his gaze. “Because it’s a stupid name.”
That shocked a giggle-snort out of me. “It wouldn’t have been stupid if I’d come up with it, though?”
He finished tying a ribbon for one of the ornaments and handed it to me. “If you’d come up with it, it would have been called something fun or sensible, like Starr Enterprises or Wish Upon a Starr, and you wouldn’t have tried to shoehorn his stupid name into it.”
I found myself snorting again, then shaking my head. “You’re right. He was so proud of that name, too.
Sylvik hummed. “I’m guessing the company isn’t in business anymore.”
“No.” Frowning at the harsh memories, I tried to find the perfect place for the lopsided little star.
“We broke up—I mean, the company broke up about a month ago. It’s why I’m taking an extended visit to Eastshore for Riven’s wedding.
” Ah, there, it would fit perfectly in that bald spot.
I hung Sylvik’s star with a flourish. “I was always the…well, I suppose you’d say the creative side of the business.
He was all spreadsheets and Type-A organization. ”
Realizing that sounded dismissive, I shot Sylvik a guilty look, but one side of his lips curled as he finished tying the next ribbon. “There’s a need for spreadsheets.”
“I know. I couldn’t run the business alone—”
“Of course you could.” He held out the snowflake to me and reached for the next one without looking up, as if his words hadn’t rocked me to my core. “You could do anything you put your mind to, Brooke.”
The snowflake dangled from my fingers as I gaped at the male standing beside me. He was tall and green and wearing glasses—not exactly every little girl’s image of Prince Charming. But in that moment, with those words, Sylvik had become my hero.
“And what did your ex-partner want?” Dark eyes flashed toward mine. “Was he begging for you back?”
“Um…” My fingers fumbled the snowflake as I tried to find the right spot for it. “Yeah, more or less. He’s realizing he can’t pull off the really creative side of the business like I could.”
Sylvik snorted and handed me the next one. “Serves him right. And can I assume…” When he cleared his throat, I glanced over at him, but he seemed—or at least, was pretending to be—fascinated by the bow he was tying. “When you say partner, were you two romantically involved?”
I sighed, embarrassed to be confessing the truth. “Right again.” When I took the little candy cane from him, our fingers brushed, and I felt that warmth travel up my arm again. It gave me the courage to tell the story.
“We started the business at the same time we started dating. We might not have been the most elite wedding planners in L.A., but we were up there. Successful.”
“Probably because his organization kept the business side running while your creativity kept the customers coming back.”
I managed a little huff of laughter. “That’s exactly it.” The candy cane went on a lonely branch. “But as Wish Upton A Starr grew in popularity, Ethan and I started to…grow apart, I guess. He…” I ducked my head. “He didn’t think I was sophisticated enough for the crowd we were trying to impress.”
“Well, that’s bullshit.” Suddenly, Sylvik was there in front of me, gathering my hands in his. “Clearly, your vision was what was impressing these clients.”
I managed a grateful grin, but it probably came out as a wince. “We were together for three years. I thought we were working toward…you know, a forever.”
Sylvik’s brows had risen. “You mean he never claimed you? Never secured your future? Don’t humans normally marry?”
“Ethan said…” I whispered. “He said that running a business together was enough of a commitment.”
Something dark and angry flashed across his face, and I realized there was a spark of green in the depths of his black eyes. Then he loosened his hold on one of my hands to lift his fingers to my cheek. When he brushed a caress against it, I shuddered.
“Then he was a fool, Brooke.”
I swayed closer, enthralled by the flash of green in his eyes, and his scent and warmth and comfort. Had anyone ever said something so sweet to me? Anyone I’d known for a grand total of like four hours?
It was that realization that made me blink and inhale sharply, dragging me back to myself.
You just met this guy. He’s only being kind.
It had taken me and Ethan like four dates before I’d kissed him, and here I was, ready to throw myself into Sylvik’s arms? Calm the hell down, Brooke.
He was clearly a sweet guy, supportive and kind and friendly. I was the one reading too much into this.
Wasn’t I?
I took another deep breath and forced a smile. “Well, I guess Ethan’s offer is a good one—"
“But you don’t need him.” Sylvik nodded firmly. “If—when you return to L.A. you’ll start your own business, and your old clients will flock to you.”
Oh.
That was…wow. That was really sweet. He had enough confidence in me to run my own business. I doubted I could, not with how disorganized I was, but… Huh.
I didn’t even know if I wanted to return to the west coast, but his vote of confidence was flattering. “Thanks. But I have an important event to focus on now, so I’m going to ignore Ethan’s email for now.”
“That’s for the best.” His smile was almost sad as he squeezed my hands, then released them. “Want me to finish this up?”
I didn’t want Ethan to ruin this fun evening, so I forced a cheerful grin. “No way, mister! When I said I had an important event to focus on, I meant tree decorating.”
“Silly me,” he deadpanned. “I thought you meant your sister’s wedding.”
I snorted. “I like to finish what I started. Hand me that snowman.”
“This one?” He made the little ornament dance toward me. “You mean the snow-blob with the growth imbalance?”
And when I laughed, the early tension eased out of me. Sylvik might be treating me kindly because he was a nice guy, not because he wanted to kiss me…
But I liked him. I liked being here with him, sharing the magic of Christmas, and I was going to treasure that as long as possible.