Read Tangled in Tulle: Tulle and Tulips, Book 1 for Free Online Page B

he’d hired her to plan a wedding to another woman had pressed in on her slowly and consistently. Each day her imagination tormented her with images of fitting Randy for a gown, of guiding her and Trevor through the other aspects of their wedding. Worst had been the moments when she’d allowed herself to recall his caresses or reflect on the security she’d only ever found in his arms. His caresses and security were sensations she’d never know again.
    Yet, now he was offering her those things and she’d run away. Scared. Hurt. Confused. She saw where she’d gotten the impression he was engaged to Randy. She’d allowed his vagueness to lead her down the path of misunderstanding because she simply wasn’t ready for any other truth.
    The kiss in his office…the feel of his body against hers…the promise of his claims… She wanted them all. She could have none.
    I love you.
    Her first relationship with Trevor had been built around a lie. Her whole life had been. Regardless, he only thought he knew her and where she came from. He knew only what her cover had allowed, very little of which was true. Revealing the truths would mean divulging all her secrets.
    He could never know all that she’d been and done.
     
     
    Programming, office politics and security issues commanded Trevor’s attention for the next few days. The security issues had him longing for an applicant worthy of a management position, but everyone he’d tried failed to share his vision and respect his decisions. Still he sought excuses to head downstairs in hopes of seeing Lori or stealing a few moments with her. He called hoping to hear her voice, never knowing what he’d say.
    Each attempt ended in failure.
    She was either off-site or in a meeting with the privacy drapes pulled over her office windows. He’d had lunch or dinner delivered to her every day with a thornless, sterling rose with a note ending in “ Yours” . She never responded. She was denying him the chance to woo her. Pity for her, he’d just broken out a new play.
    In the event she’d won over someone in the building to warn her of his movements, he took the elevator from his private apartment—the one no one could monitor—and approached her space from the back of the building with a gift he was certain would bring a smile to Lori’s lips and position him one space closer to her private world.
    He peeked around each corner, looking and pulling back fast before looking again for potential interruptions or barriers to getting Lori alone. At the second turn he laughed at himself.
    I feel like a teenager sneaking past a girlfriend’s parents to reach her bedroom. Damn if the excitement didn’t quicken his blood and make him feel as alive as he had during those horny teen moments.
    Lori.
    Lori made him feel alive in a way nothing and no one had before loving her or after she’d disappeared. She made it feel natural to sneak though his building carrying a large basket of surprises. Whatever had her holding back, he wasn’t going to lose.
    At her open front doors, he found the space empty. Empty of people anyway.
    The furniture had been pushed away from one wall of the newly carpeted room while a fresh coat of paint—a cheerful shade of pale lavender that contrasted the ivory tint on the other walls—dried. He’d heard through the building grapevine that the previous shade had come out several shades too dark, and Lori had an eye for the details.
    Walking through the space, boxes neatly labeled with identifiers such as vases, paper stock, veils, etc. were piled along the glass wall of each private meeting suite, waiting for their time to be unpacked. Lori’s office, the kitchen area, and the dress stock room were each found in a similar state. The space felt…anxious for its anticipated opening.
    Somewhere in the sequined sea of satin, lace, and who knew what other fabrics, faint carols and muttering reached him. The warehouse had been transformed and filled with dresses