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at each other, lost in the dewy film of love, but Misty didn’t look away. She wondered what it would feel like to be the woman whose man looked at her that way. Wondered what power the stark love gleaming back at her would hold.
    She’d played with the same question every time she saw Lori and Trevor together, and she’d allowed herself to pretend for a brief span of time last night that Jace would be her answer. Reality made a different claim and she needed to respect it.
    “The fruit can be purchased in bulk at the local farmer’s market.” Misty jumped back into the discussion they were all here for, hopeful it would derail her Jace-centric thoughts. “With your invitation list sitting near a hundred and fifty, you’re looking at eighteen tables.”
    Connor made it clear in the beginning he wanted Drea to have the wedding of her dreams, but that it needed to happen within the budget they’d agreed on. To show that they were keeping those goals in mind, Misty walked Drea and Connor through the math. She broke out the cost of the foam, fruit and flowers, as well as the rental for the vases. She kept the rental and the labor of putting them all together as minimal as possible.
    “I can do three vases on each table for just under a thousand dollars. While I think the three vases per table, with linens in a corresponding color, would look best we can just as easily do two. Your cost would drop to around six fifty.”
    Connor lit up at the six-fifty option. Drea lit up at the thought of the three vases.
    It hadn’t taken Misty long to discover the key to keeping a bride happy within a budget was with compromise. In this case she was taking a hit to her bottom line with the small profit margin she was going with, but the vases were part of her inventory and would be rented out again and again by people filling them with more elaborate arrangements.
    The goal of Tulle and Tulips Designer Weddings was to make sure every bride had her dream wedding, regardless of her budget. Misty would do her part.
    Drea and Connor were paying for their wedding without the help of their non-supportive parents. Misty couldn’t stand the idea of being a cause of stress in their already stressful wedding. “We can put it in the budget for the three vases, but if you find later that you need the money elsewhere we can cut back.”
    “But don’t you have to place the orders soon?”
    “The flowers, yes.” Misty typed notes into the shared database so Tabatha, the venue coordinator, would know where they were heading with their flowers. Tabatha would use the color scheme of the flowers to help them plan their linens and lighting.
    “I’ll get the fruits last minute so they’re fresh. It’s easy to change that quantity. As for the foam, I can always put extra into inventory.” Not that she wanted a huge inventory until she was turning more of a profit, but she wouldn’t share that detail.
    With their agreement to start with three vases, she escorted them to reception where Tabatha waited to work with them. Misty gave a quick rundown of what they were planning so Drea and Connor heard one more time that she was keeping their plans and intentions in mind.
    As she watched them walk away, pleased that she’d eased some of their tension, awareness washed over her.
    Jace.
    She pivoted slowly on the ball of her high heel. On the other side of the double doors closing Tulle and Tulips Designer Weddings off from the lobby area stood the man who’d dominated her attention since yesterday morning. The jeans and heavy boots of yesterday had been replaced with a perfectly fitted suit and tie. An array of feelings she couldn’t name crossed his face before something militant settled in his eyes. It abolished the polished façade of his fancy clothes. It awakened her.
    Misty didn’t remember crossing the reception area, but she placed a palm on the door handle just as he reached the other side. Captivated by his magnetism, she froze. Unable to