Page 25 of Tormented Billionaire Romance Series

“It's my pleasure, Jen. Come have a seat with me. We have plenty of things to discuss.”

She sidled up, dropped her purse in the chair in front of my desk, and then rounded my desk to wrap me in a huge hug.

She squeezed me hard. “I can't thank you enough.”

I groaned. “You can thank me by not squeezing me to death.”

“I'm sorry.” She released me and held me gently at arm's length. “I'm just so thankful.”

“I'm just glad you trust me enough to ask.”

“And you don't mind with being my bridesmaid, too? Is that too much?”

I shook my head. “Actually, I need the distraction. The whole break-up has my head frazzled and my body feeling weird.”

“Have you eaten today?”

I hesitated, humming as I really thought about her question.

Without missing a beat, she procured two protein bars from her purse. She handed me one and then sat down, unwrapping hers instantly.

“I'm trying to keep an eye on my weight for my dress,” she admitted. “But the stress has my hunger skyrocketing.”

“You still look as great as you always have, Jen.”

“Thanks, Clara. I'm just a mess.”

“And that's why you're here, to get a handle on the mess.” I pushed forward the first booklet. “This one has a ton of themes you can choose from. You can take a whole page or take ideas from whatever strikes your fancy.”

She accepted the book as she chewed slowly on her protein bar. She swallowed the bite she was chewing and hummed thoughtfully as she popped open the book. “Wow, these all look . . . expensive.”

“Don't worry about prices just yet. I have ways for us to fit what you want into your budget. We can get crafty!”

“I do like getting crafty.”

“Take a look at a few pages and tell me what you think.”

She hummed again, nodding as she turned page after page. A few minutes went by with us in silence and I folded my hands in front of me, remaining alert while also keeping my muscles relaxed. I was used to this part of the process. Over the years, I had developed a great deal of patience with each customer, picking up their rhythms so that I could work with them.

Levon entered my mind. It was sudden and strange, just as his appearance in my old apartment had been. I shook away the thought to focus on Jen. She was still perusing the pages, her delicate fingers treating each sheet like porcelain eggs.

She paused on one page. “This color scheme is gorgeous.”

“Cool colors,” I said with a chuckle. “I figured you would go for that.”

“I love this purple with this teal. Can we do that?”

I pulled out a fresh worksheet and wrote Jen's name at the topic. Under the color section, I wrote her choices while nodding. “We sure can. Do you care which color is on which object?”

“I think purple curtains over the chairs would look lovely.”

“We can do that.”

She hummed. “And the teal—those could be the centerpieces. Like the teal can be the accent so that the purple isn't overwhelming.”

“Excellent.”

“Could we do centerpieces that the guests can take home?”

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