You Say It First
Page 20
“I agree.” Pallas looked at the picture of the designer gown. “Still... You’re thinking fabric paints on the lace?”
“Something like that. Maybe black light paint, as well. Let me think on it.”
“You’ll have to talk to Nova first. She may not want her dress painted on.”
Nick’s mouth twitched. “Untwist your panties. I’d have to talk to her to get her to send it to me. Don’t worry. I’ll get her approval first.”
“Perfect.” Pallas turned to Wynn. “What are your thoughts on the graphics? Could you do posters or something?”
“I could, but I’d prefer to put them in a frame. Or several. Giant frames.”
Nick began to sketch on piece of paper. “Like this? I’ve been thinking about different ways to frame huge graphics.”
“Exactly like that,” Wynn told him.
Pallas told herself it was wrong to get excited about the thought of someone else paying for the frames Nick had mentioned. “Can you work up a bid?”
“Sure.” Wynn took notes. “I also want to think about invitations. I’ll bet I could do something on a thumb drive pretty easily. And something fun for the nontechy bunch. I’ll put a few different ideas in my bid.”
“I’ll do the same,” Violet said. “She’ll want accessories and we have to spice up those bridesmaid dresses. Especially if Nick’s going to paint the wedding gown.”
“I want to see if I can do something in papier-mâché,” Nick added. “From the world. Things to be scattered around. I’ll get you a bid, too.”
Silver sighed. “I feel useless. I can do whatever she wants at the regular price.” She looked at the posters. “Okay, a couple hundred for me to buy accessories to match the colors. Catering should be about the same as usual, too. Unless she wants specific plates and serving dishes. The same for the linen rentals.” She paused. “Should you talk to Natalie? What if she came up with a great origami mobile or several for the reception? With all this information, she could make it amazing. Or maybe favors for the table or something.”
“I hadn’t thought of that,” Pallas admitted. “I’ll speak with her.” She glanced at her lists. “I think that was everything I had. If you could all get me your information by noon tomorrow, I’ll take it to our bride.”
Violet grinned. “Are we doing it?”
“If Nova agrees to the bids,” Pallas began, then paused. Was she up for this? She thought about Nova and her dying father. Saying no would just be mean-spirited. And maybe Nick was right. She could use this experience to see what she could do, creatively. Maybe her weddings didn’t have to be so regimented.
“I’m going to tell her yes,” she said firmly.
Everyone seemed excited. They took a copy of the game with them and headed out. Nick lingered.
“You okay?” he asked when they were alone.
“I’m not sure. It’s exciting and scary. I wouldn’t want to mess this up.”
“You’re good at planning weddings.”
“Not alien planet ones.”
“We talked about this yesterday. The premise is always the same. A couple in love wants to get married. The theme of the wedding might be unique, but everything else is simply a variation on the same theme.”
He made it sound so easy, she thought wistfully. It must be nice to always be confident like that. She’d been the kid who wasn’t completely sure of her place pretty much anywhere. Except here, she reminded herself. She’d always belonged at Weddings in a Box.
“I don’t want to let Nova or her father down. And Joel.”
“Hey, he’s just the groom. It’s her day, right?”
She smiled. “It shouldn’t be, but sometimes that’s how it works out.”
Was it just her or had he moved closer? He seemed to be staring really intently into her eyes. That was good, right? It meant he liked her. She wanted Nick to like her. Before she could figure out a way to say that, assuming it wouldn’t come out sounding too dorky, he leaned in and kissed her.
The soft, warm pressure of his mouth on hers was exactly what she needed in order to forget the swirling thoughts in her mind. The second their lips touched, she could only feel, which was a very good thing. His arms came around to hold her and she found herself leaning into him.
He was strong and steady, his body hard with plenty of muscle. He smelled good, too. Like soap and man and a hint of wood. When she rested her hands on his shoulders, she felt the solidness of him—as if he were someone she could depend on.
He moved his mouth against hers. She felt the first tiny sparks popping in the middle of her chest. As he increased the pressure on her lips, the sparks began to fan out through her body. When he touched his tongue to her bottom lip, she parted for him.
He kissed her deeply, moving slowly, as if he had all the time in the world. She relaxed into their kiss, even as tension filled her body. No, not tension. Desire. Wanting. All those delicious things she hadn’t felt in so long.
Their tongues stroked and circled. She leaned in more so that they were touching everywhere. She thought briefly about the table next to them. While it wasn’t exactly fluffy, it was a horizontal surface and maybe they could—
He drew back and pressed his forehead to hers. “You’re a bigger temptation than I’d realized.”
The sweet words were almost enough to make up for the lack of kissing. He thought she was a temptation? Seriously? Her? Did he want to be tempted some more?
He kissed her lightly once more on the mouth before stepping away. “You have bids to arrange and I have to figure out how to work with papier-mâché.”
And with that, he was gone. Pallas pressed her oddly trembling fingers to her mouth. She didn’t know exactly what was happening with Nick, but she found she liked it a lot.
* * *
“IMPRESSIVE, NICK,” Ronan said as he spun molten glass to create the flat shape he needed.
“It’s harder than it looks,” Nick grumbled. He spread another strip of gooey newspaper over the inflated balloon. It was harder than it looked, he thought. The YouTube video had made things look so simple. A little secret sauce, a few strips of newspaper and voilà—a masterpiece. Only he wasn’t having much luck with his first attempt.
For one thing, the balloon wasn’t an easy form to work with. It wasn’t completely spherical and once his fingers were wet, the balloon got both slippery and sticky—a combination he would have said was impossible. For another, he didn’t like how the form was turning out.
Nick shifted the balloon in his hand, bumped against a jar of sharp pencils and popped the balloon. The paper he’d already applied sank into a soggy mess that draped across his hand.
Mathias strolled over. “You might need a different form.”
“Bite me.”
His brother ignored that. “What are you going for?”
“I’m not sure. I’ll know it when I see it.” He nodded at the video game sitting on the bench next to him. “Ever play this?”
“I’m not into games.” He held it up. “Ronan, you ever play Concord Awaken?”
“Sure. It’s a decent game.”
“Decent?” Nick tossed the dripping paper into the trash. “With enthusiasm like that, you’re going to get a call from their advertising agency to be a spokesmodel.”
“Something like that. Maybe black light paint, as well. Let me think on it.”
“You’ll have to talk to Nova first. She may not want her dress painted on.”
Nick’s mouth twitched. “Untwist your panties. I’d have to talk to her to get her to send it to me. Don’t worry. I’ll get her approval first.”
“Perfect.” Pallas turned to Wynn. “What are your thoughts on the graphics? Could you do posters or something?”
“I could, but I’d prefer to put them in a frame. Or several. Giant frames.”
Nick began to sketch on piece of paper. “Like this? I’ve been thinking about different ways to frame huge graphics.”
“Exactly like that,” Wynn told him.
Pallas told herself it was wrong to get excited about the thought of someone else paying for the frames Nick had mentioned. “Can you work up a bid?”
“Sure.” Wynn took notes. “I also want to think about invitations. I’ll bet I could do something on a thumb drive pretty easily. And something fun for the nontechy bunch. I’ll put a few different ideas in my bid.”
“I’ll do the same,” Violet said. “She’ll want accessories and we have to spice up those bridesmaid dresses. Especially if Nick’s going to paint the wedding gown.”
“I want to see if I can do something in papier-mâché,” Nick added. “From the world. Things to be scattered around. I’ll get you a bid, too.”
Silver sighed. “I feel useless. I can do whatever she wants at the regular price.” She looked at the posters. “Okay, a couple hundred for me to buy accessories to match the colors. Catering should be about the same as usual, too. Unless she wants specific plates and serving dishes. The same for the linen rentals.” She paused. “Should you talk to Natalie? What if she came up with a great origami mobile or several for the reception? With all this information, she could make it amazing. Or maybe favors for the table or something.”
“I hadn’t thought of that,” Pallas admitted. “I’ll speak with her.” She glanced at her lists. “I think that was everything I had. If you could all get me your information by noon tomorrow, I’ll take it to our bride.”
Violet grinned. “Are we doing it?”
“If Nova agrees to the bids,” Pallas began, then paused. Was she up for this? She thought about Nova and her dying father. Saying no would just be mean-spirited. And maybe Nick was right. She could use this experience to see what she could do, creatively. Maybe her weddings didn’t have to be so regimented.
“I’m going to tell her yes,” she said firmly.
Everyone seemed excited. They took a copy of the game with them and headed out. Nick lingered.
“You okay?” he asked when they were alone.
“I’m not sure. It’s exciting and scary. I wouldn’t want to mess this up.”
“You’re good at planning weddings.”
“Not alien planet ones.”
“We talked about this yesterday. The premise is always the same. A couple in love wants to get married. The theme of the wedding might be unique, but everything else is simply a variation on the same theme.”
He made it sound so easy, she thought wistfully. It must be nice to always be confident like that. She’d been the kid who wasn’t completely sure of her place pretty much anywhere. Except here, she reminded herself. She’d always belonged at Weddings in a Box.
“I don’t want to let Nova or her father down. And Joel.”
“Hey, he’s just the groom. It’s her day, right?”
She smiled. “It shouldn’t be, but sometimes that’s how it works out.”
Was it just her or had he moved closer? He seemed to be staring really intently into her eyes. That was good, right? It meant he liked her. She wanted Nick to like her. Before she could figure out a way to say that, assuming it wouldn’t come out sounding too dorky, he leaned in and kissed her.
The soft, warm pressure of his mouth on hers was exactly what she needed in order to forget the swirling thoughts in her mind. The second their lips touched, she could only feel, which was a very good thing. His arms came around to hold her and she found herself leaning into him.
He was strong and steady, his body hard with plenty of muscle. He smelled good, too. Like soap and man and a hint of wood. When she rested her hands on his shoulders, she felt the solidness of him—as if he were someone she could depend on.
He moved his mouth against hers. She felt the first tiny sparks popping in the middle of her chest. As he increased the pressure on her lips, the sparks began to fan out through her body. When he touched his tongue to her bottom lip, she parted for him.
He kissed her deeply, moving slowly, as if he had all the time in the world. She relaxed into their kiss, even as tension filled her body. No, not tension. Desire. Wanting. All those delicious things she hadn’t felt in so long.
Their tongues stroked and circled. She leaned in more so that they were touching everywhere. She thought briefly about the table next to them. While it wasn’t exactly fluffy, it was a horizontal surface and maybe they could—
He drew back and pressed his forehead to hers. “You’re a bigger temptation than I’d realized.”
The sweet words were almost enough to make up for the lack of kissing. He thought she was a temptation? Seriously? Her? Did he want to be tempted some more?
He kissed her lightly once more on the mouth before stepping away. “You have bids to arrange and I have to figure out how to work with papier-mâché.”
And with that, he was gone. Pallas pressed her oddly trembling fingers to her mouth. She didn’t know exactly what was happening with Nick, but she found she liked it a lot.
* * *
“IMPRESSIVE, NICK,” Ronan said as he spun molten glass to create the flat shape he needed.
“It’s harder than it looks,” Nick grumbled. He spread another strip of gooey newspaper over the inflated balloon. It was harder than it looked, he thought. The YouTube video had made things look so simple. A little secret sauce, a few strips of newspaper and voilà—a masterpiece. Only he wasn’t having much luck with his first attempt.
For one thing, the balloon wasn’t an easy form to work with. It wasn’t completely spherical and once his fingers were wet, the balloon got both slippery and sticky—a combination he would have said was impossible. For another, he didn’t like how the form was turning out.
Nick shifted the balloon in his hand, bumped against a jar of sharp pencils and popped the balloon. The paper he’d already applied sank into a soggy mess that draped across his hand.
Mathias strolled over. “You might need a different form.”
“Bite me.”
His brother ignored that. “What are you going for?”
“I’m not sure. I’ll know it when I see it.” He nodded at the video game sitting on the bench next to him. “Ever play this?”
“I’m not into games.” He held it up. “Ronan, you ever play Concord Awaken?”
“Sure. It’s a decent game.”
“Decent?” Nick tossed the dripping paper into the trash. “With enthusiasm like that, you’re going to get a call from their advertising agency to be a spokesmodel.”
