before moving in with Danny, she was now just a three-minute walk away from her best friend’s front door.
She jumped up from the air mattress and jogged to open the door. “Hi, bestie.”
“Just checking in.” Corinne looked cautiously around the living room, as if she expected to find wads of tissues and empty tubs of ice cream all over the place. “How are you doing?”
“I’m doing good.”
“You sound…” Corinne turned on her heel to study Adison. “Dare I say it?”
“Like I’m in a good mood?” Adison laughed.
“It went well with Danny, then.”
“Huh?” She wasn’t faking it; she’d barely thought about Danny all afternoon. Something much more important had been taking up her attention.
“No,” she said. “It’s something else. Be right back.”
She scurried into the bedroom, grabbed the sparkly red and green notebook she was planning the party in, and brought it back to show Corinne.
“You got a new notebook?” Corinne scooped Taffy up and held her with her belly up, like she was a baby.
“I’m planning the Montoya Foundation’s Christmas party.”
“Wait a minute. I thought—”
“I know, right.” Adison dropped the notebook on the island. “I guess he had a change of heart.”
Corinne smiled knowingly. “Maybe your decorations had something to do with it?”
“What? No.” It felt like the heat in the apartment had been turned up by ten degrees.
Corinne shrugged, clearly not planning on pressing the matter. At least for the moment. “So how’s the planning going?”
Adison tried not to sigh, but it was no use. “I started an hour ago, and so far, not that good. It’s nearly impossible to find an available venue this late.”
“What day is the party?”
“The twenty-third.”
Corinne snorted.
“I know.” Adison pushed her fingers through her hair and tried to stay positive. “There’s one more place. Once they call—”
Her phone started ringing and she looked at Corinne. “Speak of the devil?”
She pulled the phone from her pocket. “Hello?”
“Hi,” a woman said, “this is Amanda from the Salazar, returning a call about availability on the twenty-third.”
Adison’s heart jumped. “Yes, that was me. Is the day available?”
“I’m sorry, it’s not. We typically start booking the week before Christmas months in advance.”
Adison closed her eyes. “Thank you for letting me know.”
“Bad news?” Corinne asked as Adison hung up.
“This sucks.” She shook her head. “The only option is for me to broaden the search beyond the city, and it’s a company party. People aren’t going to want to drive twenty or thirty miles to get to it. And that’s assuming I even find somewhere that close.”
“There has to be something.”
Adison nodded. No way would she give up.
“I’m calling Mr. Montoya.” She searched for his personal cell number, which he’d given her before they parted ways at Drip.
The phone rang twice before he picked up. “Hello, Adison.”
She hadn’t been prepared for the voice like butter. No, whiskey. Smooth, but with a little bit of fire to it. Did he sound this sexy in person, or was it only on the phone?
“H-hello, Mr. Montoya,” she stammered.
“Please, call me Ken,” he said lightly. “How’s the planning going so far?”
“About that… I’ve called every event location in Buffalo that would be large enough, and they’re all booked on the twenty-third. The only solution I can come up with is throwing the party slightly outside of town. Say Cheektowaga.”
Not that she had much hope for that town either. Or any town in the whole country.
“Hm,” was all he said.
“I can make this work,” she said quickly. “I just need some wiggle room.” She glanced at Corinne and crossed her fingers.
“I might have a solution. Can you come to my house?”
Adison’s lashes fluttered, and she felt momentarily shocked by the question. Maybe because she’d never even imagined what Ken Montoya’s house looked like. And she’d definitely never imagined she would see it.
“Sure. When?”
“How is right now?”
It was barely seven. She’d had no dinner; hadn’t even changed out of her work clothes. But none of that mattered. This party had already become her number-one priority.
“Good. I can come right now.”
“Where?” Corinne hissed.
“Perfect,” Ken said. “I’ll text you the address. See you soon.”
“Okay. Bye.” She hung up, surprised to find her hands were shaking.
There was no need to be nervous. She was only going to her boss’s house. Her super attractive boss that she had already told herself was off-limits.
“He wants me to meet him at his house,” she announced.
“Oh. Where does he live?”
“I’ll find out in a second,” Adison said, right as the text came in. She recognized the street. Not surprisingly, it was in one of