had been shunned. No one would talk to me. He told them I left him high and dry and gave no notice.”
“You gave him a day notice,” I reminded her.
“Well, he would have gotten a two-week notice if he would have given you a two-week notice he was going to fire you.”
“I don’t think it works like that,” I said with a laugh. “But I agree. An advance warning he was going to fire me would have been very nice.”
“I’m thrilled he fired you,” Cori said. “I had this great idea for a pop-up, but I honestly had no idea how much work went into it. I was really thinking I just did a pop-up and that was that. The placement and advertising and all the rest of it is so beyond anything I was prepared for.”
“It’s good experience for you,” I told her.
She waved a hand. “I don’t plan on doing this forever. I’m here to have some fun while I wait for my husband to come along.”
“Hold this,” I said, handing her the end of the measuring tape. I walked away, measuring the space we were planning to put the tree. It was going to be huge. It was going to dominate the space. It would be the first thing guests saw when they stepped through the doors.
I was adding numbers to the list of notes I was taking. I needed to get everything just right. I was so busy writing things down, I didn’t hear the man that was now standing a few feet from me. I looked up at him, like actually up. He was at least as tall as Chase, maybe taller. He was looking at Cori, who was looking back at him with a shocked expression.
“Um, hello,” I said, stepping forward to take charge of the situation.
The man turned warm brown eyes on me before looking back at Cori.
“What are you doing here?” Cori asked, sounding displeased to see the man.
“I’m here to talk to your brother.”
“Why?”
He smiled, a playful upturn of his lips. “We are going to talk business. Do you want to join us?”
“No,” she quickly answered.
“Where is he?”
“Office.”
He looked around before giving her another look. “Do you want to give me a little hint about where that might be?”
“Oh, uh, out those doors. Follow the path through the trees to the little chalet. He’s in there.”
He winked at her. “Thanks, Cori. What are you doing later?”
“Uh, I, um, I’m working.”
“Why don’t we have dinner and catch up?” he asked, ignoring her initial answer.
“I can’t. I’m busy.”
He smiled, not bothered by her rejection. “All right. I’ll see you around.”
He turned and walked toward the exit. The three of us stood silent, watching him go. He turned before pushing the door open. He caught the three of us staring at him. Then he smiled and winked before walking out the door.
“Oh my god!” Parker squealed. “Hello, handsome.”
“Who was that?” I asked, fanning my hand in front of my face.
Cori was bright red. “No one.”
“Uh, liar,” I said with a laugh.
“He’s Nick. Nick Stark. Chase’s best friend from college.”
“He’s hot,” Parker said.
He was attractive, but I thought Chase’s lighter coloring was more attractive. I might have been just a little biased. “Looks like he’s got a little thing for you,” I told her.
She turned a deeper shade of red. “No way. He’s not my future husband.”
“Because he’s your brother’s friend?” Parker asked.
“Yes and no. He’s always looking to make more money. He’s already ridiculously wealthy but he’s always trying to find the next fast-money scheme. Him and Chase worked together a few years ago and both of them made a lot of money. Nick is probably hoping for another chance to make a killing.”
“That’s not a terrible thing,” I told her.
“It is to me. I don’t want anything to do with that.”
“I’ll take him,” Parker said.
“He did seem to be very interested in you,” I told Cori.
She shook her head. “It doesn’t matter. I’m not interested.”
I didn’t say it because I didn’t want to irritate her any further, but I was certain she was protesting a little too much. If she didn’t like him, she wouldn’t be so flustered by him. She was clearly attracted to him. I wondered if he’d broken her heart. I understood that all too well.
“All right, take that end that way.” I pointed. We had too much work to do to get caught up in lost loves.