into her office and smiled at her. Her body reacted immediately, reminding her that it had really liked this man and the things he’d done to her and hey, her period would be over soon so maybe they should set up a date or something.
Instead of going down that path, she settled on the more conventional and safe, “Hi.”
“Morning. You have a minute?”
If he was willing to take off his clothes and have his way with her, she had several, she thought dreamily, only to remember they were in her office and she should probably play just a little harder to get.
“I do,” she told him, motioning to one of the chairs in front of her desk. “What’s going on?”
“I’ve been thinking about what we talked about last night. I want Vidar’s love interest to be a wedding planner. It gives her access to a lot of people he wouldn’t normally come in contact with and it gets him out of the station. He was in there a lot in the last book. We both need a break.”
She was still processing his announcement so could only ask, “You and Vidar need a break?”
“Uh-huh. I thought I could follow you around for a few weeks, learn about the business and—”
“No,” she said firmly, as all thoughts of them having another close encounter faded from her mind. “You’re not getting your serial killer cooties on my weddings. I’m a big believer in keeping the energy positive and flowing forward. Do you know what a serial killer would do at a wedding?”
Jasper stared at her, his gaze intense. “That’s what I was thinking. I want the serial killer to be a wedding crasher.”
“No,” she said firmly. “Just no.”
“No what?” Pallas asked, walking into the office. “Oh, hi, Jasper. Did I know we had a meeting with you?” She frowned. “You’re not getting married, are you? I mean of course you could if you wanted, I just didn’t think you were seeing anyone right now. Are you?”
Renee tried to act normal. She had no idea what he would say to that question and was incredibly grateful when he simply smiled and said, “I’m doing research for a book. I want to give my hero a love interest in the last book of the series and I’m thinking she’ll be a wedding planner.”
“Oh, Vidar’s going to fall in love?” Pallas sighed. “That’s so great. I love that. He needs a woman for sure. He’s way too alone all the time and with his dark thoughts and all. A wedding planner would be perfect. Weddings are positive and upbeat and happy.” She smiled at Renee. “Are you going to help him? That’s a terrific idea. Let him follow you around and stuff. Jasper’s the kind of writer who gets the details right.”
Renee held in a groan.
“If it’s not too much trouble,” he said, smiling winningly at Pallas. “I’d really like to follow her around and get to know the business.”
“Sure. Whatever you need.” Pallas turned to Renee. “I’m assuming you’re fine with it. Being married to an artist, I know how important it is to go with the flow when they get an idea in their head. So we’re good?”
Renee sighed. “We’re good.” She waited until her boss left before glaring at Jasper. “If I didn’t know better, I would swear you’d planned that.”
“You know I didn’t.” He leaned back in his chair and rested his ankle on his opposite knee. “Sometimes I get lucky.”
“I’ll say,” she muttered, ignoring the potential double entendre.
“You could have told her no,” he pointed out. “You could have said I would be in the way and you didn’t want me around to taint everything with my serial killer cooties.”
An excellent point. She could have and she hadn’t so this was partially on her. While Pallas might not have understood Renee’s reluctance, she would have respected it. So why had she just sat there like a lump? Did she want to spend the time with Jasper? Did she want to help with the book? Did she not want to have to think about that question right now?
“I’m not in a place to discuss that,” she told him firmly. “So let’s set some ground rules. Weddings are incredibly stressful for everyone involved. It is a special day for the bride and the groom and no matter what, they come first.”
“Agreed.”
“You will not offer suggestions or opinions, make faces or otherwise indicate you think what they’re doing is anything but magical.”