Then I was off. I heard Asher asking for the pictures as I exited the diner.
Poor Ash. He thinks he really gets to pick her himself.
Chapter 15
IMOGEN
Thirty minutes felt like ten minutes. I went for the bathroom first to wash my face. I was too busy rubbing at my good eye to see that when I bent over to splash water on my face, I got a face full of a wet Lionel. I didn’t mean to squeal like a little girl. He was very cute and friendly, I just wasn’t expecting him to be in my bathroom sink, with the water on. And that’s exactly what I told Poppy and the hairdresser when they came running into the bathroom.
“Is there anything this funny guy can’t do? Does he use the toilet too?” I laughed along with them laughing at me. “I might have to get one of these.”
“Lionel is a one of a kind.” Poppy scooped him out of the sink and wrapped him in a towel. “
I could hear her softly scolding him all the way down the hall. I lifted a finger, telling the hairdresser I would be with her in one minute, then went back to my original task of rinsing my face. I looked back up into the mirror and groaned.
It didn’t go away.
“Come on, let’s get you fixed up before the boys get back here.” Poppy handed me a towel for my face. “I heard from Kellan that Asher picked your picture immediately, and that means we don’t need to do anything with the hair, just wear the wig for now. Cynthia can do some miracle stuff with makeup so sit, sit, sit. I’m gonna bring the dresses in one at a time.”
“You can just pick. Or better yet, get Victoria or Mia on the laptop and let’s see what they pick.” I offered a solution to my not wanting to pick a dress and it be wrong. “I want it to be right. You have done so much for me already.”
Poppy had paraded through the room with about five dresses. I pointed to two dresses then asked for Mia’s opinion, as far as what Asher might like. Poppy brought her laptop into the room and tried several times to get Victoria. It was apparent that Victoria was busy. We gave Mia a choice between two dresses. We all had a good laugh over the green dress looking too mermaid with the Ariel wig.
I already look like Ariel. I can’t wear a green dress.
It’s gotta be the red dress, we all agreed at about the same time. It was a good red, not a fire engine red, but not an apple red either. I thought it would look good against the red shoes.
“Kellan just buzzed that they’re here. Slip the red stilettos on and let’s go sit in the living room,” Poppy said.
Gunner entered the room first. He let Poppy know that Kellan had been called down to the pub to meet with Flynn, the pub owner.
I heard Gunner’s deep voice from the couch way before I saw him.
“James Bond…you came back.” I stood from the couch and went to stand in front of him. “What do ya think?”
“Better than our first meeting.” Gunner gave me a half smile, then pointed to the foyer. “I think you have a fiancée sitting right over there, and he had a few too many glasses of wine at lunch. He’s feeling it now.”
Gunner took a step back and gave me a soft but stern push toward my husband to be. I moved forward slowly until I was face to face with…
“Flower Guy?”
Chapter 16
AUGUST
By the time the meeting was over, the sun was going down, but at least we all agreed on the new designs. It meant I would be going on to China from Paris before I could get back to New York. I had given my personal assistant the week off, thinking Asher would be with me. But in hindsight, what made me think he would be helpful? All this traveling, I was feeling tired. I had bowed out of dinner with clients, using the excuse that I needed to finalize some drawings before I left. Really, I just wanted to lay down in bed and watch hockey.
I hadn’t gotten any angry texts from Asher, so things must be going alright. Or, he took off.
The suspense was killing me. I sent him a text.
“How’d it go, Ash? Did Mom pick the right one again?”
“I’m with her now and we’re going to have an early dinner in a private suite.”
“You’ll have to tell me all about it tonight.”
“She’s beautiful. Just the right look, for me.”