I must have heard her wrong. “MavBerry?”
“Did you not know Juniper’s middle name is Berry?” She doesn’t wait for my response before pulling a notebook out of her enormous bag as she informs me, “I have some ideas. Shall we discuss them?”
What was I thinking? Why did I set up a meeting with Sage? My idea was to feel her out, make certain she was on my side. Not discuss ideas regarding MavBerry. Whatever the hell that is.
“I believe the biggest issue is convincing Juniper you’re in town to stay.” She pauses to stare at me. “You are here to stay, aren’t you?”
I squirm in my seat. “Yes, ma’am.”
She purses her lips. “You’re not going to run off the second you get a better offer?”
“A better offer?”
“You know. One of those Hollywood starlets. They may appear pretty on the silver screen, but no one can hold a candle to our Juniper Berry.”
It finally hits me. MavBerry. It’s a portmanteau aka blended name of Maverick and Berry. Juniper is going to lose her mind when she hears it. I grin. Juniper is sexy as hell when she’s mad.
“No,” I tell the women. “No one in Hollywood is on the same level as Juniper.”
Sage nods her approval, and the other women murmur their agreement.
“I think he should do a grand gesture,” Cayenne offers.
“Good idea. What kind of grand gesture?” Feather asks.
“He could get her name tattooed on his arm,” Clove suggests.
I cringe. Although many Hollywood stars have tattoos, they’re a pain in the ass to have when shooting a film. I have no desire to wear an inch of make-up to hide a tattoo – computer graphics can’t hide everything. Besides, it’s kind of creepy getting a woman’s name tattooed on you when you aren’t dating, although we will be dating – soon.
“And ruin his perfect skin?” Sage asks but doesn’t wait for anyone to answer her. “No. Any other ideas?”
“He could serenade her under her window,” Petal suggests. “We could put candles all around him and make it super romantic.”
“The last time you decided to use candles outside, we had to call the Fire Department before you burned the entire forest down,” Sage reminds her.
Petal shrugs. “River didn’t seem to mind.”
“Who’s River?” I ask in a blatant attempt to change the topic of discussion.
“Lyric’s brother,” Clove answers.
“And who’s Lyric?” It’s as if they’re talking a foreign language I don’t speak.
“He’s your soon-to-be brother-in-law.”
Sage’s answer totally cleared things up. Not. I frown at her.
She sighs. “Lyric is Aspen’s fiancé. I assume you know who Aspen is.”
Finally, a name I recognize. Aspen is Juniper’s oldest sister. I’ve never met any of her family, but Juniper talked about her sisters all the time. As an only child of parents who are more interested in my wealth than they are in me, I can admit I’m a bit jealous of her relationship with her siblings.
“I do.”
“A grand gesture is a good idea,” Sage begins, “but based on Juniper’s reaction to Rickie at Ellery’s engagement party, I don’t think Juniper is ready for a grand gesture.”
I release the breath I didn’t realize I was holding. Don’t get me wrong. I’m all for grand gestures. In movies where they belong. Juniper is not the type of woman who wants a grand gesture. She wants me to show up. Which is exactly what I tried to do yesterday at the Wildlife Refuge. It’s not my fault I didn’t realize those rodents were mean fuckers.
“I have another idea,” Sage says, and whatever relief I was feeling flies out the window.