Page 11 of The Plus One Professional
“Oh, hello.” The man’s face split in a million-dollar smile.
“Hey.” I grinned.
“How are you?” he asked in a familiar tone.
Had I met him before? I was usually good at remembering faces, and even as a heterosexual male, I had to admit this man was strikingly attractive. He looked like a movie star and possessed whatever that ‘it’ quality was that they had.
“Good, how are you?” I responded, trying to place him.
“Good.” He was eyeing me up and down, and although I believed I was his type, I didn’t think that was the reason he was checking me out. It was more like he was sizing me up. Reading me. Assessing my worthiness. “Leaving so soon?” he asked.
“I was just…looking for the bathroom.”
“The one downstairs is out of commission. But there’s one on the second floor. Third door on the right. Make sure to shut the door behind you so people know it’s ocupado.”
“Thanks.” As I headed up the stairwell, I felt strange about the interaction I’d just had. It was just a hunch, but I was pretty sure Taye Diggs’ doppelganger was on to me. He knew that I wasn’t with Jenna, and that we weren’t really a couple. He’d definitely given off a cat-that-ate-the-canary vibe.
The more ‘dates’ I went on, the more paranoid I got that people would find me out. The Bay Area, specifically San Francisco, was not as big as people might think. And there was even a smaller pool of people who could afford to hire me.
Thankfully, it wouldn’t be much longer until I had my contractor’s license. My test was in six weeks, and I nearly had the fifteen thousand dollars for the bond and insurance I would need to start my own business. Once I passed my exams and got everything in order, I wanted to branch out on my own. I’d loved working for Vaughn Construction for the past six years, but so did ninety-nine percent of the employees, which meant opportunities for advancement were limited. Foreman positions rarely came up, and when they did, they were always snatched up by men who had more years in than I had.
My plan was to pick up work on the weekends and nights. Now that the twins were older, they were more independent, and I felt like I could be away more. Being gone more would put more responsibility on Carly, but I hoped that I could make it up to her by making sure she had everything she needed, like new school clothes, extracurricular activities, and a car when she got her license.
Even though that was still a few years away, I was already thinking about it—not just for her but also for the twins. I needed to make more money to give them the future and present they deserved, not to mention to give myself some privacy.
When I reached the top of the stairs, I counted three doors down and saw that the door was being propped open by a chair. I pushed it to the side, then walked into the small room and pulled it shut behind me.
“Don’t close the?—"
I heard someone yell and turned around to find I wasn’t alone. The wedding planner was there, on her knees, just like she’d been in my fantasy. Except in that scenario, neither of us were clothed.
5
BAILEY
As I splayedmy hands flat on the silver penny-tiled floor, I couldn’t help but think of the TikTok trend, ‘I’m a fill-in-the-blank; of course I fill-in-the-blank.’
“I’m a wedding planner; of course I get on my hands and knees in the bathroom to find an heirloom diamond earring,” I whispered to myself.
It was times like these that made me wonder if expanding Bliss Bridal to include day-of coordination was really the right decision. With the boom of online shopping, small bridal boutiques had taken a hit—not as much as some retailers, because, thankfully, brides still wanted to come in and try on dresses. But, to be honest, that was always where Birdie shined. From designing her own dresses to knowing the perfect silhouette for any shape, my youngest sister was a master at bridal fashion.
She was the artistic heartbeat of Bliss Bridal. Billie was the brains. She handled all the marketing and finances. She’d completely revamped our websites and ads, rebranding us as an upscale boutique with personalized service.
For the first year or so we took over, I hadn’t really known my place in the business. But then Billie pointed out how much I loved throwing parties and event planning and how good I was at dealing with hysterical or unreasonable people, and she suggested that Bliss Bridal Boutique become a one-stop shop for all your bridal needs.
And thus, my days as a wedding coordinator were born.
My hands were running over the shiny metallic surface when I heard someone walking in the room. I looked up, and he was there. The mystery man I’d seen at half a dozen weddings had just walked into the bathroom. I was so shocked to see him that my brain didn’t process the door closing behind him.
“Don’t close the—” Before I was able to finish my sentence, the door slammed shut. “—door.”
I looked up and locked eyes with my not-work-crush. He stared down, blinking at me in disbelief. Without acknowledging me, he turned back around and started twisting the handle. “I didn’t know anyone was in here.”
“It sticks,” I explained as he pulled and pushed it.
He either didn’t hear me or didn’t believe me because he turned it hard again and rammed his shoulder into it.
“It’s stuck. We’re stuck. Literally. It locks from the inside. Maintenance warned me about it,” I explained as a woodsy sandalwood scent teased my senses. If ‘Sexy Man’ could be bottled and sold as a cologne, that was its scent. I inhaled and felt tingles spread through my body.
