the mould when they’d made Anthony. Maybe she just hadn’t been ready. Maybe she’d been subconsciously avoiding any man who might challenge her. Or might force her to look at why she’d put her heart on hold for so long. Dominic would be a challenge in every way. The thought both excited and scared her.
Eliza shook her head. ‘It’s irrelevant anyway,’ she said. ‘It would be most unwise for you to start anything with Dominic Hunt. His party is a big, important job for us and we don’t have much time to organise it. It could get very messy if you started dating the client. Especially when I’ve never known you to stay with anyone for more than two weeks.’
‘In my eagerness to get you fixed up with a handsome rich guy, I hadn’t thought of that,’ said Gemma. ‘Imagine if you broke up with the billionaire client right in the middle of the countdown to the event. Could get awkward.’
‘It’s not going to happen, girls,’ Andie said. ‘I won’t lie and say I don’t think he’s really attractive. But that’s as far as it goes.’ Thinking of last night’s very intimate dream, she crossed her fingers behind her back.
‘This is a huge party for us to pull together so quickly. We’ve got other jobs to get sorted as well. I can’t afford to get...distracted.’ How she actually stopped herself from getting distracted by Dominic was another matter altogether.
‘I agree,’ said Eliza. ‘Eyes off the client. Okay?’
Andie smiled. ‘I’ll try,’ she said. ‘Seriously, though, it’s really important for Dominic that this party works. He’s got a lot riding on it. And it’s really important for us. As you say, Eliza, more work could come from this. Not just weddings and private parties. But why not his company’s business functions too? We have to think big.’
Gemma giggled. ‘Big? Mr Hunt is way too big for me anyway. He’s so tall. And all those muscles. His face is handsome but kind of tough too, don’t you think?’
‘Shh,’ hissed Eliza, putting her finger to her lips. ‘He’s coming.’
Andie screwed up her eyes for a moment. How mortifying if he’d caught them gossiping about him. She’d been just about to say he wasn’t too big for her to handle.
Along with the other two, she looked up and straightened her shoulders as Dominic strode towards them. In his dark charcoal suit he looked every inch the billionaire businessman. And, yes, very big.
She caught her breath at how handsome he looked. At the same time she caught his eye. And got the distinct impression that, of the three women in the room, she was the only one he really saw.
* * *
Did Andie get more and more beautiful every time he saw her? Dominic wondered. Or was it just the more he got to know her, the more he liked and admired her?
He had been impressed by her engaging and professional manner in the boardroom—the more so because he was aware she’d had such a short time to prepare her presentation. Her two business partners had been impressive too. It took a lot to win over his hard-nosed marketing people but, as a team, Party Queens had bowled them over.
The three women got up from their seats as he approached. Andie, tall and elegant in a deceptively simple caramel-coloured short dress—businesslike but with a snug fit that showed off her curves. Her sensational legs seemed to go on for ever to end in sky-high leopard-skin-print stilettos. He got it. She wanted to look businesslike but also let it be known who was the creative mind behind Party Queens. It worked.
Gemma—shorter, curvier, with auburn hair—and sophisticated, dark-haired Eliza were strikingly attractive too. They had a glint in their eyes and humour in their smiles that made him believe they could enjoy a party as well as plan them. But, in his eyes, Andie outshone them. Would any other woman ever be able to beat her? It was disturbing that a woman who he had known for such a short time could have made such an impression on him.
He addressed all three, while being hyper aware of Andie as he did so. Her hair pulled back in a loose knot that fell in soft tendrils around her face, her mouth slicked with coral gloss, those remarkable green eyes. ‘As I’m sure you’re aware,’ he began, ‘my marketing team is delighted at both the concept for the party and the way you plan to implement the concept to the timeline. They’re confident the event will meet and exceed the target we’ve set for reputation management and positive media engagement.’
It sounded like jargon and he knew it. But how else could he translate the only real aim of the party: to make him look less the penny-pincher and more the philanthropist?
‘We’re very pleased to be working with such a professional team,’ said Eliza, the business brains of the partnership. But all three were business savvy in their own way, he’d realised through the meeting.
‘Thank you,’ he said. He glanced at his watch. ‘The meeting ran so late it’s almost lunchtime. I’m extending an invitation to lunch for all of you,’ he said. ‘Not that restaurants around here, excellent as they are, could match the standard of your cooking, Gemma.’
‘Thank you,’ said Gemma, looking pleased. ‘But I’m afraid I have an appointment elsewhere.’
‘Me too, and I’m running late,’ said Eliza. ‘But we couldn’t possibly let you lunch alone, Mr Hunt, could we, Andie?’
Andie flushed high on those elegant cheekbones. ‘Of course not. I’d be delighted to join Dominic for lunch.’
Her chin tilted upwards and he imagined her friends might later be berated for landing her in this on her own. Not that he minded. The other women were delightful, but lunch one-on-one with Andie was his preferred option.
‘There are a few details of the plan I need to finalise with Dominic anyway,’ she said to her friends.
Dominic shook hands with Gemma and Eliza and they headed towards the elevators. He turned to Andie. ‘Thank you for coming to lunch with me,’ he said.
She smiled. ‘Be warned, I’m starving. I was up at the crack of dawn finalising those mood boards for the presentation.’
‘They were brilliant. There’s only one thing I’d like to see changed. I didn’t want to mention it in the meeting as it’s my personal opinion and I didn’t want to have to debate it.’
She frowned, puzzled rather than worried, he thought. ‘Yes?’
He put his full authority behind his voice—he would not explain his reasons. Ever. ‘The Christmas tree. The big one you have planned for next to the staircase. I don’t want it.’
‘Sure,’ she said, obviously still puzzled. ‘I thought it would be wonderful to have the tree where it’s the first thing the guests see, but I totally understand if you don’t want it there. We can put the Christmas tree elsewhere. The living room. Even in the area near where we’ll be eating. Wherever you suggest.’
He hadn’t expected this to be easy—he knew everyone would expect to see a decorated tree on Christmas Day. ‘You misunderstood me. I mean I don’t want a Christmas tree anywhere. No tree at all in my house.’
She paused. He could almost see her internal debate reflected in the slight crease between her eyebrows, the barely visible pursing of her lips. But then she obviously thought it was not worth the battle. ‘Okay,’ she said with a shrug of her slender shoulders.
