Page 49

Not seeing Kurtis for several days felt strange. On Monday, he had texted to say he wouldn’t be in to work until Friday, that he had some out of town meetings, and he’d apologized for leaving her without an assistant to help cross things off her notepad. And with that cute remark, he was totally forgiven.
She had crossed several items off of her list and was set to cross another off today—potential bands for the event. One was an 80s band, which she thought would be perfect during the day. The other band had a jazz vibe to go along with the Roaring Twenties theme for the gala. How fun it would be to dress up in 1920s outfits and dance. Maybe have someone there to teach some of the old dances too.
She’d never had such a strong desire to succeed in a job before. She had always been good at what she did, but something about this event made her want to prove to the Schultz family, and also to herself, that she could pull off an event this big on such a short timeline.
At one o’clock, she headed out for her first meeting. She walked out of the building and found Kurtis climbing out of a black sedan, much like the one she’d ridden in last week with Sebastian. He was in chinos again with a pale pink button-down this time, and she couldn’t help but think that they matched today, since she was wearing a pink polka dot sundress on this sticky summer day.
He glanced up and made eye contact with her, and a smile spread across his face. “Hey.”
“Hi.”
He looked at her bag and then back to her face. “Where are you off to?”
“Meeting with some bands. Possible entertainment.”
He closed the door and patted on the roof, and the car drove away. “Want some company?”
She watched the vehicle move down the street. “Don’t you have work to do after being away all week?” She hadn’t meant to put so much emphasis on all week, but it just came out that way.
He stepped closer, wearing an amused expression on his face. “You missed me.”
“Pfft.”
“You did.” A smile spread across his face.
“You think a lot of yourself, don’t you?” she teased.
His mouth quirked. “I think a lot of you.”
His sudden boldness surprised her, and she pressed her lips together briefly, but nothing could contain her smile. “I guess you can tag along.” She played coy with him. “I could use an extra pair of ears.”
He tugged on his right ear. “They’re all yours.”
Every time she was with Kurtis, she became more and more comfortable with him, and she loved every minute of this new flirtatiousness between them.
They walked to her car, and she drove them across town to meet with the first band. Marjorie had been helping with a few of the tasks in her notepad this week and gave her the list of possible bands in the area. She hoped this would be the one, because it was the only 80s band still available the weekend of the regatta.
When they arrived at the location, Kurtis was once again at her door, opening it for her, and holding open every other door in their path. As they walked along a hallway, the back of his hand brushed against hers, and goosebumps exploded across her skin. The instant reaction surprised her. Just like last week when he’d touched her mouth to clean off the chocolate. His nearness was distracting, and she tried to push aside her feelings so they could do the job they came there to do.
They walked down a long hallway until they reached an open room, where equipment was set up and some guys who looked a lot like an 80s hair band were hanging out. The guy behind the drums saw her enter the room and sucked air in through his lips, making a whistling sound.
“I’m Genevieve Willis. I spoke with one of you on the phone,” she said to a man holding a guitar.
“Yeah, I’m Gunner, and these are the guys.”
“Hey,” one said.
“Hey,” the drummer waved with his drumstick.
“Sup?” the other said.
Kurtis stepped up beside her, as if he was protecting her from them. “Let’s hear what you’ve got.”
“Cool,” Gunner said.
Genevieve and Kurtis took a seat in some nearby chairs and listened while Gunner began to pick at a slow tune on his guitar and the drummer settled into a steady rhythm. It almost sounded like an 80s rock ballad, and she was about to tell Kurtis it sounded pretty good, when the drummer suddenly kicked up the rhythm, the guy on bass guitar started playing loudly, the keyboardist banged out a rapid beat, and Gunner went into a screeching loud song on his guitar while he sang—or rather yelled—equally loudly into the microphone.
Her hand flew to her mouth, and she was sure her eyes were popping out of her head. She almost covered her ears out of fear that her eardrums might burst. She glanced over at Kurtis, whose lips were pressed together, obviously trying not to laugh.