Tanner swallowed a growl. Kirby annoyed him. There was something about the dude that chapped his ass. His cocky attitude, his sense of entitlement, and then there was the night last year when Tanner'd caught him forcing himself on a girl. He and Kirby had ended up brawling in the ladies' room right here at the Sin Bin, and Tanner'd fucking broken a bone in his hand, he'd punched Kirby so hard.
Yeah, that hadn't gone over well with team management. They'd covered the story up, and Tanner had played the entire playoffs with a busted bone in his hand that he couldn't let on about, but that meant that Kirby'd gotten away with harassing that woman and he fucking shouldn't have. It still made Tanner's blood simmer, thinking about it. That shit was not right.
He'd been happy when Dale Ronson had returned to the team for the start of the season, home from rehab after a little issue with prescription meds, and Kirby'd been sent back to the farm team. But Kirby had recently been called up to replace Brian Erhard, who was out with a "lower body injury," as they said, and every time Tanner saw the dude, he wanted to punch him again.
He sucked in a breath and let it out slowly. Duper'd talked to him about this and he knew he had to move past what had happened and not let Kirby get to him, for the sake of the team. Hockey was a team sport. He'd grown up living that and he'd played in the NHL for eight years now. He couldn't let his feelings about Kirby affect how they played together.
-
Katelyn pretended to check her calendar, her cellphone pressed to her ear. "Hmmm, let me see … "
"I know June's not far away, but my original wedding planner went out of business." Panic edged the voice of the woman speaking in Katelyn's ear. "And now I know why. So I need someone who can step in and pull this off in six months. I've been calling a bunch of places and everyone is already booked up. I got your name from someone I know. She said you might have the capacity to do this."
I do! I do! Katelyn kept her tone calm as she said, "I'm just checking my planner."
"I looked at your website and I loved your pictures," the woman continued enthusiastically. She was definitely chatty.
Nearly a year ago, Katelyn had started her own event planning business. She'd done lots of events for a number of corporate clients, a few bar and bat mitzvahs, and several weddings. She had a couple of other weddings she was working on, one this month, one next month, another one that had already been postponed a couple of times. She couldn't afford to turn down business, but she didn't want to seem desperate. "Okay, yes, I think I can rearrange a few things and do this."
"Oh thank God." The woman exhaled on the phone. "You have no idea what a relief this is."
Katelyn smiled and leaned back in her chair. "I'm happy to help. But we do need to meet for an initial consultation to make sure that we're compatible."
The woman laughed. "Really?"
"Yes." It was part of her process, one she'd learned the hard way after dealing with too many brides with unreasonable expectations. "You've already looked at my portfolio, so that's good, but we need to talk about budget. And communication. We're going to be working together pretty intimately for the next six months."
"That makes sense," the woman said slowly. "If we'd had that kind of conversation with our last planner, we wouldn't be in this situation."
"We can also go over the arrangements that have already been made and what still has to be done. I assume your fiancé will be part of the meeting?"
"Um, it depends when it is … he has a crazy schedule."
"I can do tomorrow evening, if that works."
"Yes! That would be great."
"Let me get down some details … name, address, phone number."
"Of course. My name's Lovey Armstrong."
Lovey? That was odd. "Is 'Lovey' a nickname?"
"It's short for 'Lovina.' But I never use that."
Katelyn nodded, making notes as Lovey gave her address and phone number. "Would seven o'clock be okay? I'll come to your home." Since Katelyn was still working out of her apartment, she generally preferred to meet with her clients at their premises. "If you have contracts, pictures, magazine clippings, Pinterest boards, or whatever, have those ready for the meeting."
"Yes, I will. Thank you!"
After ending the call, Katelyn leaned back in her chair. This was great! Someone desperate enough to need her services!