Millie Criswell - The Wedding Planner

Seating herself on a straight-backed chair fronting the impressive mahogany desk, she reached into her portfolio and pulled out an assortment of wedding invitation samples and cake photos, spreading them out on the leather desktop. “These are just samples, of course. I have others, if none meet your needs.”

What would meet Adam’s needs, or rather who, was seated directly in front of him. Meredith Baxter, with her bow-shaped, kissable mouth and a figure that conjured up X-rated thoughts, was an incredibly sexy woman. And as Peter had so succinctly pointed out, he hadn’t been with a woman, sexy or otherwise, in a very long time.

“You’re frowning, Mr. Morgan. Is there something the matter? As I said, I have other samples I can show you.”

Pushing the material back to her, he shook his head. “Just use your own judgment, Miss Baxter. I don’t really care what the cake and invitations look like. Those are trivial matters for the female mind.”

Meredith bit the inside of her cheek, reminding herself of the ten thousand dollars sitting in her bank account.

“The only requirement I have is that the date be set for Saturday, June 21. I want the invitations printed immediately.”

“But—” Was the man insane? Duh!

“No buts about it, Miss Baxter. I have a deadline to meet. We both do, as a matter of fact.”

“But you don’t have a bride. How can you possibly set a date for the wedding without a bride? Certain details have to be decided, and—”

“The wedding plans will proceed. I’m sure you’re going to need every bit of the time allotted to pull this off. You have less than twelve weeks to finalize everything.”

Realizing that she would probably be fired for what she was about to say, Meredith plunged ahead anyway. “Making wedding plans without a bride is the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard. I naturally assumed when you laid out your ridiculous scheme that you intended to find the bridal candidate first, then proceed with the arrangements. I can’t plan a wedding without a bride. It just isn’t—”

Ignoring her protest and pointed opinion, and without revealing so much as a flicker of the annoyance he felt, Adam moved from his desk to the floor adjacent to where Meredith sat and proceeded in his expensive designer suit to execute a series of sit-ups.

At the man’s outlandish behavior, Meredith’s mouth dropped open in disbelief. “Mr. Morgan!”

“I think better when I’m exercising,” he said nonchalantly, as if everyone in America exercised in an Armani suit. “Care to join me? It gets the blood pumping to the brain.” It also afforded one an excellent view of long, silky legs, which got the blood pumping elsewhere.

“In your case I don’t think it’s working, or else you wouldn’t have made such a stupid suggestion.”

Adam paused, then sat up, hugging his knees as he gazed into her earnest face—a face he was growing more attracted to with every passing moment. “I think you’re forgetting who is paying for all this ‘stupidity,’ Miss Baxter. If I want to hold this wedding the day after tomorrow with a chimpanzee for a bride, I will.

“You’ve been hired to plan and execute, not to give opinions, unless they’re asked for. I don’t recall asking, do you?”

Meredith cursed inwardly as a flush crept over her cheeks, and she tried to keep her temper under control. The man was totally infuriating! He deserved to marry a chimpanzee. Preferably one who smelled bad and had large teeth.

Adam rose to his feet at the same time the study door opened and Peter Webber entered. The lawyer, who’d overheard the tail end of their conversation, smiled widely at the outspoken woman. Meredith Baxter didn’t sound the least bit malleable. In fact, she sounded quite the match for the irascible millionaire.

“Don’t let Adam intimidate you, Miss Baxter. He’s very good at it, you know.”

“Meredith Baxter meet my attorney, Peter Webber,” Adam said, performing the introduction. “Or should I say former attorney? I’m thinking of making a change.”

Peter smiled, not at all bothered by Adam’s remark. The millionaire threatened to fire him at least once a week, sometimes twice. He had yet to carry out his threats.

“Nice to meet you. I understand we’ll be working together on the media coverage.”

He held out his hand, and Meredith took it, deciding in that instant that she liked Peter Webber. He was tall, very good-looking in an Ivy League sort of way, and he appeared to be a whole lot nicer than his client. The twinkle in his blue eyes said he didn’t take Adam Morgan too seriously. But then, who in their right mind did?

“I’m looking forward to it, Mr. Webber.”

“Call me Peter, or Webb. I’ve never been one to stand on ceremony.”

“Me, neither. It’s Meredith.” Though she directed her comment to Peter, she was staring directly at Adam, who looked decidedly ill at ease, and not at all pleased that she and his attorney were hitting it off so well.

“You may call me Adam in private, Miss Baxter. But I’d like you to maintain the formalities in front of the press corp and when in the presence of my staff and business associates. At those times business protocols should be maintained.”

“I’m all for keeping our relationship strictly business, Mr. Morgan, so you needn’t worry I’ll cross the barriers you’ve erected.” She turned her back on the mogul, as if his concerns didn’t matter at all.

“I believe you wanted to discuss the media coverage with me, Peter. I think we may have a problem with the chimpanzee angle.” She met his grin with one of her own.

If anger could have produced steam, Adam would have blown it out through his ears. He was doing a darn good impersonation of Old Faithful about to erupt. Even the sight of the infuriating woman’s too-tight skirt, hugging her impossibly firm, taut—

“Adam!” Peter called out for the second time. “Your phone’s ringing. Do you want me to answer it?”

With a shake of his head, Adam cursed himself for allowing the wedding planner to interfere with his concentration, then picked up the receiver and was quickly absorbed in a multitude of work-related problems.

While Adam conducted business matters, Meredith and Peter discussed the various media strategies they wanted to implement. Peter suggested that they begin their campaign with local newspapers, radio and television stations, then work their way up to the national broadcasters, which made perfect sense to Meredith, who admittedly didn’t know a press release from a grocery list.

They’d just finished their discussion when Adam’s niece and nephew wandered into the room. In the space of a heartbeat, Meredith became enraptured.

The Tremayne children were adorable. To his credit, Adam had shielded them from the media circus surrounding his sister’s murder, so this was the first time she’d had the opportunity to observe them.

At eight, Andrew appeared to be a typical boy. His uncombed hair looked like a bomb had recently exploded in it, the right knee of his pants was torn—Morgan was sure to disapprove of that—and his shoelaces were untied and trailing on the floor. The engaging grin he flashed made Meredith suspect the child would grow up to be a heartbreaker, just like his uncle was purported to be.

Two years younger, Megan was on the shy side and hid behind her brother during Peter’s introduction. Her two front teeth were missing, but that didn’t detract from her dimpled smile when she chose to show it. A bedraggled teddy bear named Murphy was hugged tightly to her chest. The bear, Peter explained, had been a gift from her mother shortly before the woman’s tragic death.

The attorney ruffled the boy’s dark hair. “How’s it going, sport?” Kneeling in front of Megan, he held out his arms. “Don’t I get a kiss from my favorite girl?”