Love Me Tomorrow (2 page)

The woman enjoyed walking the line of propriety. She was an excellent assistant, able to forecast his needs typically before Levi was even aware he needed something, but she had the absolute worst attitude. It wasn’t that she was negative so much as bawdy—though she managed to ensure Levi was the only witness to her brazen behavior.

Lucky me
.

“I’m sorry, it’s not natural for anyone to be that happy,” Valerie added in her defense, watching Caroline walking off.

“You should be nicer considering she is single-handedly responsible for ensuring you’ll continue to receive a paycheck as we move into the New Year.” Levi pulled his phone out and tapped the button so it would stop chirping at him. As suspected, there were a slew of texts about Libby’s passing, from his mother and several acquaintances within the local hospitality industry. “Plus, if we land the Freeman-Kingsley gig, I’ll be able to hire more staff.”

Valerie gasped, clasping her hands together like she was ready to pray—an act Levi assumed she’d been otherwise unfamiliar with before that day.

“I’ve always wanted underlings,” she said in a hushed, breathy voice. A somewhat sadistic expression stole over her face and Levi began to fear the monster he was about to create. “Minions,” she added, using a creepy whisper while tapping her fingertips together and looking particularly wicked.

He smacked at her hands fearing she might frighten the rest of the herd and Valerie laughed, no doubt pleased she’d been able to get a rise out of him.

That seemed to be her life’s mission.

“You are so uptight, Levi,” Valerie stated, disappointment evident in her voice. “I’m going to find a horse-hung waiter for you to take home at the end of the night.”

“That’s an exceedingly inappropriate thing to say to your employer,” Levi reminded her.

“Fortunately for me, we’re also friends,” she said, matter-of-factly. “I’m one of the very few you have.”

“I have plenty of friends!”

“Please.” She shook her head. “People you do business with, who you also happen to be friendly with? Not even remotely the same thing.”

“So you’re saying I’m friendless?”

“Except for me? Yeah, pretty much.”

“That doesn’t feel true.”

“Oh, but it is,” she insisted

“Better keep me away from razor blades and bridges then.”

“You don’t have to get all melodramatic. All I’m saying is I’m the only one who is trying to get you laid.”

“Which isn’t humiliating in the least, like I’m some charity case you need to run around procuring sexual favors for?”

“Kinda, yeah.”

“Oh my God, that’s so mean.” Levi stared at her, waiting for the ‘I’m just kidding’ that never came. “Allow me to run back up to the bell tower where I belong.”

“You’re not ugly, Levi, in fact, you’re a bit of a boy-babe with the enticingly thick, totally-touchable, dark hair and long, lanky bod. Unfortunately, you’re also boring—”

“Not really making me feel better.”

“—and a little lame, but that’s the worst of it.”

“Wow!”

She gave his butt a pat. “You do have a totally fuckable tight little ass, though.”

“So…I’m like cardboard with a warm hole? Thank you for that two-dimensional assessment of my personality.”

“You’re quite welcome,” she said, as if the gratis he’d offered had been sincere.

Levi sneered. “That being said, I’ll stick with finding my own dates, if it’s all the same to you.”

“Fine, be that way. You’re utterly hopeless. I’ll just buy you some cats and call it a day.”

“Wha—”

She stomped off in a huff, not waiting around for a response.

“Rude!” he called out after her, then glanced around realizing people were now staring at him.

Levi shrugged it off and went back to his checklist, smiling at the hunky waiter that walked by with a uniform slung over his well-muscled shoulder, while wondering if he was into cardboardy warm-holed men.

Bad, bad-bad! Do not follow Valerie into her twisted rabbit hole from hell.

Someday my freakin’ prince will come, goddamn it, he reminded himself.

Walt freakin’ Disney couldn’t have said it better.

He nodded as he headed off in the direction of the sound stage, reminding himself that until that time there was always work… blessed work.

* * * *

From the funhouse mirror-lined entryway that led into the big top, to the fire breathers and sword swallowers that followed the five-star, four-course cuisine which had been painstakingly selected by both Levi and local celebrity, Chef Margo, and finally the burlesque scarf acrobats who had just finished performing to an ear deafening round of applause, the entire evening had gone off without a hitch.

The big band had kicked into high gear and the torch singer was crooning away as people began heading toward the dance floor.

“Cue the Carnival,” Levi whispered into his Bluetooth.

Within an instant, the entire back wall of the tent fell away, revealing several brightly lit carnival rides all decked out in golden-white lights. The squeals and gasps followed by another round of resounding applause was what he’d been hoping for. He’d kept things simple: a giant Ferris wheel, a huge carousel, some sort of Egyptian-themed pendulum-like boat ride, a wacky house with a maze and moving floors and a giant slide that utilized felt sleds.

It was a black tie affair, and he was aware there were a good many in attendance that wouldn’t be caught dead zipping down a giant slide in their best red carpet evening gown or tux. However, just as he’d hoped, seeing a rush of partygoers head outside toward the carnival rides, there were enough who’d had just enough wine with dinner to have forgotten themselves long enough to try.

A return to childhood.

It was more for the effect than anything else, and thankfully, despite the cold snap in the weather they’d experienced during the first part of the month, the early October temperature had held on beautifully. It was a little chilly but hanging in there right around the upper-sixties.

The Ferris wheel alone was worth a ride, taking people up high enough to get a lovely view of the water and the entire boardwalk all lit up. Bottom line, this event would be talked about for months and with any luck, Goode City Event’s phone would be ringing off the hook for the foreseeable future. This type of exposure with this kind of clientele was priceless. It was why he’d offered his services at no charge… well that, and the whole warm n’ fuzzy feeling that accompanied the cancer fundraising aspect.

“This must be Merlin,” a man’s voice said from behind him.

Levi turned, grinning at Caroline who’d made good on her promise to introduce him to Julia Freeman-Kingsley and her husband, Gregory Kingsley, whose family owned a slew of paper mills and printing companies around the globe.

“Please, call me Gregory.” He offered his hand, which Levi accepted. “I had to come and meet the maestro responsible for this production. I’m still waiting for the movie cameras to pop out, Spielberg.”

Gregory Kingsley had that old-school, matinee idol look about him. He was sexy-pretty with a little gleam in his eye like he might be ready to pull a prank at a moment’s notice. His dark blond wavy hair was combed back all neat and shiny, not a hair out of place. However, it was the perpetually present sarcastic looking smirk that pushed the man over the edge, making him nearly borderline-irresistible.

“Thank you, Gregory, that’s very kind of you to say.” Levi was gleeful over the indulgent compliments offered by Kingsley, despite his best attempts to otherwise control himself. “I sincerely hope everyone is enjoying themselves.”

“You had my husband with the hooch,” Julia said, shaking Levi’s hand as well.

“The wine selection
was
amazing,” Gregory added.

Levi laughed, thinking he instantly liked Mr. Kingsley, easy to please and quick with a compliment. His wife had trained him well.

“When you plan our anniversary gala I’ll expect the same production level,” Julia said with a wink.

He prayed that the wink indicated she was kidding.

“I’ll leave you to it,” Caroline said, waving as she scurried off toward the dance floor.

“Caroline has been raving about you all evening,” Julia said.

“Oh, well, that’s ni—”

“Since our anniversary is in December,” Gregory said, cutting Levi off mid-pleasantry, “we were thinking shirtless, sexy Santa servers for the ball-and-chain here and Thunderdome-style elf mud wrestling for me.”

“You idiot, ignore him, please.” Julia playfully punched her husband on the chin. “He’s obviously sampled
too much
of the wine selection.”

Dressed elegantly in a glistening, floor-length silver gown that clung to her thin frame, Julia looked like a shimmering goddess. He wasn’t sure what the fabric was made of, but she practically twinkled as light reflected off the material. Her long, dark brown hair cascaded in soft curls, meticulously styled in a 1940s Hollywood-glam inspired hairdo. Her voice had that crisp New England sounding tone that reminded him of Katherine Hepburn or a Kennedy and Levi found himself slightly mesmerized by her.

She looked much lovelier in person than in the photographs from the newspaper society pages. “I recognize that look all too well,” Gregory said, glancing over at his wife. “If he weren’t gay you’d have to find a different party planner.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to stare.” Levi felt his face flush with heat.

“It’s sweet that he still gets jealous after all these years,” Julia said, patting her husband on the chest. “Baby, why don’t you go and play with your friends?”

“I know when I’m not wanted,” he said with a sigh, reaching out to shake Levi’s hand once more. “Look forward to hearing what you have planned for our party and don’t dismiss the elf mud wrestling too quickly. The Freemans do so enjoy being the center of attention.”

“Not that sort of attention, pal,” she said, shoving him away as he laughed.

“Nice to meet you,” Levi called out.

“He really is the worst, but I love the big lug,” she said, taking Levi by the arm. “I realize you’re no doubt preoccupied at the moment, but I didn’t want to waste a minute as your phone will no doubt be ringing off the hook come tomorrow morning. I simply had to get my foot in the door before anyone else.”

“Obviously, I’d be thrilled to work with you, Mrs. Freeman-Kingsley, and I—”

“Julia, please, call me Julia,” she insisted, giving his arm a squeeze as she began walking and pulling him along. “Unfortunately, my anniversary has been turned into quite a production over the years. It’s despicable, really, but Daddy has a terrible time hearing the word ‘no’. The evening has a tendency to become more about feeding the all-consuming political beast of Father’s career.”

“Happy anniversary to you,” Levi said, sarcastically, then wished he hadn’t been quite so informal.

She grinned, much to his relief. “You already get me, I can tell.”

He smiled nodding. “So it will be my mission to provide you and your husband with a much needed shot of romance to go along with all the political pageantry.”

“Good luck,” Julia scoffed, tossing in a roll of her eyes for good measure. “I gave up on that eons ago. Allow me to further burst your sweet and completely adorable fantasy-romance bubble by offering you some free advice. Never get married at Christmas time, because all of the relatives you hate show up like the ghosts of Christmas past… then proceed to shit all over everything. It’s a real mood-killer. Bad enough they had to be at the actual wedding, you know? It’s like signing up for an annual anniversary straight from the bowels of Hell.”

She smirked, seemingly pleased by the expression of shock on his face that he’d apparently not done a very good job at hiding.

“Don’t get me wrong, I adore my husband and would marry him again in an instant—”

“Just not in December?” Levi asked.

“Exactly!” Julia nodded, glancing down at his hands. “Do you have a partner?”

Levi blinked, taking a beat, thinking it slightly odd she had asked or would even care, and found it mildly unsettling that she and her husband knew he was even gay. “Nope, no time really.”

“Pish!” She smacked him gently in the arm. “You make time for love, young man. It may not be legal across the country…yet… but the piece of paper does not make the marriage.”

“Still, it doesn’t suck to have it, I would imagine,” Levi said.

“We’ll get there, one day.” She sighed as they continued to stroll along the exterior of the tent, avoiding any eavesdroppers. “My twin brother is gay and he’s the single best person I’ve ever known.”

Levi vaguely recalled that fact, remembering the photos of a teenaged Julia and her brother splashed all over the newspapers during election years throughout the nineties. But it had been a long time since Levi had heard anything about Julia’s twin.

He smiled, seeing she’d gone quiet. “Odd that your father would be so against gay marriage when he has a gay son.”

She rolled her eyes.

“God, I’m so sorry, I can’t believe I just said that out loud.”