Love Me Tomorrow (9 page)

“Gee, Daddy, tell me how you really feel?”

He sighed, taking a moment to give her one last glare of disapproval before succumbing to the pouty expression she offered in return, which finally put a smile on his sour puss.

“You’re the most insolent of either of my children.”

“You’ve said the same thing about both of us mind you,” Julia said, winking at her father, who laughed heartily in response.

Julia made the appropriate introductions and they all took a seat except for Senator Freeman. When he’d begun poking around for intel on Harold and Gloria Freeman, Levi had heard from multiple sources that Harold was notorious for just this sort of thing. He was a big man, both in size and stature and he had an affinity for lording over others, especially during any type of negotiation. Levi took his actions now to be a positive sign and he remained seated, ensuring Harold could feel as if he were the one in control of this meeting.

“I must say that everyone is still raving about your work on the cancer ball last week,” Gloria said, still smiling warmly, like a modern-day Doris Day.

There wasn’t a hair out of place, Levi thought, admiring the overall packaging. Levi thanked her, having heard that this was also part of their shtick. She would butter you up, offering compliments while the senator came at you from the other side, bad-copping you into submission.

He had been prepared for this.

“She’s not lying,” Julia affirmed, “you are most certainly the talk of the town.”

“It was a lovely evening, we had a glorious time, didn’t we, darling?” Gloria asked.

The good senator grumbled some sort of an agreement. “A little too cold to be outdoors riding carousels and Ferris wheels, in my opinion.”

Julia rolled her eyes, shaking her head behind her father’s back.

“Donating your services was also a classy touch, Mr. Goode,” Gloria added, placing her white-leather-gloved hand over her heart.

Gloria Freeman was a contradiction in terms, stunningly beautiful and immaculately put together, seemingly drawing people in with the warm, welcoming smile, while simultaneously making them feel inadequate with her perfect posture and impeccable manners.

“Of course, that wasn’t a completely altruistic move on your part was it, son?” Harold asked, staring down at Levi as he slowly paced back and forth.

“Daddy,” Julia scolded. “Really?”

Levi smiled at Julia, he couldn’t manage to stop himself. “Naturally, assuming I did a good job and the benefit went smoothly, one could surmise that the benefits to me professionally speaking, would far outweigh any loss over the fee I waived when bidding on the event.”

Harold looked smug all of sudden. “I would think so.”

“That just makes me a good businessman, no?” Levi asked. “And for the record, I paid a great deal out of my own pocket to ensure that benefit was a truly special event—an evening no one who attended would soon forget.”

“You’ve got spirit, I’ll give you that, Mr. Goode, but enough of this chattering about the past. I’d like to hear what you’ve got planned for my baby girl’s anniversary.”

“Daddy, we really haven’t had a chance to discuss—”

Harold held up his hand, signaling for Julia to stop talking. She made no attempt to disguise her irritation with her father’s behavior.

“It’s fine, Julia. That’s certainly a fair question and while you and I haven’t had the opportunity to sit down and discuss any specific details, just off the cuff, based upon my first impressions of you and after seeing your lovely home, I’m picturing something different from what you’ve done over the past several years—no disrespect to Libby. While the Tavern at the Mill is a gorgeous venue, its park adjacent location has always felt a little more wedding specific.”

“I’ve never thought of that before, but you’re right.” Julia looked at her mother who appeared to be mulling that over before finally nodding that she also agreed with that assessment.

“Again, not knowing if Julia has any other locations in mind, I would probably recommend something that harkened back to the glamourous golden age of Wilde City in spirit, while not ignoring how far we’ve come since then. That begins with the event space, someplace with a history to rival that of your own, Senator. Someplace elegant that has played host to presidents, glamorous movie stars and even visiting European royalty—the Rainbow Palace.”

The Rainbow Palace sat atop Wilde City Tower and had been the premier reigning nightclub and restaurant in the city for nearly a century.

“It’s a grand idea, except for the fact they haven’t closed down the entire place for a single event in decades.”

“That’s not completely accurate,” Levi cut in. “They’ve closed the entire venue three times since the late eighties.”

“With the size of our party, we’d need the whole place if we were going to fit.”

“Leave that to me.”

Harold scoffed, obviously unconvinced that Levi could deliver. Of course, Harold didn’t know what Levi did, because the scandals of the so-called little-people were typically of no concern to the wealthy and elite—in spite of the fact they occupied the same space much of the time, they were very different worlds.

“I’m imagining the glitz and glamour of old Hollywood—lavish and lush with the romance of Gatsby. We inherently gain all of that with the location alone.”

“And you believe you’d be able to secure the Rainbow Palace?” Gloria asked.

“I do indeed,” Levi said.

“On such short notice?” Gloria pressed, obviously not believing it could be done.

“Regardless of one’s station in life, everything always boils down to one simple, ever-fixed truth.” Levi glanced between the Harold and Gloria. “It’s all in who you know.”

Harold puffed himself up and Gloria shot a sideways glance at her husband which Levi assumed to mean they were ready move in for the kill. He decided to cut them off at the path.

“Obviously, Julia was the first person to approach me after the Cancer Benefit, and as such, I’m inclined to offer her priority on any future dates.”

“I get that you want to lock her in, son,” Harold said, blustering a bit.

“Absolutely, and I can say with all honestly that I am dying to work with your daughter, sir. Candace Sparks has done nothing but sing Julia’s praises.” He could see the pride coming off the senator in waves. “Unfortunately we are on a bit of an ever-dwindling time line and on top of that, I’ve had two other offers to plan events that the same weekend which I’ve been putting off until after this meeting.”

“Well, I’m not so sure we’ll be able to commit without first speaking to one or two other event planners.”

“I see.” Levi cringed, while pretending to scribble something down in his notebook.

“Are we allowed to ask who these other clients might be?” Mrs. Freeman asked, smiling sweetly while attempting to put him on the spot.

Levi shrugged. “Considering they know I’m tentatively committed to Julia, I don’t see why not.”

“Only fair, after all,” Mrs. Freeman added.

“I have a meeting penciled in with Titus Brewster for Monday morning—something about a company Christmas party, I believe.” Levi paused, impressed that the good senator didn’t so much as flinch, despite Levi knowing Brewster had been the number one contributor to Freeman’s Democratic rival during the last, very heated election cycle.

Julia was biting down on her lip to keep herself from laughing, no doubt imagining smoke coming out of her father’s ears.

Levi continued to play dumb. “That’s more of a corporate thing, though, and in truth it doesn’t hold as much interest for me as your event would. My other potential client is Rena Locklear.” He paused, making eye contact with Mrs. Freeman. “I believe you two are friends, no?”

Julia’s eyes widened like she might be unsure how her mother was likely to react in that moment.

Mrs. Freeman smiled warmly. “Of course, Rena… dear girl.”

It was fairly well known that Gloria and Rena loathed one another, to the extent there had apparently been some sort of a physical altercation in the ladies powder room at the Fairmount Hills Country Club over the past summer.

Levi pretended like he knew none of that.

“Darling, considering Mr. Goode appears to be in such high demand and our dear Julia has her mind set so firmly on hiring him, I think it best if we acquiesce, don’t you dear?”

“Whatever you think is best, darling,” Senator Freeman said, as he walked over and reached out to shake Levi’s hand.

Levi calmly stood and marveled at how quickly all the tension bled away from the man’s face as they shook hands.

“We’re very excited to be working with you, Mr. Goode, though I’m not going to sugar coat it for you. The Freemans aren’t the easiest clan to work with.”

“I am at your disposal, Senator, and Mrs. Freeman, I look forward to working with you as well.”

“Good, that’s just fine, young man, you send over a contract Monday morning and we can move forward with the planning from there.”

Gloria stood, looking as cool and collected as she had upon arrival. “I’m afraid we’ve simply got to run, Julia.”

“Of course, Mother, thank you for stopping by on your way to brunch. I’ll walk you both out.” Julia hugged her father as the two of them followed Gloria out of the room.

The instant they were out of sight Levi took a deep breath and sighed his relief over that meeting being history. His throat was suddenly very dry so he flopped back down into the chair and fished the bottle of water from his bag that was lying on the floor next to his feet. He forced himself to stop chewing on his lower lip, nervous that he may have taken things too far just then.

Still gulping down water when Julia walked back into the room, Levi looked up at her sheepishly.

“Oh. My. Goodness. I completely underestimated you, Mr. Levi Goode!” Julia squealed, sauntering back to the sofa to sit down.

He could feel his cheeks flush as he laughed under his breath. He shooed her away when she began to faux-bow down before him.

“You worked the two of them like a true master.”

Levi started laughing, slightly embarrassed while still being proud of himself.

“First, buttering them up with all that Gatsby-American dynasty bit and then twisting the knife by taunting them with the possibility of losing out to the two people they each hate most in this world?”

Julia looked like she’d exhausted herself having doled out so much praise in such a short amount of time. “And I was worried they’d eat sweet little Levi alive.”

He said nothing, just stared innocently back at her.

“You can cut the act with me, I’m legitimately impressed, Levi, seriously.” Julia sighed, pulling a leg up and tucking it under the other. “It was like a master class in manipulation.”

“Now you really flatter me,” he finally said, fanning himself with his hand. “You don’t think I went too far?”

“I think you rode the line beautifully, and while you appeared to be completely clueless, you can bet your bottom dollar my mother will be checking you out after bringing up Rena. You made that vein in her forehead pop out when you mentioned her name. She was going to hire you after that no matter what, if only to keep Rena from getting you.”

“You need to air this joint out lady,” a man’s voice called out from somewhere behind Levi. “I assume I just missed our loathsome parents as I smell the faint scent of disappointment and judgment hanging in the air?”

Julia squealed, flying up off the sofa and sprinting across the room.

Levi turned in time to see her nearly tackle-hug one man, while a second one stood a few feet farther back looking vaguely uncomfortable. Levi stood, and began collecting his things, assuming Julia just received some unexpected company.

His heart stopped the instant she took a few steps back revealing Paramedic Jake standing there, smiling warmly at Julia. She pinched his cheeks while hopping up and down like a giddy schoolgirl. The instant their gaze met, Jake’s smile faded slightly and Levi decided to go with the assumption it was due to shock more than actual disappointment.

“Hello, Victor, glad to have you back safe and sound,” Julia said to the other man who was with Jake before seeming to notice that Jake was still staring at Levi. “I’m so rude, my apologies, Levi.”

Levi smiled but couldn’t manage any actual words. He’d been obsessing over the fact Jake hadn’t called him since their so-called movie date and now here he was, in the last place he’d ever expected to see the man.

“This is my twin brother, Jake, and his husband, Victor,” Julia said, introducing them.

Levi’s head started to spin and he glanced down at his chest, certain someone had just plunged a dagger straight through his heart. He knew he’d heard her correctly, despite his brain attempting to work out any other potential possibilities.

His is Myan Jake and his foosball Victor?

Tis my twin brethren Jackson is buzzed-end tic-tar?

Dismay twins other Jake’s end-cussed-clicker?

Unfortunately everything he came up with made no sense, but then, what he thought he’d heard her say didn’t make sense either. His Jake couldn’t possibly have a husband. Paramedic Jake was not the kind of guy who would go out looking for random movie dates with single men when he already had a man waiting for him back at home?