Falling for Autumn (5 page)

Her lips parted as she stared at the message.
Mind. Blown.
She no longer had to worry about Ajay invading her relaxing shower, because after his profound text messages, he'd just hijacked all the rest of her thoughts for the week.

Chapter 4

T
his had been the longest week he'd had in a long time, but Ajay knew he had brought it on himself. He had no idea why he had contacted Autumn five days ago, but he had. And she'd responded.

He'd been thinking about her after his basketball game last Sunday and for some reason, he'd wanted to know how she was doing. They hadn't even exchanged a lot of texts messages that day, but the few they had had been enough to make him think about her the entire week.

Autumn was like a puzzle and he was slowly finding the pieces needed to figure her out. Not fully, but enough to understand her character and hopefully figure out why he had this insane attraction to her.

Her responses to his messages seemed to mirror the thoughts that were floating around in his mind, which didn't make much sense. He'd been around her enough to know that they had many dissimilarities. But he guessed he must have disregarded the few parallels they might have. Before he'd known what his fingers were doing, he'd responded to her text honestly. Not that he would have lied to her. He just might not have written a message so close to how he actually felt. Up until those texts, everything had been a competition with them. He'd stared at his phone the rest of the night as their messages had continued for almost an hour after his first message.

Now he was standing outside her door debating on going inside. He glanced around the area to see if he noticed Jaleen's car parked anywhere. When he came up short, he decided to take his chances and pray that Danni was already there so that he could at least focus his attention on both of them rather than just Autumn. Inevitably, he would have to go inside, since he was meeting with Autumn, Jaleen and Danni to discuss Winter and Taheim's party.

He finally knocked on her door and waited for her to answer. When she did, he instantly felt his pants tighten just a little.

He'd seen her in dresses and jeans before, but he'd never seen her in the type of outfit she was wearing now. Thanks to having a brother in the fashion industry, he knew things that he probably wouldn't have known if it weren't for Taheim dragging him to one fashion show after another.

The coppery romper she wore accentuated her toned legs and luscious thighs. Her hair was pulled into a high ponytail with a small hump at the top. Standing in the doorway the way that she was, there was no mistaking her beauty. But it wasn't just her looks that caught his interest. It was the confidence in her stance and the awareness reflected in her eyes. After his reaction to her, he didn't give a damn if Danni had made it to Autumn's house or not.

“Hello, Autumn. You look nice.”

“So do you,” she said with a smile. “Please come in.”

As he walked into her town house, he couldn't help but feel as if he were picking her up for a date, rather than discussing a party. He could feel the nerves creep up his spine, and for him, that was so unlike his character.

“Hey, Ajay,” Danni said as they rounded the corner to the dining room. “You're just in time. We're finally finished talking about what we want for the women-only portion of the night.”

“Tell me again why the wedding party is planning this without the help of Elite Events?”

“Everyone in Chicago goes to those ladies for all their planning needs,” Danni replied. “Of course they would help plan this if we asked them to, but they are already helping Winter and Taheim plan the wedding in Bora Bora, so the least we could do is plan the other events.”

Ajay observed Autumn. “I'm surprised I didn't hear any grunts from you while Danni was talking.”

“I'm turning over a new leaf,” she said with a forced smile. “At this point, everyone knows how I feel about weddings, so there is no need to continue complaining about it. Besides, this is for my sister and the man she loves, so the least I could do is be the maid of honor she deserves.”

“Look at you,” he said jokingly. “After how you acted when they asked us to be maid of honor and best man, I would have never thought I'd see the day when Autumn Dupree actually seemed okay with planning a wedding event.”

“I'll take that as a compliment.” She glanced down and began moving around a couple of papers on the table.

“It was meant to be.”

She looked up at him then and held his gaze.
I'd never want to play poker with her.
There was no doubt in his mind he would lose. Sometimes he could understand her cues, but most of the time, her thoughts were still a mystery.

“Do you want me to get the door?” Danni asked Autumn. He hadn't even heard the doorbell.

“No, I'll get it,” she replied as she rushed out of the room. The gentlemanly thing to do would be to let her walk out of the room and discreetly check out her backside or not even look at all. Instead, his eyes followed her all the way out of the room.

“I don't know who's worse. You or your brother.”

“What do you mean?” he asked, turning back to Danni.

She gave him a knowing look. “The way you're always staring intently at Autumn is the exact same way your brother stared at Winter in the beginning of their relationship.”

“You can't compare me and Autumn to Taheim and Winter.”

“Why not?”

“Because they were falling in love with each other. They had a bad first date, which made things rocky in the beginning, but in the end, they realized just how much they had in common. Autumn and I barely know each other.”
Except for the things we shared with each other a few days ago.
He quickly brushed the thought aside.

“Oh, okay, I see now,” Danni said. “Taheim and Winter didn't get along when they first met. You and Autumn got along great when you first met, right?”

“Right,” he said without thinking. “Well, not really. She told me the food I'd ordered for a practice we had before the grand opening of Inferno Night Lounge wasn't healthy. The same way she hounded me for weeks after about the menu of my other venues.”

“Gotcha. And Taheim and Winter were forced to work together for an event. But you and Autumn were never forced to work together, right?”

“Correct. We were never forced to work together.”

Danni waved her arms around the room and it clicked that they were working together for their siblings' wedding. “This doesn't count. I'm happy to be a part of Taheim and Winter's wedding.”

“And I'm sure Autumn is, too. But this forces you both to work together. Still, I see your point because Taheim and Winter would always steal glances at each other when they thought no one was watching. You and Autumn don't do that, either, am I right?”

He was about to respond that she was right yet again, which would validate that they were nothing like Taheim and Winter, when Autumn walked back into the room with Jaleen beside her.

He dapped fists with Jaleen as Autumn made her way to the other side of the table where Danni was standing. Jaleen started talking about something that had happened to him at work earlier in the day, but in the corner of his eye he could see Autumn adjusting her outfit. And just like that, his eyes found hers again.

Remembering what Danni had just said, he turned away from Autumn, but it was too late. Danni had caught him.

Her lips curled into a sly smile as she mouthed the word
Busted
.
Okay, so maybe he wasn't being completely honest with himself. What Danni had said may be true, but they weren't like Taheim and Winter. Anyone could see that Taheim and Winter were made for each other. It may have been a while since he and Autumn had a debate, but it was only a matter of time before they had a disagreement about something. And when that happened, he'd remember why he'd told himself to stay away from her in the first place.

* * *

“Let's get down to business,” Autumn said as they each took a seat at the table. “In order for us to pull off this combined bridal, bachelorette and bachelor extravaganza, we need to have a plan of action first.”

“How did Winter describe the wedding theme again?” Ajay asked.

“Beach chic and sexy elegance. They also wanted a masquerade beach theme and reception. However, I was thinking that since the wedding in Bora Bora will be great, but smaller, why we don't use the masquerade beach theme for the bridal, bachelorette and bachelor event instead?”

“Can we call it something else?” Jaleen said, shaking his head. “Saying bridal, bachelorette and bachelor party every time is too much. How about we call it the triple-B party or something like that.”

“For planning purposes, the four of us can call it that,” Danni agreed. “But for the actual party we will need to think of an appropriate name for the invites.”

“Are Winter and Taheim okay with us using that theme, since they originally wanted it for their reception in Bora Bora?” Ajay asked.

Autumn nodded her head in agreement before responding. “Winter said they are fine with it and agree that it makes more sense. For the wedding and Bora Bora festivities, we are still sticking with the beach chic and sexy elegance theme.”

“Great.”

“So here's the budget we're working with.” Autumn pulled out her notebook with all the details she'd worked out already.

“Why, aren't you prepared,” Danni said with a smile on her face. She had no doubt her friend was proud that she was finally getting involved. A part of her felt guilty for taking so long to get there.

“Now, Winter told me that they really want a venue that's in the countryside.”

“Say what?” Jaleen said in surprise. “First they tell us they are tying the knot in Bora Bora, and now they want a countryside venue for the triple-B party?”

“I can confirm,” Ajay responded. “Taheim said that's what they wanted. He wanted to make sure I didn't feel bad if they didn't use one of my lounges or nightclubs. But I understand that they are looking for something different than what I own.”

Danni glanced at Autumn's notebook. “You would think that two city people like Winter and Taheim would want to stick with venues in the city.”

“With the two of them, we should have known they would do the unexpected. Hey,” Jaleen said, snapping his fingers. “What about calling the party something like Winter and Taheim Unveiled? And the tagline could be... ‘A grand masquerade affair. Expect the unexpected.' Then we could follow with the date, time, and at the bottom of the invite, we could list the three Bs—bridal party, bachelorette party, bachelor party.”

“That's a great idea.” Autumn quickly jotted it down in her notebook.

“Yeah, I'm surprised you came up with that,” Danni said sarcastically. Jaleen turned up an eyebrow.

“I'm one of the owners of a marketing and advertising firm. It's kind of what I do.”

“When you're not chasing women, right?”

“Anyway,” Jaleen said, ignoring Danni's last comment, “when the ladies of Elite Events planned a charity date auction last year, they didn't disclose the location until it was close to the event. It was really secretive and the PR was great. We may not want to do the same thing since this is wedding related, but it's something to think about to add mystery.”

“That's a good idea, too. Since our dad will only be able to make the wedding, he insisted on paying for a large portion of this event. With the budget we already have, we're in great shape. Since we have a healthy budget, what about choosing a venue that's classic, yet mysterious, since we're going with the masquerade theme?”

“I like that,” Ajay said with Jaleen and Danni nodding their heads in agreement. “I actually have a friend who owns several rustic, yet glamorous, locations, and one is about an hour or so outside the city. I could reach out to him to see if they have any availability. What date are we shooting for?”

“Well, the wedding is less than seven weeks away, so what about having the event in four weeks? Most of the people we are inviting know that we were shooting to plan something at the end of September anyway. So that would give us two and a half weeks before we leave for Bora Bora and three weeks before the wedding.”

“What does the venue look like that you're calling your friend about?” Danni asked.

“I actually have photos of it in my car,” Jaleen responded, although the question was directed at Ajay. Autumn and Danni shared a curious look.

Jaleen took note of the confused look on their faces. “You both know I also work for my family's business, right?”

“What does your family do?” Danni asked.

“They flip real estate, and my specialty is flipping boutique resorts. So far, I've successfully flipped about thirty properties and increased their business at least thirty-five percent. Ajay introduced me to the owner of the Woodland Creek Estate, who, in my opinion, has the best apple orchards in Illinois.”

“I'm impressed,” Autumn said. Just when she thought she had someone figured out, the person would surprise her. As if they had a mind of their own, her eyes drifted to Ajay's, who was luckily talking to Danni as Jaleen left for his car.

He returned with two portfolios. He flipped through one of the portfolios and gave them the other to look through. “The estate is a little over one hundred acres and the main pavilion can hold up to three hundred people and is nestled in a wooded area.”

“It definitely has the feel we're looking for,” Ajay said, typing something in his phone. “And I'm emailing my friend now to see if the venue is free the last Saturday in September. Might be tough with it being so close to the date, but he will have other suggestions if it is in fact booked for that day.”

“Jaleen, I must agree with Autumn,” Danni said, looking up from the portfolio. “This is really impressive.” Instead of his normal one-liner or flirtatious comment, he offered her a genuine smile.

“Okay, so the next thing on our agenda will be discussing how we will split the night so that some of the focus is on Winter. Some on Taheim. And then, of course, combined attention on them as a couple,” Autumn explained.