Stuck On You by Cheryl Harper

through. Unfortunately, she knew him very, very well. She’d probably try to warn him away from Laura by telling him that she was all wrong for him. Too serious.
    And, boy, was she. When he’d opened the door to see her standing in the beachy hallway, he’d almost asked her what time the funeral was. Maybe he’d spent too much time with her in pink and sequins and feathers, but her gray slacks, black jacket, and white button-up blouse were just all wrong. Maybe she was going for business-like. She’d shot right past that into depressing. That hadn’t kept him from almost kissing her three separate times in the space of less than two hours. This meeting was a blessing.
    He wanted to kiss her. Definitely. He wanted to strip her out of dark, dour, and depressing. The idea that he was ready to do something crazy with a woman doing her best to put out the “No, thank you” vibe deserved some serious thought. The vibe was getting weaker, slowly changing into something more receptive. If he’d stayed in that room, stretched out on that bed, watching her frown and mutter over his system, he’d have seen how far she was ready to go, ugly clothes or not. Unfortunately, right now he needed that damn spreadsheet. Badly. They were coming down to the end of the project. It would be a very good idea to take a look at the budget. He’d proven how useless he was with numbers. Once she got him straightened out, maybe he could keep it going.
    Whether he could or he couldn’t, one thing was clear. He was going to kiss her. Today. It had to be done. He’d barely slept at all last night. He’d been too busy thinking about her hair and her skin and her unwilling laugh and the faint frown line on her forehead. She wasn’t bombshell beautiful, but she held his attention. That was more than he could say for a lot of women he’d spent time with. He’d almost proposed to a Victoria’s Secret model who was as interesting to talk to as an empty Starbuck’s cup. She’d been onboard with the no babies family plan and she’d looked damn good naked. It had seemed like enough at the time. Thank God, Gram had talked him out of that one.
    Feeling better with the promise of a stolen kiss to look forward to, he straightened and slapped his hand against the hand of the painted hula girl in an unsatisfying high five before heading for the elevator.
    He waved at the manager’s cool nod and tried not to wince as he remembered the list he owed Ortega for the styling rooms and the green room. Before he and Laura could hit the road to look for stage dressing, he’d need to get on that. He took a deep, calming breath, squinted a little, and headed into Viva Las Vegas.
    In an unusual turn of events, Bob was smiling when he crossed over to pound KT on the back. “Hey, man, great job. Great job. Electrician’s been here, got most of the things done already. Almost everything’s done. They’re working on taking down the electronic display now, so we’ll be ready for your stage dressing. When’s it coming? When will we have the stage dressing?”
    KT bit his tongue and waved his hand. “All under control. We’re headed out to go round it all up now.”
    Bob’s eyes narrowed. “To be delivered when?” When he managed to say something only once, the situation was getting real. KT knew he needed a good answer here.
    “Well, the electrician’s been so quick. I hadn’t expected to be able to work in here until tomorrow morning. We’ll have everything then, maybe even this afternoon.” Only if they got very lucky. Like second-lottery-win lucky.
    Bob studied his face. KT hoped he was bluffing successfully. And that Laura had a trick up the sleeve of her ugly, boxy jacket. Most places would be booked up already. Getting a crew to make a last-minute delivery would be difficult and expensive.
    Apparently satisfied, Bob nodded. “We’ll work on setting up the cameras on the stage after the electrician’s done. Manager wants to move in some extra