“Considering my aunt owns the store, nothing. We keep our clients as private as possible. Some people sell out for the publicity, but we don’t.”
“I’m not sure why in the hell he is there, but I would guess it has to do with my identity becoming public today.”
“I saw that–nice article by the way. The pictures of you in high school were cute.”
“I’m not sure how he got those, but probably from someone who knew me back then. My close friends would never give me up like that.”
“I didn’t think so.” she says softly.
“Are you there alone?”
“Yes, but I am safe. I’ll blow him off.”
“Okay, call me once he’s gone.”
“Got it.” She hangs up.
I call Robbie who is closer to the store than Declan and I are.
“Hey Heartbreaker,” he teases. “What’s up?”
“Listen, I hate to do this, but can you do me a huge favor?”
“Probably.”
“Ember called from Clyde’s formalwear and there is a strange man in there pretending to be Max. He told her he was there to be fitted for a tux. I think he is some sort of creeper trying to get information about our wedding. Not sure how he got Max’s name, but I’m sure it has to do with the pictures circulating on the internet.”
“She there by herself?” he asks with anger in his voice.
“I think so. You can get there much faster than us.”
“I’m on it. I’ll stay with her until the store closes and hope this motherfucker is still there when I get there. I’d like to know what the hell he is doing.”
I thank him and hang up to see Declan staring at me. His playful mood is gone and instead replaced with irritation. When I tell him about Ember, he gets even madder.
“That was Mike, MJ has received over one hundred calls in the last two hours since that article came out. Charlie’s tried to keep up with the messages, but they’re getting out of control. It sounds like we have several offers for free wedding services in exchange for the publicity. We also have about fifty new
best friends making sure we had their addresses for invitations.”
“You’re joking?”
“Nope, Mike said he hasn’t seen anything like this. Even when Knight’s Dream hit the charts, there weren’t this many inquiries.”
“I’m thinking this is not a good thing.”
“Me too, baby, me too.”
*****
Declan
Fuck! If she doesn’t stop answering her phone, I’m going to throw it against the wall. Since we got the call from Mike last night, both our phones have been ringing constantly. Most of them were our friends commenting on the blog article. But this morning, most of the calls have been regarding our wedding. The Events Manager with the farm we have contracted for the rehearsal dinner called to let me know a few unidentified people have tried to get information out of her regarding our plans. The catering company gave up information on us and the location. She wanted to let me know about security measures they can take to ensure privacy. When I told her who my father-in-law is going to be, she sounded impressed and relieved.
Raven’s on the phone with her mom now, and she’s being quiet but I can tell she’s upset. Robbie texted me that he and the guys would be at The Steamroom tonight for our show and to make sure they could get into the backroom. I guess he forgot he’s on the permanent list.
Raven sits down next to me and curls up to my side. I can’t see her face, but she’s sniffling against me.
“Babe, what’s wrong?”