“What’s not to love? Favorite holiday.” I plaster what I hope is a convincing smile and point to myself. Even Mr. Simons quirks an eyebrow my way.

Bethaney’s eyes widen and she shifts to stand by me. “An elf? Love that.” She heads back over to Mr. Simons and grabs his lapels. “Oh, Ricky, this could be it. If she’s up and coming, I could be known for discovering the next ‘it’ event planner in the city. Wouldn’t that be amazing?” Her smile is at full wattage.

“You’re amazing,” Mr. Simons says, looking at her lovingly. Jesus, this guy is a goner.

Bethaney turns back to me. “Can you give me her number?”

“Sure, but why don’t you let me call her first and sweet-talk her into making time in her schedule?”

“Perfect.” She claps like a baby seal then rushes over to embrace me.

I let my hands hang stiff at my sides and glance at Mr. Simons, but he doesn’t look concerned that his fiancée is pressed against me. In fact, he’s grinning almost as much as she is. Maybe the way to win his vote for partner isn’t through hard work and billable hours. Maybe it’s through making the woman he loves happy.

The idea is irksome, but if that’s the reality I’m dealing with, then I’m just happy I realized it now and that I have an event planner to refer to Bethaney.

Bethaney finally unwraps me from her hold and the scent of her cloying perfume eases as she steps back. “I’m so surprised that you love Christmas too.” She swats my chest. “You don’t strike me as the type.”

Shit. Me and my big mouth. I could have just referred Kenzie but not lied about my love for Christmas.

“What’s not to love?” I smile in a way I hope comes across as genuine.

“This is going to be so fun!” She looks about five seconds from breaking into song and dance.

I need to escape before she starts singing Christmas carols or something.

“Okay, I’ll give her a call and get back to you ASAP.” I turn and start to head out the door, but Mr. Simons calls my name.

“Thanks for this. I won’t forget it.” He winks.

I return the gesture with a nod and a smile before heading back to my office.

Now I just have to figure out how I’m going to pull this off. I’m pretty sure Kenzie won’t be happy to hear from me. She strikes me as the person who won’t care about the job prospect because of the way I treated her.

I need to smooth things over with her and get her to agree to do the event. And then make sure she does a stellar job. And also pretend to love Christmas. Fan-fucking-tastic.