Cress put away her phone with which she had taken photos of her arrangement. She might not use all —or any— of the items she had picked from Regolith Décor but it gave her a good reference. Maybe she would send them to Kai and Cinder too so they would remember what their wedding might look like.

The couple had already left, but Cress was aware that Thorne was still lingering about as she carefully repackaged the decoration. She had been surprised that he had, as far as she could tell, without any hesitation voted for her idea. After the events of the last few days, this had been the last thing she'd suspected him to do.

Taken aback as she had been, her eyes had flown to his, thinking he might have been joking. But Thorne had looked as serious as she had ever seen him. Even Cinder and Kai had seemed surprised.

After everything that had happened since they'd met, this honest vote for her idea had amazed her the most.

Cress felt his gaze linger and it was difficult not to get flustered. She had no idea what to expect from him now that they were alone.

Thorne casually leaned against one of the shelves. "I didn't expect you to come here of all places."

"Regolith Décor?"

He nodded.

"It was the only place I knew I could use."

"Yeah, but that was a special arrangement. They don't let anyone come here using their goods for presentations, especially if there are still customers in the shop."

Cress bit her lip. She'd assumed this might come up. "I, um, might have used your name?" When he raised his eyebrow, she hurried to explain, "I said it was a follow-up with the clients of 'Thorne Event Planning.'"

Her eyes dropped to her feet. She knew that hadn't been even in the least bit an okay thing to do. Preparing another pitch was one thing, but using his name and his connections to do so? It seemed logical at first but now she wished she had done it a bit differently. She wouldn't blame him for being angry with her.

But then she heard his warm, deep laugh, loud enough that some customers turned around, startled by the noise. "Setting up secret meetings, pitching new ideas, using my name ..." Thorne looked at her, impressed. "That's gutsy. Good thing you're not my competition here in L.A." He then waggled his finger at her in mock reproach. "You are a sneaky one."

Cress let out a sigh of relief. "You're not mad at me?"

"Nah." And then he stepped closer. So close she had to look up at him. Thorne lowered his head towards hers, studying her for a long time with an expression Cress couldn't identify before his lips tugged into a smile. Not the cocky smile or teasing grin she already knew from him, but something that was almost soft and thoughtful.

"I can see the appeal now."

Cress raised an eyebrow. "Of what?"

"Of you." His eyes grew almost comically before he chuckled. "I mean of you as a wedding planner."

Cress's heart thumped loudly in her chest. When she'd read about Thorne and imaged working with him, she wanted nothing more than someone who shared her passion and who understood her ideas and motivation.

Someone to connect to.

But after getting to know him, her hopes had crashed so quickly that after a few hours of knowing the "real" Thorne, they seemed far-fetched and ridiculous.

And still, he understood—and appreciated—her work. Her ideas. He'd even voted for hers over his own. She didn't know what to make of it.

Together, they put the decorations back and left the store. They stood a bit awkwardly next to each other but that could have just been on Cress's end. She had never seen Thorne being anything but confident.

Rubbing his neck, he turned to her. "Want me to give you a ride?"

"Um, sure?"

"You might want to give me directions. I have no idea where that Deshal guy lives."

They walked toward his rental car. Thorne opened the door for her.

"You've never met him?" she asked him as he sat down and started the motor.

"He was at the engagement party I think. But he's usually traveling a lot. I'm sure he'll come to the wedding though." He shrugged.

His driving hadn't improved, but the traffic jam didn't allow for any dangerous maneuvers anyway.

They sat in silence for most of the ride - a stark contrast to the way they had bantered on their drive from Inyokern to L.A. So much had happened in the meantime. Whenever she thought she had figured Thorne out, he did something unexpected and she was just as lost as before.

Except for one thing.

"I know about Kate Fallow."

If he was surprised by that, he didn't let on. "You met her? A nice girl, don't you think?"

"No. Well, she's probably nice, but you know that's not what I mean."

"It's not?" There was a tone in his voice that told her she was on the right track.

"It's been nagging at me this whole time. Things weren't adding up when I heard Kai's story about how he finally got together with Cinder. Kai couldn't even remember Kate's name when he told me about her, but she invited him to her wedding? It didn't seem like they were close enough for that. It just didn't make sense. A wedding that you organized, I might add."

Thorne's fingers went to the radio but didn't turn it on. "Your point being?"

Cress directed him to the next exit, careful not to distract him from the traffic. "And then you had to call Cinder to come by and repair the sound system. The DJ couldn't do it? None of the venue's staff members couldn't do it? No, you needed Cinder not for the repairs. That's how she and Kai finally got together in the first place. They met at one of your fated weddings. You told me as much." She couldn't help adding smugly, "You were match-making."

A smile tugged at his lips but he said, "Nice story. Not sure it holds up though. Unless you got proof."

"I don't need proof. The story doesn't add up. But it's not like I expected you to admit to it, in either case." She stole a glance at him, but he seemed calm and unperturbed by her revelation. "You're probably wondering why I brought this up."

"Not particularly, no."

Cress just chuckled. Only yesterday she would have bristled at his words. But she had found her optimism again: she had suggested a concept to Kai and Cinder that they'd loved and thatCress was proud of. Things were finally looking up again. She wasn't fazed by his words anymore the way she had been when they'd first met. "I underestimated how much you cared for this wedding. You might have told me that you generally don't care about weddings, but Cinder and Kai's? You were invested in their relationship before they even got together. You wanted them to be together. And you must believe in marriage enough if you support them in that too. Maybe you didn't lie about weddings in general, but you want this one to happen. And you want it to be perfect."

"It is my job, after all."

Cress shook her head. "It's more than that. You always want to make sure you do your job well, you told me as much. But this time you really want it to be perfect for Kai and Cinder. Because you care about them. That's why you agreed to let me assist you and why you were so hell-bent on winning the competition and that was also the reason for the surprise dance lessons. You care about Kai and Cinder's wedding and you care about their marriage too."

There was a long pause before Thorne spoke up. "And where does that leave us, Cress? What does that change?"

Cress shrugged. "Nothing really. Except that I figured you out," she told him with a poke into his side, the way he often did to her.

"Figured me out?" He waggled his eyebrows. "That on the inside, I'm really just a sappy, lovelorn romantic? Is that what you believe now?"

Little did he know that Cress wasn't joking.

"No."

"Good."

"Now I know it."

He poked her side. "Take that back."

"Never!"

And just like that, the tension if the last few days evaporated. The rest of the drive was spent in amiable silence, though Cress did her best trying to hide her happy smile. Thorne might not have confirmed her suspicions, but she was convinced that he cared about this wedding just as much as she did. She could work with that. He and Cinder had a strange friendship too. Cinder was more often than not annoyed but seemed to care deeply about her friend. Maybe Cress and Thorne could have something similar?

When they arrived at her temporary place, Thorne exited the car too. "Cress, wait." She turned around as he jogged around the car, smiling in his carefree way. "Sooo, after today and how everything turned out ..." He raked his fingers through his hair, as if nervous, which surprised Cress. "I mean you will stay now, right?"

"Um."

He flashed her a hopeful grin. "You said that you were thinking about going back to Burlington because there wasn't much to do for you here. But since Kai and Cinder picked your idea ... you'll stay right?"

Oh.

"Is that why you voted for my idea?"

Cress felt a pang of disappointment. She thought he'd voted for her ideas because he'd seen its potential and the connection to the couple. Not so she wouldn't leave and he'd have to explain why to Kai and Cinder.

But Thorne looked surprised, raising up his hands. "What, no? No, Cress, that wasn't why I voted for it."

"No?"

"Nope. I thought it was the idea that fit Cinder and Kai much better than mine. You must have seen their faces when you were speaking. They loved your idea and that's what counts."

Cress was relieved. "I'll stay. I mean, if you want me to?" He still could use her concept and plan the whole thing on his own after all.

"Oh no, don't you dare leaveme trying to figure out what to do with your idea on my own." He winked at her. "Because you picked way more color than I'm comfortable using. Sorry, you can't leave now. I need you." He gave her a disarming grin. "For better or for worse, you're stuck with me."

"For better or for worse?" Unable to hide her own smile, Cress stuck out her hands towards his. "Deal ... partner?"

He took her hand in his without hesitation. "Partner," he confirmed.

A huge weight lifted off Cress's shoulders. And more than that, she was elated—Thorne had agreed to work with her the way she'd imagined back home! They would be partners, figuring out how to organize the perfect wedding for their best friends together.

Cress finally felt it had been the right decision to come here.

Thorne eventually let go of her hand and they bade each other farewell until tomorrow. They would have to get to the planning soon after all. The real work started now.

Cress was about to open the door when Thorne called her name. "And Cress?"

She turned around. "Yes?"

"Since I'm the best man ... I call dibs on teal. Because sunset orange or sea-foam green?" He shuddered. "Not doing anything for my looks."

A/N: Sorry for the long wait. But you know how it is; as much I would like to update every week, I can only write so often. :) Still, I hope the wait was worth it and you're happy that Cress and Thorne have finally decided to work together! They will now spend a loooot of time together. ;) Thanks as always to the wonderful lovelunarchron for betareading.