“Whoa, what’s going on?” Jules looked suspicious. I could tell she was wondering why she didn’t already know this delicious gossip.
“I promise.” Stella leaned forward with a conspiratorial grin. “I’m dying to hear what you have to say, this sounds juicy.”
I looked around the pizzeria to make sure that no one was listening and then sat back. “Jeff kissed me last night.” Both Jules and Stella’s jaws dropped, and I grinned. This was the response I had been expecting. “And he showed me his penis.”
“He what?” Jules practically screamed and then covered her mouth. “He what?” she said in a lower voice. She looked shocked. “I don’t know how to respond to this information, Betsy. I need all the details right now.”
“All I want to know is—impressive or nah?” Stella giggled and wiggled her eyebrows at me.
“Let’s just say, any more impressive and it might not fit.” I burst out laughing at their shocked expressions.
“I love it,” Stella said. “Who knew that Jeff was packing?”
“Who wanted to know that Jeff was packing?” Jules made a face. “So, what does that mean, exactly?”
“That’s the whole problem.” I sighed. “I don’t know. He kissed me and left and then later that night he called me on the phone. And that’s when things starting getting juicy.” I paused for dramatic effect. “And just as it was getting juicy, Veronica showed up at his door, and he hung up. He never called me back, and he never came to the shop today.”
“Wow.” The grin fell from Stella’s face. “So, you think he hooked up with Veronica then?”
“Don’t know.” I nibbled on my lower lip, all of a sudden losing my appetite. “I don’t know what to think. I wasn’t expecting the kiss or the penis glimpse, and—oh, I forgot to tell you the other part.”
“What other part?” Jules sounded outraged. “How much have you been holding out on us?”
“Not much.”
“Are you going to casually just let it slip that you’re now pregnant with his baby?”
“I saw his cock. I didn’t have it inside of me.” I rolled my eyes.
“Oh, girls. Language.” Stella giggled. “I love this conversation, but I’m not sure our neighbors do.” I looked over to the table that she was nodding toward and saw a couple glaring at us as their little girl played with some crayons. I looked away quickly. Had we been that loud?
“Want to take the pizza to go and head to the beach?” I asked them. “We can grab some ciders on the way?”
“Sure,” Jules said. “But I have to be at Nolan’s place by nine. I told him we could watch a movie tonight.”
“Of course,” I said, trying not to roll my eyes. “You in, Stella?”
“Sure, but are we allowed to take ciders? Isn’t alcohol banned on the beach?”
“Who’s going to know?” I said with a grin. “I think we’ll be okay.”
“Ha ha, okay,” Stella said
I signaled to the waiter to come over and pack up the rest of our pizza to go. As I sat back and waited for the waiter to finish and bring the bill, I tried to process everything I was thinking and feeling. I was putting on a brave face by having a laugh with Jules and Stella, but I was starting to feel stressed. Everything seemed to be building up. My business, which I loved, wasn’t doing as well as I’d hoped. My best friend was now dating my brother, and as much as I loved them both, I was sad that Jules was no longer in my life as much. It seemed that every time we made plans, she had to think about what she was doing with Nolan first. And now there was Jeff, my Jeff, the man I’d been in love with for more than half my life. He was the most handsome, most charismatic man I’d ever met and, while I’d known he had never wanted to get married, I’d thought that maybe one day he would at least look at me in a way other than as his best friend’s sister. And recently, I’d thought that maybe he was seeing me in a different light. He’d been coming by the coffee shop more frequently, and we’d been lightly flirting. I’d thought maybe he just needed a little push from me.
That’s where the naughty panties had come in, but now everything was spiraling out of control. He wasn’t the man I’d thought he was, and that scared me. What if I ended up hating him? I didn’t want to think about him with Veronica. And why had he kissed me and then told me I was a bad kisser? And why had he shown me how hard he was? Was he testing me? Was he just looking to have some fun? And why hadn’t he come to the coffee shop today? He hadn’t missed a day in the coffee shop for over two months. I could feel my eyes welling up slightly. I knew I was overreacting, but the stress of everything was getting to me. I didn’t want Jules and Stella to see how affected I was, though. I knew that if Jules realized how emotionally invested I was in Jeff already that she would not be so eager to run this Bachelorette Auction and kissing booth. And once I told them about the kissing bet, I knew she would make it her goal to ensure that I was lined up with all the eligible bachelors in Canyon Beach.
Chapter 7
Jeff
“So, it looks like the girls are a go with the Bachelorette Auction.” Nolan sounded annoyed over the phone. “I swear to God if Jules decides to become a part of that kissing booth, I will not be happy.”
“I thought it was just one man and one woman,”
