Penny grabs the hairbrush Alexia just finished using on my hair. When the bride-to-be leans toward the mirror, her observant eyes catch on me. “Um…Jessa, is that a…a hickey on your neck?”
My eyes pop wide. One hand flies to my throat. I’m sure I look like a shock-faced emoji right now.
Iris gasps and Penny chuckles.
My sister flashes me a scandalized look. Her voice drops low. “Jessa?! Have you been gettin’ it on with your boss? I didn’t think you had it in you.”
“Jude told me he thought something was going on with the two of you!” Iris squeals.
“Walker heard it from Cannon,” Penny adds on with a nod.
“It’s not like that.” I defend lamely but no-one seems convinced. “It’s not like…like we’re having a torrid affair. Last night was a one-time thing. It didn’t even mean anything. And I…I don’t even know if it’ll happen again. It’s probably not going to happen again.” I ramble on.
All three of the girls break out into cackling hysteria.
“W-what?” I ask in confusion.
Wiping tears of laughter from her eyes, Iris lays a hand on my shoulder. “Hun, you’ll learn soon enough. There’s no ‘one-time thing’ with a Kingston man. Once you’re hooked, you’re hooked.”
Right then, a bathroom stall swings open. Diana Kingston merrily prances out with an innocent look on her face. My eyes go even wider. My cheeks are feverishly hot. Eli’s mother heard all that?!
All the girls fall silent with guilty looks on their faces.
“Carry on with your conversation, ladies. Never mind me.” Diana is wearing a face-bursting grin as she wedges herself next to Penny at the sink. “I didn’t hear anything.”
After a few long seconds of silence, Diana shuts off the pipe and reaches for a paper towel.
She just can’t help herself. “It’s true, though,” she whispers. “There’s no such thing as a one-time thing with a Kingston man. As the woman sitting at the top of the family tree, I would know.” She waggles her brows.
Again, the girls break out laughing. The tension in the room is gone.
Mrs. Kingston loops an arm through mine. “Come on, girls. Let’s go.”
The five of us exit the washroom and journey across the grass back to the bridal shower.
In a few weeks, Penny and Walker will be getting married right here on the farm, on the lush lawn right outside their cabin. I could easily see myself getting married here, too. It would really be the perfect setting, surrounded by trees on one side, with a clear open view of the rolling fields on the other. All that’s missing is a groom.
Eli enters my mind, sporting his full beard and a sexy dark suit. It takes me a minute to realize that Mrs. Kingston is speaking—about that son of hers, in particular.
Oops. Probably shouldn’t daydream about the brutish man in front of his sweet mother.
I rejoin the conversation just in time to hear Diana say, “Well I, for one, am fully in support of you and Eli ‘getting to know each other’. Especially if that means he’ll start playing nice with his brothers.”
Iris nods vigorously. “Jude said he refused to go out for drinks,” she complains.
“Walker’s scared he won’t show up to the wedding,” Penny tells her future mother-in-law with a frown.
Diana speaks sagely. “Eli will come around. Now that he has love in his life, it’s only a matter of time.”
“Love?!” I skid on the lawn and my drunk ass is on it’s way down. Thankfully, Diana helps me regain my balance. “Guys, Eli and I aren’t in a relationship. And I definitely don’t have any control over his behavior. Yes, my boss and I had one hot night of passion together but I don’t really think this is the beginning of a fairytale love story…do I?”
“Oh, but you do.” Penny smiles knowingly. “Walker used to be the grumpiest thing to walk this earth. Love softened him right up.”
“This is not like you and Walker,” I say, forcing down the hopeful patter in my heart.
Penny ignores me and continues. “We tried our hardest to fight our feelings for each other until eventually, our love was just too strong. We couldn’t hold back anymore.”
“But your situation is different,” I say. “You and Walker were already best friends—you actually liked each other. Then life smacked you upside the head and finally forced you together when Walker offered to help you get pregnant.”
Lexi chuffs. “What about Cannon and me? We couldn’t stand each other when we met. The man practically blackmailed me into a fake wedding. And lord knows, I spent the first few weeks of our married life wanting to throttle him. But now, nothing can come between me and bae.” She winks at Diana.
Iris nods along. “Same. Jude and I hated each other all throughout college and it wasn’t until he became my roommate last year that we eventually started to explore our feelings.”
“The point is, anything can happen.” Diana wears an optimistic grin as we step back into the party.
I let the women’s words percolate in my head as we weave through the planters of orange sun star flowers and red begonias. I want so badly for Eli to be the one. But I’m scared. I’m not sure if I’m willing to risk my heart, betting on him.
It’s a good thing I’m getting a new job soon. I have to get that job. Because I’m officially falling in love with my boss and I know that if I continue to work for him, I’ll end up having my heart broken in a spectacular way.
The other girls disperse but Diana maintains her grip on my arm. “Come dear. Let’s sober you up with a cup of tea.”
We head to
