Page 47 of Bridesmaid for Hire
I pick at my salad, popping bites in as she reclines her chair and crosses one leg over the other, casually picking up a fry here and there.
If you were looking at us from afar, you’d probably assume that we were having a lover’s spat. And maybe we are. Technically it’s a spat, not for lovers, more for enemies. But either way, we don’t look like the loving couple we were while holding mimosas.
After a few moments of silence, I say, “I know what it means to want something so bad that you will do anything to accomplish it.” I look up at her. “Like take an invite from my manager just for the possibility of getting closer to my boss who will ultimate decide if this idea I’ve been working on for over a year is viable or not.”
She looks up at me, those hazel eyes slightly watery. They clear up as she realizes what I’m trying to do.
“So then,” she clears her throat, “maybe you know a little bit about what I’m going through.”
“Yeah…just a little,” I say and then leave it at that.
I don’t want to make her feel bad about her admission, but I also don’t want to grow too close to her. Not when I’m already harboring feelingsfor her. Diving deep into who this beautiful woman is, unearthing the complexities of her personality—that would be my undoing.
Got to keep it surface level.
Because if there’s one thing that Idoknow. It’s that there’s no way in hell Gary would appreciate me going out with his sister. He didn’t want to sacrifice our relationship if something went wrong and I understood. I agreed with him.
But I think he saw it in my eyes. The attraction.
The unintentional yearning.
Because the night before his wedding, he reiterated his concerns, his demands, when he caught me staring at her during the rehearsal dinner.
Leave her alone.
Not for you.
I love you, man…I don’t want to lose you.
Don’t do it.
And I’ve held on to those words. And I’ll keep holding on to them.
Because it’s better to lose out on an opportunity for something great that risk everything you already have.
“Are you ready?” Maggie says as she comes up behind the lounger where I’m sitting, looking out toward the lagoon.
I stand up and when I get my first look at her, I feel my stomach do a mini flip. She’s wearing a cute aqua and coral romper. The shorts are connected to the bodice, but the neckline is a deep V that reaches to her navel, giving me one hell of a view of her amazing cleavage. She put on a pair of high-heeled sandals that make her legs look impossibly long and toned, and she styled her hair up into a high ponytail, her natural waves adding dimension.
She’s so fucking gorgeous that it’s actually painful.
I stuff my hands in my pockets and offer her a curt smile. “Yup, ready.”
“Then let’s go,” she says, turning on her heel and heading toward the front door. I watch her pert ass sway, her shorts barely covering her backside. Yup, she certainly came here to meet a man and she brought all the clothes for it.
She has me fucking drooling, that’s for damn sure. I wonder if she has Hudson and Hardy feeling the same way.
In all honesty, I think at the drop of a hat, any woman would leave me for them. It would make sense if Maggie did. I doubt anyone would be surprised. If Maggie did decide to ditch me for a Hopper, at least I think the move would make me look like a chump and maybe they’d take pity on me and approve my proposal over Deanna’s. Wouldn’t that be a fucking way to do it.
Although, I don’t think I could suffer through the blow of my fake girlfriend moving on to someone else right in front of me. Our relationship might not be real, but I’m still a stupidly proud man.
Once we lock up, I sit in the golf cart but then pause and ask, “Want to walk?”
She glances down at her heels and then back at me. “Uh, maybe another time,” she answers. “I don’t think it would help Haisley if I roll an ankle on one of the planks.”
“Probably right,” I say as I pat the seat next to me. “Hop in.”
She pauses. “I can take my shoes off and walk along the bridge if you really want to.”
