Page 163 of Bridesmaid for Hire
I nod. “He did. But in his defense, he didn’t want to go on the hike because he’s deathly scared of snakes. He was already at his max level of adrenaline when the bush tipped him over the edge.”
“Why did he go then?” Haisley asks. “You didn’t have to.”
“I think he’s trying to impress your dad,” I say before I can stop myself. “Uh…I mean…”Shit, Maggie. You’ve barely had one drink, and here you are, giving away Brody’s secrets. “Forget I said that.”
“Why would Brody need to impress Reginald?” Margie asks.
Crap.
Shit.
Oh God.
Why are you a moron, Maggie?
“For work?” Haisley asks.
“Um…you know, I misspoke. We should move on to a different topic before I start sweating profusely.”
“Why would you sweat about that?” Haisley chuckles. “I can understand where Brody is coming from. Technically, my brothers and my dad are all his bosses, so I’d imagine he’d want to put on a good show for them. Although…” She cringes. “Maybe he’s been more…of a comedy act than anything.”
And this is why Haisley is so amazing. She takes a slipup and makes you feel okay about it. She’s gracious, sweet, and kind.
“Yeah, he’s felt kind of stupid with all the mishaps.”
“Oh please.” She waves me off. “It’s been so nice seeing people be real around us. You can’t imagine the fakeness we have to experience. If anything, Brody has just shown my dad how genuine he is.”
“That’s what I said.” I point to my chest. “But he seems to think it’s a bad thing.”
Haisley shakes her head. “No, if anything…it’s good brownie points for Brody.”
BRODY
“I think that this glass is a nice glass,” I say as I rub it against my face. “Isn’t it a nice glass, Hardy?”
I look up at Hardy and notice he’s slightly blurry.
Oh boy.
There can only be two reasons for that.
One: he’s moving back and forth so fast that he’s becoming a blur.
Two: I am officially drunk.
From the four empty shot glasses in front of me, I’m going to guess the latter.
“Dude…you’re toasted.” Hardy lets out a bellow of a laugh as he leans back in his chair.
“I didn’t get sunburnt today,” I say as I clumsily unbutton my shirt and them flip it open so he can see my chest. “See, not burnt.” Then for the hell of it, I boop my nipple.
Boop.
Boop.
“I didn’t mean toasted as in sunburnt. I meant it as in you’re drunk off your ass.”
“Uh, yeah, I know.” I lean on my elbow and look him in the face. “Your father forced me to drink these. Have you not noticed? He was trying to get me drunk and he was successful.” Glancing around the table, I say, “Do you think he has a crush on me or something?”
