Page 12 of Bridesmaid Undercover
“Yeah?” Hudson asks with a smile. “I’d be surprised if you don’t.”
“The only problem is, she wants nothing to do with me,” I say.
“Who wants nothing to do with you?” JP Cane asks as he walks through the conference room door.
The second-oldest brother out of the three, JP is the most charismatic. He’s been the face of Cane Enterprises for as long as I’ve known him but has also stepped into heading up the philanthropic arm of the company. He’s charming, funny, and has an intense obsession with pigeons. Not sure where that stems from, but I know he’s heavily involved in the “pigeon justice” community. Something about how humans domesticated them and then just pushed them aside, leaving the poor pigeons to fend for themselves…I don’t know. He went on a rant about it once, and I couldn’t honestly tell if he was being serious or not. Come to find out, he was.
We all stand from our chairs and greet JP with handshakes. When we take a seat, he repeats, “Who wants nothing to do with you?”
“Oh, we don’t need to talk about that,” I say.
“Breaker and Huxley aren’t here yet, so we have time to kill,” JP says. “And I’ve been up for hours thanks to the baby, so please, delight me in dating woes.” He smirks and then picks up a muffin and takes a big bite out of it. “Shit, these are good.”
From the corner of my eye, I catch the pride beaming from Hudson over the fact that JP took a muffin. He’s going to rub that in my face later. Can’t wait.
But back to me. Maybe discussing my dating woes will bring us closer, and if Hudson complains about me talking about it later, I’ll just mention that.
“Well, my best friends are getting married, and Maple, my ex will be there. She’s the maid of honor and I’m the best man, and we’re the only ones in the bridal party. I want to see if there’s anything still between us, but the bride told me to back off because my ex wants nothing to do with me.”
JP slowly nods as he takes another bite of his muffin. After chewing for a second, he says, “That’s not going to stop you, is it?”
“I mean…should it?”
“Considering that we should listen to women more,” Jude puts in. “I think maybe you should stay away.”
“Facts,” JP says. “But…what if she does still have feelings, but she’s shielding herself so she doesn’t get hurt? Let me ask you this: How did things end?”
“Amicably for the most part,” I answer. “We both were going in different directions with our careers and knew it wouldn’t work out. Granted, I told her I would follow her, and it ended up that I couldn’t. So I think there might be a hint of animosity there, but I can’t be sure.”
“There is,” Hudson says.
“Animosity isn’t a bad thing, disinterest is,” JP says. “We can fix animosity, but we can’t fix disinterest.” He sets his muffin down on a napkin. “One more question. Does she mean something to you?”
I give his question some thought.
Our relationship was fun, easy, and we didn’t get in many fights. We didn’t have much in common superficially, but I didn’t think that was a bad thing. She had her love of flamingos, and I had a love for the outdoors and the earth, which I’ve turnedinto farming. We understood each other and appreciated each other and when I was with her, I was happy. So was she.
I nod. “Yes, she does. And now that we’re older, now that we’ve found ourselves, I wonder what we’d be like together again. I know that I still have feelings for her, remembering the good times we had… I don’t know, it seems foolish not to explore if those feelings still exist, especially with her moving back here.”
“Makes sense,” JP says and then rubs his hands together. “Okay, I don’t think you should make contact with her, because you don’t want to make her or the bride mad.” I feel a frown in my expression. “I think you can nod, say a friendly hello, but you have to keep your distance.”
“The perfect way to get to know her again,” I say sarcastically.
“Let the man finish,” Hudson says, elbowing me.
JP nods at Hudson. “Thank you.” He clears his throat and steeples his hands together. “You need some help on the inside.”
I shake my head. “Polly, that’s the bride, won’t tell me anything, and her groom, my friend, Ken, is completely clueless.”
“Is there anyone else you might know that’s involved in the wedding party? That will have access to Maple?”
“I don’t think—” I pause, my mind swirling as the image of Everly pops into my head. Since she’s spearheading Bridesmaid for Hire for Maggie, she could be the bridesmaid Polly requested. “Wait, there might be someone.” I don’t say who it is, because I know if I mention Everly, Hudson will immediately shoot the idea down and tell me to leave her out of it. He doesn’t want personal needs mixing with business, but…fuck, Everly would be the perfect person to help me out. She’s friendly, and we have a good rapport. I think she might be willing to help me with a little undercover action.
“Really?” JP asks with excitement.
“Really?” Hudson asks, seeming more skeptical. “Who?”
“Uh, another bridesmaid,” I answer, not technically lying.
