“Yeah, for a couple of months now,” she lied casually, recalling how Kira had heard about the collision at Bella’s wedding and likely wasn’t the only one. “We literally crashed into each other at a wedding, and it was love at first bump. Isn’t that cute?”
The looks on their faces were priceless, especially when Ari caught Judah’s eye and waved.
He was so utterly confused that he actually waved back.
Ari was so surprised she nearly burst out laughing right then and there, but she held it in long enough to blow him a kiss… and let it out when his eyes widened and he stumbled over a cord. She was definitely gonna pay for that the next time they bumped into each other—literally or otherwise—but for now? Totally worth it.
Joanna and Lauren muttered something about distractions and spotlight stealing as they moved away from her toward the stage, and Ari pulled out her phone and opened a text to Liana.
Ari:Trust me, Lee. I am not winning bridesmaid of the year.
Chapter Five
Judah was probably overreacting. No, he was definitely overreacting. But even that knowledge couldn’t stop him from tapping his foot impatiently on the floor, waiting for Arielle Becker to get her drink from the bar so they could have this conversation in person.
When shefinallyturned around, bright red drink in hand and a skinny brown straw between those infernally distracting lips, he caught her eye immediately and beckoned her to join him away from the crowd.
“Why, Judah,” she said in a terrible Scarlett O’Hara accent as she moseyed over. “If you wanted to get me into a shadowy corner, all you had to do was ask.”
“Is anythingnota joke to you?” he growled, forcing his gaze on some point over her shoulder so he wouldn’t get distracted by the way she was toying with the straw between her teeth. “What the hell was that before?”
“What are you talking about?” She sounded genuinely confused, which only irritated him further. “Oh, you mean the wave and kiss? God, Judah, yes, that was a joke. One of the bridesmaids accused me of flirting with you—”
“We werenotflirting,” Judah cut in, his cheeks heating, aware he sounded mildly deranged. “I mean,” he said in a more normal tone, “you know. You were there.”
She rolled her eyes. “Yes, Judah, I’m aware that the idea of flirting with me is a fate worse than death for you. Point is, she clearly wants to bang you, and I didn’t feel like letting her take her sexualfrustrations out on me, so I joked that we were dating. I thought it’d be obvious I was kidding because, well, you know.”
“I do know,” he confirmed, even though those infernal lips were rendering his brain a little fuzzy.
Again, he mentally cycled through all the ways they didn’t fit, all the boxes she wouldn’t have ticked on that questionnaire—dressing modestly, being shomer negiah—those were things he cared about deeply… he was pretty sure. Besides which, who knew what else she didn’t observe? Maybe she didn’t keep Shabbos, or kosher, or both. The life she wanted probably didn’t look a single thing like the one he did.
“Right, so anyway, they took me seriously, and then you waving back helped, so thanks for that.” She grinned cheekily and took another sip of her fruity-colored drink. “You can’t actually be mad about a stupid joke. Come on, no one would ever believe we were dating in real life. It’s just a high-emotion kind of event, and people are being tense and ridiculous.”
“It was childish,” he said childishly.
“I don’t know about you, but I wasnotdating as a child.”
Okay, yes, all of this was an excellent reminder of why a pretty face didnotequal a suitable… well, anything. He would probably go out of his mind within three minutes of tea and Diet Coke with her at the August. Exhaling sharply, he turned on his heel and made to head back to the stage. If he didn’t get away from this woman immediately, he was going to spontaneously combust in more ways than one.
Unfortunately, he’d barely taken a step before she called his name.
“What?” he asked, turning back with the molasses pace of a man who knew he was going to regret it.
“Don’t you even want to know which bridesmaid is hot for you?”
He really, really didn’t, especially since he knew which one it wasn’t. “I don’t date where I work,” he said flatly.
Something flashed in her eyes. Confusion? Understanding? Both? “Noted.” She smirked around her straw. “I’ll just have to work extra hard to keep my hands off you then.”
He turned back around before she could see the flames positively licking at his face and stalked off toward the bar, in dire need of a glass of ice water. But then she was in his face again, all trace of her infuriating smirk gone. “Okay, okay, I’m sorry. I’ll stop sexually harassing you. But this is bringing me so much joy. Look at them.”
Against his better judgment, Judah followed the direction of Arielle’s subtle nod, and indeed saw a crowd of furious bridesmaids gossiping as they watched them. He was relieved to see the bride wasn’t among them; she had the aura of someone who would absolutely fire anyone who took attention off her on her big day. But Arielle was right—they were definitely watching the two of them, definitely pissed, and definitely jealous.
It was not the worst feeling he’d ever had.
“Ihaveto keep this up for the night,” she said gleefully. “Come on. Just tonight. You know no one will believe this by morning. There must be something I can give you in exchange for cooperating.”
Judah thought he might choke on his tongue. “This is completely ridiculous. You know that.”
