Page 22 of Bossy Bride: Emma and Jesse

Which only makes Jesse chuckle as he wraps his arms around mine and pulls me into his chest. And for a moment I soften. I go a little squishy at his possessive embrace.

But then… is this just his preemptive move to make sure I don’t haul off and hit Kraken Karen in the eye?

“Um… sooo?” We all turn to look at Zach Boston on the other side of the screen door. “Are we good here?” He does one of those backward nods of his head to indicate something behind him. “I’ve gotta… you know. Finish up in here and then get out there to help Luke with the party tonight.”

Jesse waves him off. “Yeah, go. See ya in a few, Zach.”

And with that Zach Boston excuses himself from this now very awkward situation on his porch, so now it’s just the three of us.

Me. My gorgeous man. And my worst enemy.

I decide the best offense right now is a retreat. “Well, Karen. It was… whatever. We have to go.”

I squirm out of Jesse’s embrace and grab the handle of my wheelie suitcase and start dragging it down the porch steps as the driver scrambles with the rest. I point to the house kitty-wonkus diagonally across the street and say, “That’s where we’re heading, I guess,” then look over my shoulder to make sure Kraken Karen isn’t trying to hump Jesse’s leg while I’m not looking.

She’s not. But she’s still smiling at him like she wants to.

Jesse dutifully follows me, dragging his own wheelie suitcase down the porch steps, and we don’t look back until we’re across the street and on the porch of the Emma and Jesse cottage.

Karen is gone.

But instead of being relieved I feel like she’s stalking me from the bushes.

Jesse opens the cottage door and waves me in. “Just… forget about her. We’re not gonna see her again. We’re just gonna close up the curtains and pretend we’re the only people in the world.”

“Right.” But I know it’s not true. Kraken Karen is back for a reason. She saw us in the news or something. Our engagement was in the tabloids. They even featured us on some gossipy cable entertainment show the week after Halloween. In fact, according to my mother, that’s right around the time she bought her old house.

Something is definitely up with the Kraken.

The driver helps us with our luggage, Jesse tips him, and then he closes the door and turns to face me with a sigh. “Come on, Emma. It’s Christmas. We’re here with your family, there’s a huge party tonight and a big Christmas Eve dinner tomorrow. Then the big day, and lots of pie, and mashed potatoes. And then it’s a whole week of exploring beaches, and diving, and having sex on secret sandbars.”

I smile, picturing it. He’s right. Karen won’t be around for any of that stuff. So what if she manages to squirm her way into our tree-trimming street party? She won’t get any closer than that. For sure. It’s just family after tonight.

But… God. I just can’t shake it. “She’s like a bad omen,” I tell Jesse.

“No, she’s not. It’s just… she’s just a minor blip. That’s all. She’s got no staying power. And besides, we don’t really live here. We live three and half hours away by private jet. She can’t follow us back to the city.”

“I know. But… I just don’t understand why she’s back. She’s been gone for like fifteen years. And then all of a sudden we’re engaged, and in the news, and she’s here. Why?”

“Maybe she missed you?”

I cough out a laugh. “No. That’s not it. She was my worst enemy.”

Jesse makes a face at me. “Then why does your mother like her so much?”

I tsk my tongue. “I never told her about all the things Karen did back when we were kids.”

“Maybe you should tell her now?”

“What’s the point?”

“Well… your mom would take your side. You have to know that. Your family is fiercely overprotective. One word to Alonzo about—”

“Oh, no. You don’t understand. He dated her!”

“What?”

“Yeah. For almost a year when he was a senior in high school. And she is the one who broke it off with him! He was crushed.”