AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“But some people are more deserving of discretion than others, don’t you think?” she asks, smirking.
I laugh. “No comment,” I say, as she’s joined by a handsome, dark haired guy who kisses her on the cheek with an adoring look in his eyes.
“This is Grace,” Alice introduces me. “She just got done working for that asshole, Bret Bassinger.”
“I didn’t tell you that,” I say, surprised.
Alice beams. “I still do research for Olivia,” she explains. “Vetting all her clients and contractors.”
“Oh.” I blush, wondering if this means she knows Charlie and I aren’t really a couple, but if she does, she doesn’t reveal it, and soon the conversation moves on.
But my attention drifts back to the man of the hour, currently playing with the kids outside. Dammit, as if I didn’t need any more reason to be falling for the guy, seeing him roar and prowl in that costume, with the kids hanging off him, would do it. Hell, my ovaries are aching, seeing how good he is with children. If this was a real relationship, if it was the start of something…
But Charlie’s not that guy. He’s said it himself a hundred times.
Except…
What if he changed his mind?
“Phew!”
I turn, as Olivia collapses into the seat beside me. She’s been so busy, we haven’t had a chance to talk, but now, she fixes me with a smile that I would think was casual and relaxed if I didn’t already know that nothing about Olivia is ever a hundred percent casual—even with jelly stains on her shirt and a big blue bow in her hair.
“It’s a great party,” I tell her.
“Thanks. It was easier before she could walk,” she says, reaching for a juice box. “Now, I can’t just stick her in the playpen and relax.”
“But now she can appreciate dinosaurs,” I point out. “How’s motherhood treating you?”
She grins. “It’s a ride, that’s for sure. The baby stage is magical and chaotic, but I finally feel like we have some semblance of balance.”
Her daughter is shrieking with laughter as Ryan tosses her in the air, and I smile. It does seem like that—a mess and a joy. I do hope to be a mom someday, and maybe the longing is obvious because Olivia turns back to me. “So. How are things with the wedding gig? You and Charlie seem to be getting along. Better than your first reunion, at least.”
Is that a pointed phrasing? That it’s a gig, nothing more?
“Good.” I reply vaguely. “You were dead-on about us being a good team. And about Charlie’s dancing.”
“Mhmm,” she says, with a knowing smile. “And I was right about the fake-dating thing bringing some big feelings along for the ride?”
Guilty as charged.
I blush. “I… Maybe,” I admit, and she gives me a sympathetic smile.
“I know what that’s like. Believe me, I do.”
There’s something in her tone, and the way she glances over at Ryan…
My jaw drops. “You guys?” I exclaim.
She grins. “Us guys. He was playing my fake date for the wedding from hell, he needed a wingman for his business pitches… And, well… It wasn’t so fake, after all.”
Wow. “So when you warned me…”
“It was because I’ve been there myself,” she agrees. “But the thing is, I also know that it’s not easy. Lines get blurred, what’s real and pretend isn’t so simple… I just want you to be careful, that’s all.”
I want me to be careful too, but before I can say anything, Charlie’s back.
“Just let me finish up here, and we can get going.”
