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38
ANNIE
I lean back and rest my toweled head against the wooden wall of the sauna, sighing happily. “Thanks again for inviting me.”
“Of course,” Mindy replies, like it’s the most natural thing in the world for me—a woman she met just a couple weeks ago—to be here with her on the afternoon before her wedding day.
Lana Mae shoots me a glimmering, dark-eyed look that reminds me so much of her brother, I have to look away. “We didn’t have a hidden agenda to pump you for Liam gossip. Not at all.”
“Nope, not one bit.” Mindy giggles and adjusts her skimpy bikini bottom. “But, now that you’re here, you could tell us a few things. You know, if you want to.”
I laugh. These girls remind me of Prisha with their easy banter and teasing. It’s clear that the sisters-in-law-to-be are very close.
“Yeah. Like, how on earth did this all come to pass?” Lana Mae asks, her voice pitchy with excitement. “I was away for work for two weeks, and when I came back, I might as well have been gone for two years—hang on.”
She interrupts her own tirade to unscrew the lid of her water and take a long drink.
“Much better.” She smacks her lips. “I don’t handle extended heat very well.”
“Ten more minutes.” Mindy pats her own toweled head. “Then the hair masks can be rinsed off.”
They both swivel expectant eyes back to me.
“So?” Lana prompts. “You spent the night in a hotel?”
I’ve also been vaguely struggling with the heat, but now, I’m grateful for it. Surely my cheeks are already as flushed as they can get?
I drop my gaze to my hands. “We did… I thought he was a grumpy a-hole. And I’m sure he thought I was clinically insane.”
Lana snorts. “Classic Liam.”
I have to admit that I’m happy to be able to talk about Liam and me. It’s so unlike our hush hush behavior at the office.
I describe the crazy debacle that was the night in the hotel, followed by the shocking realization that the man I shared a bed with (I left out the intimate cuddle-fest, of course) turned out to be my new boss. I explain that, bit by bit, I realized how different he is from the man I assumed he was. I tell them briefly about our first kiss, leaving out all the sizzling details because, eager as Lana looks right now, she’s still Liam’s little sister.
When I’m done, Mindy smirks. “So, it’s serious.”
“Oh… no. I don’t know. I mean, I’m just here as his wedding date.”
“Liam doesn’tdowedding dates,” Lana Mae says. “You’re definitely not just that.”
That now-familiar warm feeling fills my chest. I know Liam’s focus is his company, his family. Know that he hasn’t dated in a long time because of these priorities.
And yet, I’m here with him. That says it all really, doesn’t it?
“When did you feel it?” Mindy asks, interrupting my thoughts.
“It?”
“You know, the ‘it’ factor. The moment when you realize you don’t just want to jump his bones because your attraction is burning so bright, it’s about to set your whole house on fire. It’s the moment where, underneath all the flirting and sexual tension and butterflies, you realize with a sudden clarity that you feel so much more than that.”
I don’t even have to pause: the exact second she’s talking about hits me square in the heart.
That kiss last night. The one that said more than a hundred words could.
“Annie?” Mindy prompts with a wicked grin. “Looks like you know the moment, huh? Or are you daydreaming about all the sexy making out you two have been doing?”
Mindy is brash and the exact opposite of subtle, and I like this about her. But I can’t help but glance at Lana Mae to see if this conversation is officially TMI. Apparently not, because she’s nodding along giddily.
