Page 15 of That Secret Something

Rebecca groaned as she devoured her biscuit. “Damn, that’s good.”

I blocked out the sounds, fighting the tangents threatening to tangle my mind. I really need to get laid. This is embarrassing. But it’s been…months. I don’t even know how long.

“It would be really great if you could show as much enthusiasm about my wedding as you do for biscuits, Becca,” Lily grumbled.

Rebecca pawed at her arm with chocolate-covered fingers. “Come on, Lilz. I’m so excited for your wedding. It’s gonna be great.”

Lily bobbed her head in half-hearted agreement, wiping her arm with a piece of kitchen roll. “Mm, hmm. We’ll see.”

“It’ll be the best,” Rebecca enthused. “Won’t it, Jess? We’ll make sure of it. And Erica Lundwood will just die of jealousy.”

The corner of Lily’s mouth turned up in a smile. “That’s more like it. Come on then. Let’s make this the greatest wedding this town’s ever seen.”

Rebecca threw her hand into the centre of the table, encouraging us to lay our own on top of it.

“Becca, we’re not in the locker room now, and this isn’t—”

“Ugh! Lily, come on!” Rebecca rolled her eyes. “You too, Grant.”

I sighed but joined in, laying my hand on top of Rebecca’s and trying to push down the tingles building from the heat of her skin on mine.

Lily cast us both daggers and then shrugged. “Fine.” She slapped her palm on top of mine with gusto, making me wince.

“We’re all in this together. One team!” Rebecca projected like we were on a hockey pitch and not gathered intimately around her sister’s kitchen table. “It’s not going to be easy, and there’s going to be hurdles. But nothing we can’t overcome.” She glanced between me and Lily. The creases between Lily’s eyebrows deepened with every word, but Rebecca seemed undeterred. “So let’s go out there and give the fans—uh, the guests—something to cheer for. Lawson wedding, let’s go!”

She pushed down our hands, and when we raised them unenthusiastically, she shook her head in disappointment and put her hand back into the centre. “Come on. Lawson wedding! Let’s go!”

“Lawson wedding!” Lily and I cheered, raising our hands like we were going to storm the field.

We burst out laughing at the stupidity of it all, but the mood had lightened, and Lily immediately started flicking through the magazines, re-energized.

“Let’s go, Lawsons,” she said, pushing various prospective venues in our directions.

In a way, I’d always felt a part of the Lawson family, but to be included in this way sent a fuzzy sensation to my heart that I tried not to look too hard into. I looked up at the sisters, already deep in their research. My focus drifted to Rebecca, letting myself indulge in her unattainable beauty for just a few seconds.

Her green irises flicked to mine, and she smiled, swirling the dizzy flutters in my belly into a warm and dangerous goo.

Lawson wedding, let’s go.

Seven

The open day at the Wiltchester was quickly becoming one of the worst Sundays of my life. The venue was swarming with young socialites eager to have the most impressive and most Instagram-worthy wedding possible, which meant they were all being incessant little brats.

I was one rude comment away from whipping out the pepper spray in my handbag.

An older woman rallied behind a group of brides-to-be, cracking her metaphorical whip and cradling a stack of books to her chest. She trod on my toe as she scuttled past in her kitten heels.

I cursed and shot a death glare in their direction. Not that she noticed. Breathe, Jess, breathe. Pepper spray wouldn’t be worth the lawyer’s fee.

But it would feel so damn good.

Being stuck in this place with a million psychotic brides re-enacting doomsday flared up my anxiety. These women were not to be messed with. Give me a zombie apocalypse over this any day.

I looked back at Lily, who was engrossed in another booklet from hell, and sighed. Not only was I surrounded by people who’d push you into traffic if it meant securing a miniscule write up in the local newspaper, but Rebecca had also gone AWOL, and Lily was becoming more unbearable as the day went on. You’d think I’d be used to it, working as a party planner, but weddings had a special knack for making people extra unhinged.

“Are we sure we like the fact that all the people interested in this venue have glittering-pink talons for nails, no manners, and no real eyebrows?” I asked. “Shouldn’t that alone be a deal-breaker?”

Lily huffed and shot me daggers. “What was the rule for today?”

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