Page 39 of False Confidence

“It is,” Mr. Cannon agreed. “And if you’re reading that much, you must be learning a lot.”

“Oh, absolutely. I love… learning.” Liam had quizzed his moms on some of their recent favorite reads, so he would have an answer if Jasmine’s family asked what he read, but if they wanted to assume he read non-fiction, that was fine with him.

“You could take a leaf out of Liam’s book, Jazz. When was the last time you read a book?”

Jasmine gave her parents a saccharine smile. “Actually, Liam and I have been reading a lot together lately. And he generously shares everything he learns.”

“I didn’t need to hear that,” Xander muttered under his breath, quiet enough that his parents, across the table, didn’t hear, but Liam and Jasmine did.

Jasmine glared at her brother. “You follow him on Instagram too?” Liam posted the books he read significantly less than his dad did, but he still shared the odd book recommendation, and most of his pictures featured a Kindle or a book somewhere in the background.

“I only followed him after Dad told me you were dating,” Xander protested. Shit, Liam hadn’t even noticed.

“Maybe if you spent a little less time on Instagram and more time touching grass, you’d be less of a pain in my ass,” Jasmine grumbled, and her brother actually looked a little chastised.

“I’m sorry, okay? I didn’t realize they would make you come to dinner. My lips are sealed from now on.”

Jasmine sighed but didn’t complain further, leaning into Liam as their entrees were served.

The conversation turned to work as Mr. Cannon and Xander spoke about a colleague while they ate. Liam tuned them out, focusing on his own dinner and Jasmine. She was pushing her pasta around with her fork, but not eating it.

“You okay, darling?”

She swallowed, wincing. “Hmm? Oh, yeah. I just don’t feel a hundred percent.”

It could be the stress of the night making her feel out of it, but her cheeks were paler than usual. Liam held the back of his hand to her forehead and frowned. “You are a little warm. Do you want to try my soup instead?”

She shook her head, leaning into his hand as if she liked how cool it was against her warm skin. “No, thank you. I’m still getting dessert, though. I need chocolate.”

“The cannoli?” he asked with a knowing smile. He’d seen the way her eyes had lit up upon spotting them on the menu.

“God yes. I can’t wait.”

And she shouldn’t have to, as far as Liam was concerned. “Excuse me.” The server passing by stopped and gave him an expectant smile. “Could we please get a rush order of the chocolate cannoli?”

“Absolutely, sir. I’ll get those to you as soon as possible.”

“Thank you.”

“You didn’t have to do that. I was joking when I said I couldn’t wait,” Jasmine said. Liam tucked a hand behind her, and she sighed as he rubbed her back.

“If you want chocolate, you’re getting chocolate. I’ve got you.”

She pressed a kiss to his shoulder. “Thank you.”

Jasmine’s dad cleared his throat, and Liam forced himself to look away from Jasmine. “I assume you two met through Maggie, but how did this happen?” He waved a dismissive hand between them.

“Oh yes, do tell. I have to say, Liam, I was very surprised to hear Jazz speak about you. She’s never been serious enough with anyone to want to introduce them to us before,” Mrs. Cannon added, as if she hadn’t practically forced Jasmine to introduce them. “Not to mention, she’s never told us she was in love with anyone, either.”

Jasmine tensed. I might have made it sound like things were really serious between us, she’d said. That explained that.

“There’s not much to tell,” Jasmine said, setting her fork down. “We’ve known each other since Maggie and Cal got together, and we started dating after their wedding.”

“Maybe let the romance reader tell the story in the future. That was pitiful,” Xander said with a snort, and Jasmine elbowed him.

“There’s got to be more to it than that,” Jasmine’s mom said.

“I met Jazz when I went to visit my dad at work,” Liam began, and they all withdrew their attention from Jasmine. “I knew there was something wrong with my dad, and was hoping to speak to Maggie to see if she knew what was going on, but she wasn’t there. I had no idea she and my dad had been seeing each other, or that she’d quit her job. But, after a little convincing, Jazz spilled the beans. And, well, I was pretty enamored with her from the moment I laid eyes on her. I was obviously pretty shocked that my dad was in love with someone younger than me, but all I could think about was Jazz.”

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