Page 47 of Just Joshing
I made a sound of protest but let him pull back, leaning his head against my forehead.
"Come to Florida with me," he whispered. "Next weekend. We'll have the house to ourselves." His lips quirked, "and I've already checked that we don't have a wedding event on."
"Thank god." I muttered.
He lifted my chin, thumb grazing the soft skin at the corner of my mouth. "Say yes."
"Yes."
Chapter Eleven
Molly
Between my classes with the kids at the center, my efforts to romance new donors, and Josh's insistence we cram in as many dates as possible, I'd been stretched thin.
So far Josh and my official date tally stood at four. We'd had brunch on Sunday, dinner that night, breakfast Monday, and lunch yesterday. He'd invited me over for dinner tonight but I'd put him off. I needed a night to catch-up on work and take some time out. It was also why I'd booked in lunch with Bess for today.
"Babe!" Bess waved from across the room. "Get that cute butt over here."
I smiled, striding over, my steps faltering as I clocked the others at the table. She'd brought some of her bridesmaids.
I sank into a chair, glancing at the others around the table. "Hey, I didn't realize we had a thing today." I had to admit, I was disappointed.
"Well we need to plan the bachelorette and a few other events and I just thought why not kill two birds with one stone?" Bess beamed at me.
"Ah, sure." I reached for the menu.
"Oh babe, I hope you don’t mind but I ordered for you. It's just a salad but we all need to fit into our dresses, right?"
"Ah, sure." I repeated, resigning myself to the inevitable. I'd stop by a sandwich place and pick something up on the way back to the office. A dress would be made to fit me, not me fit the dress. I'd long ago learnt to embrace my curves and love myself just the way I was at any one moment.
Because life is too short to not love yourself.
"Now, let's get down to business." Bess clapped her hands together, leaning in. "Tell me all about the Bachelorette."
The bridesmaids turned to look at me. Only four had managed to attend this lunch, and all of them were women I didn't particularly like.
"I thought we'd start with a spa day-"
"Oh please," Ginger Freemont rolled her eyes. "She wants us to stay in town and do boring shit. It's totally her MO. Don't let her ruin this for us, Bessie."
I bit the inside of my cheek, reminding myself not to piss her off. The Freemont's had donated a half million to the center last year, and didn’t want to ruin my chances for more in the future.
"Is that true, Molly?" Bess turned big sad eyes on me.
"Well, I just thought with the wedding so close we wouldn't have time to travel-"
"Doesn't Peter have a vacation house at Palm Beach?" Rose Umbridge tapped a finger against her lips. "We could totally party there."
I tried to inject some reason into the conversation. "The bachelor and bachelorette parties are scheduled for two weeks before the wedding. In order to accommodate travel time, we'd have to cancel the," I pulled the booklet from my bag flicking to the events list. "We'd have to cancel the make-up and hair trials or the final dress fittings." I looked up. "The only free weekend is this week and there's no possible way we'd be able to accommodate-"
"Let's do it!" Bess declared, beaming at the table. "This weekend. We can talk the guys into coming with us. I'll call the catering if you ladies plan the entertainment." Bess turned to me. "Your house is next door. We can put the guys up there."
I saw my quiet weekend with Josh slipping between my fingers. "But Bess-"
"Yes! Let's do it." Ginger declared, smirking triumphantly. "But if you're too busy to be maid of honor, Molly, then I could always-"
"No," I gritted out from between clenched teeth. I took a deep breath, releasing it slowly and struggling to paste a smile on my face. "I've got this."
