Page 104 of Forking the Billionaire

“I’d like to go do that now. Waiting is unpleasant.”

“Yeah. Well, the bride’s crew needed time for their crafting, so we have to be patient. You’re usually the one who’s good at that.”

“Today is not usual.”

“Fair enough.”

He smiled at me, and it was the boyish smile I rarely glimpsed. I smiled back. He pulled me in for a hug.

“I’d like for us to be closer,” he said.

“But you’re already squishing me,” I said with a chuckle.

He let me go and I could see how earnest he was being.

I said, “I’d like that, too.”

“I’ll try not to be so overbearing,” he said. “It’ll be difficult.”

I chuckled again. “Uh, yeah. You can’t do a whole personality one-eighty overnight. It’s just not practical.”

“I’m going to work on it.”

Layana really was the best thing to ever happen to him.

The front door opened. We both turned in time to see Jasper stepping inside with his windswept hair and a rosy glow on his cheeks from the sun. He set down the basket he’d been carrying.

“Not too much out there anymore,” he said. “But I did find one conch and four sand dollars.”

“Sounds like a good haul for midday,” I said, because I’d already told him it was early morning or bust. Look at me, not being sarcastic about the fact that he was still not looking at me.

“You should get dressed,” Gabe said.

“Yep.” Jasper nodded. He grabbed his paper bag from the resort store, where they’d hunted down a new tux for him at the last minute since his original tux was still lost with his luggage.

Then, finally he looked at me with what would have seemed like a warm smile if I didn’t know him. It wasn’t quite his fake smile, either. His nose was wrinkled. His teeth peeked out between his lips, but there was just something missing.

What did I do last night? Ugh!

“Where can I change?” he asked, as if he hadn’t been here before and didn’t know where the bathroom was.

Where could he change? Anywhere, in the blink of an eye. Poof, he could go fromthere are many things I’d enjoy doing to you in your bedtoI can’t, Bramblein two seconds.

I pointed. “Bathroom is that way. Impossible to miss it.”

My voice came out smooth and sweet, and perfectly nice. Go me.

While he went to the bathroom to change, I pulled a Gabe and checked myself in the living room mirror.

My hair had behaved and stayed in the nice waves I’d magicked with my curling iron. No clown hair for the wedding pics, woot. My tux was pretty stellar, even if a little snug in the midsection. But my tie was crooked.

“Almost perfect.” Gabe gestured me over.

I obeyed and let my big brother fix my tie so it wasn’t lopsided. And also, somehow it seemed more voluminous when he did it.

“Thanks,” I said.

“You’re welcome. Thank you for doing all of this for me. It means a lot to me.”

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