Page 8 of Sleeping with the Frenemy

Leo cleared his throat. “Well, this building is pretty much the whole reason you two ended up together, so it makes sense to have your wedding reception here.”

“We already had the engagement party here...both of them,” she said.

That was before Mandy had come into the picture with her big plans. “Everything is different now though,” he said. He looked at Mandy for help.

“I’ve told Liam that renting out the distillery for events would be a great way to bring in additional profits,” Mandy said. “Hosting your reception would be a great way to work out any potential kinks.”

Kamilah grimaced.

Sofi snorted. “Using her wedding reception as a dry run for a business venture is hardly the way to convince her this is a good idea.”

Leo turned his attention to Sofi and truly saw her for the first time. Leo forced his expression to remain neutral before tracking everything from Sofi’s riotous natural curls to her French-tipped toes peeking through her strappy sandals. She looked fucking amazing and Leo was pissed at her for it. How dare she look like a walking wet dream when he looked like the tired and overworked mess he now was?

“Chiquita Banana over here has a point,” Leo said.

Sofi glared at him and it felt like coming home.

“The last thing we want is to stress you out more,” Leo told Kamilah.

Sofi let out a mock gasp and then clutched her hands over her chest like all of her prayers had been answered. “Look at this. Peter Pan appears to have grown up a little bit.”

“Tell me something, Carmen Miranda, did that outfit come with a hat made of fruit that you forgot to put on?” he shot back.

She ignored him to talk to Kamilah. “Give me the number for the venue and then leave it to me,” Sofi told her.

Kamilah lifted her head from Liam’s chest and looked at Sofi. “What?”

Sofi put her hand on Kamilah’s shoulder. “I’ve thrown tons of events for my job. I can plan an event for hundreds of people in a few weeks.”

Kamilah immediately shook her head. “Sofi, I can’t ask you to do that.” She stood and Liam followed.

“You aren’t asking. I’m telling you that I’m doing it.”

Kamilah let out a sigh. It was mostly annoyance because everyone knew better than to argue with a determined Sofi, but Leo could hear the relief underlying the annoyance. Leo wasn’t surprised his sister felt that weight lifted. If Sofi said she was going to do something, you’d better believe it would be done and to the best of her abilities. It was one of the things he liked best about Sofi. She was a shark in the body of a mermaid.

“I’ll accept under one condition,” Kamilah said before a brief pause. “Well, two conditions.”

Sofi looked a bit taken aback that his sister was negotiating with her instead of simply giving in like she used to. “What?”

“You will not pay for anything. I mean nothing. Not a deposit. Not a sample, not a single flower.”

Sofi let out an epic eye roll, but Leo understood where his sister was coming from. The minute Sofi had started making money she’d also begun throwing it around like a rapper at a strip club. She probably didn’t even realize she did it, but she had the tendency to throw money at problems hoping that would make them go away.

“I’m serious, Sofi. You will not try to foot any of the bills.”

“Fine. What’s your second condition?”

“That you’ll be my maid of honor.”

Sofi froze, her eyes large, dark, and shining. She looked equal parts shocked and excited. “I figured that Lucy would—” She paused to swallow. “I don’t d—” She stopped again, clearly at a loss.

Leo watched her wrestle her emotions into submission. It took every ounce of his strength to not reach out and drag her into his arms.Stop it, he scolded himself.She walked away from you. You’re still pissed at her.His hands flexed at his sides, trying their best to rebel against his brain. That wasn’t new. His brain and body were hardly ever in agreement, especially where Sofi was concerned.

“You are the sister of my heart,” she finally said to Kamilah. “Of course, I’ll be your maid of honor.”

They hugged and Kamilah cried again, but this time her tears were happy ones.

Leo wanted to be happy for Kamilah. He knew how much Sofi’s absence had hurt. He’d seen it firsthand. In the weeks following the shit show that was her first engagement party to Liam, Kamilah had worked her ass off to mend fences with everyone she’d hurt. She’d owned up to her wrongs, apologized for her lies, but also stuck up for herself in a way she never had before. That was when Leo had first begun to see her in a new light and respect her as a grown woman, not just his annoying little sister. She’d eventually made things right with everyone but Sofi. Not because she hadn’t tried, but because Sofi hadn’t given her the chance. For the months that followed he saw Kamilah bury herself in work and Liam, but every so often she’d look around with a light in her eyes. A light that would die when she realized the person she was looking for wasn’t there. Leo was probably one of the only people who noticed and recognized it for what it was, because he felt the exact same way and did the same thing.

---