Page 52 of The Love Losers

“Not to worry,” she says with a contented sigh as she kicks up her boots. “If I get caught, I’m definitely narc’ing on you.”

“That’s only fair,” I agree, “but are you sure you want to travel this close to Christmas?”

She cracks her knuckles. “Ho, ho, ho.”

“Won’t Claire ask where you’re going?”

“Probably. We enjoy keeping secrets from each other. I’ll be back for Christmas though. No way am I missing her cinnamon buns.”

I consider this for a moment before nodding. I feel selfish, but if she’s able to get my prints out of the system, she’ll be protecting Declan and Seamus too.

“Good,” she says, then wags a finger at me. “I’m going to be your fucking fairy godmother, but don’t squander it. I expect you to marry that sexy rich man on New Year’s Eve. That’s the least you can do for your future sister-in-law.”

“Itwouldbe delightful,” Joy says dreamily as she removes the first batch of brownies from the oven and puts the other trayin. “I love weddings. Mortimer and I used to go to one every weekend.”

“You knew that many people who were getting married?” I ask absentmindedly, picking at the hem of my sweater. My mind’s a storm ofyes, do itandthis is a terrible idea, if you think you leapt in with both feet before, now you’re diving into the shallow end.

And also…

He’ll think you did it for the money. He’ll never believe you didn’t.

I want to believe in fairytales, but I’m also afraid of them. I doubt I’d get cast as the princess. The girl who’s not careful is the one whose grandmother gets eaten by wolves, or the one who marries a man who keeps his previous wives’ skeletons in his closet. She’s not the one who bags the prince.

“Oh no,” Joy says, “but no one seemed to mind much at all. There’s plenty of love to go around at those events, and I’d always bring a tea basket as a gift.”

Add wedding crashing to Joy’s list. This woman is truly a treasure.

“Can we crash a wedding together sometime?”

“Dear, I hope the next wedding I crash will be yours.”

“You honestly think I wouldn’t invite you? You’re my best friend. Besides, this is a seriously bad idea. Setting aside the wholeI’m in hiding—”

“And have a criminal record,” Nicole adds with a wicked smile.

“Yes, thank you. I mean, I’ll grant you…there’s something between Anthony and me. But I can’t possibly be the kind of wife he’s looking for. He wants—”

“Don’t tell me he wants a platonic marriage,” Nicole cuts in. “That man was eye-fucking the shit out of you the other night.He may have thought he was done with love, but you’re giving him second thoughts.”

My cheeks warm. “But he’ll need a wife who’s impressive. Someone who can—”

“Rosie, my love,” Joy says. One hand finds her stout hip as she stares me down. “Don’t underestimate yourself. You could sell sand in the desert.”

“I don’t even know what I want to do with my life,” I say with a sigh.

Joy gives me one of her warm, tough love looks. “You’re already doing it. I’ve been trying to tell you so for weeks now. You love helping people meet their potential. It’s a rare gift, my dear, and itisa purpose. I’ve seen you get down on yourself about losing interest in things and moving on, but you don’t seem to understand the reason you move on. It’s because you like helping people tap into their fire. That’s what givesyoufire. So once they’ve achieved what they set out to do, it’s only natural that you look for another challenge.”

“So you’re like a success succubus,” Nicole says with a laugh.

But I’m still staring at Joy, mouth gaping open like a lost goldfish’s, trying to process what she said. Could she be right?

I’ve always loved helping people, tethering myself to their projects to push them toward success. But I figured it was because I lacked direction of my own—probably because I’d been told so by dozens of people over the years, starting with my teachers, whose favorite phrase was,Rosie lacks direction and focus. But Joy is making it sound like it could be a good thing.

“I’ll have to give that some thought, Joy.”

“You do that, honey.”

“Not to ruin the moment or anything, but you’re also hot as hell,” Nicole puts in. “That’ll go a long way with impressing anyone. And trust me when I say I will take care of this fingerprint fuckery.”

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