Page 2 of Accidental Attraction

“Thanks. It was from my mom,” I said, running my thumb over the pendant.

“It’s beautiful. We’d better get going. It will take a little bit to get there.” Nodding, I grabbed my phone from the bed and the handbag Lennon had gotten together for me. “Oh wait! Your ring!”

“Thank God you reminded me.” Going over to my bedside table, I pulled my ring box out and slipped my engagement ring on my ring finger. I stared down at it, still amazed by how big it was and how weird it felt.

“Ready to go?” Lennon called from the door, making me look up. Nodding, I put the box back and followed after her. While we walked to the front door, my legs wobbled from the heels. I wasn’t used such high ones or heels in general. It was going to be a miracle if I didn’t fall today.

The car ride didn’t take long, and the closer we got the more nervous I became. I played with the hem of my dress, then my ring and necklace. It wasn’t that I was nervous to see Liam’s family again. It was him I was nervous about. I knew I was overthinking this and I shouldn’t be, but I couldn’t help it. When Lennon put the car in park, I stared at where we were in surprise. I thought we were going somewhere in the city, but instead we were at Liam’s parents’ house.

“I didn’t know we were taking pictures here.”

“This is a great place. There’s a huge field, a barn a bit further away. They even have a lake over there,” Lennon pointed out when we got out of the car. When I was here last, I hadn’t paying attention to anything, apparently. I hadn’t noticed they had a lake or a barn! I guess I was too worried about meeting his family. This place was amazing and would be a great place to take our photos.

“Did Liam’s parents always live here?” I asked, watching my step as we walked to the door.

“Yes. Well, no. This is their ‘summer’ home. When we were all younger our families would come here to get away from the city. This is his parents’ third home. They have a house closer to the city where Liam grew up, as did we, and then they have one in the Hamptons. His parents come here more often, since they have horses and such. Plus it is close enough to the city that they can take a quick drive there if they need,” Lennon explained.

Lennon didn’t even bother to knock on the door. She just walked right in, yelling that we’d arrived. Shutting the door behind me and looking around the foyer, I was struck again by how simply yet unique the house was decorated, and the size of it. It was a cabin mixed with a house. The moment you stepped through the door, the house automatically had a homey feeling. After I finished gawking, I noticed Lennon had walked away. I followed the voices to the large living room located at the back of the house.

“There you are, Jenna,” Lilly, Liam’s mother, said the moment I came into view. She stood up in a second flat and gave me a tight hug. Awkwardly, I hugged her back, still not used to being hugged.

“Hi, Lilly,” I greeted once she pulled away from me. Looking around the room, I saw Liam’s father, Adam, in one chair, Julie, Liam’s sister, on the couch sitting next to Lennon, and an older man I didn’t recognize sitting across from Adam.

“Jenna, it’s great to see you again,” Adam said, smiling and standing up to hug me as well. “Brian, this is Jenna Howard, Liam’s fiancé. Jenna, this is Brian Mathews. He’s a family friend and colleague,” he said, introducing the man across from him. Standing up, Brian made his way toward me. He was tall, not as tall as Liam though, and looked to be a little older than Adam. The color of his hair had turned salt-and-pepper, but he had a pair of brown eyes that still seemed to sparkle. He had laugh lines around them and a kind smile that made me like him almost instantly.

“Hello, Jenna, it’s nice to meet you,” he greeted me. Instead of hugging me like Liam’s parents, he grabbed my hand and brought it to his lips, placing a soft kiss on it. I blushed, looking over at Julie and Lennon only to find them rolling their eyes and smiling at us. “Liam didn’t say his fiancé was such a beauty,” he said, pulling away but grinning at me. My blush deepened. I opened my mouth to say something but was cut off by a deep voice behind me.

“Old man, she is too young for you.” Turning around, I saw Blake walking into the room, shaking his head at Brian.

“Who are you calling old, young man?” Brian asked, but he didn’t sound remotely offended.

“You, you’re like eighty years old and hitting on a young girl who is engaged to another man,” Blake shot back, sending me a grin before hugging Lilly and shaking Adam’s hand. For a second, I was scared that he had made Brian mad, but a deep chuckle from beside me told me he wasn’t.

“What can I say? I like them young, kid.”

I put a hand over my mouth to stop my laugh from escaping. I looked between Blake and Brian, wondering why they were talking that way to each other.

“Brian is Blake’s uncle,” Lilly said, likely seeing the confusion on my face. “Don’t listen to them. They do this all the time, making jabs at one another.” She waved her hand at them.

“Where’s Liam?” Julie asked from over on the couch.

“His phone rang right after we pulled up, but he should be in in a second,” Blake replied. I watched as he made his way to the couch Lennon and Julie were occupying. It was a medium-sized couch, but with two people already on it I knew Blake’s big frame wouldn’t fit. That didn’t stop him, of course. He squeezed in next to Lennon, who in turn tried to push him off, but I could see she actually liked that he sat next to her when there was a lot of empty seats. When I looked at them, I knew they would make a great couple.

“Liam, you never told me your fiancé was very pleasing to the eye,” Brian said, making me turn my gaze away from Lennon and Blake toward the doorway of the living room. Liam walked in, and I felt my mouth go dry. He looked absolutely scrumptious. He was dressed in a pair of black dress pants and a white button-up dress shirt that had the sleeves rolled up to the elbows and a few buttons done at the top. His brown hair was in its signature messy but sexy look. His outfit was so simple, yet he pulled it off like he had just walked out of a magazine or runway. He didn’t even look like he had just come from work.

Why was I suddenly noticing how nice-looking Liam was? Maybe last night opened my eyes, because seeing him there with an easy smile on his face, with his hands tucked into his pockets, made me want to jump him and kiss him all over. My lack of sleep was starting to get to me. Before yesterday I hadn’t even wanted anything to do with Liam, and now today I wanted to run my tongue down his chest. Woah, where did that thought come from? I was surprised at myself. There was something seriously going on with me.

“I didn’t say anything because I didn’t want your old ass to steal her,” I heard Liam’s velvety voice say, interrupting my scandalous thoughts. “Hey, babe,” he said, coming to a stop beside me. He wrapped an arm around my waist and laid a quick, gentle kiss to my temple before greeting his family. Jenna, just remember this is all an act. He is only doing this so his parents believe us, I repeated to myself when I felt my stomach do somersaults at the kiss. I looked up at him, almost waiting for him to act different from last night, but he looked fine, relaxed and happy even.

“Well, in that dress anyone would want to,” I heard Brian say, tuning back into the conversation.

“You are right about that,” Liam muttered, looking me up and down. Gulping, I stared back at him, wanting more than anything to be able to hear his thoughts right now. “Where is Leonardo?” he said more loudly a second later, looking away from me.

“He should be here in a second,” Lilly answered. Not even a second later, there was a knock on the door, and Lilly went to go answer it. Glancing around at everyone, I wondered why they were here honestly; it wasn’t like we were taking pictures with them. I did notice Adam, Brian, and Blake were dressed casual in jeans and a t-shirt or collared shirt. Julie, Lennon, and Lilly were wearing dresses.

“Okay, everybody, listen up!” I heard a new, Italian-accented voice shout suddenly. I jumped into Liam and turned toward the voice. Walking in was a very attractive guy with shoulder-length black hair, wearing ripped jeans and a t-shirt. His face was gorgeous, and when he looked over at Liam, I saw he had grey eyes. Wow, he is cute. In his arms was what looked like a camera stool and a big camera hanging from his neck.

“This will only take an hour. I want the bride and the groom to follow me outside. We will be doing different poses in different places, and you may have to change your clothes, sir, but the bride won’t. After getting some with you, we will get the bridesmaids and groomsmen with you,” he said all at once. I stood there shocked, trying to take it all in. When we didn’t immediately follow him, he snapped his fingers and jerked his head at us. Liam and I quickly followed after him.

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