Page 61 of Puck and Prejudice

Oh come on, lady. How was I supposed to know that?I’m not the one engaged to your son.I have to be careful how I reply, because I think she just laid a trap for me. I decide to ignore her jab.

“Well, it smells fantastic. I can’t wait to try it.”

She smiles tightly. “It might not be my best. I put it in the oven too soon.”

Yeah, and then we were late. God, I’m not going to win any points with this woman. I’m glad I’m not the one marrying into this family.

“Hi Izzie, I thought I heard your voice,” Louisa says from the open sliding door, then walks over. Her sunglasses are perched on her head, and she’s wearing a bikini under a tunic-style dress.

“Hi, Louisa. How are you?”

She greets with me a quick hug then steps back. “I’m fine. Where is everybody?”

“Chad is giving them a tour of the house.”

“And you didn’t want to go?”

“Not today. Maybe another time, when it’s not as crowded.”

She links her arm with mine as if we’re old friends. I spoke to her only a couple times at the game last week, but that seems to be enough for her. “Come sit by the pool then. It’s lovely outside.”

I let her steer me to the pool area, and my eyes immediately zero in on Jackson in front of the grill. He’s wearing dressy shorts and a white button-down shirt with short sleeves. He looks good, and I hate how my pulse accelerates.

“The Bennets are finally in the house,” Louisa announces.

Her husband is in the pool with their daughter. “Welcome to the party, Izzie.”

“Thanks.”

Jackson looks at me, and suddenly I feel super awkward. The last time I saw him was in his hotel room in Vancouver. I didn’t forget the brief charged moment we shared, and how the evening ended. I’m beginning to suspect he never truly changed his mind about me. He probably only acted nice before to get me to help him. That should make me angry, but I’m actually sad.

He waves at me, and… is that a tiny smile on his lips?

Okay, I was not expecting that. The gremlins inside my belly come to life.

“Finally,” Caroline replies from her lounge chair. “Chad was getting on my nerves.”

“Shh, girl. Be nice,” Louisa retorts, then turns to me. “Do you want something to drink, Izzie? I made a delicious white sangria.”

“Oh, no thank you. I’m driving.”

“Come on. One glass of sangria won’t do any harm.” She smiles.

I glance at Jackson again, but his attention is back on the grill. It doesn’t matter, my heart is still beating like a hummingbird inside my chest. Hell. “Sure, I’ll have a glass.”

“I hope you brought a swimsuit,” she says as she pours the sangria.

“Uh… no, I didn’t.”

“Girl, didn’t Jane tell you my brother has a pool?”

My face becomes hot. My reason for not bringing a swimsuit was that I didn’t want to parade around in a bikini in front of Chad’s family. But perhaps I should have worn it under a cute dress like Louisa did. Oh well.

“Yeah, she did.”

“No worries. You can sit under the umbrella, or if you prefer, you can hang out with my mother inside.” The upcurl of her lips tells me she knows very well I’d rather stay out here in the heat than deal with her mother.

“The umbrella will be fine.” I start walking toward the table with the umbrella, which is close to the edge of the pool. My focus is on my final destination, so I miss Louisa’s son running in my direction with a cute golden retriever in tow until the boy almost collides with me just before he cannonballs into the pool. The dog unfortunately doesn’t miss me, and down I go into the pool as well.

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