Page 79 of Love and Other Champagne Problems

“Aaron,” Ms. Jennings began with intrigue, once more leaning forward. “Why aren’t there any photos of you online? Us ladies at the club have beenverycurious. And you’re handsome—why not show it off!”

He tucked his head in an almost sheepish expression. “I’ve never been a fan of posting everything online. Never been a fan of that sort of limelight. I prefer to wait for people to see me in person to form a judgement of me. I’m sorry I left you in suspense for so long—I hope you weren’t disappointed.”

Ms. Jennings giggled. “Not in the slightest.”

Nancy silently reached for her water glass on the table. When she grabbed it, it tipped toward her in her weak grip, and it nearly upended all over her and the table. Sumner caught it in time, his hand covering hers. “Oh, careful, careful,” he said, though his voice was light. “It was just out of reach.”

Nancy grunted, but when she took the water from him, it was a gentle movement.

Aaron leaned closer to me and lowered his voice. “I know earlier you said she owned the country club, but is this your grandmother?”

“No.”

“She’s practically her grandmother,” Ms. Jennings joined our whispering. “She was there for all the big events in Margot’s life.”

“I’m old,” Nancy snapped, lowering her water glass inher shaking hand. “Not deaf. If you have any questions, you can ask me yourself, young man.”

“I wasn’t meaning to offend,” he quickly assured. “Just trying to piece the puzzle together, that’s all.”

Nancy grumbled something, but it was around the rim of her water glass, and she ended up swallowing the words.

Another near silent member ever since we entered the restaurant had been Sumner. He hadn’t attempted to chime in a conversation, and with Nancy seeming under the weather, she didn’t try to pull him into one. He just sat quietly, listening. I should’ve included him somehow, but the thought of trying to spark a conversation with him, of looking him in the eye, caused my throat to feel too constricted.

“Speaking of puzzle pieces,” Ms. Jennings said, and this time, her focus fell on Sumner. “You knew that Mr. Pennington is Margot’s babysitter, right?”

“I do know that, yes.” Aaron laid his arm over the back of my chair, claiming me like a caveman. The look he gave Sumner was nothing short of challenging. “Now that I’ve arrived, I do believe I could fill your shoes, Mr. Pennington. Your services may no longer be needed.”

Sumner, though, despite his normally good-natured self, didn’t back down to Aaron’s stare. “It’s up to the Masseys how long they need me for.”

Aaron gave an empty smile. “It seems like an odd thing, though, doesn’t it? Hiring a man to get close to their daughter? Doesn’t seem like something they’d do.”

Sumner was calm. “I came highly recommended.”

Aaron’s smile, at some point, had twisted into a sneer. “Oh, I bet you did.”

Ms. Jennings watched them bicker with an invested smile on her face, eating up the sight of two boys fighting. I should’ve cut in then, said something to stop the display of testosterone, but she beat me to the jump. “Itisodd that they hired him,” she agreed. “Especially given the fact that the two of them kissed.”

I closed my eyes and let out a slow breath through my nose, because if there was anything I didn’t want brought up, it was this.

But Aaron’s reaction wasn’t one I’d been expecting. I just wanted to avoid the topic being awkwardly brought to the surface, especially after yesterday, but Aaron—he tensed all over. He gaped not at me but at Sumner, the crease between his brows livid. “Youkissedher? When?”

“Oh, about a month ago now,” Ms. Jennings answered him, ever and always helpful. “Right in front of everyone, too. It was his first day on the job?—”

My parents said Aaron had been made aware of the situation, but this was clearly a man who had no idea. “Youkissed her,” he repeated, and on the table, his fist clenched. “Really?”

“If we’re going to get technical, I kissed him.” I picked my water back up, but my glass was empty. “And before you ask, I kissed him because I wanted to. Because I could. My parents hired him, despite that fact, because he made it crystal clear he had no feelings for me. So there you go.”

For the first time, the expression on Aaron’s face was not warm nor charming. The look reminded me of thenight my father came into my room, thinly veiled anger about to burst into the open.There it is, I found myself thinking.There’s the red flag.“It’s funny that I never heard about it.”

“When would you have?” I returned. “You refused to speak with me beforehand. Unless, of course, you’re wondering why your spies didn’t tell you.” It was curious that Yvette hadn’t blabbedthatparticular detail; it was the most scandalous one.

“Indeed.” Aaron went back and forth between Sumner and me, staring us down. “They seem to have gone rogue.”

I couldn’t break away, almost as if there was a challenge in his stare. Was he really that bothered by the idea of me kissing another man? Bothered enough to throw me and my parents’ company away, or just bothered enough to throw a tantrum?

Ms. Jennings leaned back in her chair with an amused grin, tapping her fingers together. At that moment, the waitstafffinallybegan bringing out everyone’s entrees, breaking through the tension that’d been building to an unbearable degree.“Did you have to catch her salmon yourself?” I snapped, and then inwardly kicked myself for taking the frustration on them.

The server stuttered out apologies as she began placing the plates down, starting with Yvette. Throughout everything, Sumner stared down at his place setting with his jaw locked. Since I sat beside him, I could see his hands clenched underneath the table, resting on his thighs.

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