Page 46 of Love to Prove You Wrong

“First of all, I’m not drunk. And second… are we? Friends, I mean?”

My hands started shaking simply from asking that question.

Justin took a step closer. “We might have a weird way of interacting with each other, but I’d say we are friends. That does mean you have to stop pretending to hate me. I know it’s all an act. You can’t fool me by saying you don’t feel the tension between us.”

“Tension?” I asked.

“Like before, in the car,” he said.

My heart was about to leap out of my throat. I hadn’t imagined it. He had felt it too.

He leaned in and let his fingers brush against mine. “Or when I do this.”

I closed my eyes. To hell with all my rules, and the fact that Justin had hurt me years ago. He stepped on stage for me in front of his friends and colleagues. I wanted to kiss him so badly, but at the same time, fear crept up on me. What if he wasn’t being genuine? And if he was, then how would I ever be good enough for him? He lived this amazing celebrity lifestyle, and I was just a small-town girl.

I had to start taking chances. I had to start living it up. If that meant getting kissed at a celebrity birthday party by a guy who made me feel all conflicted, bring it on. It didn’t have to mean anything, just some good old-fashioned fun, right?

But nothing was being brought on. My lips were not being kissed.

“Justin, I’m sorry. About before. I shouldn’t have run away. I panicked,” I said.

He gave me a nod, then turned around.

“Our ride is here,” Justin said. “Are you coming? It’s time to head back to Old Pine Cove. Oh, and there’s some cake sticking to your cheek. You might want to wipe that off first.”

And just like that, my feet got planted firmly on the ground again.

Chapter Sixteen

The next couple of days, I wanted nothing more than to scream, “What does it all mean?” I couldn’t, of course. The inn guests would think I was certifiable for sure.

Every time I ran into Justin – which happened only three times, to be exact – he stared me down. We hadn’t spoken in days and it was starting to annoy me. Luckily, the wedding preparations took up most of my time, so I didn’t have to think about what happened at the birthday party all the time.

Layla had even invited me to her bachelorette party, despite the fact that we didn’t know each other that well. She said she was immensely grateful that I was dealing with all the wedding prep, and wanted me to feel included. I think she secretly meant she was elated she didn’t have to work on her wedding with Diane breathing down her neck. I could deal with the neck-breathing knowing it was only temporary, but poor Layla had a lifetime of Diane’s meddling to look forward to.

Diane had asked me the day before to provide some extra space at the wedding to sell her vacuum cleaners. I kindly told her I didn’t think selling vacuum cleaners at her grandson’s wedding was appropriate, but she argued about it in true Diane fashion.

Going to Layla’s bachelorette party would be a nice interlude from Diane’s demands, so I’d gladly accepted.

At four, I left the inn. We would all be meeting outside of Sip’nBean before picking up Layla.

I didn’t know what Layla’s friends had planned, but I hoped it would be something decent. I wasn’t in the mood to peel off some stripper’s underwear with my teeth. Not that I was ever in the mood to do that, mind you.

I had my hand on the doorknob of the coffee shop when I saw a girl running toward me. “Am I too late? My boss wouldn’t let me go one minute earlier.”

She put her hands on her knees, out of breath. Frankly, she looked as if she’d run from a city office all the way to Old Pine Cove.

“I don’t think you’re late. It’s only quarter past four,” I said. “I’m Addy, by the way.”

“Stella,” the girl said in between breaths. “Nice to meet you.”

The door swung open and four other girls spilled out of the building. “The limo should be here any minute,” one them of said. “We decided to wait outside.”

“Is everyone here?” a short brunette asked, looking around the group of girls.

I caught a glimpse of Suzie and gladly joined her. Since Layla was a regular at Suzie’s bookstore, she had been invited as well.

“There,” the brunette shouted.

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