Page 27 of Just One of the Groomsmen
Her forehead crinkled before smoothing with the realization he’d been pulling her leg. She went for her usual retribution, going to smack his arm. Only he was ready for it and caught her wrist, and when her lips parted in surprise, a swirling, zinging sensation shot through his gut.
“How long is this gonna take?” Nellie Mae called from her bench with a huff. “I have things to do.”
“If you’ll excuse me,” Tucker said, slowly letting go of Addie’s wrist and trying not to think about how soft her skin felt beneath his fingertips or the strange urge he had to pull her closer. “Looks like I have some funny business to attend to. What are the odds Easton won’t just laugh and leave me out to dry?”
Addie stuck her hands in her back pockets, and of course it made her shirt stretch tighter across her breasts, another part of her body he shouldn’t be noticing. “He deals with those bickering two all the time, so he’ll be good backup, if a little slow to show. Now you’re gettin’ a taste of my life here—usually I’m asked health questions I’m nowhere near qualified to answer, so this should give me a nice break.”
“Hey, Addison,” Faye called. “While we’re waitin’, could you be a dear and come look at my hip? It’s been acting strange lately.”
“Then again, maybe not.”
Tucker gestured her ahead of him, realizing too late that it put him in the perfect position to watch her backside and those long legs cutting across the distance. More and more, it felt like he was seeing her for the first time, yet he still had all the good memories attached, too, which made it hard to feel neutral or suppress feelings he shouldn’t be having.
Couldn’tbe having.
The flicker of attraction remained in the background, though, so evidently he was going to need to find a more effective method than mentally telling himself to knock it off.
…
Addie’s phone rang while she was seated on her couch with her laptop, scrolling through job positions online. When she saw her sister’s name, she debated a moment on whether or not to answer. Then she felt guilty and quickly accepted the call. “Hey, what’s up?”
She braced herself, waiting for Alexandria to tell her that she’d found a stain on her dress, even though after Nonna had worked her magic, Addie couldn’t see a single speck of dirt.
Maybe the lace had frayed?
“I talked to Mom earlier, and she says you’re dating a dentist now. I’m glad, because honestly, I was starting to worry about you.”
“No reason to worry about me.” Addie didn’t know what else to say to that. If she asked why she was concerned, her sister would probably list off so many items that her phone’s low battery would cut off the conversation before she finished.
“I do, though. You’re always with your group of guys, and no one’s going to approach you because of them. You realize that, don’t you?”
“How do you know the dentist didn’t approach me while I was with my friends?”
Alexandria sighed this my-sister-is-so-clueless sigh. “I just know. But please, enlighten me if I’m wrong.”
The temptation to lie was strong, but Alexandria always managed to see through even a hint of falseness, and becoming a mom had only heightened her ability. “Fine. I coach his niece, and then one day when I was running errands, we got to talking, and he asked me out.”
“Has he seen you in something other than your workout gear?”
“I wore jeans on our date. Dressy ones, too,” she quickly said before Alexandria could tell her jeans weren’t good enough, not when you needed to convince guys you weren’t as masculine as they were—yeah, she’d literally said that before, after Addie was upset and wondering why her college boyfriend broke up with her without a word of explanation.
Now she was thinking she’d chosen wrong when she’d answered the phone.
“Well, that’s somethin’, at least. Come on, I need more details. Lately my life revolves around the kids’ appointments and waiting for Eli to come home so I can have some actual adult conversation—I’m practically starved for it.” Her voice lowered. “Have you slept with him yet? And how was it? Did he…drill you good?”
“Oh my gosh, we’ve only been on one date.” A small glimmer of hope rose—maybe it could actually go somewhere. “But we’re goin’ on another this weekend.”
“It’s been a while since you’ve gone on two dates with a guy.”
“Thanks,Alex. I’m well aware.”
“You’re very welcome,Addison.Just thought I’d remind you that it wasn’t somethin’ to turn your nose up at.”
She loved her sister like crazy, but sometimes she also made her crazy. If it didn’t come from a place of love, Addie would’ve simply hung up on her. Instead she defiantly turned up her nose—it was nice that her sister couldn’t see her right now.
Fewer repercussions that way.
“The reason I also bring up that it’s been a while is because that means you’ve been hanging with your boys a lot, and I’m sure you’re used to how things are between you and them, and…well, what I’m saying is, you’re different with the guys.”
