Page 6 of Love Off-Limits
I shook my head. “She went to college in Kansas on a volleyball scholarship, but she’s from North Carolina. Just outside of Asheville.”
His eyebrows rose. “That’s not too far away, man.”
I rolled my eyes. “Why does everyone keep telling me that? I know where North Carolina is.”
Alex smiled. “Just making conversation.”
Sure he was. If bymaking conversation,he meant matchmaking.
It wasn’t that I didn’t appreciate having friends who cared about me. I’d been working with Isaac on his YouTube channel,Random I,for over a decade, and I’d known him and Dani since elementary school. Isaac and Rosie, Dani and Alex, they felt more like family than coworkers, or even friends. But their attempts to set me up had only gotten more blatant lately. Not all that surprising since everyone in our immediate circle of friends was married.
Coco reached for my tie, launching herself from her dad’s arms into mine.
“You want my tie, huh?” I said, bouncing Coco in my arms. “What’s up with that? Your dad is wearing one just like it.”
A shriek sounded somewhere over my shoulder and Alex turned, a panicked look overtaking his previously calm expression. “That’s Ellison. Can you keep her a sec? Let me go see if he’s okay.”
I nodded. I hadn’t spent a ton of time with Alex and Dani’s twins, but they’d been around the studio enough for me to know that Coco was definitely the easier baby.
“Found yourself a new friend?” Olivia said, stopping beside me. The photographer had finished, and everyone was moving back toward the large reception tent where the wedding guests were already having cocktails. A tiny thrill of victory pulsed through me; the second Olivia had a choice about her whereabouts, she’d chosen me. And her timing was perfect. I wasn’t above shamelessly using a baby to enhance my charm.
“This is Coco,” I said, shifting so she could face Olivia.
“One of Dani and Alex’s twins, right?” Olivia straightened the hem of Coco’s dress—a miniature replica of what the bridesmaids wore.
I nodded. “Alex brings them to work every once in a while.” Coco reached up and squished my cheeks between her hands. “We’re friends,” I said, my voice muddled by the pressure. I made a funny face at Coco, and she giggled.
Olivia smiled. “I can see that.”
I grabbed my jacket, and we started walking toward the reception tent with everyone else.
“It must be nice working with so many friends.”
A familiar feeling snaked across my conscience, like an itch I couldn’t quite scratch. Itwasamazing. So why had I been thinking about doing something else?
I should be happy. Content. And yet, lately I felt like I’d been spending a lot of time watching—even more, filming—Isaac live his life without doing much living on my own.
Trouble was, I couldn’t imagine what doing something else would even look like. I’d been working with Isaac since we were sixteen.
Dani approached before I could respond, extending her arms to take Coco. “I should have known she would find her way into your arms,” she said. “I think Coco has a crush.”
Olivia reached out and took one of Coco’s hands, bouncing it gently. “What do you say, Coco? Want to draw straws for him?” She shot me a playful look, her smile wide, her meaning clear in her eyes.
Warmth spread through my chest at her words. This incredible woman was somehow intome. It hardly seemed possible.
Dani laughed in response. “Oh, I think Coco can bow out this round.” She took a step backward, tosssing me a knowing glance. “Y’all have fun.”
I offered Olivia my arm and escorted her to the long table we shared with the rest of the wedding party. Isaac looked at me from his place next to Rosie and smirked, his head lifting in acknowledgment.
“I think my friends would appreciate us making a formal announcement of our engagement by the end of the night,” I said to Olivia as I pulled her chair out for her.
She grinned. “Rosie was pretty relentless last night. She and Isaac must really love you.”
“That is true,” I said. “They do.”
She narrowed her gaze as she settled into her seat. “I think they may be on to something.”
Another pulse of desire filled my chest. What was seriously happening? “Do you flirt like this with everyone?”
