Page 33 of Skating and Fake Dating
Everyone cheers while Carson and I simultaneously rub our wrists. When I was arrested for breaking and entering, I was deemed a non-threat and the officers removed the cuffs after the ride to the police station.
Catie barrels toward us and points at Aunt Bianca. “I knew it. You helped my mother break into my diary!”
My mom gives me a proper hug and stage whispers, “Sweetie pie, I don’t know what kinds of activities go on in the big city, but please don’t bring your boyfriend home in cuffs again.”
I shake my head. “Mom, I was in Cobbiton, which is a small?—”
She turns to hug Carson and then leads him away. The onlywords I catch are about his joining us for the wedding. Short of leaping into the air and tackling them, I can’t flag him down and stop what’s sure to happen—my mom not taking no for an answer—as a human wall forms between us. The last thing I see is his head bobbing yes.
Has this been the cringiest hour of my life? Definitely.
I want to say it can’t get much worse, but then I’d be wrong.
Thirty minutes later, my aunts, sister, and cousins have me washed, polished, and styled for Tori’s wedding to my ex.
As they usher me downstairs, they present me like a prize heifer to … Carson, who stands in the foyer, wearing a suit and with a tie in his hand.
I don’t dare make eye contact and risk seeing rejection reflected back to me. Not today, which may very well mark the first anniversary of my many failed relationships.
However, I do glimpse how Carson stands firmly, resolute, and unwavering in his charcoal suit with its crisp tailoring fit over the span of his broad shoulders.
Odette brays a laugh. “I don’t think pumpkin spice is her color after all. She looks washed out.”
At her comment, I feel like a chewed-up piece of pumpkin pie.
Aunt Lesley says, “I think she should’ve worn her hair down.”
Catie fans herself. “Do you see the way he’s looking at her?”
“At the way the dress hugs those curves. Bailey, I told you to try my new diet plan if you ever intend to wear a wedding dress.” Odette frowns with disapproval.
Several others chime in with unsolicited opinions, but a deep voice with a Southern rumble breaks through them all. I lift my gaze to a pair of piercing eyes that drag over me from top to bottom. My knees suddenly feel wobbly, or it could be that water damage made the wood floor uneven.
“I think Bailey looks gorgeous.” Gaze still locked on me, a subtle smile plays at the corners of Carson’s lips.
Aunt Sally did not need to apply the extra blush. Nope. My cheeks are as red as Rainier cherries.
Those simple words draw my focus, turning the rest to static. I don’t know whether to believe him or wonder if I’ve entered another dimension, but the words are out of my mouth before I can stop them. “You look dapper.”
He winks and lifts the tie. “Could you help me with this?”
Stepping into his space, I go into complete power overload when I inhale his masculine scent in such close proximity. My executive functions cease working when our hands brush. Gazing down at me with heavy eyes, he bites his lip. I’m officially dead.
CHAPTER 15
BAILEY
From what feels like far away, a female voice brings me back to life like I just received a jumpstart from a set of EMT resuscitation paddles.
“I can do Carson’s tie,” Savanna says breathily.
I have a vague awareness that Aunt Bianca swats her away. I’m not sure if we have an audience or not, but in preparation for my job interview with the NHL office, I practiced tying a tie. I had no idea what the exact job expectations were, but I read that hockey players always dress up in suits and ties before games. Hoping to be a PAL, I learned how, just in case.
Lifting onto my toes, I slide the silky fabric around Carson’s neck and smooth his collar, before making sure the ends meet and then adjusting the length. I pause here, tipping my head back slightly to meet his gaze. The corners of his lips quirk and his eyes crinkle.
“Are you sure—?” But it’s not clear whether I’m asking if it’s okay for me to be this close—again—or if he really wants to attend the wedding. But it could be something else, after all, he was standing up for me earlier about my business and so far hasn’t said anything suggesting that we’re not a couple or even friends. Just colleagues in a way.
Then he nods ever so slightly or maybe he has a kink in his neck. I have one in my stomach, my heart, all the way to my toes.
