Page 22 of Love in Tandem
Charlotte punched him again. This time because he was right.
Zach couldn’t have orchestrated a better date for his brother’s wedding if he’d tried. Move over, Darla. Take that dimpled grin and irresistible cutie-pie charm elsewhere. Zach had a new flame in town. A flame who was somewhere in the tenth round with his left bicep.
“Why are you punching me? You’re the one who agreed to be the maid of honor.”
“I’m punching you . . . because I can’t very well . . . punch your brother . . . can I?” Charlotte dropped her fists to her waist.
“I don’t know. My mom was all for it a little bit ago. Are you seriously winded? That was less than thirty seconds of exertion.”
A breeze tugged a lock of hair from her ponytail. She swiped it from her eyes. “It was at least a full minute, and I can’t believe they didn’t care one bit about Melba.”
“Of course they did. Didn’t you see the look of horror on everyone’s faces once they realized how much leftover cake they were going to have now that Melba’s not coming?” He took the next punch with a laugh. “Aw, come on. It won’t be that bad, will it? Wearing a pretty dress and being my date for one day?”
“You could have spoken up at any point, you know.”
“Uh, pretty sure I did speak up and got promptly interrupted.” He altered his voice to a false soprano. “I would be honored. Completely honored.”
“Well, what was I supposed to say with Shannon looking all happy and her mother looking all scary? Not to mention Ben looking all handsome. I panicked.”
“Okay, first off, my brother is not handsome. He’s boring. And you’re way better off without him.”
“Yeah, well I’d feel a lot better if he believed that too.”
“So make him believe it tomorrow when you show up as my hot date.”
“Saying I do show up as your respectable date, what do you get out of this?”
“Uh, hello. Ben’s marrying my ex-girlfriend in case you’ve forgotten. It’d be nice to spend one entire day where nobody looks at me like I’m on the verge of jumping off a bridge because my brother stole the love of my life even though I’ve told them at least five hundred times she’s not the love of my life and if they call her the love of my life one more time then I will be tempted to jump off the nearest bridge, which won’t do me any favors because I’m an excellent swimmer and will make it to shore without any difficulty.”
“Wowzer. One day from all that, huh?”
Zach smiled. “Give or take.” The wind continued to play with Charlotte’s hair. He brushed another strand behind her ear as if that were the most natural thing in the world. But it was Charlotte. Being around her had always felt natural. Like being around a favorite sister he loved to tease. “We should probably head back inside before they think we’re out here necking.”
“Necking? Seriously? Are we filming an episode of Happy Days all of a sudden?”
Okay, maybe sister wasn’t the right description for Charlotte. Maybe it was more like being around a favorite friend he loved to flirt with. “Well, what would you call it?”
“Nothing. Because we’re not doing it. Rule number one—no necking. Rule number two—I don’t know. What are the rules here? What’s the plan? Saying we do make it through tomorrow, what happens after that?”
“After that, well, I say we take a hard look at rule number one and consider revising it.” He blocked her punch. “I’m kidding. Who says we need rules? All we have to do is get through tomorrow. It’ll be fine.”
“Will it?”
“Sure. Later on I’ll tell Mom we’re better off as just friends. Trust me. Everything’s going to be fine.”
“The more you say it’s going to be fine, the more worried I get.”
“It’s one day. What could go wrong?”
“If it’s anything like today, I’m wondering what can go right?” Charlotte covered her mouth as a giant yawn overtook her. “Oh wow. Who knew subterfuge and boxing could be so exhausting? I’m going to double-check the details for tomorrow, then call it a night.”
Zach dug his hands into his pockets to keep from fixing her hair again. “Why don’t you head on home? I can text you the details.”
“Nah, it’s no problem.”
“You sure? You really don’t have to—”
“I’m going back inside to get cheesecake, okay? I already know the details. I have no intention of speaking to anyone. I’m exhausted, it’s been a weird day, and I just want some cheesecake.”
