Page 54 of Love Rescheduled

“Yep.” I smiled.

Josh flashed me a thanks for that grin. “I’m actually the fella who loves and adores her.” He held his hand out farther.

Stu scrubbed a hand over his double chin. “That remains to be seen.”

“You better have a sit-down with us while Hepburn here walks,” Hal directed.

“We have some other men lined up for her.” Stu winked at me.

I wasn’t sure Hal and Stu were the best matchmakers, but I played along. “Great. You can give me their info when I get back.”

Josh dropped his hand, throwing me an incredulous look.

I playfully shrugged. “What? A girl has to keep her options open. September thirtieth will be here before I know it.”

Josh leaned in and kissed me. “I can’t wait to see you walking down that aisle toward me.”

That thought brought warmth to an otherwise brisk day. “Well,” I squeaked, “I will leave you gentlemen alone. Have fun.” I waved.

My old men had a lot of questions in their eyes. I supposed I would have to explain the whole scheduling-my-wedding-date thing to them. Or maybe Josh would.

Josh grabbed my hand and pulled me in for one more kiss before I walked off. Normally, I wasn’t one for PDA, but in front of Hal and Stu I didn’t mind. If only I could feel that way around everyone. It reminded me of Alec’s parting words yesterday before I rushed to the airport:

“If you keep letting people’s perceptions about you rule your life, you will never be the person you are capable of being. You will never have what you want until you let go of others’ opinions.” It was a real doozy. I hadn’t had much time to think about it in all the weirdness that was yesterday. Here I thought I would present a slide deck and then cry all the way back to Greer. Instead, I’d spent the night on the couch with Josh while he enumerated all the reasons he loves me, including my schedule-loving ways. Apparently, it was a real turn-on for him. He’d said he needed someone who was better at managing time than him. Tara was right: Josh wanted a yin to his yang.

Of course, he was hoping I could be a little more flexible. I was going to try my hardest. Honestly, I wasn’t even opposed to moving back to Tennessee, which reminded me I better call my best friends. I knew they were dying for an update after the brief text I’d sent in the car as Josh drove us home from the airport yesterday. After he’d sworn he wouldn’t tailgate or drive like he was a NASCAR star.

I grabbed my phone out of my pocket and dialed Tara while making my way around the park. Look at me going off the schedule and calling them while I was on my walk instead of after.

Tara picked up right away. “Spill your guts, but wait just a second. Jolene,” she shouted, “get in here. Nat’s on the phone.”

I held the phone away from my head and rubbed my ear. I think she might have popped my eardrum.

“We have been dying over here,” Tara informed me. “It is so freaking romantic. He was flying to see you, and you were flying to him, and then y’all met up at the airport. Please, let me use this in a book.”

“Sure.”

“Thank you. But tell me, was it more of a Hallmark or Lifetime scene at the airport?” That was how she judged steaminess levels. Hallmark being sweet and Lifetime on the spicier side.

“Well … um … he pushed me against a concrete barrier in the parking lot.” I was still hoping no one saw that.

“OMG. Totally Lifetime. I’m so proud of you. Look at you getting all sexy in public.”

“I wouldn’t exactly categorize it that way.”

Tara laughed. “Please let me live vicariously through you.”

“I take it the professor still hasn’t called.” She had been agonizing over it the last few days. It had been a week since their last communication.

“I should probably be thankful for it. He’s so broody. Unfortunately, I find it to be attractive.”

I could understand that. There was something appealing about the Mr. Darcys of the world.

“I’m here,” Jolene stated. “Tell us everything.”

I looked behind me at Josh sitting between Hal and Stu. He already had them laughing. Although it made me happy, I rolled my eyes. I loved that quality about Josh. “I’m not sure where to begin. To sum it up, he wants to get married and for us to move back to Nashville.” I didn’t mention buying Laugh on Tap, as that was to remain confidential between Josh and Mikey for now.

“Shut the front door!” Jolene yelled.

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