Total pages in book: 45
Estimated words: 42942 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 215(@200wpm)___ 172(@250wpm)___ 143(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 42942 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 215(@200wpm)___ 172(@250wpm)___ 143(@300wpm)
I shook those thoughts away.
“Before you toss out one of your insults, save it. I really don’t have time, Lucas.”
He feigned hurt. “Why, Hollie Craft, how do you know I wasn’t going to say something nice?”
I let out a bark of laughter. “You? Say something nice to me? Hell has not frozen over yet. You’ve hated me for this long, I hardly think you would suddenly grow a fondness for me.”
His smile faded and he reached for my hand. My heart felt like it stopped in my chest as a rush of pleasure reached through my body. “Hollie, I don’t hate you. I–”
Before he could finish, Rose came rushing out of the house. “Hollie! Wait! I can’t believe I forgot to ask you something!”
Lucas dropped my hand and turned to see his mother coming down the steps and toward us.
“Lucas! Darling! Did you already speak to Hollie about the secret engagement?”
My heart dropped as I shot my gaze back to Lucas. “En-engagement?”
He nodded. “Yeah.”
Before I could even let my brain catch up to my mouth, I blurted out, “Who are you asking to marry you? I didn’t think you were even dating anyone.”
The moment his eyes sparkled with delight, I knew I had just made a gross error.
“Is that a bit of jealousy I hear in that voice of yours, Hollie? And are you keeping tabs on who I’m dating?”
A rush of awkward laughter came out of my mouth, and I quickly pressed my lips together before I said, “Please. If anything, I feel sorry for her. I hope she knows what she’s getting into with you. Poor girl has no idea what a real…”
I let my voice trail off when I noticed Rose standing there with her brows lifted as she waited for me to throw out an insult to her younger son. I quickly shut my mouth.
He laughed. “As much as I would love to see where this was going, Hollie, the engagement surprise is not for me.”
I was going to ignore the way that made my body feel relieved. “Who is it for then?”
“Greg!” Rose announced with a beam of happiness, clearly forgetting I had just been rude to her other son.
Lucas nodded. “Yep, it’s for Greg.”
“Greg’s getting married?” I asked in shock. The last I heard he was happily playing the field.
“If she says yes,” Lucas stated as Rose hit him in the stomach.
“Of course, she will say yes, but we need your help in making it the most romantic engagement in the history of engagements!”
Lucas rolled his eyes.
“Wow, that’s a big request to fill,” I said with a nervous giggle. “Um, how long have they been dating?”
Lucas answered, “Six months or so. Greg has put me in charge of taking care of things.”
Nodding, I pulled my head back and stared at Lucas. “Why would he put you in charge of this? Seems to me like it would be your brother wanting to set this up.”
Rose chuckled. “I thought the same thing, but he is so busy at the hospital and working so much overtime…”
“He called in a favor. I like Janet, and I think they both deserve something nice, so I agreed to do it.”
I was momentarily stunned by how sweet it was that Lucas wanted to do that for his brother.
“And you thought of me to make that happen?” I asked in a skeptical voice. “You never think of me in a positive way, Lucas.”
“What?” Rose asked as she turned an evil eye on her son.
His brows pulled in tight. “That’s not true.”
If I hadn’t known better, I would have thought I hurt his feelings, but I knew better than that.
Rose started to speak. “Lucas suggested Wendy, but I told him that you were the better choice.”
Why did that hurt so damn much? “I see.” Lucas looked down at the ground and kicked at a small rock, not meeting my eyes. I should have known he would want her since they had dated off and on over the years. She wasn’t a fan of mine either. All through my freshman year of high school, she had been nothing but a bully to me—until one day I grew tired of it and started standing up for myself.
Clearing my throat, I said, “Well, Wendy does have a lot of experience.”
Rose laughed. “Not like you.”
“She is Janet’s sister, though,” Lucas interjected. Then he sighed. “But when I mentioned her to Mom, she suggested you and said that you were the best.”
“Well, that looked like it was hard to even say,” I said with a smirk.
“It was,” he agreed. Another hit in the stomach by Rose.
“You only thought of her because you’ve dated her,” Rose stated.
My stomach clenched with a sick feeling. I was pretty sure their relationship was a “friends with benefits” kind of a thing, but I wasn’t sure. It also didn’t help that Wendy was also a party planner, not on the scale that I was, owning my own company and all, but she did her fair share of events. Mostly weddings, if I recalled correctly, and catering to out-of-towners who wanted that Salem experience. I never really paid attention to what she did because I never considered her competition. She seemed to like to do the more traditional Salem Witch-type events, which was fine by me. And I didn’t like her. Petty, I know.