Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 85608 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 428(@200wpm)___ 342(@250wpm)___ 285(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 85608 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 428(@200wpm)___ 342(@250wpm)___ 285(@300wpm)
“Congratulations. I can’t wait to work on the dress with you. To be fair, she didn’t tell me who you were wearing it for.”
I shook my head. “That sounds like her.”
“I asked, but she said I’d find out at the party.” Harmony rolled her eyes. “Her flair for the dramatic has somehow increased. I thought kids would mellow her out.”
“If Camden couldn’t, then nothing can.”
She chuckled. “Fair. So, how did this happen?”
“If you can believe it, he proposed in a limo,” I said with a laugh.
“Oh, that I can believe. That sounds just like Gavin King.”
“And, yeah, I don’t know. I got back and moved into the same building as him. We started spending a lot of time together, and … it just happened.”
“Huh,” she muttered. “Wasn’t sure either of you would settle down. No offense.”
“None taken. I never plan to,” I muttered. She arched an eyebrow at my present tense, and I laughed it off. “What about you and Robert?”
“Ah, the elephant in the room.” But Harmony’s bright smile gave away how far gone she was. “You don’t mind that we’re dating?”
“Why would I mind? We dated so long ago. I want him to be happy.”
I had been over Robert before it ended. I wished that I’d made the decision to end it before things went downhill.
“Well, Katherine sort of set us up,” she said with a mischievous smile. “It was over Christmas. I won’t bore you with the details, but neither of us thought it was going to work out, and now, here we are, six months later. Better than ever.”
“Good,” I said honestly. I clutched her hand, glad that this wasn’t half as awkward as I’d thought it would be. “That’s what I want for you and for him.”
Harmony beamed. “Thank you, Whitley.” She squeezed my hand. “Now, let’s talk about this dress. Katherine is determined to do it without you, but I would like some input.”
I laughed as I put my head in with Harmony and went over what she was working on for it. It was going to be a feat to get the thing done in time. Adding a wedding dress on top of the work she already had to do was a lot to ask, but Katherine hadn’t been lying when she said Harmony owed her. She’d gotten her and Robert together.
Gavin reappeared at some point, pulling me back onto the dance floor. I leaned into him, more relaxed than I had been since we’d decided to go through with this. Maybe this would all work out, and everything would be fine.
“How’d it go with Robert?”
“He’s happy for us,” he said, brushing his lips against the top of my head.
I shivered at the touch. I could get used to this intimacy. “Good. Harmony too. They seem happy.”
“He does seem smitten,” Gavin agreed.
He twirled me around, pulling me back in close. I laughed as he moved me around the rooftop. This was not the kind of dancing I normally associated with Gavin. I was used to a lot more bumping and grinding. It was kind of fun to be whirled around the room like a princess with a partner who knew how to lead.
“I’m still not used to you dancing like this. Who taught you?”
“My mom and aunt love dancing. I’d go over to my cousins’, and they’d teach us all their favorite ballroom moves. I was an escort at a significant number of Junior Leagues.”
I snorted. “I cannot picture you like that.”
“You didn’t do big Texas rites of passage?”
“No!”
“Not even a mum?”
I swore. “Fine. I did wear a mum for homecoming. My sophomore year, I dated the Junior League president’s son. She made me the most elaborate mum to wear, and I was the envy of the entire school. It was so heavy that it had straps for my shoulders. There were so many bells that it jingled, and you could hear me coming down the hall.”
Gavin cackled. “Oh my god, I wish I had seen that. Wait, do your parents have pictures?”
“Don’t you dare, King!”
“Ah, come on, Bowen. It’s too much fun.”
“It was embarrassing. I broke up with him after that and hooked up with his older sister. I was lucky my mom never found out.”
“Heartbreaker.”
“That’s me.”
He bent down and stole a kiss.
I startled. “What was that for?”
“Because you’re cute.”
I narrowed my eyes. “That’s not a reason.”
“Sure it is,” he said easily and then tugged me back out into the dancing.
The best part about being around Gavin was that it was always a riot. I’d always heard that opposites attract, but in this instance, I’d never been more attracted to someone who was so like me.
We danced the night away, drinking with our friends and making the rest of the party laugh with our antics. It was a better night than I’d anticipated. No one seemed skeptical about our arrangement. They all accepted it as if they’d been waiting for it to happen.