Total pages in book: 73
Estimated words: 67465 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 337(@200wpm)___ 270(@250wpm)___ 225(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 67465 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 337(@200wpm)___ 270(@250wpm)___ 225(@300wpm)
“She would,” Remi says carefully, her voice even and measured. “She’d care, but she also wants me to spy on you, so she’d be thrilled.”
“Nonsense,” Nanny laughs, waving both her hands in the air. She turns it into a little dance, shimmying in her chair, and if you know Nanny, you’d know that’s not in the least bit strange. “It’s a chance to patch things up between your sister and yourself, Sullivan.”
“By dating her bestie?” I ask dryly. “I don’t think so. That’s not the kind of patch I want to put on the situation.”
“I don’t want to be a patch,” Remi says, a bit defensively now. “But I could talk to Kimmy.”
Nanny suddenly bangs the table. We both jump. “That’s the spirit! Maybe you could double date.”
“Kimmy has a boyfriend?” I don’t know why I find that harder to believe than swallowing down the whole double date thing.
I just can’t imagine who on earth would be brave enough to date my sister. She’s vibrant, pretty, driven, powerful, successful, and a total alpha female—all the things men are scared of. She’d be an amazing catch if she could find the right person. I just, god…it’s none of my business. I can see how mad Kimmy would be even knowing I was thinking about her, her life, or her love life. She’d tell me I have no right because I bailed on her, and she’d be absolutely correct. I hurt her. And I have no idea how to make it right. You can’t just make something like that okay again.
“Goodness, no,” Nanny says. “But maybe she’d get one if I suggested that the date was a great way to figure out your real intentions.”
“I have no real intentions,” I choke out. “We both know that!”
“Kimmy doesn’t believe you.” Nanny states the obvious. “It would be a good ice breaker. You’d be in the same room, and you could start to have that conversation you desperately need to have. Even if it takes years, you have to begin it somewhere. And you need to get back in the game.”
I shake my head. “Good lord, Nanny, of all the crazy schemes….”
“Good!” she exclaims like it’s settled. Like I just agreed to something, which I most definitely did not do. “Take the lovely Remi to your mom’s house when you have dinner for the first time since you’ve been back.”
“Gah, are you for real?”
She nods, proud as a freaking peacock. “I’m for real. It will be good practice.” She winks at me. “I’ll send gravy along with you as a gift.”
“Shouldn’t Remi get a say?” I’m likely red-faced now, my plate of French toast totally forgotten. Good think the piece on the fork in my hand stopped dripping syrup all over the place a long time ago. I flick my eyes across the table, taking in the sweet, fresh blush on Remi’s cheeks. Her long lashes are lowered, her lip bright red from where she was gnawing at it. My breath leaves my lungs in a rush as her eyes flicker up and land on me. I’m frozen and stunned. I’m stuck in place. I’m gawping like a gawper of an imbecile, but I can’t stop.
Please say no, I beg her with my eyes. For the love of gravy, please say no.
“That depends.” Remi’s voice is all soft and just the tiniest bit amused, which tells me that I’m in deep trouble here. And not the payback for kissing her and running kind of trouble either.
Nanny bites the bait. She’s all about the trouble. “On what, dear?”
“On whether you’re willing to give me another container of your liver and onions gravy for my trouble.”
“Oohhhhhhh!” Nanny squeals. She leaps out of her chair and does a little dance right there in the kitchen, jiving her hips and shaking her spandex-clad bootie. My god, where does she get all that spandex? And how can I now go about washing my eyes out and scrubbing my brain? Literally. I need a solution here, people. “You had better believe I’ll give you as much gravy as you can handle.”
Remi’s face takes on an expression I don’t even know how to decipher or put a definition to, and her eyes lock with mine. “Alright then. I’ll do it.”
And just like that, I’ve landed myself the first date I’ve had with anyone but my ex-wife since I was seventeen years old. For the record, it means I’m more than rusty. It also means this is going to be a complete disaster.
CHAPTER 10
Van
Ugh, god, I’m this thing. This cringeworthy thing that barely passes for a human, pulling up to Remi’s house in a rental car because I still haven’t bothered getting my own yet. It always seemed rather low on my particular long list of problems to fix, people to apologize to, relationships to mend, people I need to convince not to hate me, and bridges I need to try and somehow unburn.