Total pages in book: 111
Estimated words: 106806 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 534(@200wpm)___ 427(@250wpm)___ 356(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 106806 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 534(@200wpm)___ 427(@250wpm)___ 356(@300wpm)
I take a deep breath. Just do this, Savvy. If tonight goes smoothly, the wedding weekend won’t be as scary. “We better get in there, then.”
CHAPTER EIGHT
SAVVY
I’m lucky that dinner is at The Orchid, since I consider this my turf. As soon as we step onto the outdoor dining space that overlooks Lake Blackledge, my shoulders drop and my lungs allow just a little more air in than they did before.
“Welcome!” squeals a pale brunette who has Alec’s ice-blue eyes.
Alec grins. “Savvy, this is our bride-to-be, my sister, Rose.”
I offer Rose my hand, but she ignores it and pulls me into a hug. “I’m so happy to finally meet you,” she squeals.
I meet Alec’s gaze over her shoulder. Finally?
He shrugs, tinges of pink appearing on his cheeks.
A regal-looking woman with ivory skin crosses to us from near the doors that connect the indoor and outdoor sections of the restaurant. She’s tall and lovely in a dark blue dress. Her dark hair is swept off her face in a twist at the back of her head, and diamond earrings glint in her ears.
I smile at her, but her gaze sweeps over me like I’m a roach she’s found under her shoe. My smile falls away.
“Mom,” Alec says, “this is Savvy, who I’ve told you so much about. Savvy, this is our mother, Cheryl.”
“Yes. I’ve been told about you.”
“Alec, you have to see this!” a dark-skinned man calls, waving Alec over to the bar.
“I’m being summoned,” Alec says. “Are you okay here?”
“Of course she is,” Rose says, nudging him away with her elbow. “Get out of here.”
With an indulgent grin, Alec kisses my cheek then strides away.
His mother clears her throat.
Right. Introductions. I offer my hand, and she takes it by my fingertips, shaking it limply and releasing it quickly.
After one more beat of staring into my soul, she turns her gaze toward the guys gathered at the bar. “You got lucky with my son. He’s absolutely incredible.”
Something about her tone implies unlike you, but he is incredible, so I say, “Oh, I know.”
“I would hope,” she says, and I decide that she is the exact opposite of her daughter. Rose fills a room with her joy, doling it out to everyone, and Cheryl smothers it.
“Ignore her,” Rose says. “She married my brother off in her head when he was twenty and has been ignoring everything he’s said about you for months.”
“How was I supposed to know they were serious?” Cheryl asks. “He hasn’t brought her out to L.A. even once.”
Wow. How can I be so offended when she hasn’t said anything that isn’t true?
“Mom,” Rose says under her breath, “please play nice. For me?”
The smile Cheryl pastes on would make a snake’s gaping maw look inviting. “This is incredibly unexpected, is all,” she says. “I hear you work at a gym. Is that right?”
“Yeah. I’m a personal trainer and group fitness instructor.”
“My friend’s daughter did something similar for spending money while she was in dental school.”
I am too stubborn to let my smile waver, but the implication is clear. My job isn’t respectable as a profession. I wish I could say I didn’t see this coming. “Good for her.”
She eyes my shoulders. “You shouldn’t work your upper body so much, dear. All that muscle can make you look rather masculine.”
Oh, yay. One of those. You’re doing this for Alec. Just keep smiling.
“Mom!” Rose groans.
“Excuse me,” Cheryl says. “I need to talk to the servers about circulating with the appetizers.” She disappears into the restaurant, and I hope she stays there.
When I turn back to Rose, she looks me over. “Don’t listen to her. You are stunning. I checked out your Insta, but you’re even more beautiful in person.” She hugs me again, and a weird tangle of guilt and gratitude pulls my insides in opposite directions.
“You’re too sweet.”
“And your shoulders are to die for! Can you write me a program to get more definition in my shoulders? I will totally pay you, but—”
I laugh. I don’t know if she means it or if she’s trying to smooth over her mother’s faux pas, but I appreciate her words either way. “I would be happy to. You don’t have to pay me. Just drop me a DM with info about where you work out and the kind of equipment you have available.”
She claps and bounces on her toes. “You are so awesome. Come on. I want to introduce you to my best friend and maid of honor.”
I let her pull me away from Alec and toward her friend. Rose grabs a glass off a passing waiter’s tray along the way and shoves it into my free hand. “Trust me,” she says, her voice too low to carry. “If you’re going to spend the evening around my mother, you’ll want this. But you probably figured that out already.”