Total pages in book: 58
Estimated words: 55641 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 278(@200wpm)___ 223(@250wpm)___ 185(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 55641 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 278(@200wpm)___ 223(@250wpm)___ 185(@300wpm)
“Ouch,” Reid said, proving that he sometimes listened even when people weren’t talking about facts and figures.
“I’m sorry about the breakup.” The urge to reach over and put my hand on hers was strong, but even though we’d talked for an hour in the dark in her car the other night, I sensed she wouldn’t welcome that.
At least not yet.
She shrugged, trying to look like it didn’t hurt, and I was momentarily distracted by the way her dark, silky hair glided across her shoulder. “Guess he liked Tanya better.”
Unless this Tanya was the biggest supermodel in the universe, that dude was insane. Penny was absolutely gorgeous. A bit on the shy and mousy side, but I had a feeling her asshole ex was responsible for a good part of that.
“Tanya’s your cousin?” Hunter asked.
“Yes.” The pain in Penny’s voice was evident. “She’s the bride’s younger sister. We’re both bridesmaids, so I won’t be able to get away from them.”
“That sounds like hell on earth,” I commented.
She nodded in agreement.
“So why do you want to go?” There didn’t seem to be any reason for it as far as I could see.
“Because it’s family.”
“Sounds like a good reason to stay away,” Hunter said, as if his childhood had been straight out of a Dickens novel.
“Says the man who works with his brothers,” I commented.
Hunter flashed his trademark crooked grin, and I saw Penny’s eyes widen. “That’s because you guys let me break shit with a sledgehammer.”
Reid cut to the chase. “We’d like to help you, Penny, but we’ve got our work cut out for us with this renovation. The Ten-Day Turnover is about as intense as it gets. None of us can take that much time away from the project or we won’t meet the deadline.”
“But we’d still like you to take videos for us under the original payment terms, and we’ll make sure you can slip away when you need to,” I added. Reid caught my eye, and though he didn’t look happy, he nodded. “And I’m sure we can find the time for one of us to take you to the actual wedding.”
“Yeah,” Hunter agreed. “Especially if there’s an open bar.”
Penny ignored him as she looked at me. It was the first time I’d clearly seen her intense, dark, flashing eyes since the night of the art class. She seemed torn, but at the very least, she’d have a date to the wedding. That had to count for something, right?
“Thank you,” she said at last. “I appreciate that. But… my family is expecting my boyfriend to come to all of the events.”
“Why can’t he?” Reid said, clearly not getting it.
“Because I don’t have one.” Penny’s voice was low and quiet.
“Then why do they think you do?” My older brother could be fucking clueless sometimes.
“Jesus,” Hunter said with a loud exhale. “It’s not rocket science. Her piece of shit ex dumped her for her cousin, and now she’s got to spend the week with them. Can you blame her for saying she’s got a new man?”
Penny nodded at Hunter’s assessment of the situation. “I know I shouldn’t have, but…”
“You were trying to save face,” I said, and she nodded. I probably would’ve done the same thing in her shoes. on that point.
“I’m sorry for your situation, but there’s no way one of us could be away that much.” Reid was resolute.
Hunter rested his elbow on the wobbly table, his gaze unfocused. “There’s no way one of us could be away that much.”
Oh shit.
Reid and Penny weren’t following.
“That’s what I just said,” Reid said.
“It’s too much time for one of us to be away from the project, but what if we took turns?” The gleam in Hunter’s eye meant that his idea was either a stroke of genius or insanity. With him, it was often hard to know for sure until it was too late.
“Absolutely not,” Reid said firmly, like he was our dad, not our brother and business partner.
“It’s worked before,” Hunter said with a shrug.
“Sorry, but what’s worked before?” Penny asked, her head swinging back and forth from Hunter to Reid like she was watching a tennis match.
“We could take turns going to wedding week things with you,” Hunter explained. “And since when do weddings take a week?”
Penny scrunched up her brow in confusion. “But I told them I had a boyfriend, so I’m not just looking for a series of dates. I need—oh.”
I grinned at the doubtful look on her face. “We’ve pretended to be each other before. You may have noticed that we’re identical.”
She nodded but seemed to be lost in thought, perhaps trying to figure out if that could possibly work.
That made two of us.
“Don’t worry, no one will know,” Hunter said. “We did it all the time in high school. Hell, for years, Reid took all of our math tests.” He caught my eye and I couldn’t help laughing at the memory. Every time one of us had a math test coming up, we’d bribe Reid to show up in class to pretend to be me or Hunter and ace the test. It worked perfectly until Hunter and I ended up in the same math class.