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WITH BARBARA AND LANDER’S winter wedding about a month away, Cord was busy getting his brother ready, and Brit was busy with Barbara. Their mother had taken care of most of the arrangements considering the wedding was going to be in Amsterdam, but Brit still got to partake in her favorite part—the fashion. They were having breakfast at Lonnie’s, and then Brit, Saffron, and Barbara were going to the bridal shop for their final fittings.
When Brit walked in the door of her father’s house, her lip curled. “I thought this was supposed to be family only,” she nearly sneered at the sight of J.J. standing there with his puppy dog eyes.
Lonnie lay a heavy hand on her shoulder. “Respect, darling,” he said quietly.
“Hey, Brit, can I talk to you for a sec?” J.J. approached her, his bangs in his eyes.
Brit checked with Saffron, who gave her a silent nod, and J.J. followed Brit into Lonnie’s home office. She didn’t give him the chance to start. “OK, so what’s the deal with you and my sister?”
Damn. She was getting soft. That might’ve been the first time she had referred to Saffron as her sister.
“My manager before Lander said I’d get more fans if I didn’t have a girlfriend. I, uh, believed him. Saffron went along with it.”
“That’s crap, but I get it. Not the first time I heard that story. It’s one thing not to do things with her in public, but with her own family? That’s the part I don’t get.”
He cocked a sideways smile at her. “Hey, I’m not that good of an actor to begin with. I didn’t want to have to fake it one place but not another. It’s stupid, I know.”
Brit crossed her arms. “Just a bit.” She turned her back to him like she was considering something, but instead stared at the rows of records lining her father’s bookshelf. She and Barbara had alphabetized them one day, but they were out of order again. “So what’s the deal? Are you going to keep up this stupid charade, break up with her for good, or make it official?”
“I have a plan for that too.”
Brit’s interest was piqued. A scheme was something she could get behind. Especially when it involved two people potentially ending up together. “Which is?” She spun around and planted her hands on her hips, playing up the dramatics of the situation.
***
AFTER THE BUSINESS of the dresses, Brit went over to Daisy’s with takeout in hand. Another meeting she had to have with Daisy to tell her the guy she liked—in this case, J.J.—didn’t like her back. Brit had spared no expense. Eggplant parmesan, a mini bottle of wine, and the butteriest garlic bread she had ever tasted. Tiramisu for dessert.
“What’s the occasion?” asked Daisy as she dug through the plastic to-go bags.
Brit had to ease her in to this one. She didn’t want to have a repeat of the Vincent conversation. “I was craving Italian.”
“Cool.”
Leave it to Daisy to take things at face value.
She shuffled off to the kitchen and returned with two plates and forks and a bottled water for Brit. “I’m glad you stopped over. I have a weird request.”
Uh oh. “Sure, name it.” Brit set down the forkful of eggplant, finding that she could no longer fit food in her stomach around the tight ball of nerves.
“I know you were thinking about retiring from matchmaking, but I was wondering if you could help me with something.”
“Yes?” The ball in her gut was getting bigger. It was going to take over her whole body like an alien parasite in minutes if Daisy didn’t spit it out.
“This is going to sound really middle school, but...” Daisy giggled. “Could you ask Cord if he likes me?”
The alien parasite in Brit’s stomach imploded. “You mean J.J.?”
Daisy’s brow furrowed, and her pierced lip pouted. “No, Cord. He was so sweet at J.J.’s release party, rescuing me from Vincent. Why, does J.J. like me?”
“No.” Brit’s quick negative response wasn’t referring to J.J. Cord was hers. He wasn’t, but she wanted him to be. She realized that now, with blinding clarity, for the first time since they met. He couldn’t end up with Daisy. That possibility was more likely than not after Brit’s little tantrum at the meeting yesterday. Why must all the important men in her life be SO mellow? At least next to Crazy, she seemed like the sane one. Or Vincent, come to think of it. But no, she couldn’t lose Cord. Not to Daisy, not to anyone.
“So you’ll talk to Cord?” Daisy was tentative now and unsure.
Brit had to find a way out of this. “I’ll talk to him, but no promises. I’m not sure if he’s interested in dating anyone right now.” It wasn’t a lie—she didn’t know—but she hoped it wasn’t the whole truth either.