"It's so nice to meet you, Mia," Ella finally has a chance to get a word in. "And you must be Briggs."
I watch as my best friend stands and gives my girl a big welcoming hug. A flash of jealousy flares through me, but it's gone as quickly as it comes. It's nothing more than a hug and we all know it.
"It's nice to finally meet you, Ella. Sit."
The four of us fall into easy conversation and ten minutes later, Jaxon and Ella's best friend, Ava, join us. I know that Ella is going to fit in perfectly in Rock Creek, but the fact that she already has a friend here is just a bonus that's really going to help her make the adjustment from the city to the mountains.
"Look at you." Ella reaches for Ava's swollen belly. "I can't believe you're going to have a baby." For a moment, she looks like she might cry and when she glances in my direction, I can see the hope in her eyes. With any luck, my girl is already pregnant with our child.
I slip my hand over her thigh and squeeze, letting my fingers travel a little higher than necessary. I'm the only one who hears her little gasp as my thumb swipes between her legs before I pull away. I do hope my baby is already growing in her sweet belly, but if not, I'm going to have a lot of fun practicing until we get it right.
"Jamie." Briggs grabs my attention, yanking me from the dirty thoughts that are about to take over my imagination. "Come with me to get a fresh round of drinks."
I give Ella a quick kiss.
"You're only going to the bar," Mia groans from across the table. "You'll see her in five minutes."
"Oh, like you're one to talk," I fire back. "I've been subjected to enough of your PDAs with my best friend to last a lifetime."
Just for good measure, I give Ella one more kiss and follow Briggs up to the bar.
Ella
"Okay," Ava says the moment Jamie is out of earshot. "We need all the details. Tell us everything."
"Well, maybe not everything," Mia says. "Heismy big brother."
I laugh and Jaxon groans. "Maybe I should have gone with the guys to the bar. I'll leave you ladies to it."
After giving Ava a deep kiss that leaves her a little breathless, Jaxon's gone too. "Okay," she says. "Spill. Are yousohappy?"
I nod and smile so wide it hurts. "I've never been so happy. He's...he's just perfect." I shake my head in wonder. "I have to thank you for telling me about the site. If it weren't for you blazing the trail, I never would have signed up and can you believe we were a perfect match?"
"A perfect match?" Mia looks between us. "What does that mean?"
I quickly explain how there are two parts of the site, the listing section where Ava and Jaxon met, and then a matching section. "So we each filled out the questionnaires and then the site ran whatever algorithms or diagnostics or whatever, and then...we matched."
"And it was perfect?" Ava asks.
"Well, nottotallyperfect. But in all the important areas, our answers were an exact match. It's like a 98% match, which is what they consider perfect." I sit back in my chair and shake my head because just saying it out loud makes it sound even more special. "Isn't it incredible?"
"It is," Mia says. "The guys did a good job, didn't they?"
"They—wait." I stop and shake my head. "Did you say theguysdid a good job?" I laugh a little, but something doesn't feel right. "The guys didn't do anything, the Mountain Mates site is the one that did a good job." I smile and look at the ladies. "What guys are you talking about?"
Mia exchanges a glance with Ava, and it's my best friend who speaks. "Briggs and Jaxon," she says. "They signed Jamie up for the website."
"What?" My stomach lurches. "They signed Jamie up? And then he filled out the?—"
The look on Mia's face answers the question I'm about to ask. "They filled out the questionnaire for him," I say. "That's what you mean by the guys doing a good job?"
Ava nods and my heart clenches in my chest.
If it wasn't Jamie who filled out the questionnaire, then it was all a lie. We aren't a perfect match after all because he never answered the questions. He probably doesn't even know what they are. It's a lie. All of it. And I fell for it.
My face burns with shame and I feel like I'm going to pass out right there at the table.
"Ella?" Ava's voice reaches me. "Are you okay?"
