“You do?” Mom asks.
“How hot is he?” Grandma jumps in.
“A ten.” I grin.
Grandma claps, and mom looks at me like she isn’t sure I’m the same daughter she gave birth to. I debate telling my mom therealplan, but I can’t while my grandma is present. That woman can’t be trusted.
“When do I get to meet him?” Dad asks, wandering into the kitchen and stealing a piece of the pork my mom is shredding.
“Uh…” in all my grand ideas about getting my brothers back, I’d forgotten about this part. “You were serious about that? I thought you only meant it for Sean.”
Dad’s brows pull together in a hard line. “I guess you’re right. But I’d still like to meet the boy my daughter is dating.”
Oh, yikes. Dad is going to be pissed when I come with my pretend fiancé. “You know, Dad, I—”
“Did I hear right? Is little Lenny dating someone?” Michael asks as he walks into the room with Juliet on his arm, looking as innocent as she always is.
“He’s just a friend,” I say. The less he suspects, the better.
“Does this mean I’m going to be a hundred dollars poorer next week?”
“Yes, sirree.” I grin, and to my surprise, he smiles too. Like he doesn’t mind wasting money on me. Which has never been the case before.
My smile fades. “Why do you look so happy?”
“Why wouldn’t I be happy? My little sister is dating again.”
Now I know he’s lying, but my other brothers and Grant walk into the kitchen, so I decide to drop it.
“Grant, did you hear that?” Michael says, and my face pales. “Little Lenny has a boyfriend.”
That wasnotwhat I said.
Grant’s dark eyes bore into my soul, and I want to know what they see.
“Cool.” He says and he and Trent immediately go into the other room. To play pool, I assume.
The air whooshes from my lungs.Cool?Yesterday I saw him in a towel and now all he can say is cool? And hadn’t he flirted with me a little? I’ve been out of the game for a while, but I’m pretty sure what he did in my office is called flirting.
Michael and Sean trail after them, and as soon as they’re gone Juliet pulls me out back to the pool.
“So that guy, Noa, is he going to do it?” she asks.
I texted Juliet and told her everything after Noa left the library the other day.
“Yeah. He needs a date for an event as well, so I think it will work out.” I rub my upper arms. It’s only fifty-five degrees today which might as well be North Pole weather for my Arizona blood.
She nods and starts twirling a strand of hair. “I’m starting to second guess my grand plan. We know nothing about him. What if he’s a total creep?”
I dismiss her concerns with a wave. “I stalked him on all the social media sites. He even gave me his mom’s number. I didn’t call her though.”
“What if that’s his play? He acts like the perfect gentleman and then bam! You’re a five cow wife on an island with triplets on the way.”
I blink. That sure escalated quickly. “First, I’m offended. Shouldn’t I get at least ten cows? And second, think of the vacation. Until the babies are born, anyway.” I’ve heard kids tend to ruin things.
“I’m serious, Len. I know I’m just your almost sister-in-law, but I love you and I couldn’t live with myself if something bad happened to you because of me. Maybe you shouldn’t do it. We can find another way to get back at your brothers.”
I watch her hand furiously twisting her hair. Shortly after we first met, she told me she had anxiety, but until now, I had only associated that with her hair twirling. But now that I’m paying attention, I remember all the times she has doubted herself. Shopping with her is a nightmare. She can never decide and half the time she ends up taking things back, anyway. But she doesn’t need to second guess this plan.
