Page 71 of Unofficial

"Hi Melinda, I'm Jessica. We spoke a little while ago."

"Ms. Massey, of course. It's a pleasure to see you. Please, follow me right this way," she says with a fake smile plastered on her face.

Kade leans forward and whispers, "At least she's pretending to be friendly."

Jess laughs and lets her seat them at a table towards the back off of the bar. "I think working with the Historical Society has a similar effect around here as being a movie star."

A woman walks up behind Kade and catches Jess's eye as a man hesitantly walks behind her. She stops right behind Kade and feigns surprise. "Kade? Kade Finely?"

Kade immediately stiffens, and Jess knows this has to be Sam. And the man lurking behind her must be Zach. Oh, crap.

"Hello, Sam," Kade says and avoids turning to look at her.

The woman has to be around five foot eleven with long, lean legs, a small waist, chocolate brown eyes, and professionally styled chestnut hair. She's gorgeous. Stunning, actually.

"It's good to see you. God, I don't think I've seen you since..."

"The night I was arrested for kicking your now-husband's ass," he finishes.

"We missed you at the wedding," Sam says as the man Jess assumes is Zach wraps an arm around Sam's waist when she flinches at Kade's response.

Kade snorts. "Yeah, I couldn't figure out if the invite was a sick joke or not."

"You look good, Kade," the man says.

"Don't do that."

"Do what?"

"Play nice. We're not friends, Zach, and it's not a secret."

Zach looks to be only an inch or two taller than Sam, and he clenches his jaw. "We were once, weren't we?"

Jess watches the scene play before her like a movie. Zach is handsome, but he looks pretentious. Like he believes he's above the average man.

"I thought we were, but a friend doesn't do what you did."

"I wish we could all move on from the past," Sam says with a sigh. "We were all such good friends once upon a time."

"But you and Zach were much better friends than anyone thought, weren't you?" Jess says before she can stop herself. “I mean, I have close friends. And best friends. But I’ve never messed around for years with them. I guess we just aren’t that close, huh?”

Kade looks at her with wide eyes, and she's just as surprised as he is by her comment. For a moment, she worries he's upset with her, but the smirk he gives her tells her he's not in the least.

"And who are you?" Sam asks.

"His date."

Carrie walks out of the kitchen and over to the table. "Jess! Babe, how are you?"

"I'm good, Carrie. How are you?" Jess asks the short, plump woman with bright pink hair and three piercings on her right eyebrow. They match the nose piercing and lip ring. Her ears, however, have never been pierced.

"Busy!" she says and looks at Sam and Zach. "Do you need two more place settings?"

"That would be great!" Sam says with a wide smile.

Jess shakes her head. "No, we’re not inviting them to join us. They interrupted, and I think this woman might be a little on the crazy side."

"Oh, really?" Carrie asks and gives her a knowing look.

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