Page 89 of My Fiancé's Brother 2

“You want to see?”

Five minutes later,Lauren stood in Alien’s room.

“This is incredible,” she turned and looked at me. “You did this?”

“I have a lot of time on my hands.”

She cleared her throat, hesitating. “My daughter loves Elsa.”

“You need a mural?”

“Are you for hire?”

I tried to think of how my granny would handle this opportunity. “I'd do it for an exchange.”

“What kind of exchange?”

“I need to meet more people, but I don’t even know how to do that.”

“I know everyone.”

We looked at each other.

She held out her hand, “I think we could make a deal.”

A couple of nights later,after dinner, Jackson called me on Skype.

“Hi,” I peered at him on the screen. He sat outside under the shade of the military netting. His camo baseball hat was pulled low over his eyes. His hair was sticking in all directions from beneath his hat, making him look adorable. “How are you?”

“Good.”

“Are you safe?”

He just smiled at me.

“So, Lauren dropped by the other day for coffee.”

“Oh yeah?” His expression looked innocent.

“Embarrassing that my husband had to call in an old favor to get me a coffee date.”

His expression was hard to read. “How did it go?”

“She has commissioned me to paint Elsa on her daughter’s wall.”

“Who’s Elsa?”

“You’ll find out soon enough if Alien is a girl.”

“What’s the commission?”

I shook my head.

He leaned forward, intrigued. “What?”

“I’ve been invited to a Scentsy party and a bridal shower.”

“You’re bartering for friends.”

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