Page 10 of Gorgeous

“Whatever you tell the demons in your head, Jameson.” Theo’s stupid face appears next to me. “But you and I both know Anniston eats carbs literally once a day, and she certainly doesn’t waste them on jam.”

I don’t need to look at him to know he is grinning at me with all the smugness he can muster up.

“And we all know Mr. Fourteen-Percent-Body-Fat doesn’t either. Admit it—it’s my wedding day—you want to fuck the jelly girl.”

I sigh, trudging up the hill in the blistering heat. “You’re not going to let this go, are you?”

The man that has become as close as a brother knocks into my shoulder. “Not a chance. Now, tell Daddy if we need to have a talk about the birds and the bees.”

I punch him with all thirteen-point-five percent of my body fat and make a promise to apologize to Anniston later.

She’ll understand.

He had it coming.

Dear B,

I fucking did it! I made Private First Class. Major Jameson is taking us all out to a bar to celebrate. I feel like I’m the baddest motherfucker in the platoon. I gotta go. They’re calling for me. #pleasehookmeupwithjess

Love,

The awesomest brother you have

“OMG, Jess! You will not freaking believe the way they decorated this place. It looks like all four florists in the county dumped every flower they had onto this plantation.”

Snooping around and calling Jess while Sue, my boss, waits in the van for me to instruct her where to bring the three dozen pies we baked for the wedding might not be the most professional thing I could do right now. But how often does an opportunity to sniff around the coveted McCallister Jameson Foundation come around?

Never.

The closest I get to Cade Jameson is when he comes by the booth every weekend and purchases six jars of jam. Sometimes he says hi. Sometimes he grunts out a thank you and turns around and leaves looking pissed off. He’s a strange one, and this is as close as I’ll ever get to Cade in his comfort zone. I must seize the opportunity and do some recon. Okay, fine, I’m just a nosy bitch, but I’m beyond curious about what goes on behind these doors. Just judge me now because I have no hope I will come to my senses soon.

My quest to get to know Major Jameson has a way of bringing out the foolish college girl in me versus the new, twenty-three-year-old aspiringbaker who has not seen a real penis in three damn years. You can feel sorry for me here. This girl needs a man.

“B, are you seriously sneaking around? They invited you, dumbass. Just be normal.”

I make a face but still hold my crouch, peering through the back fence, getting my first look at the pale pink flowers combined with white lilies scattered down a makeshift aisle between dozens of white wooden chairs. “Psht. I am being so normal it would impress you.”

“I doubt that. With the way you’re gasping for air it’s probably obvious to everyone around you that the most walking you’ve done has been back and forth to the oven.”

“Milos!” Jess scolds but it has no bite because she is fucking laughing. They can both suck a nut. Just because I only run if I’m being chased does not mean I’m that out of shape.

“Who invited you in on this call, Milos? Isn’t it like dark-thirty over there in Croatia?”

He laughs at my total ignorance of time zones. “As a matter of fact, you interrupted our work call about the review.” His tone turns a little stern as he continues to half-ass scold me for bailing on the call last night.

I was busy. Cooking. Shaving. Trying to pluck this stubborn devil hair from my eyebrow. I had to miss the call. I had real emergencies to deal with.

“Don’t start. You know what this means to me. I have penetrated their fortress!”

Milos and Jess both laugh at my choice of words. The three of us are so juvenile sometimes. “B. Go do your damn job and keep your hands to yourself. The last thing I need is to have to lie to my parents about why I need money to bail you out for groping all those hot Marines. Remember, self-control.” Jess’ warning is ridiculous. I wouldn’t gropeallof them. I only have eyes for one.

“Ten-four.” They both groan at my military terminology. “Gah, both of you are total buzzkills this morning.”

“We’re working. The Ragnarok review needs finishingbefore tonight and we’re hung up on whether we like Hemsworth’s comedic role with Mark Ruffalo.”

“How could y’all?” I whisper-yell into the phone. “He was perfect. This movie was his best yet! Five stars all the way. Y’all better not downgrade him because Mark was off his game.” Sighing, they stay silent knowing how I feel about Chris. The man turns my panties into a rain jacket. He could be on screen and fart and I would still think he was golden. Debating his comedic acting … they’re crazy.

“Go to work, B. We’ll talk later tonight.”

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