Page 70 of Space Cowgirl: Houston, All Systems Go
That has me snorting. “You have an actualweddingfund.” Holt nods. “ForFlynn?”
“Yes. As I do for Rose,” Holt states, like it’s a common thing for bachelor men to create wedding funds for their orphaned siblings. “After Mom and Dad died, it seemed like a good idea to ensure everything was planned for and taken care of.”
Flynn, Jackie and I look at each other in a moment of reflective silence.
Then we laugh.
“You were eighteen, Holt!” Flynn finally says, his flabbergasted tone mirroring my own amused shock. “You’re telling me you thought of creating wedding funds when you wereeighteen?”
Holt shrugs, looking mildly uncomfortable now that he realizes his financial planning might not have been all that normal.
Hands on my hips, I examine the man I rode just a few hours earlier, a huge grin on my face. “Are you a boy scoutanda cowboy?”
He flushes, running a hand through his hair. When he lowers it, it drops back behind me, resting across my lower back.
Tingles shoot to my hoo-ha.
“Rose has a wedding fund too?” Flynn asks, grinning. And oblivious to Holt’s maneuver.
Jackie’s eyes are fixed on my stomach like her glasses give her x-ray vision.
Holt nods, his fingers brushing lower to the top of my ass. “Though it’s double yours.” He winks.
Everyone laughs again, the moment easing the ache in my chest. It occurs to me that it hasn’t hurt all day until Holt hesitated on touching me. Weird.
“Hey, I’m not that high maintenance!”
Four of us turn to see Rose strutting over in her fringed cowboy boots.
“Rose!” Flynn pulls in his sister for a hug. “What are you doing here?”
She thumbs behind her. “I’m here with Trish.”
We all look over Rose’s shoulder to see Trish pacing the drive next to Rose’s sports car. Her face is thunderous, and I wonder who made the sweet Southern lady so mad.
Rose eyes Flynn and Jackie before resting her hands on her hips. “You think I’d let you guys start planning a wedding without me?”
Holt mimics her stance, drawing her attention. “Um, I believe that’sexactlywhat you told me to do the last time I saw you.”
“I had reasons.” She shrugs and looks between Holt and me, particularly where Holt’s hand is. “And those reasons paid off, I see.”
Holt blushes and steps back, the sudden coldness on my lower back making me rub the spot on my chest.
“Excuse me, may I say something?” The stupid wedding planner, who I’d completely forgotten about until now, peeks her head out of the barn door.
“So sorry, Ms. Waguespack.” Jackie jogs over to the woman. “I didn’t mean to leave you for so long. Jules and I were just… ah…”
“That’s okay.” The woman pats her hand motherly-like, though she can’t be more than a few years older than Jackie. “I know weddings can be stressful. Even for friends.”
“Bestfriends.” I narrow my eyes at the woman, ignoring Rose’s chuckle and Jackie’s sigh.
The woman just smiles. “Yes, even best friends.”
Rose steps in beside me and elbows my ribs. “I’m not sure what I’m walking in on, but why don’t we listen to what the professional has to say before you kill her with your death glare?”
I aim said glare at the perky, blond traitor. Rose just flutters her lashes.
I don’t know why I’m so set against a wedding planner. Honestly, it’s the answer to a lot of my problems. As Jackie said, Iambusy with delegating training to new astronauts, reviewing plans for future experiments aboard the ISS, public relations work, flight scheduling… and you know, dodging a stalker.
