Page 57 of Mistletoe Misses
I’m not surprised Jamie noticed. After all, he appreciates women a little too much and isn’t afraid to let them know. He’s more than earned his playboy reputation, but whatever he’sappreciatingabout my sister and her new no-longer-a-little-girl curves, better be kept to himself, including his playboy hands.
Those hands raise in protest, reading my expression. “Come on, man. It’s me.”
“I know. That’s what I’m worried about.”
???
“There you are,” Nana says when she finds me, Cooper, and Aaron in the sunroom.
“Which of us are you about to embarrass?” Cooper asks, earning an eye roll from Nana.
“Boy, everything I do is for your own good.”
“Okay. Whatgoodare you doing this time?”
Her grin gives us a warning signal, and we all react instinctively. My abs constrict to prepare for the blow, Cooper slumps back in his chair, already defeated, and Aaron drains his beer.
“I signed you all up to volunteer at an event tonight,” she informs us. “It’s the biggest fundraiser the Spectacular has each year.”
The three of us groan in harmony.
“What is it?” Aaron snatches the beer bottle from my hand and gulps down half.
I snatch it back. “Get your own.”
“I’m empty and need the boost to get me through this.”
“Shut up, you two.” Nana’s finger waves back and forth between us. “Just arrive at the gazebo at six.”
Together, we check our watches. We have less than two hours to prepare.
“The volunteer coordinator will give you instructions. Do everything she says,” she warns. “The Spectacular is important to our town’s prosperity, and we all need to pitch in to make as much money as possible.”
“Why can’t you have that same attitude with the shop?” I fuss, hoping to gain some leeway in that department.
“I do. You just don’t like my old-fashioned ways.”
“No. I don’t like your—”
“Have fun tonight.” She pivots, walking off like she won, and I don’t even know what game we were playing.
“I don’t like this. She’s up to something,” Cooper says, as experienced in reading Nana as I am.
“Agreed.” I reach inside the nearby cooler and pass around fresh beers. “We better have fun while we can. Someone else can drive us there.”
Cooper raises his bottle for a toast. “To us. No matter what gets thrown our way, we always have each other’s backs.”
“And I have a feeling we’ll be needing that support tonight.”
“I got you, my brothas,” Aaron pipes in, his newly turned twenty-one-year-old at a frat party persona shining through in full color. Damn, I love that kid and hope he never loses his zest for life like his big brothers have.
???
“You’ve got to be shitting me,” Cooper grumbles when we arrive at the gazebo as instructed. “Where’s Nana?”
“You won’t find her, and she knows we have no way out now.” Trixie squirms in my arms from the sudden burst of tension.
“Hell, yeah,” Aaron says after noticing the kissing booth sign hanging above the gazebo’s entrance. He’s had more to drink and weighs less than Cooper and me, which means he hasn’t come down from our prepping activity back at the house.
