Page 57 of No Rings Attached
“Work.” Keeping it short and sweet would ensure we kept stories straight.
“Oh, right.” She glanced from me to Drew and back again. “Is it serious between you two?”
Drew, who’d just stepped onto the porch with two of her bags, spoke up. “It better be, or your sister is about to break my heart. Are you toying with my affections, Sugar Plum?”
“Wouldn’t you like to know?” I loved the answering spark in his eyes.
He fake-pouted and disappeared inside.
“Kyle and I have cute names for each other, too.” Celia tossed her hair back, flashed a coquettish smile, and glanced back towards the cars. It took me a second to realize she was once again pandering to the camera crew. Her voice lowered seductively. “But those names are only said in private.”
I slammed my lips together, forcing the tiny amount of spit in my mouth down my throat to stop the instinctive gag reflex that had kicked in. I didnotneed to hear about sexy times between her and my ex.
I still wondered why Celia had dated Kyle in the first place. Much less why she was going tomarryhim.
Kyle was much easier to understand. Celia was beautiful, and he liked the attention he got having her on his arm. And maybe in his own way, he loved her, but I had no idea what Celia got out of the deal.
My ex was a terrible lover. For a while, I’d blamed myself for not being sexy enough, pretty enough, or adventurous enough in the bedroom. But towards the end, I understood it was him. Once he got off, he was done. And he was kind of boring getting to that point.
“We’re going to get set up, Celia.” The guy recording her grabbed a bag out of the second car. “And then we’ll be available for whatever you’d like us to film.”
“Of course. Get settled in, and we can meet later to discuss the next two weeks.” Celia tossed her hair and brushed nonexistent lint from her pants.
I was a terrible sister. All I could think about was how fake she sounded.
Martha stepped outside and headed towards me and Celia. “You must be Celia! I’m so sorry for the delay in greeting you.”
My sister threw her a dismissive glance. “We’re pretty hungry from traveling. We’d like something to eat.”
I held in my laughter. Their flight couldn’t have been longer than forty-five minutes.
“Of course, dear. Would you like a meal or a charcuterie board to snack on?” Martha waved at my mother, who only looked away again. I wondered if she’d sleep in the car tonight since she’d been in there so long.
“Dinner, Martha.” My sister’s tone was cutting and completely unnecessary.
“Celia—” I scolded.
Martha smiled at me. “It’s alright, Ellie. I’ve got this covered.” Her cryptic comment made me wonder what she was up to.
Before I could speculate, Drew re-emerged and skirted around the guys toward the car my mother was still sitting in while chatting on her phone.
“Why isn’t Mom coming into the house?” I asked.
Celia shrugged and continued scrolling on her phone. “She needed to talk to Daddy. She’s pissed he didn’t come with us and that he’s not arriving for a few days.”
“Got it. Don’t mention Dad.” I tried another line of communication. Celia was always up for talking about herself. “You mentioned wanting to do pre-wedding day activities.”
“Mmm,” Celia looked up from her phone. “So who asked who out?”
I tilted my head to the side at her abrupt change of topic. “Huh?”
She gestured to Drew, who’d loaded himself up for another round. The poor guy had to make at least one or two more trips. I blew him a kiss. He pretended to catch it and hold it close to his heart before picking up two more suitcases. His arm muscles bulged deliciously, and I fought the urge to ask him to flex for me.
“The two of you,” Celia sounded more annoyed than usual. “Did you ask him out?”
A chill raced through me, as though my sister had tossed a bucket of cold water over my head.
Crap, crap, crap.
