Page 41 of Not Part of the Plan
“Secondsies,” Eva raised her hand.
Gia slipped her arms around their shoulders. “Both sisters in the same place! I’m so glad you could come up for this, Eva.”
Eva squeezed back. “I miss you ladies. I’m glad Dad’s giving us an excuse to get together off-holiday.”
A car pulled up outside, and Emma peeped through the window.
“Poker person, or Joey with the guest of honor?” Summer hissed.
“It’s Joey!”
They scattered to take their places, and when Phoebe was escorted in—with Elvira Eustace at her side—Emma was ready for her with a glass of chilled champagne. Summer draped a Bride sash over Phoebe’s shoulder and Gia settled a sparkly circlet crown on her head.
“Welcome to your bachelorette party,” Emma said, dropping a kiss on Phoebe’s cheek.
“Oh, girls! This is just spectacular!”
Joey bee-lined for the food table and started loading up a plate, which Summer slapped out of her hand. “Guest of honor first!”
Joey pouted until she spotted Corban and then admired him like she would a piece of horseflesh. “Not bad, ladies. Not bad.”
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The party was a hit, Emma thought with satisfaction.
Phoebe, in her ivory robe and glittering crown, peeped out from under the cucumber slices on her eyes to reach for her glass of champagne while Helga applied a candy pink polish to her toes.
Seated on a bejeweled meditation cushion, Joey shoved pie in her face. She’d refused a manicure but had relented on the toes, letting Helga slather a sexy deep purple on the nails. Summer and Gia were enjoying their childless night out with glasses of wine and plates of Joey’s sinful cheesecake brownies. Gia and Elvira—who was piling her salt and pepper curls on her head in preparation for her turn on Corban’s table—chatted about town business both chamber- and gossip-related.
“I heard a rumor about our Emma here.” Elvira’s gossipy smile drew a collective “oooooh” from the group.
Emma downed her glass of champagne in one gulp and reached for another. “Niko and I are just friends,” she said firmly.
“And I was just interviewing Carter,” Summer supplied.
“And I was just Beckett’s tenant,” Gia said with a shrug.
“And I could never get past my hate of Jax,” Joey snickered smugly.
Emma was not impressed.
“Oh, no dear! You misunderstand.” Elvira shook her head making her ringlets dance. “Of course you’re not dating Nikolai. I was referring to the rumor that you’ve decided to make your move to Blue Moon permanent.”
Emma felt a swift rush of conflicting feelings.What exactly did Elvira mean by “of course” she wasn’t dating Nikolai?
“Are you really staying?” Gia demanded. “Please say yes!”
“I gave myself a year to decide whether or not Blue Moon was a good fit for me, but honestly I can’t imagine leaving.”
Gia’s fist rose victoriously. “Yes!”
“Oh, that’s wonderful, dear,” Elvira clasped her hands together. “Now you can start looking for a place of your own.”
Gia tapped a finger to her chin. “Hmm, if you move out, that means Beckett and I could have a sex cottage instead of getting it on in all the hiding places in the house.”
“You know what I find interesting is that your mind went straight to Nikolai,” Phoebe told Emma, admiring her newly painted nails.
“He is gorgeous,” Summer agreed. “I’ve never met a model who wasn’t awestruck just by looking at him.”
