Because I’m too busy with her brother.
I told myself the other night that I’d take a break because maybe sleeping together in the barn in the middle of the day was a little too reckless and, while fun, a sure sign we needed to cool off a bit.
Imagine my surprise when he walked into Dickie’s, and we ended up falling into bed together anyway.
I wish I could say I’m surprised, but I’m not. Noah is addicting. There’s no other way to explain it. No matter how hard I try, I can’t get enough of him. While I want to say I’m looking for a cure, I’m not. I’m just digging myself deeper into this obsession.
If I thought I had it bad for Noah when I was sixteen, that’s nothing compared to how badly I’m crushing on him now.
I’m playing a dangerous game. I know that. Not just with my feelings but with the curse, too, as it always rears its ugly head. Like that time I thought I might have put the worst of it behind me, then my date turned out to be a thief and literally got arrested just before dessert.
It’s a risky gamble, yet I can’t stop myself.
And a part of me doesn’t want to, curse be damned.
It’s the first time I’ve wanted to openly defy it, and I’m not sure how to handle that, so I don’t.
I park along the street near the coffee shop, where I’m meeting with Izzy and Andrea, the florist who reached out because she heard about the farm wedding and thought her vibe might fit with ours. Then we’re on to For Goodness Cake for the cake tasting.
We’re behind schedule on a lot of planning thanks to our shortened timeline, so it’s going to be a long day of getting caught up, and I have no idea how I’m going to handle sitting next to Izzy, all while pretending I haven’t seen her brother naked.
“You’re here, you’re here, you’re here!” She bounces on her heels excitedly as I trudge up the hill toward the coffee shop, my trusty tote bag full of notebooks and binders slung over my shoulder.
Guilt flutters in my stomach when she wraps me in her arms.
Play it cool, Odette. She doesn’t have a clue.
“I feel like I haven’t seen you in forever. I was starting to worry you were ignoring me.” She laughs. “I got over that quickly because I know you’d never.”
Ugh. This is going to be harder than I thought.
I hug her back, then give her my bestI am definitely not hiding anything from yousmile. “I missed you too. Are you ready to get started? Andrea should be here any minute.”
“Yes, please! I’m so ready to be over the planning stage and get to the wedding part. I don’t know how people enjoy this. The anticipation of getting to the big day is just too much.” She squeezes my arm. “Present company excluded, of course.”
“I’m sure it’s different when it’s your big day.”
She sighs contentedly. “Big day.Can you believe I’m having abig day?”
“Uh, yes. You and Craig have been together forever and you’re ridiculously in love with each other. That man worships you. It was inevitable.”
She smiles. “I’m sure you’ll find yourinevitablefor you one day too.”
It’s sweet of her to think so, but it’s not happening.
You deserve your happiness too.
I don’t know why, but the words I said to Noah the other night flit through my mind. I had no problem telling him he deserved happiness, but I don’t believe the same when it comes to myself. Why is that?
Oh, right. The curse.
I force away those darker thoughts and pull open the door to the coffee shop.
“Odette!” Kai calls out as I walk in.
I wave to him as we move to find a table big enough for the three of us and all the binders I brought along. I have a lot of flower ideas for this wedding, and I hope Andrea doesn’t regret agreeing to work with me after this.
“Ooh. What about Kai? You could date him.”
