“Uh . . .” He blinked and blinked. “What was the question again?”
“What did you think of Jessica?”
“Oh. Yeah. She’s cool.”
“She is. She’s also really smart. You know, she’s going to law school.”
“Really? She didn’t mention it while we were dancing the other night. I’m going out with her next.”
I knew that because Jessica had said she was looking forward to it. She said she’d felt a little spark between them.
“Well, you should ask her about it.” I was learning that Jessica and Brinley loved it when you asked them about themselves. It wasn’t vanity on their part. It was like their love language.
I grabbed the canister of flour and pulled it toward me on the counter. I was getting hungry.
Blaine ran a hand through his flippy hair.
“The thing about that is . . . I don’t want to feel dumb.”
I grabbed a mixing bowl and some measuring cups.
“Why would you feel dumb?”
“I know what people think of me. That I’m just some dumb rich dude who lucked out because his parents are wealthy.”
“Is that how you see yourself?” My Dear Abby side was kicking in.
He shrugged. “Maybe. I’ve never really had to try that hard. Everything’s been handed to me, and everyone just saw me as Marlene and Derek’s kid. They’re basically the king and queen of Silicon Valley. Their tech firms never interested me, so I got labeled the party boy. The trust fund kid.”
I walked over to the sink to get some warm water so I could start proofing the yeast. “What interests you?”
His cheeks flushed a deep red. “You’ll just laugh.”
“I swear I won’t.”
Blaine debated for a moment before he mumbled, “Flowers.”
I hadn’t seen that one coming. At. All. I did my best to keep a straight face.
“Uh . . . like growing them?”
“No, like arranging them. I’m really good at it. I’ve thought about opening a flower shop, but, you know, it doesn’t seem very manly. I’ve never told anyone that.”
I leaned against the counter, gripping a measuring cup.
“I’m honored that you shared that with me. And, listen, if you want to arrange flowers, I say go for it. Who’s to say that’s not manly? It’s kind of romantic if you think about it. Your boyfriend or husband arranging a bouquet just for you.” I paused. “You know, you should arrange one for Jessica and give it to her on your date.”
From across the cabin, Miles gave an audible groan.
I was so not their favorite cast member. As evidenced by the fact that they had really scaled back on featuring me in their promos, as Cassie had discovered during some online sleuthing. Fine by me. I refused to manufacture drama or lead anyone on.
Blaine nodded repeatedly as if mulling this idea over. “I think I will. Thanks, Demi. All the guys you’ve gone out with already said you were really easy to talk to. They were right. You’re kind of like a sister.”
“Oh, hell,” Jazzy whispered.
I couldn’t help but giggle.
I knew none of this would make Roman happy, but I’d kept to my end of the bargain. I wasn’t playing matchmaker per se.And I let him do the honors of the love pulse. All I was doing was gathering information for him. Besides, he’d promised to help me find my true love and it had been crickets from him the last two days. So he wasn’t keeping his part of the bargain.
