Everything I know about Ivy Hart is from my conversations with Caleb. She’s a successful life coach running her own business. His mom loved her from the first time they talked.
I’ve never thought, based on the way that Caleb talked about her, that he still had feelings for her, but insecurity attacked when he admitted to being nervous to see her.
I comb through my curls one last time and say some affirmations out loud. “I am also very successful. I don’t have to prove that to anyone, not even Caleb’s ex. I am a hottie who’s a great catch for Caleb, and he’s a smart guy, so he’s going to figure it out.”
I clap my hands and smile at myself, then head into my bedroom to put my dress on. It’s a strapless navy-blue dress with a ruffled slit up to my thigh. The material is shimmery, so the dress is almost like the night sky. I give myself one more affirmation in the mirror about how great I look and then call my sister for outside confirmation.
She whistles when I show it off. “Wow, Malia. That dress looks expensive.”
“It is.” Part of my ongoing mission to prove I can make six figures “playing” video games all day. I can kind of understand my parents, who live on a farm in Idaho and have to have me or Skye fix the WiFi to their printer every time we visit, not understanding the significance of tech companies unless they’re named Google or Microsoft, but Skye has no excuse.
“Are you going to return it after tonight?” she asks, biting her lip but not hiding her grimace over the expense of my dress.
“No! I am not the kind of person who does that. Nor do I need to. But you can borrow it if you feel like it needs to get more use because of the expense.” I roll my eyes very obviously at her. “I can afford the dress, Skye. Promise. What do you think?”
“You look hot,” she says, her expression finally melting into a real smile.
“Perfect. That’s what I needed to know. Thank you.” A notification pops up that someone is at my door, probably Caleb. “Gotta go. That’s him.”
“Okay. Find an excuse to make out with him or something. He won’t be able to deny the truth then.”
I laugh. “Good plan.”
I hang up and hurry down to my living room, smiling as I open the door. Caleb looks great in his suit. I suspect it’s a combination of having the type of body that just looks great in a suit but also that this suit is bespoke, made to make him look good.
“So, we’re twins,” I say, pointing back and forth between his navy suit and my navy dress.
He grins at me. “Except you look way better than me.”
I do a weird little shoulder shrug and smile. It’s totally athis old thingexpression, but I say, “Thank you,” genuinely.
“You ready to go?” he asks. He takes a deep breath, steeling himself the way he does when we’re about to start an intense task for the game.
I reach out and take his hand. He stiffens, at first, and then relaxes. I squeeze his hand. “No worries tonight, Cal,” I say, and watch as his shoulders drop another inch. “We know each other well, and no one’s going to suspect anything. Not even your suspicious brothers-in-law.” If I thought he’d understand the reference at all, I’d tell him it doesn’t matter that most of our interactions have been online—we have instant Joe Fox and Kathleen Kelly energy.
“You’re right.” He weaves his fingers through mine.
“Also, I thought we could take my car—to impress your mom.” I step toward my garage but raise my eyebrows in question.
“What do you drive?”
I grin. “A Range Rover. I highly recommend flaunting your wealth to get your family to take you seriously. You should try it sometime.”
Caleb chuckles at my sarcastic tone. He bought his parents’ house. I’m not sure how that translates to “doesn’t have a stable job” to them. Yeah, my car was over $150,000, but their house was over double that, I’m sure.
“Yes, let’s definitely take your car,” he says.
I lift my key from the hook next to the door that leads to my garage and hand it to him as I open the door. “You drive. That will show your brothers-in-law I already trust you with my fancy car.”
“If you insist.” He grins, taking the key from me with a boyish twinkle to his eye.
Caleb and I chat easily on the drive to the restaurant downtown where the rehearsal dinner is. We talk about our current mission onShadow Heroesand toss out ideas for identifying the mole as soon as possible. One of the reasons I clicked so quickly with Caleb when we started texting was how fun it was to talk to someone who took my games as seriouslyas I do. I know it isn’t real life, but it’s an important hobby to me, and so many people dismiss it the moment they hear “video games.” Sometimes, just to get under my sister’s skin, I like to talk to her about her running “hobby” by repeating things she’s said to me about gaming.
She just huffs and insists it’s not the same.
We pull up to the restaurant, a pretty brick building with a white archway decorated in flowers and twinkle lights. I recognize the man leading his partner up the walkway as Houston Pumas all-star Jett McCombs. He turns when we pull up, and then scrunches his eyebrows when Caleb gets out of the driver’s seat.
The valet opens my door, and Caleb rounds the back in time to take my hand in his. He laces our fingers together and leans over close to me, his lips inches from mine. I know he’s not going to kiss me—unfortunately—thanks to our talk at the restaurant, but I catch my breath anyway.
