She paused, then turned to Jayla. “Distract my mother for a few minutes, pretty please?”
“You did not just ask me to do that.” Her bestie crossed her arms over her chest and gave her a glare full of attitude.
“I’ll make you a whole batch of peanut butter blossom cookies,” she wheedled.
Suddenly, Jayla gave her a dazzling smile. “Deal.”
“I think I got played,” Bristol told him with a fond shake of her head.
“I think you’re right.” He held out his hand.
She tucked her cell phone in her pocket, leaving her purse with her friend. Then she placed her hand in his outstretched palm as they strolled the perimeter of the restaurant/bar. “So…what made you jump in? Did I look like a sad spinster, so you decided to end my singledom for a night?”
“No. I’m a sucker for engagement parties. Can’t you tell? I saw all the white balloons with the cute pictures of the bride and groom attached and I couldn’t resist. If I’m lucky, maybe we can catch another sappy speech and drink some terrible champagne.”
She sent him a skeptical glare. “Have you ever been to an engagement party?”
“Not since my neighbor’s daughter married an alpaca farmer. I was twelve,” he admitted.
Bristol laughed, and Jesse loved hearing the light, lyrical sound. That giggle was a music all its own. “Made a big impact on you, huh?”
“The cake did. But the marriage lasted about as long as I think your sister’s will.”
“It took me longer to decorate the ‘save the date’ cookies she asked me for tonight than they’ll be married, I suspect. The wedding is next month. Mama wanted her to be a June bride. Presleigh isn’t ready to be anyone’s wife.”
“And he’s no Prince Charming.”
She nodded. “There is that.”
“Why did you date him?”
Bristol hesitated. “He found me after I broke my ankle and took me to the doctor.”
“You felt as if you owed him?” Jesse asked.
“No. I liked him—or I thought I did. But that was before I actually knew him.”
“How did you get hurt?” Even in the dimming light, he saw the flush in her cheeks, and Jesse sensed a story. “Okay, ‘fess up.”
“Well, I bought this aerobics video and I was trying it out but…”
“Your ankle snapped, did it? Were you doing some crazy athletic shit?”
She twirled a section of her hair around one finger and looked anywhere but at him. “Not exactly.”
“So…what exactly were you up to?”
Biting back a smile, she sent him a coy glance. “It was supposed to be pole dancing, but I didn’t have a pole, so I used a column in my apartment. I didn’t know it was hollow and wouldn’t hold me. I landed wrong and…it was embarrassing.”
He gave a hearty laugh. “I don’t mean to make light of your pain, but you have to admit that?—”
“No, it totally sounds funny. And if anyone could have seen it, I’ll bet it would have been hysterical.”
Maybe, but he’d bet that before her fall, he’d have found her sexy as hell. “So he took you to the hospital?”
She nodded. “He also brought me roses while they set the cast. Then he filled my prescriptions and took me home. He even tried to pet my cat, Shakespurr.”
“That’s seriously what you named your cat?”
