I should tell him that my sister thought we were dating.
Instead, I said, “If you go, you’ll get an all-expenses-paid vacation to Anguilla. Plus, I’ll owe you. Big-time.”
I wasn’t sure what Frasier could possibly want from me, what I could offer him in return, but it would be worth it not to have to go to my sister’s wedding alone. This would be the first weddingI’d attended without Derek, and I had no idea how I was going to react. I loved Allie, and I desperately wanted to celebrate life and love—not dwell on everything I’d lost.
Sometimes that was the hardest part of losing someone—realizing that life moved on. Even when you didn’t want it to. Even when you weren’t ready.
“IfI go, you’re not paying for my trip,” he said.
“You’re right. My sister’s fiancé is.” I grinned, knowing Frasier wouldn’t fight me on that.
We both knew Kit had more money than he knew what to do with. He was paying for the wedding but also travel and accommodations for all of his and Allie’s immediate family. It was incredibly generous, but that was just the type of guy Kit was.
“You don’t have to decide right now,” I added. “You can think about it if you need to.” I wanted Frasier to agree to it because he wanted to go with me, not because he felt like he should. And if I told him my sister thought we were dating, he’ddefinitelyfeel obligated to go. “I know I sprung this on you.”
“I don’t need to think about it.”
“Right, but…maybe you should. I don’t want you to do anything you’re not comfortable with.”
Frasier gave me the strangest look. But before I could even try to decipher it, his expression shifted to something more neutral. “As you said, it’s only for a handful of days. How bad could it be?”
“You did what?”Georgia shrieked from the other side of the clothes rack.
She was helping me shop for my upcoming trip to Anguilla. And since it was a destination wedding, my sister had decided to cram everything into a five-day span. Bachelorette party. Rehearsal dinner. Wedding. It was going to be a lot, but at least Frasier would be there with me.
I glanced around the store and then glared at her over the top of the rack. “Jeez. Keep it down. It’s not a big deal.”
“Not a big deal?” She scoffed, wide amber eyes meeting mine as she joined me on my side. “Sweetie.” She patted my arm. “You asked Frasier to be your date to your sister’s destination wedding. On a romantic island.” She held my gaze as if waiting for me to connect the dots.
“No.He offeredto be myplus-one,” I clarified, thinking there were no dots to be connected.
“But your family thinks you’re dating.”
“Right,” I said. “Well, just my sister. And I swore her to secrecy.”
“Mm-hmm.” Georgia threaded her hand through her strawberry-blond tresses. In the years I’d known her, she’d been a platinum blonde, a redhead, and now she’d gone strawberry-blond. She was always changing her look, like a chameleon who jumped from one thing to another just so they could experience a new color.
“She’s not going to tell.”She better not.“I gave her some very compelling reasons to keep her mouth shut.”
“You blackmailed her?” Georgia arched one eyebrow.
“No.” I laughed, though that wasn’t a terrible idea. “I may have used some emotional guilt to persuade her.”
Georgia laughed. “Bryn!” She held a hand to her chest. “I didn’t know you had it in you.”
“There’s gotta be some benefit to your husband dying,” I joked. Georgia didn’t even bat an eye. She knew that morbid humor could be part of the healing process, at least for me.
“And Frasier?” she asked. “What did he say when you told him your sister thinks the two of you are together?”
“I…might have left that part out.”
Her eyes bulged out of her head like one of those squeezy toys the dogs loved. “He doesn’t know?”
I shook my head. “And he doesn’t need to.”
She furrowed her brow. “Won’t he think it’s odd when you’re suddenly more affectionate?”
I lifted a shoulder, hoping she didn’t see straight through my nonchalant attitude. “I told my sister it was new, and we were keeping it quiet. So I don’t think she’ll be surprised by the lack of PDA.”
