Summer Love_ A Steamy Small Town Romance Anthology - Piper Rayne Page 0,116

would get. “Tell me about your sister’s wedding. Are you excited?”

Tori let her head fall back against the headrest. “Excited isn’t quite the right word. I’m thrilled for my sister, but ready for the event to be over.”

“Are you going to tell me how you ended up on a flight from LA with her wedding dress?” I needed to change the conversation. Plus, I was curious.

“Like I said, I’m a middle school counselor, so I have my summers off. Bailey’s been doing a crazy cleanse diet to lose weight for the wedding, and when she sent her last set of measurements to the designer, they had to do some major alterations.” She snugged her arms around her waist. “The designer recommended hand carrying it back as opposed to having it shipped, so here I am.”

“You either love your sister a lot or she’s holding something major over your head.” I grinned, but a part of me wondered. Either Tori had a heart made of twenty-four-karat solid gold or owed her sister a big favor.

“The only thing she’s holding over my head is a date for her wedding.” She glanced over, the hopeful grin on her face impossible to deny. “What do you think about my offer?”

“A whole pie?”

“Are you seriously considering it?” Her eyes lit up like someone had just flipped a power switch. “How many pies do you want? I can’t cook at all, but I can bake.”

“I don’t know. What’s the going rate for saving a woman from her relatives?”

She nibbled on her bottom lip, drawing my attention to her mouth and making me wonder how soft those lips might be. “That depends. Are you free Friday night for the rehearsal dinner too?”

“Don’t push your luck.” I let out a laugh.

“Sorry, you’ve got me all excited thinking about the look on my sister’s face when she realizes she can’t set me up with her fiancé’s cousin. It’s going to be priceless.”

I could relate to the satisfied smile on Tori’s face. “Hey, I’ve been in your shoes. I know what it’s like to have everyone on your case all the time. I’m the oldest cousin on my dad’s side and all of them are married with at least one kid already.”

“It’s awful, isn’t it?” She rolled her eyes. “I mean, I’m all for tying the knot and starting a family, but only if it’s right. I’m not going to settle just so I can check off the married box.”

“How about a pie for going to the wedding and something else I can share with my cousins?” I’d keep the pie for myself, but it would be nice if I could bring something with me to the wake. Plus, it would guarantee I’d get to see her again. My cousins wouldn’t need my undivided attention the whole time I was in town. It might be fun to have a little distraction, especially in the form of the vivacious woman next to me.

“You got it.” She pulled out her phone and handed it to me. “If you’ll give me your number, I’ll text you the details on when and where to show up. No rehearsal dinner, just the wedding.”

“When are you going to bring me my pie?” I teased.

“I suppose I can drop it off tomorrow. We probably ought to talk for a few minutes anyway, so it doesn’t look like I picked you up on the airplane.”

I typed my info into her phone, then handed her mine so she could do the same. “Yeah, wouldn’t want anyone to think your fake date wasn’t real.”

“Should we shake on it?” Tori held out her hand.

I took it. Her hand felt nice in mine. Maybe even more than nice. I’d been looking forward to using the time in flight to look over some paperwork. Now, faced with the full force of Tori’s smile, reviewing a brief didn’t hold the same appeal as getting to know the woman next to me.

Despite feeling a little awkward trying to shake her hand while we crowded into seats next to each other with a wedding dress between us, I gave her hand a squeeze. “You’ve got a deal.”

Chapter Five

Tori

The next morning, I stopped by to pick up donuts on my way to deliver the dress to Bailey. A vanilla latte and a sour cream old-fashioned seemed like the perfect way to celebrate the big news I was about to share. I couldn’t wait to see the look on her face when I told her I had a