The Girl Next Door - Emma Hart Page 0,12
vomit with their coffee, so it’s going well.”
She snorted. “That’s definitely a plus.”
Kai rolled his eyes at her. “Are you sure you’re fine?”
“I’m fine,” I insisted. “Honestly. Can I get you anything to drink?”
I took their orders and with a promise that I’d be right back, I headed for the bar to grab Kai’s beer and Anna’s wine. Rachel intercepted me and took the order before she said, “It’s Kai’s, isn’t it?”
My cheers flared, answering for me. “Can I have their drinks?”
She let out a low whistle as she set the glass of wine next to two small square paper towels. “Girrrrrl. That’s gonna be the hottest baby in Montana, never mind White Peak.”
I pursed my lips. “Rach, I really don’t want to have this conversation right now.”
“Right, right, sure.” She put Kai’s beer next to the wine and slid the tray across the bar to me. “I’m damn sad that one’s off the market.”
“Huh?”
“Your mom said you’re engaged. Isn’t that true?”
“Oh, yeah, we are.”
She glanced at my left hand. “Never seen a ring there.”
“I don’t wear it to work,” I lied, grabbing the tray and turning away before she could question me any further.
Shit. I really should have hammered out a story earlier so I could at least try to make this fake relationship believable.
Mom caught my eye from the other side of the restaurant, nodded toward Kai, and mouthed that I should take five with him.
I nodded that I understood and set their drinks down on the table. “Mom said I could take five. Probably to warn you that they’re going to want you to hang around until this has calmed down.” I looked around for a spare chair.
“Here.” Kai got up and pushed his chair toward me. “I’ll go and find one.”
“It’s fine, I—”
“Sit down, Ivy.”
I sat.
Anna chuckled when he disappeared in search for another chair. “So, you’re engaged.”
“Oh, God, don’t.” I groaned, burying my face in my hands. “My grandmother is a staunch Catholic, and I panicked.”
“For what it’s worth, he’s not bothered at all. I think he’s looking forward to pretending to be your fiancée. Or husband. Whichever one.”
“Only because it keeps Amanda away from him.”
“Yeah, sure, that’s the reason.” The sarcasm in her tone made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.
“What does that mean?”
“It means—” She stopped the moment Kai came within earshot, carrying a chair.
He pushed the chair between us and sat down. “What does what mean?”
“Nothing. We were just discussing your totally real upcoming nuptials,” Anna said, leaning back with a grin.
Kai glanced at me. “Right. How are we handling that?”
“Very simply,” I said nonchalantly. “We’re going to elope in my living room where my graphic designer best friend will set up a green screen and edit us into the local courthouse.”
“Seems reasonable,” he replied, taking a sip of his beer. “Wait, does it bother you that I’m drinking beer?”
“No. Weirdly enough, I quite like the smell of beer.” I wrinkled my nose up. “Dear God. This is going to be a long several months.”
Anna chuckled into her wine.
“Okay, when are we getting married?” Kai asked, putting the bottle down.
“I don’t know. Do I have to organize everything? I’m already growing a human. That’s a lot of organizing going on down there.”
“Solid point,” Anna interjected. “All her organs have to reorganize themselves.”
“Why don’t you go and order some food at the bar?” Kai said, shoving menus at her. “It’ll give Rachel something to do other than stare at us.”
I peered over my shoulder just in time to see Rachel jerk her head away and pretend to wipe the bar down. I sighed.
Anna took the hint and swiped the menus from him. “You want a burger?”
“And a quiet life.” Kai smirked, ignoring her when she flipped him the bird and headed for the bar. “Would you believe she’s thirty?”
“I’d give you the finger, too,” I said without hesitation. “We really have to figure this out, Kai.”
He leaned forward and set my hand in his. “It’s not hard. You said this was a secret, right? We just have to figure out minor details. So I proposed three weeks ago. When was the last time you dated someone?”
“It’s really not worth bringing up,” I mumbled.
Laughing, he squeezed my fingers. “Well, I’ve been single well over a year, so we could have easily been dating for nine months, engaged for three weeks, and now you’re pregnant. It happens. We’re neighbors. It stands to reason our relationship would progress quickly because we