Chapter 17
Seventeen
Parker
Jasmin in my arms when I wake up is my new favorite thing. Last night was a bad idea. We both know that. But we are two consenting adults. We know the risks of blurring the lines between what’s real and fake. At least, I hope we do.
First things first, I need to make her breakfast. I’d much rather stay in bed with her all day, but I do have a baby shower I have to make sure goes smoothly. The timing of the shower isn’t great, but I’ll make do.
I slide of bed, doing my best not to wake Jasmin. I have a feeling she doesn’t get a lot of real rest. Right now, she looks peaceful, and I don’t want to interrupt it.
Grabbing a pair of sweatpants from my drawer, I put them on and hurry out of the room.
I hope I have the stuff for breakfast. It’s been a while since I’ve done any sort of grocery shopping.
Let’s be honest, I usually go to one of my siblings house to eat dinner.
There’s no point in cooking for myself when they invite me over.
I scoop up the wine glasses from the table and carry them with me to the kitchen. They can be washed when I do the dishes from breakfast.
The fridge is pretty bare, but I do have eggs and bacon. That will have to do. Hopefully she likes them because I don’t have much else to offer right now. I wasn’t expecting company last night, or I would have been better prepared.
I pull out two pans and set them on the stove. One needs to heat up. As much as I admire my Peter’s ability to multitask in the kitchen, if I do that something will end up burning. I refuse to offer Jasmin burned food.
A quick glance at the clock on the microwave tells me I have about two hours before I have to head down to the winery.
A sense of dread starts pooling in my stomach, but I push it aside.
I won’t worry about the woman putting on the shower until I absolutely have to.
Thankfully the shower is only two hours. I can manage that…I think.
Breakfast is underway when I feel arms slip around my waist. “You didn’t have to cook.”
“I know.” I turn toward Jasmin. She’s in one of my shirts, and it looks so much better on her than it does on me. I could get used to seeing her like this. “But I wanted to make sure you had something to eat.”
“Thank you.” She smiles up at me and I place a kiss on her forehead. “Is the festival happening today, too? Maybe we can hit up a few more food trucks.”
“Yeah, it’ll end this evening. But we’re have a baby shower scheduled in a couple of hours at the winery. Lucky me.”
“Who hosts a baby shower at a winery?” Her eyebrows squish together. “That’s just mean to the mom.”
“That’s what I said.” I shake my head and move my direction back to the stove, stirring the bacon. “But the best friend insisted.”
“Sounds a little selfish to me. Not that I have any experience with that sort of event outside of the ones within my family.” She sighs and pulls herself up on the counter beside me. “I’m pretty sure I’d be looking for a new best friend.”
“Yeah, the friend has been a real piece of work. Piper will be there to help me run interference. I think Phillip and Peter are working at the festival today.”
“Are y’all opening the winery to the public?”
“Yep. As soon as the baby shower is over and cleaned up, we’ll be turning on the open sign. I’m sure it’ll be busier than normal with the festival.”
“I should probably get out of your hair after breakfast, then.” A look passes over her face and I can’t quite decipher it.
“No, you can stay as long as you’d like. Take your time.”
“You’re pretty trusting to let me stay in your house when you’re not here. We’ve only technically been on three dates.”
“Why? I don’t have anything to hide.” It seems silly to make her rush out of here when she can take her time.
She grins. “This is a first.”
“What?” I scoop the bacon out of the pan, let the grease drain, and set it on a plate.
“Most guys I have a one-night stand with tend to push me out of their place as fast as possible.”
I move in front of her and place my hands on either side of her hips. “First of all, this is the second time we’ve been together. Secondly, I don’t think this will be a onetime thing.”
Her breath catches at my words and move on to make the scrambled eggs.
It’ll be something she can think over for a while.
Despite our relationship being fake, I don’t think I can handle not being around her as much as possible.
Last night and this morning proved that point.
At least for me. I can only hope she feels the same way.
“Maybe we should add a right to refuse service note in our consultation form.” The words are out of my mouth before I can reel them back in. Piper is stomping around the office with murder in her eyes
Honestly, if we had that I wouldn’t have accepted this baby shower. And I wouldn’t have felt bad about it. I knew from the second this woman walked into the winery she was going to be trouble.
“Or, I can kick her out right now.” Piper mumbles. “She was here earlier than she was supposed to be. Then gave me attitude because we weren’t down here with the doors already open. The entitlement is what gets me. Her contract shows what time she could be here to decorate.”
I watch my sister completely lose her shit. She’s the one who looks on the bright side of everything so to see her like this makes me feel horrible.
“I’ll go out there and see what else she needs. You stay in here until you no longer want to punch her.”
“Or we can completely ignore the fact we have an event today. We should have checked the calendar before agreeing to this date.”
Yes, we should have. But Piper was so excited to have another booking I didn’t want to let her down. Now I may let her down because this event is becoming a nightmare.
“That was my bad.”
She waves me away. “I was in here when you said yes to the date. And since I’m the office manager, it’s on me. But if they take as long to remove their decorations as they are setting it up, we’ll have to open later than normal.”
“Oh, that won’t happen. They’ll be out of here at the time agreed upon.”
“How are you going to manage that?”
It’s a good question because I have no idea, and then it hits me. “I’ll tell her it’s going to be an insane amount more for every minute they are here past their time. I’m sure that’ll speed up their process.”
“Okay. Thank you, Parker. I know putting this on your plate has been an adjustment, but it looks like you know how to handle things.”
I shrug. “I’m just treating it the same way I would a marketing meeting. Money talks.”
“Smart.” She looks around the room then slumps in her chair. “How was your date last night?”
“It was good.” I’m not sure how much information to give her. “She’s actually at my house right now. I told her to stop by before she leaves.”
“Even more reason to get this baby shower over with.” She leans forward and moves the mouse on her desk to wake up the computer. “If she comes by after the shower is over, I can handle opening the front. The last thing I want to do is stand in the way of love.”
A few weeks ago, a comment like that would have terrified me, but today it doesn’t bug me as much as it used to. Not that I’m in love with Jasmin, not yet. But the feelings to grow into it are there.
“Thanks.” I move to the door. “I’m going to make sure that woman isn’t destroying our patio.”
“Have fun.” She waves and puts her attention to something on the screen. Hopefully whatever it is will calm her down. I’ve never seen a woman get under my sister’s skin like that.
The patio is an explosion of pink as I open the door. At least they have the balloons weighted down. The last thing I want to do is pick up balloons from around the property.
“We’re almost done setting up.” Nicole beams at me. “Did you get the wine selection list I sent over?”
“Yes. I’ll have everything ready to go before the baby shower begins.” I won’t say how concerned I am about the amount of wine she thinks they’ll go through in two hours. But she pre-purchased the bottles and can take what they don’t use home.
“Great. I’ll need to pick up Brooklyn before it starts.” She glances at the table she set up with various finger foods. “If guests get here before I’m back, will they be shown back here, or will they be inside.”
“I can bring them out here. It’s up to you.”
“Out here would be perfect. Thanks.”
She’s being perfectly polite to me. What the hell did she act like with my sister?
Nicole is gone for about thirty minutes. Wherever Brooklyn was, it wasn’t far. There are three guests here when they walk in, and they all squeal while hugging each other. Would it be rude if I put in ear plugs?
Finally, the shower is underway. My only task is making sure to deliver drinks since we don’t have any other employees and I refuse to let Nicole treat my sister like shit.
It would have been better if Peter was here, but I know he had to work the festival.
Pierce could have easily done it but he doesn’t feel the need to be public facing.
Like it’s beneath him or something. It’s for the best, though.
Nobody wants to buy wine from a grumpy guy.
I’m heading out to grab refills of wine for some of the ladies when I feel a hand run down my arm. What the hell? Nicole moves into my line of sight and she’s still touching me. This is inappropriate on all levels.
“I noticed you didn’t use my phone number. I figured you were playing hard to get.”
“Nicole, I’m not interested. I have a girlfriend.” She doesn’t need to know it’s fake.
Now her fingers are running down my chest and it takes everything in me not to grab her hand to force her away from me. I’m doing my best to remain professional.
“What she doesn’t know won’t hurt her.” She actually winks at me. What in the hell is this woman thinking?
“Actually, it would.” Now, I do take her hand off me and step away. I take a few more steps to put the counter between us. If she crosses that line, I’ll ask her to leave. I don’t care if she badmouths us online.
My eyes widen when I glance over Nicole’s shoulder. Jasmin’s focus is locked on me, and I swear I see fire in her eyes. This won’t go well.