Good question. One she should’ve anticipated and already come up with a plausible answer to.
“We spent most of our time at either my apartment in Boston or whatever hotel he was staying in. When we went to someplace public, we never arrived or left together. We did the same thing coming and going from my apartment and his hotels. Plus, I think we just got a bit lucky.”
“A bit? Talk about an understatement.”
Juliette reached for Courtney’s left hand and examined the ring masquerading as her engagement ring. Even if her sister had seen it on her before, she didn’t think Juliette would remember it. Still, Courtney held her breath.
“Well, he knows what you like.” Juliette placed her hands on the desk. “Have you set a date?”
“February first. I’m going to ask Callie if we can use Cliff House.” She’d left a message for Callie earlier today. “And before you say anything, I mean next month, not February of next year.”
“After all these years, I’m finally rubbing off on you,” Juliette said with a smile. If a rushed wedding was anyone’s style, it was Juliette’s. “Did you tell Mom yet?”
Courtney nodded. “She wasn’t pleased, especially since she hasn’t met Josh. Saturday night we’re going to Mom and Dad’s for dinner. Scott and Paige will be there too. Mom said she would call and invite you so everyone can meet him before the wedding.”
“She left me a voice mail earlier. I haven’t had a chance to call her back. But I met Josh last year at one of Seth Vallencourt’s parties. If Selena Cruise hadn’t been draped all over him, I would have tried to get to know him better.”
Courtney knew exactly what Juliette meant by “get to know him better.” Her sister was the female version of a playboy and went through more boyfriends in a year than she’d had in her lifetime.
A sharp jab of jealousy struck her in the chest at the thought of either Selena or her sister with Josh.
“We didn’t talk for a long time, but he seemed like a nice guy.” Juliette continued while Courtney struggled with the image of Selena Cruise, an actress well-known for her mile-long legs and size D breasts, hanging all over Josh.
“I’ll call Mom later and let her know I’ll be there on Saturday.”
You don’t have to come, she thought as Juliette replaced Selena in the image tormenting her. She didn’t consider herself the jealous type. This afternoon, the ugly emotion was messing with her head.
“Next month. That doesn’t give us a lot of time to find you a dress.”
If she was about to marry someone she expected to spend the rest of her life with, she’d want every aspect of the day to be perfect, including her gown. This marriage had an undetermined expiration date, and while she wanted to look nice, she wasn’t concerned about finding the dress. For the sake of their charade, she’d play along.
“Unless you already have someone working on it, I don’t think there is enough time to have something custom designed. You’ll have to buy something off the rack.”
“You make it sound like the worst thing in the world.”
Her sister shrugged. “I guess it’s not, but do you really want a gown hundreds of other women have worn? I’d rather have something unique.”
“Off the rack will be fine.”
“If you say so,” Juliette said, tapping her fingers against the desktop. “Can you take tomorrow off? We can head into New York or Boston and shop.”
“There are bridal stores in Rhode Island.” She enjoyed a good shopping trip in New York as much as the next person, but she’d prefer not to make the drive anytime soon.
Juliette rolled her eyes. “Please. We won’t find anything around here. So what do you say?”
She didn’t have any meetings scheduled for tomorrow, and she did need a wedding dress. “Sure, but let’s go into Boston.”
When the snowflakes started coming down while he packed his bags, Josh considered spending the night in Bar Harbor rather than drive back to Providence. The text he received from Courtney while digging out his birth certificate letting him know she wasn’t going to her friend’s made the final decision for him.
Once out of Maine, the snow changed to a messy wintery mix and stayed that way for much of the ride. By the time he reached Providence though, it turned back to all snow, but at least so far there was little accumulation on the ground. If the steady stream continued all night however, it would be a very different story in the morning.
As promised, he stopped for takeout on the way back to the Mayfair—a task he should’ve known would take far longer than necessary today of all days. Although his publicist had been selective of which media sites she told about their engagement, the news had quickly spread to others, including perhaps his least favorite of them all, the Star Insider.
When he walked in the penthouse, the lights were on in both the kitchen and the living room, but Courtney wasn’t in either. This morning he’d left before Courtney, but he didn’t think she would leave them on all day. So if the lights were on, she was here.
“Courtney,” he called, setting down the bags of food and removing the items inside. When silence answered him, he passed through the living room and down the hall. Both her bedroom and office doors were closed. He knocked on the bedroom door first. Again he got no response. Moving down the hall, he rapped his knuckles on the office door.
“Hey. Have you been home long?” Courtney asked from her bedroom doorway.
Her wet hair hung loose, and she was wearing flannel pajama bottoms and a cropped white V-neck T-shirt that didn’t quite reach her waist. Unlike last night’s shirt that was oversized, this one fit snugly, and thanks to the wet spots created by her hair, he could see the outline of her nips through the fabric.
Josh forced his eyes away from the tantalizing view and met her eyes. “Uh, no. I just got here. You?” Needing to do something with his hands before they got him in trouble, he shoved them in his pockets.
Courtney closed the door and walked in his direction. “Got home about an hour and a half ago. I hoped some time in the Jacuzzi would help me relax. It was a crazy day.”
He wouldn’t mind a soak in the Jacuzzi either, with or without her. After so much time in the car driving, his back and shoulders were tight. Unfortunately, his bathroom didn’t contain one. “Did it?” He followed her into the kitchen, careful to keep his eyes trained on the back of her head.
“A little.” Opening a cupboard, she reached up for the plates, causing her shirt to ride up. Like a moth drawn to light, his eyes locked on the bare skin now on display. “What did you get us?” She put the plates down near the takeout containers before getting out silverware.
With her back again turned toward him, he tried to adjust himself. Had she picked the pajama top to intentionally torture him? If so, it was working. “Thai from Sweet Ginger. I hope that’s okay.”
“I haven’t had a chance to try there yet.” She added a little from each container to her plate. “Let’s eat in the other room and watch television.”
Josh took his time filling his plate and grabbed two bottles of sparkling water from the refrigerator. When he joined her in what most would consider a family room, Courtney already had the television on and she was scrolling through old I Love Lucy episodes.