Ahhh…there it was. Luke would never want the life I longed for. Not when he had people reacting to him the way Candace had. Not when he’d worked so long to make it all happen. And what type of woman would I be to ask him to give that up?
No, I would never ask anyone to give up their dreams. Especially the man I loved.
I smiled. “What man wouldn’t take one gander at you and want you? Not only are you beautiful on the outside, but the inside as well. You’ve always been there for Greer, Abby, Willa, Bella, and me.”
“And Kyle. Don’t forget him.”
I lifted a brow. “What did you do for him?”
A wicked smile appeared on her face. “He’ll kill me if he knows I told anyone else, especially you. He wanted moisturizer for his face because he said it was feeling ‘a little off.’ His words, not mine. I went to his place, gave him a full facial mask, and—are you ready for this?—I gave him a manicure.”
My mouth fell open. “Define manicure.”
“Trimmed his cuticles, filed his nails all nice and pretty, and buffed them. I nearly had him talked into a clear nail coat, but he backed out at the last minute.”
I blinked a few times as I tried to absorb that information.
“Oh, and I got him addicted to this hand cream that he’s already asked me to buy for him again. The man is a skin care addict, Bree. Who knew?”
“No!” I gasped.
She nodded. “I tried to talk him into some lip care that would plump up his lips, but he drew the line at that.”
“Trust me, his lips do not need to be any softer than they are.” I pressed my mouth into a tight line when I realized my mistake.
Candace narrowed her eyes at me. “How do you know what his lips feel like?”
All I could do was stare at her and hope that she’d somehow forget I’d said that.
“You kissed him.” She gasped. “You are dating!”
“No, we are not. Yes, we kissed. It was an emergency, though. It meant nothing.”
Candace drew back and studied me for a moment. “The only reason you might kiss Kyle is to…” She covered her mouth with her hand. Her mind was clearly in overdrive, and I could see when she put all the pieces together. “Holy shit. His name was Luke. The guy you met at the Christmas party. Oh. My. God!”
“Candace—” I started before she threw her hands up and placed it over my mouth.
“You bitch! You dated Luke Walters, and you didn’t tell me!”
I tried to speak, but everything was muffled by her hand still pressed to my mouth.
“Nod if you dated him.”
Giving her an eye roll, I nodded.
She let out another scream.
I heard my mother calling my name and asking if everything was alright, and my heart started to race. I grabbed Candace by the shoulders and gave her a quick shake. The curls on the top of her head bounced as I attempted to bring her back to me and out of the daze of finding out I had dated Luke Walters.
I lowered my voice and gave her a deadly glare. “Listen, not a word to my mother about any of this! Yes, I dated Luke. I’ll tell you all about it tonight at dinner if you promise not to say another word.”
Her eyes widened. I heard my mother walking around outside the kitchen, and I took a step back and plastered on a smile as she stepped into the room.
She glanced between us, frowning, before she focused on Candace. “Candace, darling! How are things going at The Queen Bee?”
I had to hand it to her, Candace was a pro. She spun around and launched right into a conversation, not even hinting that I’d dropped a huge bomb on her.
“Things are amazing! I’m so pleased. I’m hoping to have a soft opening on May 20th. It’s National Bee Day.”
“How fun!” my mother said with excitement in her voice.
Candace gave a nod. “We’re on the hunt for a carpenter. Bella and I need to have some shelves built for the retail part of the store.”
That caused my mother to perk up even more. “A carpenter, you say?”
“Oh Lord,” I whispered. I knew that tone in my mother’s voice, and I vaguely remembered her trying to introduce me to a guy named Jason. He was a carpenter. A single one.
I leaned over and whispered, “Watch out, she’s getting ready to hit you with a single guy.”
Candace turned and said over her shoulder, “I am single and ready to mingle.”
“Don’t let her hear you say that!” I whisper-shouted, clearly knowing my mother could hear every word we said. She pretended to ignore us as she put her things down on the counter.
“What are you girls going on about?” My mother pulled out a few bowls from her bag and placed them in the sink.