Page 49 of A Little Bit Engaged
“Yeah.” He grinned. “Though your timing couldn’t have been better.”
“Ha-ha.”
“I’m sure it wasn’t funny at the time.”
Anxiety had made her sick. Was that overwhelming, out-of-control, think-you’re-going-to-die feeling how Caitlin felt? “No.”
“Food is the last thing you want, but I’m—”
“Hungry.” Cara opened the cardboard box to find a red-checkered tablecloth. Not that tasting food for a fake wedding would qualify as a normal occurrence, but it was better than doing nothing. “You’ll have plenty to eat with what they packed us.”
Maybe instead of focusing on their upcoming fake wedding, she could think of this as practice for when she planned her real one. That might not happen any time soon, but this way, she’d be ready when the right guy came into her life.
Brody spread the tablecloth over the carpet. “Best part about an indoor picnic is no bugs.”
Their long-ago picnics had consisted of eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches while sitting on old logs or the grass with the scent of sunscreen and the sound of laughter in the hot summer air. “You had no problem squishing bugs for Caitlin and me.”
“Doesn’t mean I liked doing it.”
Cara’s chest tightened. Affection for this man—her friend, but also so much more—overflowed.
She removed two menus printed on brown lunch sacks. Each dish listed had a small box next to it. Each bag contained a pen. “This must be what we’ll be tasting. We can check off what we like. They’ll probably use our selections to come up with an official menu.”
“What if we like everything?” he asked.
“We have to narrow down the list.” She handed him a bag. “You don’t want to pay that much for food no one will be eating.”
“I’ve got enough money to cover it.”
The way Brody’s smile crinkled the corners of his eyes made her want to skip the reception and plan a honeymoon. She stared at the box of food. “You won’t if you waste it.”
He came up behind her. “Is that the voice you use when you shush people in the library?”
“Well, people in the rare books collection rarely need to be shushed, but yes, that was my librarian voice.”
“Sexy,” he teased. “I love a woman who takes charge. Many men have a librarian fantasy to see what’s underneath the smart-girl glasses and conservative clothes.”
Don’t go there. But oh, how a part of her wanted to.
Still, she couldn’t forget. Caitlin was the only reason he was here.
No matter what they’d done since he arrived, Brody hadn’t seen her in over a year. They were friends. Just friends. Thinking otherwise would open her up to a world of hurt.
Cara focused on the menu. “This isn’t what I expected they’d serve. I thought there would be deli sandwiches and potato chips, not a crostini station.”
“A picnic theme can be interpreted in different ways.”
“But chicken and seafood wraps, meat pies, Cornish game hens, stuffed avocados, corn on the cob, gourmet hot dogs, salad on a stick, and strawberry shortcake in a jar with fruit-flavored mojitos and a lemonade bar?”
“Fancier than what you had in mind, but Ainsley sent me links to wedding planning articles. Having the right menu is a big deal. That means serving more than turkey sandwiches and bags of chips.”
Brody didn’t sound like himself. Or a man. He also seemed to forget this wedding wasn’t happening. No guests would be eating the food.
“You read the articles?” Cara asked.
“No, but I saw the pictures, and I’ve attended weddings.” He peeked inside the box. “The food and alcohol are the best parts.”
Which told her Brody might be ready to plan a fake wedding but not a real one. Her stomach cartwheeled.
