Mine to Take (Southern Weddings #5)(11)

“Don’t put her real name!” Shelby shouts.

“They only share her account name which is Sunshine45,” Clarabella says. “Okay, what do you do at the end of the day?”

“Watch reality television,” I answer and the three of them look at me.

“Curl up with a good book or watch an action movie,” Clarabella redirects and I gasp.

“Why?”

“Well, a good book, you are going to get the studious guy, and an action movie, you get an adventurous guy.” Clarabella looks at me.

“Oh, good idea,” Presley concurs. “You should put hiking in there so you get the ones who like to do all that outdoorsy stuff.”

“Yes.” Shelby snaps her fingers. “Also loves going out.” We all look over at her. “We don’t want him to think that she stays inside with her eight cats.”

“Oh, yes,” Clarabella says and starts typing things. “Cat person or dog person?”

“I’m a horse girl,” I state, and they all shake their heads. “What? I love my horse.” I point at Clarabella. “Put that I prefer horses.”

“Can you put save a horse, ride a cowboy?” Presley asks Clarabella, who just smirks.

“Do not put that,” I grumble between clenched teeth.

The phone in her hand starts ringing and she hands it to me. I see that it’s a number not stored in my phone, so I put it on speaker and answer, “Sofia Barnes.”

“Sofia.” I close my eyes when I hear the female voice. “It’s Helena.” I open my eyes and look over toward the girls, whose eyes go big. “We met last week, my fiancé is Matthew Petrov.”

Why does she always name-drop his name? I ask myself. “Yes, of course,” I say, my finger tapping the desk. “How are you doing?”

“I’m doing amazing,” she replies cheerfully. “I’m calling because we would like to come in and meet with you.”

I look up to the sky, thinking this can’t be happening. “That would be great,” I say, and I hold up my hand to stop the girls from talking. They jump out of their chairs. “When would you be free?”

“How is next Tuesday?” she asks me, and I pull up my calendar.

“I have one o’clock on Tuesday, if that works for you,” I tell her, and she squeals.

“I’ll make it work. Worse case, Matty can meet me there,” she says. “Thank you so, so much, Sofia.”

“I’ll see you then,” I reply, and the phone disconnects.

“What the fuck are you doing?” Clarabella asks, putting her hands on her hips. It’s the same question my head was screaming at me.

“I’m doing my job,” I shoot back, pissed now. “Fuck him. If he doesn’t care that I’ll plan his wedding, why the hell should I?”

“That’s the spirit,” Clarabella says and my heart speeds up even more when it finally sinks in that he’s coming in, and I have to plan his wedding.

I pick the phone up again. “What are you doing?” Shelby asks.

“Calling my great-grandfather.” I look at them. “If I’m going to be doing this, I’m going to need a case of sweet tea to get me through it.”





matthew





I walk off the plane and the cold air runs through me. Holding on to the metal stair handle with one hand while I hold my bag in the other, I make my way down the stairs. No one says anything as each of us makes our way over to our respective cars. I’ve just come back from a four-day road trip where we got our asses handed to us on a silver platter. There was nothing good that came out of this road trip, and I’m not the only one glad to be home.

“See you later, Petrov,” I hear Brock, our captain, say as he gets into the truck beside me. I lift my hand as I unlock my doors. Pressing the trunk button, I also toss in my bag with my backpack. I get in the car and make my way over to my house, seeing Helena’s car in the driveway when I get there. We’ve been together for a while and moving in would have been the obvious choice, but to be honest, I never asked her to move in. That and our busy schedule keeps us from even discussing it. She’s also on the road with her pharmaceutical sales job. She works primarily with spas and salons for all cosmetic aspects.

I’m assuming, once we get married, she is going to be moving in, but she hasn’t even brought it up. The only thing she really has at my house is a toothbrush and maybe some shampoo. Whenever she comes over, she always brings an overnight bag, and when she leaves, so does the bag.

I don’t know why, but I’m irritated that she is here right now. After four days on the road, all I wanted was to unwind. I press the button to open the garage door, driving in and parking the car. Turning the car off, I get out and grab my stuff before walking over to the stairs leading to the mudroom. I press the garage door before I walk into the house. I see that Helena’s shoes and purse sit on the gray bench. I kick off my dress shoes and put them to the side before walking into the kitchen.

Helena sits on one of the stools at the island and looks up when she hears me walk in. “Hi.” She smiles at me, not getting up or coming to me.

“Hey,” I greet, walking past her with my bags. “I didn’t know you would be here.”