“He means animals,” I clarified. “No reading into it. Just sit back and relax, England. What could possibly go wrong when you’re with me and Demetri?”

“You really want me to answer that?” He leaned forward from the backseat.

The jeep fell silent.

“Right.“ Jaymeson held out his fingers. “Drugs, death, pregnancy scares, bribery, reality shows, getting stung by a bee in the face—”

“Can’t blame us for that one,” Demetri interrupted.

Jaymeson ignored him. “Hollywood producers that want me by the balls, Angelica Greene, sex scandals—”

“Fine, fine,” I admitted. “So we aren’t the squeakiest of clean.”

“You’re kidding?” Jaymeson laughed. “If we had met on a playground at age eight, my mother would have slapped me across the head for even looking at your sandbox.”

Demetri chuckled.

“What?” I asked.

“He said ‘looking at your sandbox’.”

We groaned in unison. Safe to say, it was going to be a long day.

Chapter Two

Nat

“We totally lied to them.” I laughed.

“Go to the spa, girls,” Alyssa mimicked Demetri’s voice. “Relax, be girlie, while we go do man stuff.” She hit her chest like a cave man.

We fell into fits of laughter as Alyssa turned the corner and waited for the guys to drive off. After they had driven a safe distance down the road, we returned to the house and started getting things ready.

“You think he’s going to be mad?” I asked as I got out of the car and walked up to the beach house.

“Nah, he’ll love it.” Alyssa smirked knowingly. “I promise. It’s the best idea we’ve had… ever.”

“Ever huh?” I grinned. “I’m not so sure about that.” I stuffed my hands in my jean pockets. It was abnormally warm for August, especially by Seaside’s standards.

“The caterers should be here in a bit.” Alyssa looked at her cell phone. “And Jaymeson said that the rest of the crew would follow about an hour later.”

“Amazing.” I snorted.

“What?” Alyssa’s dark hair blew across her face as she made her way to the front of the house.

“That Jaymeson can actually keep a secret.”

“This is true,” Alyssa admitted. “But he’s all about pulling pranks on the guys, though this isn’t really a prank.”

“Surprise.” I cleared my throat. “It’s a surprise.”

“That may give your future husband a heart attack.”

“Everyone deserves a real bachelor party.” I winked. “And I’ll be sure to make this one Alec won’t forget.”

“Or Demetri.”

Laughing, I pushed through the door and said, “Admit it, those lessons totally paid off and toned our legs like crazy.”

“I lied for a month to Demetri. He thought I was at the library.”

“Wow, could you come up with a worse lie?” My eyebrows lifted.

Alyssa waved her hand at me. “Please, it’s Demetri.”

“Good point.”

“So.” She set her phone on the counter. “Let’s start moving the furniture around.”

I pushed the couch out of the way just as my mom walked in, eyes narrowing. “What are you two girls up to?”

“Uh…” Yeah, I really didn’t want to tell my mom the truth. Sure I was already pregnant but—

“Feng Shui!” Alyssa half-shouted. “It’s good for the baby.”

“How so?” My mom squinted at the couch and looked back into my guilt-ridden face.

“It helps Nat relax, kind of like… nesting.” She nodded confidently. “I looked it up online.”

“Oh… hmm.” Mom shrugged then pulled her phone out. “Nat, I just had a question about—”

The doorbell rang. Crap. The caterers were there with our chocolate-covered strawberries, amongst other things. My eyes widened as I looked at Alyssa with what I hoped was a help me expression.

“Why don’t you two go talk on the back porch? Have some ice tea?”

“Sounds great.” Mom sighed. “I’ve been on the phone all day with the wedding planner and I’m about ready to lose my mind, and don’t even get me started on that Jaymeson guy.”

“Crap.” I grabbed two glasses of ice tea and led my mom outside. “What did he do now?”

“Nothing.” Mom took her ice tea and sipped lightly. “Yet.”

“Yet?”

“The pastor’s concerned about a man such as Jaymeson stepping onto holy ground. Something about ‘getting struck by lightning’ or ‘cursing himself if he’s anywhere near something holy while he’s still black as sin’.”

“He said that?” I winced.

“I may have embellished a bit.” Mom winked. “Just keep your eye on him, Nat. I know he’s your friend, but the last thing you want is drama during your wedding. It doesn’t help that security has had to be tripled because…”

“Because of Alec?”

“No, sweetie.” Mom grabbed my hand. “Because of Jaymeson.”

“Sorry.” I sighed, suddenly feeling exhausted. I just wanted everything to be perfect. It was hard to explain Jaymeson to my mom. I always felt like I was defending him or his actions, but he was just — Jaymeson. He did whatever he wanted and got away with it, but in the end he was a fiercely loyal friend. I always forgot how famous he actually was — maybe that was the problem. He put people at ease so much that they didn’t even realize they’d been had until it was too late.