Best Laid Plans (The Best Girls 4)

“No, I borrowed it from Hannah. And since when do you notice how I look or how I smell.”

“Since I decided to make you my wife.” He noticed Grace observing their interchange with rounded eyes, but chose to ignore her.

“I’m not going to be your real wife,” Olivia objected. “You don’t need to flatter me.”

“I’m not flattering you. I’m only being truthful. And besides, I wanted you to know how I plan to treat you after we’re married.”

“I didn’t say I would marry you.” She attempted to slip out from under his arm.

“You as much as admitted it when you said you weren’t going to be my real wife. That implies that you’re going to be my fake wife. And I wanted you to know I’ll treat you with utmost respect and appreciation. I’ll cook and clean for you and buy you nice clothes. You won’t want for anything.”

“I will want for something, Josh. I’ll want to be in a real marriage with a man who loves me.”

“If that’s what you want, I can do that. I love you, Olivia. You know I do.”

Grace’s eyes were wide as grapefruits, but Olivia’s eyes narrowed. She spoke between tight lips. “Stop it, Josh. I liked you better when you were being honest.”

“But I am being honest. Don’t you love me too? Even a little bit?”

“Yes. I love you the same way you love me. We’re good friends. Or we were good friends before—you’re ruining it now.”

“Love’s not an emotion, Olivia. Love’s a choice. It’s a decision. A commitment.”

“I’m sorry Josh, but that’s not enough for me. I don’t want someone’s commitment unless I have the passion behind it.”

“Didn’t you see Fiddler on the Roof? The passion, the feelings... they can come later.”

Brad chuckled. “Can’t believe we pay good money for cable. This is better than any reality TV show.”

“Shut up, Brad!” Josh and Olivia said in unison.

Chapter Nine

THE HOUSE WAS HUGE. Three of the bedrooms had king-size beds to accommodate the married couples. Two of the bedrooms had a pair of twin beds, so they moved one twin bed so all three two-year-olds could sleep in the same room. With the addition of a third bed, the room was wall-to-wall beds, a situation that was enormously pleasing to the toddlers who jumped and flounced on the beds while squealing and giggling with delight. Jace had a room to himself with the remaining twin bed. The other three rooms had two double beds in each, so Hannah and Claire were in one, Olivia and Charlie in another, and Josh and Derek in the third. Anne was fretting about the tall men sleeping on full-size beds, but they assured her they would be fine sleeping diagonally.

Charlie was more concerned Josh might murder Derek in his sleep, based on the dark looks he kept shooting his direction. He must have been more upset about Olivia’s flirting than she realized, even though it had only lasted for about ten minutes. After Derek kissed her on the plane, Olivia had been more reserved in her interactions with Derek. She might not need to kiss him again, since she’d made her point, so-to-speak.

They arrived early enough to rent ski equipment for those who didn’t own their own. Brad and Derek were boarding, but Josh elected to start Jace off on skis because of the shorter learning curve. So Josh and Charlie opted for skis as well, since both of them would be teaching him. All the other girls decided to ski, except for Grace, who chose to join the boarders.

After a hot breakfast, Anne, Steven, and Josh drove to the ski base area with the toddlers to get them set up with the private childcare, which included some play time on skis as well. The others gathered their equipment for the short walk to the tram.

Charlie trudged toward the beginner hill with Jace, while Hannah and Claire started off in lessons, and the others skied together.

“Are we gonna get to ski with Uncle Josh?” asked Jace.

“Sure we are. He’s going to be amazed at how good you are,” said Charlie. “We’ll do lessons together in the mornings and then you can ski with your Uncle Josh in the afternoon.”

“Just me and Uncle Josh? You won’t ski with us?”

“Sometimes I will, if he wants me to. But I want to ski with my sister, too.”

“Aunt Emily, right?”

“That’s right.”

“I think she looks like you a lot.”

“I think you look a lot like your Uncle Josh.”