Your Inescapable Love (The Bennett Family 4)

Max gives me a triumphant look, but doesn’t say anything. After Pippa and Eric are out of earshot, Max says, “Quick, let’s exchange the girls and change their headbands.”

“You’ve got to be joking.”

He’s not. In the span of two minutes, we do the exchange. I take Mia from his arms, giving him Elena, and then pry the pink headband from Mia’s tiny head, replacing it with Elena’s red one. Max expertly places the pink one on Elena’s head, then kisses her forehead gently. Oh, God, I just found my kryptonite. Max in a tux carrying a baby. I’d do anything he asks right now, which apparently includes pranking his sister.

When Eric and Pippa return, she extends her hands to Max, taking Elena from his arms. “Sweet Mia. Did you miss me?”

“Bingo,” Max exclaims, making Pippa, Eric and myself jump. “That’s Elena. We exchanged their headbands. I was sure you couldn’t tell them apart without the headbands.”

Eric chuckles, taking Mia out of my arms, while Pippa breaks into giggles. “I can’t believe you. Now you’re using my daughters to prank me?”

“Of course, someone has to carry the pranking legacy,” Max says seriously.

“I’m sorry I played a part in this,” I tell her, “but I can’t tell your brother no when he wears a tux and carries a baby.”

Max winks at me. “Good to know.”

“You’ve gotten even cockier than usual since you met Emilia again,” Pippa remarks, resting Elena’s head on her shoulder. Mia starts crying, so Eric quickly walks away to calm her down. Pippa confessed to me a while ago that the girls seem to cry in tandem, so it’s best to separate them when one of them starts crying.

“Are you jealous that none of your matchmaking skills were needed in our case?” Max asks.

Pippa doesn’t answer, merely smiles. The silence stretches to several seconds, and her smile turns from kind to wicked.

“Who gave you the number of the clinic?” Pippa asks Max.

“My assistant… who said you gave it to her,” Max says in a defeated voice.

“Wait, what?” I ask.

“After my dearest brother told me he needed a therapist I started researching the best clinics. Found your name eventually, and I thought… well, you never know what happens when old friends meet again.”

With that enigmatic end of the sentence, Pippa enters the tent.

I elbow Max, who seems stuck in some kind of stupor. “Safe to say your sister hasn’t lost her touch.”

“You don’t say.”

“Let’s go back to the wedding.”

As we enter the tent, Max asks, “So which one of the singles in my family do you think will be next in line?”

I open my mouth to say I have no idea, but then I see Christopher, who is currently at the bar, looking at the bride and the groom. I wonder if he feels he’s missing something when he sees all the couples around here.

“I’ll give you a hint. He looks a lot like you.”

***