“I am the baby of the family. They won’t marry me off to just anyone.”
They stared at each other, smiling, and Kyle felt the flutter of nerves fire up in his stomach. Anyone else would call them butterflies, but he had too much experience blowing it at this point. He always did with girls. The nerves were a warning signal reminding him he needed to play it cool. That he was a fraud, and he shouldn’t get in too deep. If he screwed this up, their little plan would crater before it got off the ground.
With effort, he took a step back. “Let’s see how you are at selecting flowers, then I’ll think about it.”
She looked confused and a little hurt. Damn it, why couldn’t he just talk to a girl without being a dumbass about it? He sighed. “Faith, are you absolutely sure about starting up this rumor?”
“Yes,” she murmured.
This was going to end in pain, probably for both of them, but he couldn’t say no…and he didn’t want to. He hardly knew Faith, but he knew Cameron, so if she was up for collateral damage, then so was he.
“I better get back to work,” he said, avoiding her eyes.
“Hey! Where are you, gazelle?” a girl called from the side of the house. A moment later, a petite purple-haired hurricane in a white miniskirt and black tee blew into the backyard, then stopped short when she caught sight of Kyle. “Whoa. You’re…you.”
He choked back a laugh. “The last time I checked.”
The girl was about as different from Faith as you could get—short, a force of nature, and as subtle as a sledgehammer. She looked him up and down like she was an agent auditioning male models. “Oh, it’s definitely worth checking.”
“Violet.” Faith’s voice held a hint of a chuckle—and a warning.
Violet rolled her blue eyes, striking in her pale face with the black and purple hair framing it. Like one of those miniature Goth dolls Cade’s little sister had obsessed over when she was six. “Oh, come on. A guy does not work in your backyard all day half naked if he doesn’t want you to do an inspection. But I seem to be making him blush.”
She was, in fact. He fought it with all he had, but it was a losing battle. Violet’s stare was like an X-ray. “Should I take off my shirt then?”
“Would you?” she asked cheerfully.
“Vi, stop.” Faith sank down onto the porch steps, covering her face with her hands.
“I went too far again, huh?” Violet teetered over to the porch steps in platform sandals at a height between extreme and ridiculous. She plopped down next to Faith and rested her head on Faith’s shoulder.
Faith shook her head, smiling ruefully, then shrugged. “Kyle, this is my best friend, Violet. She knows the plan.”
Violet sat up straight, eyes gleaming. “And I wholeheartedly approve. I will be your rumor mill, your publicist, your event planner. I’ll need your number in case we need to plot or something. Seriously, though, name the task and I’m yours.”
“Did I happen to mention that she’s like a high-voltage battery?” Faith said, grinning at Kyle.
“Shocking and full of pent-up power?” he asked.
Faith looked pleased that he caught on so fast. “Exactly.”
“Ooh, I like that.” Violet laughed. “I’m stealing that one.”
Looking at the two of them—one tall and warm with honey-colored skin and brown hair, the other tiny and all stark contrasts in black and white—they seemed like unlikely friends. Like he and Cade had been once.
“I like high-energy people,” he said. “I’ve been accused of being too chill.”
“Indeed. I couldn’t tell,” Violet said in a passable British accent. She turned to Faith and gripped her arm. “Girl, he’s an amazing straight man. This is going to work.”
“Yeah, it will,” Faith said. She nodded at Kyle. “So let’s start making plans.”
Chapter Twelve
Faith
Kyle had a funny expression on his face. It was this cute, faint wrinkle to his forehead, and his eyes had widened, so the blue sparkled in the afternoon sun. Faith couldn’t decide if he was confused, amused, or appalled. Then again, Violet tended to inspire all three in people, even guys who supposedly had seen it all.
Warmth filled her chest. How had she been so lucky to find a friend like her?
“So, I was thinking,” Violet said. “And I told Faith about this, but you two need to make an appearance at Dolly’s on Wednesday—a lot of people will be there then. I can find a way to make sure Cameron shows, too.”
Faith hazarded a glance at Kyle, nervous. What if he decided the whole thing was stupid? From everything she’d heard, he didn’t strike her as an “ice cream” kind of guy. Jack straight from the bottle maybe, not a chocolate chip cone with sprinkles. “If you don’t want to…I mean, I know it’s not your kind of place…”