Bridesmaid Lotto (USA Today bestselling author)

Chapter 9

"It's Jake," the voice said over the intercom.

I took a deep breath and pressed the talk button. "I'll be right down."

Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God. This is it.

"You look beautiful," Calla said.

"You'll be marvelous," Mattie added. "Just be yourself. I know I give you a lot of grief, but honestly, who could resist you?"

I gave him a hug and gave Calla one too. Normally we weren't big huggers, but it just felt like a huggy kind of moment.

"Good luck," Calla said as I stepped out the door.

I stopped at the stoop to attempt to calm down. I was actually shaking and had to take several deep breaths. Finally, I started down the stairs.

Thank goodness the boots were well worn in and easy to walk in. Mattie really was a genius.

"Hi," Jake said as he flashed me his famous movie star smile.

"Hi," I squeaked.

"You look wonderful," he said.

"Thanks, you too," I said. I think my face turned red. At least my voice had returned.

Sort of.

"Shall we?" he said and put his hand on the small of my back, leading me out the door.

"Sure," I said and finally managed a smile. I could only hope he couldn't feel me shaking.

"So, are you wondering where we're going?" he asked.

"Yeah, I hope I'm dressed okay."

"You're perfect."

Ooh. I like the way he said that, I thought. Not you look perfect, but you're perfect.

I couldn't keep the smile off my face.

"Well, I'm afraid I'm going to keep you in suspense just a little longer," he said.

"Okay." Frankly it didn't matter what we did. I was just happy to be along for the ride.

We got into his car, and since I know absolutely nothing about cars, I couldn't tell you what kind of car it was. Just that is was a little black sports car of some sort.

"So, I feel like I know a lot about you from your bio," Jake said.

"Oh jeez."

He chuckled. "Why do you say that?" he asked.

"Well, the thing is, I have no idea what is actually on that bio."

"Oh right, you were saying your mother entered you in the contest."

"Yeah. So embarrassing."

"So you weren't really out of town when she entered you, were you?" he asked with a bit of a smirk on his face.

I glanced at him sideways. "No," I said and smiled, hoping he wouldn't be offended.

He laughed a little harder. "Actually, I'm a little relieved that you said that. I mean the whole idea of the contest kind of freaked me out. And then the sheer amount of entries freaked me out even more."

"So it wasn't your idea?"

"God, no. My agent cooked it up."

"So you're not actually looking for a wife then?" I asked, looking out the window pretending not to be too interested in the answer, even though I was dying to hear what he was going to say.