Romantically Perfect: A Friends to Lovers Romantic Comedy (Perfectly Imperfect Love Series Book 3)

by S. E. Rose

“Come on, then,” he says as he motions towards my door. I grab Clark’s gift and Garrett picks up the cookies. He’s parked right outside.

  We make the two-minute drive in silence. But that silence ends when we pull up to my parents’ home.

  “What in the…” He trails off as we both look at the two-story-high inflatable Superman in my parents’ front yard.

  I start laughing as I get out of his car. “That has to have been Kent’s idea,” I state as we make our way to the side porch. Upon entering, I’m momentarily taken aback by the insane amount of balloons, all shaped like Superman. There are balloons everywhere, at least one hundred of them. I push my way through a bunch of them and find Kent sitting in the family room, looking very pleased with himself.

  “Like the party decorations?” he asks with a wink.

  I stifle my laughter as my mom frantically tries to tie some of the balloons in place to keep them from moving around the house. She’s cursing under her breath, which is even funnier because Mom doesn’t curse.

  I try to keep my laughter to a minimum, but I can’t control it as my body shakes.

  Dad comes in looking mighty pleased with himself. “Kent, my boy, I have to say, you’ve outdone yourself with the décor,” he declares in his best British accent.

  “Thanks, Dad. It was a challenge, but in the end, I must say that I’m very pleased with the outcome,” Kent replies also in a British accent.

  “Why are you guys speaking with accents?” I ask in confusion.

  “Because, I told them they sounded better with all the helium,” Tabby states from somewhere, but I can’t see her through all the balloons.

  “Tabby?” I call out.

  “Marco!” she yells.

  “Polo!” I scream back. We keep at it until I run into her. I push some balloons aside, and we hug.

  “What the hell is going on here?” I ask.

  “Ask your brother. It was his brilliant idea,” she says.

  “How does one procure so many Superman balloons?” I ask Kent, who I can’t even see anymore.

  “I called in a favor.”

  “This is a favor?”

  “Yep.”

  I shake my head. “You are insane, and Mom is going to murder you.”

  “No, she won’t. It’s my birthday,” Clark’s voice chimes in from somewhere.

  “C-Dog?”

  “I’m over here!” he yells.

  “Be more specific,” I call out as I shove balloons out of my way.

  “Getting warmer,” he says.

  I step forward.

  “Warmer.”

  “Clark!” I yell.

  “Hot.”

  “Seriously?”

  “Flaming hot! You’re on fire!”

  I run into him. He pushes a balloon out of his way so that he can grin down at me.

  I roll my eyes. “You’re impossible.”

  “I’m impossibly handsome.”

  I shove his chest. “You are a royal pain in my ass.”

  “Does that mean I get a crown?”

  I groan. “We need to move some of these.” I motion around us.

  “I suppose. But it is fun.”

  “How did Kent even do this?” I ask.

  “Well, Grandma went to the store to get the cake. And Uncle Kent, Dad, Grandpa, and I blew them up. Kylie helped get them inside. It was a team effort,” Ashton’s voice answers from somewhere to my left.

  “Ash?”

  “Hi, Aunt Di!”

  “Let’s try to move some of these,” I say to him.

  “But it’s so cool!” Ash whines.

  I start pushing balloons out of my way and grabbing others by their ribbons. I manage to get a few pushed into the living room.

  “Will someone come help us?” I ask.

  “Party pooper,” Kent mumbles.

  “Kent?”

  “Yes?”

  “I’m flicking you off,” I announce.

  His laughter is the only thing I hear as I continue pushing balloons from the family room into the living room. When it’s filled, I close the pocket doors to keep them in there.

  “Di?” I hear Lanie’s voice.

  “Lanie? Can you help me?”

  “Yep. I’m going to take a bunch up to Clark’s old room,” she says.

  “Don’t do that,” Clark says. “What if I want to pass out in my room later?”

  “Well, you should have thought about that before you sanctioned your party décor,” I state.

  “Di, Lanie, you can push them down to the basement and your father will take care of it later,” Mom says.

  “Ohhh! Dad is so in trouble later!” Kent says.

  “Kent Jason Moore!” Mom yells.

  “I love you, Mom!” he replies.

  “You are on my shit list!” she answers.

  Everyone starts laughing at that.

  Slowly, we push the rest of the balloons to the basement. Only a few pop, which I have to say is impressive with all the balloon dodge ball occurring between my family members.

  “How many balloons are there?” I ask as we shut the basement door.

  “One hundred sixty-nine,” Kent says with a smirk. Tabby walks by and slaps him on the back of the head.

  “Ouch,” he mutters, glaring at his wife. “What’s that for?”

  “For being a jackass,” she grumbles.

  “Whatever. It’s awesome, and you know it.”

  “I think it’s pretty cool, Uncle Kent,” Ash agrees.

  “Hello?” I hear Gran Tilly from somewhere in the back hallway where the last few balloons are still floating around.

  “Can someone go help your grandmother and stick those balloons up in the playroom?” Mom yells as she tries to get things situated in the kitchen. Nana Betty and Grandpa Bob are helping her.

  “On it,” Garrett says. He’s across the room before anyone else can answer.

  “Hey, let me get some of these balloons out of your way,” he says to Gran.

  “Oh, you’re Di’s friend, aren’t you?” she asks.

  I want to hide. I’m silently begging that Gran doesn’t say anything that will have all my siblings on high alert.

  “I am. Is that a gift? I can set it on the table here with the others,” he offers.

  “That would be lovely, dear,” she says as she walks out of the balloon-filled hallway.

  I decide to let nature take its course and leave Garrett with Gran as I help Mom.

  Chapter Twenty

  Garrett

  I set down the gift and turn to Gran Tilly.

  “Need anything to drink?” I ask her like I own the place.

  She pats my arm and then squeezes my bicep.

  “I see the intrigue,” she murmurs.

  “Excuse me?” I ask in total confusion.

  She motions toward the direction that Di just went. “She likes you.”

  I lean in toward her grinning. “Don’t spread the word, but I like her, too.”

  Her eyes glimmer and she smiles at me. “Then what are you waiting for, you fool. Go after her.”

  Now, I’m not normally a guy that can be persuaded to do something, and I’m not sure if it’s because of her age and wisdom or if it’s because I’m looking for any excuse, but I nod and head in search of Di.

  I make it to the front of the house, but don’t find her. Kent mopes by, looking irritated.

  “Have you seen your sister?” I ask.

  “Uh, can you be more specific?” he asks.

  I sigh. “Diana.”

  He smirks. “I knew which one you meant. I just wanted to fuck with you.” He looks around. “Your guess is as good as mine. She was helping Mom in the kitchen a few minutes ago.”

  I sigh again and continue my search. The house is large, but not that large, yet I can’t seem to find Di anywhere. I’m about to give up when I hear something from the back hall. I’m almost afraid to go back there because the last thing I want is to find the Moores in their laundry room again. I sh
udder at the memory. But the sound travels down from the bonus room above the garage. I walk up the steps. I can’t see anything because the room is filled with balloons from the back of the house.

  “Hello?” I call out.

  “Garrett?” Di’s voice is muted by all the balloons.

  “Uh, yeah. Where are you?” I start pushing balloons to the side as I walk into the room.

  “I’m in the back. Ash left a toy up here and I told him I’d get it, but I can’t find it. Stupid Kent,” she mutters.

  I grin at her words. “I’ll help you. What exactly are we looking for?”

  “It’s a little remote-controlled car. He said he left it on the table but it’s not there.”

  I get down on my hands and knees and start crawling around. I’m about to give up when I see it. “Found it!” I call out.

  “Thank God! I was three seconds away from telling Ash to make Kent find it,” she mutters.

  I crawl a little farther and see her feet. She’s taken off her shoes and her adorable, little feet with red nail-polished nails greet me as I start to stand up. My gaze travels over her exposed calves, the hem of her dress, her hips, her tiny waist, her luscious breasts, her long neck, her lips that beckon mine, her cute little nose, and finally we’re eye to eye.

  “Hi,” she whispers as I look at her.

  “Hi,” I reply.

  I feel like all the air has left the room. It’s just us, helium balloons, and silence. I must flick my finger over some button on the car because it suddenly turns on and Di jumps, her hand coming up to my chest.

  “Fuck waiting,” I say as I drop the car that goes scurrying off somewhere. I place my hands on either side of Di’s face and pull her to me, my lips crushing hers.

  She gives a little squeak and I use it to plunder her mouth with my tongue. She moans and her tongue slides against mine.

  After a second, she pulls back. “We can’t. We shouldn’t. We said we’d wait.”

  “It’s just a kiss, Spidey. Let’s amend the rule. We can kiss, but nothing more,” I propose.

  “Nothing more,” she reiterates.

  I nod. “Nothing. I promise.”

  “I…” She trails off as she stares at my lips.

  “Don’t say no,” I whisper as I reach back up and stroke her cheek.

  “Only kissing,” she restates as she leans toward me. Her eyes shut as our lips connect again.

  She sighs as my tongue traces her lips once again. Her tongue tastes of mint and her lips of cherries. I could kiss her for hours. I keep one hand on her cheek, angling her head to deepen our kiss while my other hand pulls her body against mine.

  She moans as my erection presses against her belly, but I do as I promised and I only hold her there, not feeling her body anywhere but where we connect through our clothes. Her nipples are pebbled and hard and I can feel them against my lower chest, and damn it if I don’t want to touch them and taste them. I channel all my need into that kiss, letting her know how badly I want her.

  Then, out of nowhere she jumps and winces and bites my lower lip in the process.

  “Ouch,” I say as I pull back.

  She bends down and I try to follow but then she’s back up, knocking my chin in the process.

  “Fuck,” I yell.

  “Oh my God! Did I just…are you OK?” she says. I look down and notice she’s gripping her foot. I look farther down and see it’s because the damned remote-controlled car ran into it.

  “Did I just get kiss-blocked by a toy?” I ask her as I rub my chin.

  She bites her lip. “I’m so sorry. That hurt,” she says, rubbing her foot. “Did I hurt you?”

  She looks at me with concern. The metallic taste of blood tells me that the inside of my lip is cut, but I decide not to mention it.

  “I’m fine.”

  I lean down to examine her foot, placing it on my bent knee. “Let’s have a look.” I run my fingers over a scratch. “We might have to amputate.”

  I look at her, and she swats a balloon away and glares at me. “Not funny.”

  “It’s sort of funny.”

  She rolls her eyes. “No. It’s not.”

  “Maybe a little?” I suggest. “Here. I’ll kiss it and make it all better.” I lean down and hold her foot up a little so I can plant a kiss on the top of it.

  “You said only kissing,” she whimpers as goose bumps form on her leg.

  “It was only a kiss.”

  “But not on my lips,” she states.

  I look up, my gaze stopping at the apex of her thighs. She swats me playfully on my head. “Oh my God! You are such a boy!”

  I smirk at her. “Can’t help myself,” I admit as I carefully place her foot down and stand back up, taking the toy car in one hand as I do.

  I start to press another kiss to her lips when a sound has us jumping apart.

  Balloons are going everywhere.

  “Aunt Di? Did you find it?” Ash yells as he plows through the room toward us.

  “Uh, yeah, buddy. I got it,” I say to him as he comes to a stop next to us.

  “Oh, thanks, Mr. Henley,” he says.

  “Anytime,” I reply as I usher him back downstairs. Ash goes sprinting away as we reach the steps. I turn while we are still covered by balloons and press one last kiss to Di’s lips.

  “I think I have a whole new appreciation for kissing,” I state with a grin as I walk toward the rest of the people in the kitchen.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Di

  Bailey: So…about the cooking class tonight…

  Me: You better not be bailing on me!

  Bailey: No worries, no worries. I got a fill-in. I got to go help my mom.

  Me: Who?

  Bailey: A person

  Me: Which one?

  Bailey: A good one.

  Me: Bailey, fucking who?

  Bailey: Not telling.

  Me: I hate you.

  Bailey: You won’t later.

  I sigh as I feed my cats and work on decorations for my Maryland history month poster for my classroom. I have thirty minutes before our cooking class. I grab a shower and ponder who my new cooking partner will be tonight. Sydney and Finley are already there, so it’s not them. It could be Caris or Chrissy. If she’s sticking me with one of my siblings, I’m going to kick her ass.

  I toss on some jeans and a cute top and head out to my car. It only takes me about ten minutes to get to the old inn.

  I follow the signs to a large private dining room that’s set up with six tables. Double doors open into the kitchen. There are people at each table in sets of twos. My eyes scan past Sydney and Finley who are deep in conversation, to a table with only one person standing at it.

  Garrett.

  She fucking got Garrett to come here. I don’t know if I want to hug her or kill her. I smile at him as I walk toward the table he’s claimed in the back of the room.

  “I hear the cool kids sit in the back,” I whisper in his ear as I set my purse down.

  He grins back at me. “Is that so?”

  I nod, but our conversation is cut short by a man in a chef hat and white apron walking into the room.

  “Hello, I’m Chef Scott, and I’ll be your teacher for the next four weeks. We are going to learn a new course each week, and the last week, I have a special surprise for you that involves my good friend and local bartender, James Pinkerton.”

  Everyone claps and then Chef Scott launches into the appetizer we are making tonight. It’s a crab-and-cheese-stuffed zucchini blossom. It looks easy enough as he makes it as we all gather around the front table to watch him. He has two stations set up in the kitchen for frying them. His assistant, a guy named Will, sets out the ingredients for us, and we all begin trying to stuff the delicate blossoms.

  “Fuck,” I murmur as I rip a little of the blossom trying to remove the pistil.

  “Here, let me help,” Garrett insists. He does his best to open a blossom and I reach in and pull out the pistil, it leaves
orange dust all over my fingers.

  “Thanks,” I say as we slowly begin working our way through our dozen blossoms.

  “Teamwork makes the dream work,” Garrett says with a laugh.

  I roll my eyes as we set to work on the blossom filling and batter. “So, Bailey roped you into coming tonight?”

  “No, she mentioned that her mom’s car had gotten a flat tire and she needed to go change the tire and take the old one to get patched since her mom can’t do it.” Bailey’s mom has horrible arthritis, so this isn’t a surprise reasoning. If Bailey ever misses something, it’s because she’s helping her mom. Her dad had a heart attack and died a few years ago and her older brother lives in New York, so she helps her mom out quite a bit.

  “Oh. She didn’t tell me that.”

  “I only found out because we had bus duty together this afternoon. I think she was going to ask Caris, but when I walked out…well, it worked out and now we get to try out another hobby together.”

  “Does this make you like cooking more?” I ask as we work together to stuff the blossoms.

  Will comes around and pours us each a glass of wine.

  “I like this.”

  “Really?” I ask, glancing up at him.

  “Perhaps I like cooking more than I thought,” he adds with a wink.

  I can hear some patrons come in for dinner as we work. The inn is open tonight but only by reservation.

  A sous chef is busy working with a few other kitchen staff as we all prep our blossoms for frying. I wipe my hands and excuse myself to go to the bathroom.

  “I’ll go too,” Garrett says as he follows me down a back hall.

  There are two bathroom doors, and both are closed. I wait, tapping my foot because I have to go when I hear a moan coming from the bathroom in front of us.

  I knock on the door. “Everything alright in there?”

  I hear a muted “yes” and shrug, leaning back against the wall next to Garrett.

  Garrett

  I hear another moan and then some movement inside the bathroom. I glance over at Di and she shrugs. I can hear a toilet flush in the other bathroom. As the sink turns on, the door in front of us opens.

  “Holy shit,” Di mutters under her breath as Mrs. Miller and Mr. Folley walk out together. Her hair is all kinds of jacked up and his shirt isn’t tucked in properly. Both are widows, and both are often seen around town, especially Mrs. Miller, who’s a bit of a busybody.