Free All Your Loving (Bachelors & Bridesmaids) by Barbara Freethy Page A

sweat and an appetite. Who wants to go out for pizza? My treat."
    "I wish I could go," Isabella said with an apologetic smile. "But I have a family thing. Maybe next Sunday—if you guys come back for another class."
    "You're on," Michael said. He turned to Julie and Matt. "What about you two?"
    Before she could answer, Matt jumped in. "Sounds good to me. I'm starving."
    "Great," Liz said, obviously happy with Matt's answer. "We can all get to know each other better." She sent Julie a pointed look. "Right Jules?"
    "Okay," Julie said, knowing she didn't have much choice but to agree. And there was no danger in a group, right? Pizza and beer—what could go wrong?
     
    * * *
     
    An hour later, Julie knew exactly what could go wrong. Seated in a corner booth at Vincenzo's with Matt, Liz and Michael, Julie had quickly become the focus of the conversation as Matt pressed Liz for information about Julie.
    "Tell me what Julie was like in high school?" Matt asked.
    Liz smiled. "Well, Julie and I were kind of outside the popular group."
    "Kind of?" Julie echoed.
    Liz made a face of her, then turned to Matt. "I was really intense. I liked to run for office a lot, even though I usually lost to Michael, who was the star athlete and the most popular kid in the class."
    "What can I say?" Michael said with a helpless shrug.
    "Nothing, so you can be quiet," Liz told him. "Julie was part of the uncool band kid group."
    "Oh, yeah?" Matt asked, turning to her with new interest in his eyes. "What did you play?"
    "The flute," she said.
    "Was it a marching band?"
    "On occasion."
    "Do you still play?"
    "Not often."
    "I had no idea you played an instrument," he mused. "Interesting."
    She had no idea why he thought that was interesting, but then he'd been looking at her all evening like she was a puzzle he had to figure out. Apparently, Liz had just given him another piece of the puzzle.
    "Oh my God," Liz said suddenly.
    "What?" Julie asked, surprised and wary of the eager light in Liz's face.
    "I just had a phenomenally good idea. You should play at our wedding. I've been wanting to have an instrumentalist, and I was thinking guitar, but a flute would be pretty, and you are so good."
    "I haven't practiced seriously in years," she protested.
    "You'll get it right back, I'm sure," Liz said confidently.
    "No, it's too much pressure. If I screwed up, I'd ruin your wedding. I think you should hire a professional."
    "Our wedding is going to be a small affair with family and close friends. I would much rather have you play something than a stranger."
    "But I'm going to be your maid of honor," she reminded Liz.
    "You could do both. Just one or two songs before the ceremony starts. It would really mean a lot to me, and you owe me, Jules. I listened to you practice a lot in high school and college, too. Let's not forget that you had thoughts of joining an orchestra at one point."
    "So music was more than a childhood passion?" Matt questioned.
    "I had thought about playing in an orchestra, but I wasn't good enough." She turned back to Liz. "I'll think about it. But no promises."
    "I'll take that for now, but we are going to keep talking about it," Liz said.
    Knowing the level of Liz's stubbornness, Julie thought it would probably be a good idea to pull out her flute very soon.
    "What about guys?" Matt asked Liz. "Did Julie have any notable high school boyfriends?"
    "You know I'm right here," Julie interrupted.
    "Yeah, but you're not going to tell me anything," Matt said with a grin. "I think Liz will give me more information."
    "There is no information," Julie said. "I didn't have any boyfriends in high school. Tell him, Liz."
    "What about Shawn Parker?" Liz asked.
    "He was my biology lab partner. The only thing he was interested in was whether I would dissect the frog when he got grossed out."
    "That's true. But you did take him to that one dance."
    "Only because I didn't want to sit at home and be a total loser," she retorted. "But he was definitely not my