“This,” she replied, her own hands moving up to caress his jaw. “I just want to stay here with you like this for tonight. Please.”
He was probably going to hell already so what was one more sin?
So he gave them what they both wanted and claimed her lips again. And didn’t let go for a long time.
8
“True and real love is like a treasure in this world, and as with anything of value, sometimes you have to work hard to get it!”
Unknown
“I can’t marry you.”
Tyler looked up in wide-eyed panic before jumping up to close his office door. “For the love of it, Josie!” he hissed. “Why not bring a megaphone with you and completely screw up my chances at a promotion?!”
“Chances at? I thought it was a done deal?” she said with quiet frustration.
“I have to win this damn case first.” Sitting back down, he ran a hand through his hair before looking at his watch. “It’s a little early for you to be out and about. What’s going on?”
“I can’t marry you,” she repeated with a little more force.
He eyed her warily. “You have to.”
“Actually, I don’t.”
She saw the question in his eyes and immediately saw when he began to calculate how he was going to convince her she was wrong.
Ugh…lawyers…
“I understand that you were upset with me, but that was like…a week ago.” He stood again and slowly strolled around his desk before offering her a chair. “And in the last week, have I put any unreasonable demands on you?”
Here we go…
“No.”
“Has my mother called and harassed you about wedding plans?”
“No.”
“I listened to what you told me and did exactly what you asked.” Sitting on the corner of his desk, Tyler crossed his arms and looked down at her. “You’re not being fair, Jos. I messed up and then I made up for it.”
“Actually, you haven’t,” she corrected. “All you did was stop doing all the crap that was ticking me off.” In that moment, she was certain she had him–that he was going to see reason and they could put this whole farce behind them.
“So, tell me why you suddenly won’t marry me.”
Where do I even begin?
“It’s just wrong, Ty. We both know it. This just isn’t going to work. I thought I would be okay with it, but it turns out, I’m not. I want more than a fake marriage for a year. I see what Elliott and Skye have, and what Lea and Brody have, and that’s what I want. If I do this with you, I’m putting my future and my happiness on hold for another year.”
He studied her for a moment before responding. “I thought you were more practical than that.” His gaze narrowed. “I thought we discussed how this was an opportunity for you to grow Meet Me at the Altar. Have you changed your mind on that? Do you not want the business to branch out? Are Skylar and Leanna suddenly coming up with ways to make more money?”
“Ty, come on. That’s not fair and you know it.” She let out a long breath. “This just isn’t how I want to do this. I’m sorry. You have no idea how much.”
Standing, he walked back around his desk again and picked up an envelope and handed it to her. “I was planning on coming by your office at lunch to give this to you.” He shrugged. “Not really sure what I’m supposed to do now.”
“What is it?” Staring down at the envelope, she wasn’t sure she even wanted to open it.
“Mrs. St. Clair has three big events she wants to organize this summer,” he explained as he sat down. “It’s all in there. She asked me to give it to you.”
Josie still hadn’t opened the envelope. “When did she give this to you?”
He shrugged and that’s when she grew a little suspicious.
“Tyler,” she said through clenched teeth. “When did Mrs. St. Clair give this to you?” When he still didn’t respond, she stood and got right in his face. “You know I can just call her, right? And I have no problem asking her directly how long ago she gave you this envelope.”
His expression fell a little and she muttered a curse.
“What is wrong with you?” she demanded. “Seriously, what the hell has gotten into you that you’re playing games like this?” And when he still said nothing, Josie began to pace. “This! This is why I don’t want to marry you! You’re not the guy I thought you were and you’re playing with me for some stupid reason, and I’m done, Ty! Done!”
There was a knock on the door, and it was Tyler who cursed as he moved to go and open it. “Mr. St. Clair! Good morning!”
“Good morning, Tyler,” the older man said before spotting Josie. “Oh, Josie! What a surprise! My wife has been anxiously awaiting your call. I told her you were probably very busy, but I hope you can find the time to talk with her. She’s excited about getting started on these projects and being able to work in-house with part of our work family is particularly important to her.”
Her smile was forced but she hoped it looked sincere. “Yes, we’ve been terribly busy since our one partner just had her baby. Leanna and I have taken on a lot so Skylar can have time at home, but I promise to call your wife later today and touch base with her.”
With a smile, he walked over and squeezed her hand before reaching out to Tyler with the other. “You two are exactly what this firm needs right now, and I just want you to know how much all your hard work means to me.” With a nod, he released them both before turning to leave the room.
A solid minute passed before she could even force herself to look at Tyler, and when she did, she wanted to slap the smug expression right off his face.
Instead, she moved in close and with a calmness she didn’t particularly feel, she said, “If I find out that you staged this little coincidence, I promise you, you’ll regret it.”
His smile faltered for the briefest of moments. “How could I have possibly done that? I had no idea you were coming here this morning.”
While that was true, she was beginning to be suspicious of everything–especially all these little coincidences. But she wasn’t about to share that with him. There were ways to find out just how far she needed to go to secure the business that she wanted to.
I just don’t want to sell my soul–or my chance at happiness–to make it happen.
Turning away from him, she started to head toward the door.
“Be reasonable, Josie,” he said, his voice low enough that only she could hear him. “One year and you could potentially double your business.”
He knew the buttons to push and there was a time she admired his tenacity. Right now, however, it made her feel sick.
Without a word, she walked out.
The drive to Meet Me at the Altar didn’t take long and her mind was spinning. What she wanted was some time to just not have to think about anything–not about business or Tyler or Daniel.
Daniel.
Just thinking about the things they did last night was enough to make her blush. In all honesty, things were relatively chaste, but she knew it wouldn’t have taken much to convince herself to throw her conscience to the wind and take what she wanted.
And she wanted him.
So why can’t I have him?
Maybe that was the conversation she needed to have with him. There was a very real chance that he wasn’t looking for anything serious and maybe they could do what they clearly wanted to do without anyone getting hurt. It wasn’t like she was seriously involved with Tyler so it wouldn’t be cheating, right? Why couldn’t she have her cake and eat it too?
Because for some reason it still felt incredibly…icky.
“Wow. Someone looks like poo this morning,” Leanna commented when Josie walked into the office. “Didn’t you sleep last night?”
“Not…really,” Josie said evasively, hating how she was becoming the hot mess of their little trio.
“What’s the matter? Did something happen?”
As she got settled at her desk, Josie told her
the story about the break-in next door and the cops and then how Daniel took her home. The entire time she talked, Lea sipped her coffee without saying a word.
“So, um…yeah. That’s why I didn’t really sleep last night.”
Casually, calmly, Lea put her beverage down and then stared so hard at Josie that she started to squirm. “So you’re telling me that this all went down around eight last night and you walked across the street to Daniel’s and then went directly to bed where you couldn’t sleep. Do I have that right?”
“Um…maybe?”
“Josie!” She let out a long-suffering sigh. “Why didn’t you call me? You know you could have come and stayed with us!”
“I didn’t want to bother you because you were so excited to have an early night and have a nice dinner with Brody. I didn’t want to interfere!”
Standing, she walked over and sat on the corner of Josie’s desk. “Now are you going to tell me why you really didn’t sleep?”
Groaning, Josie rested her head on her desk so she wouldn’t have to look at her friend while she admitted what she did.
“We set out just to have some pizza and watch some TV,” she began. “The next thing I know we’re watching Aladdin and singing and having this great time.” She groaned again. “Then we were watching more movies and I changed into my jammies, and…God, it’s like I can’t even control myself when I’m around him!”
“So you…?”
Straightening, she looked at Lea. “I completely threw myself at him! It was like I was sixteen again and crawling all over Billy Miller in his basement!” Shaking her head, she went on. “We kissed and kissed and kissed for hours! Hours, Lea! And the most he did was touch my boobs over my top! Meanwhile, I was ready to strip down and ride him like a bronco! Ugh, I’m the worst!”
“You’re not the worst. And if memory serves, you encouraged me to throw myself at Brody and look how that turned out! You should totally do it.”
“But what about Tyler?” she whined.
“What about him?” Lea snapped. “It’s a fake relationship!”
“It just feels wrong to be lusting after one brother while planning to marry the other.”
With another sigh, Lea stood and walked back over to get her coffee. “I really wish you would face the inevitable and realize which Alexander brother you should be with and put this ridiculous deal with Tyler behind you.”
The thing was, Josie knew she was right, and knew that she and Daniel couldn’t keep going the way they were without her caving.
And boy did she want to cave. The man was absolute perfection. He was rugged and sexy and so completely opposite of any man she’d ever been attracted to before. But on top of that, he was funny and easy to talk to and he kissed like a damn fantasy.
Yeah, something was going to have to give.
Then her disastrous conversation with Tyler this morning came to mind. With a sigh, she pulled the envelope out of her purse and handed it to Lea.
“What’s this?”
“Some proposed events that we could handle–compliments of Tyler’s boss.”
Scanning the pages, Lea shook her head. “We don’t need them.”
“What?! Yes, we do! We’ve been saying how we want to branch out and grow and this is exactly the kind of stuff we need! If we turn down the opportunity, who knows when it will come around again?”
“If the only reason they’re willing to work with us is because of your relationship with Tyler, then it’s not the kind of thing that’s going help us grow. If anything, it’s going to complicate things and even though I know we’ve talked about wanting to branch out, maybe now isn’t the right time.”
Okay, that was new.
“Why not?”
“Josie, think about it! Skye just had a baby, I’m getting married and hoping to have a baby as soon as possible, and you’re…” She stopped abruptly and immediately sat down behind her desk.
“And I’m what?” Josie demanded.
“You’re a mess right now! No offense and you know I love you, but…this isn’t the way for us to work. We built this business up from nothing and we’re doing better than any of us ever dreamed! It would be so much better for us to grow organically than for us to force it at the expense of your happiness.”
She rolled her eyes. “That’s a bit dramatic, don’t you think?”
“No, I don’t. And I guarantee you if we call Skye, she’d say the same exact thing.” She paused. “And I refuse to have anything to do with these events.”
Josie was sure her jaw hit the ground because it wasn’t like Leanna to be this firm and direct. “So if I take them on, I have to do them on my own?”
Shrugging, Lea said, “Maybe Skye will help, but I doubt it. So…yes. If you are that hell-bent on ruining your life, then you can do it on your own. I know I won’t allow you to drag the business down with you.”
For years Josie had worked her ass off for this business and there was no way anyone was going to tell her she couldn’t do something that she knew would work. And it would work. It had to!
With a defiant stare, she walked over to Lea and took Mrs. St. Clair’s paper back. Once she sat back down, she continued to look at her friend as she picked up her phone and dialed the number. “Good morning, Mrs. St. Clair! It’s Josie Sullivan! I’m sorry it took so long to get back to you, but I wanted to make sure I had plenty of time for us to talk strategy!”
And she didn’t even flinch when Lea got up and stormed out of the office.
“So, what are we watching tonight?”
Daniel sat on the couch and wondered–not for the first time–just what was going on.
This morning, he and Xander installed a security system over at Josie’s to help her feel more secure. He’d met her at her place two hours ago and they’d walked through how to use it all and she mentioned that she still didn’t feel safe. There was no way he could argue with that and before he knew it, she managed to pack another bag and was back at his place. They’d ordered Chinese food and were sitting in front of the TV to eat.
“Whatever you’d like,” he said, almost afraid to look at her. It felt like they were returning to the scene of the crime being back here on the couch–a place where he deserved a damn award for not taking things further last night. He hadn’t made out with a woman like that since the tenth grade.
And yet…it was still one of the hottest nights of his life.
He should put an end to this–send her home and put his foot down that she can’t come over anymore–but he knew he wouldn’t…at least not tonight.
They opted for some re-runs of Parks and Rec and once they were done eating, Daniel wasn’t sure how he was going to address the fact that they couldn’t keep doing this.
“Do you want to watch some more or should we find something else?”
She stood and smiled at him. “Actually, why don’t you find something? I’ll be back in a minute.”
“Where are you going?”
“I’m going to change into my jammies and be comfortable,” she said before leaving the room.
Great. Another night of her in her pajamas on his couch.
“Clearly I died in a fiery plane crash and this is hell,” he muttered as he reached for the remote. The first thing to come to mind was how he needed to find them something that wouldn’t arouse them at all.
Yeah, because that worked out so well last night with all the animated movies…
Okay, so where did that leave him?
He was scrolling through Netflix in hopes of inspiration when he heard Josie clear her throat.
The remote dropped from his hand at the sight of her.
Tonight she had on a pair of navy blue flannel shorts and matching tank top. His eyes traveled up the length of her smooth, tanned legs and his mouth went dry. There was no blanket in her arms, nothing blocking his view of all her curves and it was all he could do to keep from reaching out and touching her.
Forcing his gaze to her face, he saw th
e uncertainty there and hated it. Did she not realize how beautiful she was? How sexy? How desirable?
Standing, he walked over to her but found himself at a loss for words.
He saw her swallow hard before she reached out and gently touched his hand. “I have to tell you something.”
All he could do was nod.
“I am incredibly faithful to my friends,” she said quietly, her gaze never leaving his. “There isn’t anything I wouldn’t do for them. The girls–Leanna and Skylar–are more like sisters to me. We tell each other everything.” She paused and Daniel had no idea why she was telling him this. “By the same token, I do have a few guy friends who are like brothers to me.” Now she did look him in the eye. “Like Tyler.”
Wait…what…was she saying…?
She moved just a little closer, her eyes never leaving his. “Tyler and I are friends. Nothing more.”
“But…”
“No one was supposed to know about…you know. He needed a way to secure a promotion and…I sort of volunteered to help.”
“Sort of?” His mind was spinning because…he had been right all along. He knew from the moment he heard the proposal that something was up and then after hearing his brother talk about their relationship…well…he’d been afraid to hope that he was reading the situation right.
And now she was confirming that he was right.
“How are you…?”
Placing one soft finger against his lips, she stopped the question. “The way I see it, we can sit and talk about this or we can do…other things.” Her voice was a husky whisper that had him instantly aroused.
Daniel looked down and saw her nipples had hardened and he’d have to be an idiot to choose conversation over having Josie naked in his bed.
Without a word, he scooped her up in his arms and all but ran up the stairs to his room. Her laughter was like music to his ears and once they crossed the threshold, he kicked the door shut.
“Wow,” she said with a grin. “That was impressive.”
It would have been cheesy to say something like “You ain’t seen nothing yet,” so instead, he gently placed her on her feet and cupped her face and said, “Be very sure.”
You May Kiss the Groomsman Page 12
