Wedding Date (Dating Series Book 6)

by Monica Murphy

  The expression on her face switches from dreamy to worried, just like that. “Do you think it’s a good idea?”

  “I think it’s the best idea I’ve had in a long time,” I say with all the sincerity I can muster, sneaking my arm around her waist. “What’s your gut telling you to do?”

  “It’s telling me I should go home with you,” she admits.

  My smile is triumphant. “Then do it.”

  Sixteen

  Kelsey

  I can’t believe I agreed to go home with Theo, but I did, and now I’m headed back to the table where all my friends are waiting for me, feeling a little rumpled and thoroughly kissed and already eager to leave this dinner. Knowing I get to go home with Theo and all the many, many things we can do together is exciting.

  And arousing.

  “Where have you been?” Caroline asks when she spots me.

  I can feel my cheeks get warm, and I wonder what’s wrong with me. I never get embarrassed over stuff like this, and lately it’s all I seem to do. “I saw Theo,” I answer, falling into my chair and reaching for my almost empty wineglass. I polish it off, disappointed there’s no more left.

  “Ooh, Theo,” Stella croons, making my cheeks get even hotter.

  “What is going on with you two anyway?” Caroline asks, tilting her head. The curiosity on her face is obvious.

  I blink at my friend, then glance around the table, blinking at all of my friends. When I’m casually seeing a man—code for casually hooking up with him—I have no problem telling them all about it. Offering up all the dirty details because it’s fun, you know? I wasn’t taking the hookups seriously. And when I thought of Theo as just my friend, I talked about him like I’d talk about any of them.

  But now that things have changed and I’m scared I actually might have feelings for him, it’s like I can’t get the words out. I don’t know what to say, or what to do. I don’t share anything personal with people, and I don’t let them get too close. I never really have. When you have a screwed up family who eventually abandons you and you feel like you can’t count on anyone, you clam up.

  It’s what I’ve always done.

  As I glance around the table at the warm, open faces of my friends, I realize that maybe I should change that habit. I care about these women, and they care about me. They’ve always supported me, even when I do stupid things. They don’t judge. They don’t talk about me behind my back. They’re actual, real friends.

  “Theo and I—we had sex this weekend,” I blurt, then immediately cover up my face with my hands in embarrassment.

  Stella slips her arm around my shoulders and gives me a light squeeze. “I am so proud of you for saying that.”

  “Finally you admit what’s really going on,” Sarah practically crows. I drop my hands from my face just in time to see her high-five Caroline.

  Seriously?

  “It only just happened,” I say weakly, feeling silly.

  “Yeah, but it’s been building between you two since you first became friends,” Caroline says.

  I shake my head. “No, it hasn’t. We started out genuinely as friends. That’s it. I had no feelings like that toward him.”

  I really didn’t. Not at first.

  The last month or two? Yeah, fine. I started seeing him in a different way. Thinking about him differently. Reacting when he touched me, or when he laughed. Or when he made a personal reference like we were the only two people in the world who would get it.

  Yes. That last part especially. I really like it when he does that. As if it’s us versus the world. We’re a team, Theo and I.

  I’m a team with these women as well. I belong. We’re almost like…

  Family. And that’s a feeling I’m not familiar or one hundred percent comfortable with. Yet.

  “I thought it became apparent pretty quick that you two are compatible,” Sarah says.

  She has a point. Theo and I are definitely compatible. He makes me smile. He makes me laugh. We have interesting conversations that I genuinely enjoy. We can argue with each other, and sometimes it turns heated, but we’re always quick to forgive and forget. And the sex?

  It’s amazing.

  “I suppose,” I finally say, glancing around at everyone in a sort of daze. I don’t know what to do. Or what to say next.

  “Kelsey.” Sarah reaches across the table to rest her hand over mine. “It’s okay to fall for a guy you’re friends with. It happens all the time.”

  “Really?”

  “Sure.” Sarah glances around the table, her brows drawing together. “Well, maybe it doesn’t happen that way for everyone.”

  “Charlie couldn’t stand me, and look at us now,” Candice says with a cheeky grin, waving her hand and showing off her gorgeous wedding ring. Those two are sickeningly in love. Seeing them together makes my jaded heart happy. “I won him over.”

  Amelia smiles demurely. “I was set up on a blind date.” She’s with a new guy after finally breaking up with her long-term boyfriend who treated her like absolute crap.

  “It didn’t happen to you.” Stella aims her statement at Sarah.

  “No, but Jared and I were a little different.” Sarah sends a pointed look at Stella. “Like you and Carter.”

  Now Stella is giggling. “I hated him so much. Even when we were kids, I thought he was a pain in the ass. And then we had sex, he ditched me the next morning, and I hated him even more.”

  “Only because you secretly liked him,” Sarah points out.

  “Yeah, though I didn’t realize it at the time. Plus, the sex between us was so ama—”

  “Ugh. You really need to quit talking about having sex with my brother, Stella,” Caroline interrupts, making the entire table start laughing. Including me.

  “You’re going to be okay,” Sarah tells me once the laughter dies. “You and Theo? It’ll all work out.”

  I smile and nod. “Sure we will.”

  Not sure how much I believe what I just said, but I have to. We’re going to work out. Either as just friends or as—gulp—an actual couple.

  I can’t think about the alternative.

  I just…

  I can’t.

  I exit the restaurant to find Theo waiting for me, leaning against a light post and checking his phone. I come to a stop just outside the entrance, not making a sound as I watch him. He doesn’t notice me at first, which gives me a little time to look my fill. His head is bent, his dark hair tumbling across his forehead. Stubble lines his firm jaw, as it’s wont to do this late in the day, and it gives him a rakish, cold-hearted duke air. He’s wearing a suit, as usual, and it fits him perfectly. He spends a lot of money on those suits.

  He also looks damn good in them.

  It takes him a moment, but eventually he slowly lifts his head. His dark gaze meets mine, and the smile that spreads across his handsome face is devastating. Pushing away from the lamppost, he heads for me and I start toward him, both of us meeting in the middle of the sidewalk.

  “Where are you parked?” he asks, resting his hand lightly on my waist. My entire body shivers at first contact. The touch is so casual, yet also possessive. I like it.

  I love it.

  “Right there,” I say, tilting my head to the right.

  He glances over to find my car sitting practically in front of the restaurant. He turns to face me once more. “How’d you get so lucky?”

  “I’ve been here a while,” I say with a little shrug.

  “Night out with the girls?” He raises a brow.

  “Yes, it was a good night. I love my friends.” I lean into him with a smile. “And they love me.”

  “Someone had a little too much wine.” His fingers tighten around my waist.

  “Maybe.” I wonder if I should tell him that my friends know about us.

  Probably not.

  They choose that exact moment to exit the restaurant. Every single one of them calls out a goodbye to us, and every single one of them wears a knowing smile on their face.
But it’s like Theo doesn’t notice at all. He’s either completely clueless, or blind.

  Thank goodness. I don’t feel like answering those types of questions from him tonight.

  “Can you drive home?” he asks once my friends are gone.

  “Ummm…I don’t think so.” I slowly shake my head.

  “I can give you a ride back to my place.” He hesitates only for a moment, and I can feel his insecurities coming back. And those insecurities are my fault, unfortunately. “You still want to come over?”

  “Definitely,” I say without any hesitation at all. I need to be honest about how I feel about him. I want this night together.

  “You sure?” His tone is serious, as is his expression. He wants to make sure I know what I’m doing, and I appreciate that more than he could ever know.

  “Yes, I’m sure.” I hesitate for only a second. “Think you could bring me back here tomorrow morning before work?”

  “Sure.” He’s smiling. He looks very pleased with himself, and also extremely handsome. The suit, the hair, the sparkle in his dark eyes, the knowledge behind them. They say, I’ve made you come and I can’t wait to make you come again.

  My core throbs. Right here, on the sidewalk in front of Tuscany. Maybe it’s the wine, but I doubt it. It’s the man, and how I feel about him.

  “Then let’s go.” I pull out of his hold and he takes my hand instead, which is almost just as good. And is definitely a public declaration, though no one else is really around. “Where did you park?”

  “Kind of far,” he admits as he leads me up the hill and away from the restaurant. “Might be a bit of a hike.”

  “Traffic is always so bad here after five.” I gently swing our connected hands to and fro, like we’re little kids. It’s kind of fun. “Where’s your brother and sister?”

  “They left a while ago. Cam had a call he needed to take. Ali decided to leave too.” Theo frowns. “My sister isn’t in the best place right now.”

  “Why? What’s wrong?”

  He launches into a story about her dropping out of college and disappointing their parents, which I already knew about. How she has no real drive to do much of anything since, and their mom and dad are worried.

  Poor girl. I feel her pain. She should hang out with me and my friends one night. We can give her loads of advice. We all come from such a variety of backgrounds—surely she could learn something from us.

  “Cam bought a farm,” he says out of nowhere, and I come to a stop, forcing him to do the same.

  “What do you mean?” I’m frowning. Who just goes out and buys a farm? Sounds a little crazy. And impulsive.

  “The old Carmel Valley Farm? Remember that place?” Theo asks. He knows I grew up here.

  “Of course I remember it. I used to beg to go there when I was little.” Did my mom ever take me? No. I went one time a few days before Halloween with a friend and her family, and they were kind enough to buy me a pumpkin. I went back to their house and carved it that night. We had so much fun, despite how messy and gross pumpkin guts are. That was the only time I’ve ever carved pumpkins in my life.

  Sad.

  “Cam bought it,” Theo says, like it’s no big deal. But that place has to cost a fortune, even though it’s stood abandoned for a few years and has depreciated in value. Still. That’s a huge purchase.

  “Why would he do that?” I ask. We start walking once more.

  “He wants to renovate it. Bring it back to its original glory he says, and make it even better.” Theo shakes his head.

  “You don’t think he can do it?”

  “I think it’s a huge undertaking that will take years and lots of money and hard work,” he says.

  “Sounds like a big project.”

  “My brother loves nothing more than to tackle a big project.” His expression is grim. “It’s like he purposely seeks out difficult situations. He’s a fixer.”

  “And what are you?” When Theo sends me a questioning glance, I continue, “Are you a fixer?”

  “No. I’m loyal to a fault. I’ll stick by someone for too long, even if they treat me like shit.” He clamps his lips shut after the words leave him, like maybe he shouldn’t have admitted that.

  I can’t stop thinking about his confession, even after when we climb into his car and he takes me back to his place. We make light conversation throughout the drive, but I’m preoccupied by thoughts of his faulty loyalty.

  Is that what happened with Jessica? Did he stick too long by her side, even though their relationship was already falling apart? Would he have married her anyway?

  What a scary thought.

  One I can’t help but let worry me.

  Seventeen

  Theo

  “I had no idea you lived this close to the ocean,” Kelsey says as she climbs out of my car, the wind whipping her long hair across her face. She bats it away and tilts her nose up, inhaling. “I can smell it.”

  “You can smell it pretty much anywhere you are on the peninsula,” I remind her, slamming the car door and hitting the keyless remote to lock it.

  “Not at my apartment, you can’t,” she says wryly, letting me take her arm and lead her toward my building.

  “Where exactly do you live anyway?” I ask, sending her a curious glance.

  She seems to struggle with an internal war, as if it takes a lot for her to admit all of this. “In Marina.”

  That’s a surprise. We might’ve talked about her financials in the past, and she had to tell me her address when she filled out an informational form for me, but that was in the early days, when we weren’t quite friends yet. I definitely wasn’t as curious about her every move as I am now. “Not too far then.”

  “It’s a really small apartment. Old. Dark. Small.” She winces, wrinkling her nose. “Awful, really.”

  “You should move somewhere nicer,” I suggested as we approach my building. “You can probably afford it. I know Wilder pays you well.”

  “Yes, as a matter of fact—” She stops talking and exhales loudly instead, never finishing her sentence.

  “As a matter of fact, what?” We stop at the base of the stairs that leads up to my place. I’ve rented this little one-bedroom apartment for almost two years, and I fucking love it. Jessica thought it was the biggest waste of money ever, but I didn’t care. I wanted the convenience it afforded me by being close to my office. Plus there are the views, and the ocean nearby. The apartment was renovated right before I moved in, and I couldn’t resist it.

  “Nothing.” She shakes her head and moves into me, her hand resting lightly on my suit jacket lapel. “You going to take me inside?”

  Her voice lowers to a husky whisper and my dick reacts, just like that. Taking her hand again, I bound up the stairs and she follows, both of us a little out of breath once we pause in front of the door. I unlock it and lead her inside, going over to the lamp that sits on the end table and flicking it on, flooding the room with gentle light.

  “Oh.” She stops in the middle of my living room and glances around, her expression surprised. “Theo. This is so nice.”

  “You like it?” I’m proud of this apartment. It may be small, but I had an interior designer friend help me pick out the furniture and some of the art that hangs on the walls. The vinyl plank flooring is a rustic grayish-blond wood and the walls are painted a stark white. It accentuates the uncovered windows that flank the sliding glass door, which leads out onto my balcony and showcases that amazing ocean view.

  I feel a catch in my chest every time I look at it. Seriously, who would’ve thought little old me would make enough money to live right on the ocean? When the timing’s right, I’m going to buy a home with an ocean view as well. I’ve been saving for years, and I’ve been searching. Waiting for the right moment to make my move. Getting dumped by my fiancée put a glitch in my plans temporarily, but I’m over it. Over her.

  Besides, I have a new woman to focus on now.

  “Oh my God, I can kind of see th
e ocean out there, even though it’s dark,” Kelsey says as she leaves her purse on the couch and makes her way to the sliding glass door.

  She’s right. The moon is currently full, its bright silvery light shining upon the water outside, and without hesitation Kelsey unlocks and opens the slider, stepping out onto the balcony. “This is so gorgeous, Theo!”

  I follow her out there, the wind smacking against my face, the windchimes that hang off the roof’s edge jangling. “You like it?”

  “I love it.” She glances over her shoulder and flashes me a quick smile before she returns her attention to the water. “I’ve always loved the ocean.”

  “Me too.” I move so I’m standing directly behind her, bracing my hands on the balcony’s ledge, boxing her in, my face close to her hair.

  “When I was little, that’s all I wanted to do. Go to the beach.” Her voice is wistful. “I would beg my mom to take me, and she never did. It was torture, living so close yet never seeing it.”

  “Why wouldn’t she take you? It’s free to go.”

  “I don’t know.” She shrugs. “She said she didn’t like it.”

  There is so much to this woman I don’t know, that I want to discover. She keeps herself closed off most of the time. She’s sweet and she’s funny and supportive. Warm and sexy and she tastes delicious.

  But she’s also…sad. Maybe a little lonely? I don’t think she trusts many people.

  That she’s here with me, showing her trust in me, is mind blowing. I don’t want to disappoint her. And I definitely don’t want to hurt her.

  We’re quiet for too long, and I don’t want to continue talking about her mother if it’s going to make her feel melancholy. Instead, I nuzzle my face in her fragrant hair, breathing deep. I can feel her body start to relax, and she slowly leans into me, showing that right now, in this moment, she trusts me.

  “I’m glad we ran into each other at the restaurant,” she finally says, her voice soft.

  “Me too.” I lean in and drop a kiss on the side of her neck. “It turned into my lucky night.”