The Beauty's Groom

by Taylor Hart

  “Oh my gosh, I love Tony Stark so much!” Marcus jumped behind them on the couch, flopping and reaching through them to the popcorn.

  “Hey!” Tricia chastised him. “Hold still! I’m creating art here.”

  “Looks like it’s going to end up weird.” Marcus brushed part of her hair to the side.

  Tricia pushed him. “Hey, it’s a work in progress. Bug off!”

  Lu’s eyes met Forest’s, and both of them laughed.

  Tricia tsked. “You can’t turn your head, Lu. Sorry I’m getting bossy about this, but once again, I’m creating art.”

  “Yeah,” Forest said, throwing some popcorn at Tricia’s face. “Hold still, Lu.”

  “I swear I’m gonna put the whoop on you, bro,” Tricia threatened.

  “I’m sorry,” Lu said, holding her stomach and leaning back. “I’m holding still.”

  Forest couldn’t help but think how gorgeous she was. And dang, she was the furthest thing from a stiff he’d ever met. What shampoo did she use? It smelled heavenly. No. Focus. He turned back to the television and put his hand into the popcorn. She was his anger management therapist. She’d said she didn’t even like quarterbacks, like it would never happen. What did that mean, anyway?

  No, Forest. Focus. The last thing he needed in his life right now was a woman. His mind flashed to the actress he’d dated, Kerry King. She hadn’t been at all like the doctor. She was flakier and spent every second on her phone. Where Marcus was interested in the internet, Kerry lived in it.

  Forest would have said they were close, but he’d never brought any woman he’d dated to Christmas. He’d never had her spend family time with them. And that troubled him suddenly. Why hadn’t he ever invited Kerry to spend Christmas with him and his siblings? They’d dated for a little over two years.

  “Okay, done.” Tricia put her hands up. “It’s gorgeous, baby.”

  Lu held a hand to her head and gave Tricia an expression that was half smile, half grimace. “Do you think it’s a bit tight?”

  “No pain, no gain,” Forest said.

  She nudged him with her shoulder. “True.”

  Tricia held up her phone and held it out in camera mode. “Check it, Lu.”

  Lu played along, oohing and ahhing over her braid.

  Forest inspected it, and it really was impressive. “Kinda like a cool Disney Princess thing.”

  “Exactly,” Tricia said. She launched into painstaking detail about what type of braid it was, and she lost him about two words into her spiel.

  Marcus got off his phone and checked it out. “Oh my gosh,” he said, tapping Tricia on the shoulder. “I think that if Lu was a Disney princess, it could be like a Beauty and the Beast thing. I mean, Forest made her come here and stay at his house.”

  Tricia took some popcorn. “She’s even tucked away in a separate room.”

  “A tower.” Marcus laughed.

  “That’s Rapunzel,” Forest said, not really liking the beast analogy.

  “Yes, she’s Beauty!” Marcus’s smile widened and he pointed at Forest. “And you’re definitely the Beast.”

  Forest turned to the side and flexed his biceps and triceps for them, making Lu laugh.

  “Oh, brother.” Tricia rolled her eyes and tucked stray hairs here and there. “You are gorgeous,” she said, smiling at Lu.

  A touch of red colored her cheeks, and her look turned coy. “You guys are funny.”

  Marcus suddenly stood up. “Dude, it’s nine. We have to go.”

  Adrenaline filled Forest’s veins, and he jumped to his feet, sending popcorn flying. “Right.” He turned back, realizing that Lu was covered in spilled popcorn. “Sorry, I’ll clean it up when I get back.”

  She waved him away. “I got it.”

  “We’ll be back in about an hour.”

  She narrowed her eyes. “Where are you going again?”

  He’d never wanted to share the truth about part of the Christmas tradition he shared with his brother and sister. Well, he’d never wanted to share until now. “It’s a secret.”

  “Right.” Lu smiled. “I really wouldn’t tell.”

  “Dude, let’s go!” Marcus called, banging on the front door.

  Forest walked toward the door and told her, “We could tell you, but then we’d have to kill you.”

  Chapter 10

  The next morning, Lu sat in the office at nine. After they’d all left last night, she’d waited until ten-thirty, but they still hadn’t come back. So she’d returned to her “tower,” as Marcus called it, and fallen asleep reading Pride and Prejudice.

  She yawned as she felt the top of her head. She hadn’t taken the braids out when she’d showered. Somehow, it felt mean to take them out when Tricia had spent all that time on them.

  “Good morning,” Forest said, strolling into the office in his plaid pajama bottoms and grey T-shirt. He fell onto the couch, grabbed the cushion, and curled up with it.

  Butterflies erupted in the lower pit of her gut, and she couldn’t help but smile at how sexy the man looked, even in pajamas and a T-shirt. “Good morning.” She wanted to ask again about where they’d all gone last night, but she didn’t want to sound too interested. She didn’t care. Right? That would be stupid. She sucked in a breath, trying to focus. “So, I guess we’re good this morning?”

  “Uh-huh.” He kept repositioning himself, and his eyes closed. “Sorry, doc, chatty Forest isn’t home right now. Please leave a message after the beep. Beep!”

  She laughed; he was being ridiculous. She opened the notebook and picked up her pen, doodling a flower. The leaves were like triangles, and the main part was leafy.

  “Whatcha doing?” Forest asked. When she glanced up at him, his eyes were open.

  “Just doodling.” She grinned at him. “Don’t worry, I’m not writing anything incriminating.” Her heart fluttered. Really? Was she really thinking about flutters? Maybe they were past professional. She had to agree with him that this situation was not normal. Fine. They were friends. She was friends with the Hightower family, and that was nice. And that was all.

  “You’re different,” he said, tucking the pillow under his head as he turned to face her completely.

  “What do you mean? It’s the braid; it makes me different.”

  “Nope. Something else.”

  She focused on filling in the leaves and adding more dimensions to the flower.

  He got up and bent over the file. “Less ‘therapy’ doctor and more coach. I like it.”

  She pushed him back. “You were just worried that I was writing something about you.”

  “Did you just push me?” His eyebrow went up. “Doctor L.C. Lane, I think I might be a trigger for you.”

  The way he was teasing her was obnoxious, but she couldn’t help but laugh. “So should we get to it?”

  She could feel the energy draining out of him. He moved back to the couch and sat. “Sure.”

  Dang. She didn’t like this tension. “Okay, what would you like to talk about?”

  He smiled at her. “You.”

  Her heart fluttered—flutters again! “Forest, I can’t do that.”

  “Why?”

  “This session is about you.”

  He crossed his arms. “Well, I told you, I’m not talking until you answer my questions too.”

  Lu tamped down her irritation, but she had to point out that he was being childish. “Even though this whole situation might be different, these sessions aren’t just so I can check a box. It really can do some good for you.”

  “Actually, they are just to check a box. So check the boxes and we can be done.” He shrugged. “With how much time we’ve spent together, couldn’t you decide that it counts toward therapy? Last night, you opened up.”

  “Last night was different. It wasn’t a court-appointed anger management session.”

  He lay back on the couch and closed his eyes. “Tell me when the time’s up, doc.”

  Frustrated, she sucked in a breath. She
leaned back and got comfy, going back to her doodling. “Fine.”

  “And we’ll be eating Mexican tonight if you’re up for it. There’s a little place inside the main lodge of the resort.” He glanced at her. “If you want to go. But you don’t seem to like leaving this place.”

  Part of her didn’t like how much she wanted to go with them. It felt like she would be giving in somehow.

  “Did you hear me?” Forest asked. “This is my session. Aren’t you supposed to talk to me as my doctor and not ignore me?”

  This man was infuriating. A giggle escaped. “But I’m a coach, and a coach can ignore you.”

  “Are you laughing at me now?” When he turned on his side to face her, he was smiling. “You still haven’t answered if you’re going to accompany us to dinner.”

  She was in so much trouble because this man got beneath her skin. “That would be nice. Thank you.”

  “And can we cancel the session again and just talk at dinner if you want?”

  She hedged. “You still haven’t told me about the Christmas secret.”

  Forest grunted. “Only if I get a break on my session.”

  She rolled her eyes. If she wanted to help this man at all, she had to relax. “Fine, I’ll give you a half-hour break, okay?”

  “I’ll take it. And I’ll tell you the Christmas secret at dinner.”

  Chapter 11

  Forest had put in a full day of skiing, but he’d been looking forward to dinner all day, knowing that Lu would be with them. Now, as they sat at the little Mexican place, he, Tricia, and Marcus devoured three bowls of chips and salsa without taking a breath. The server stopped by every other minute, refilling their appetizers and laughing along with them. Forest guzzled water like crazy, too.

  Lu grinned at all of them. “You guys are starving after skiing.”

  Marcus inhaled another chip, then pointed at Lu. “You’re coming tomorrow, doctor lady. No excuses.”

  “No,” she said, laughing nervously. “I’m a horrible skier, really.”

  Tricia turned to her. “We’ll do the bunny hill with you, don’t worry.”

  “Yeah.” Forest nodded, munching on more chips. “We’ll scale it back for you, Lulabelle, okay?”

  Lu froze. Carefully, she set her glass on the table; her hand was shaking.

  Instinctively, Forest knew he’d said something wrong. “What?”

  She blinked. “Nothing.”

  “Nah,” Marcus said. “That was something.”

  She let out a sigh. “My dad used to call me Lulabelle.”

  Forest realized they didn’t know much about her father, either. He suddenly wanted to ask a million questions about her.

  “You want to talk about it?” Tricia asked.

  Lu shook her head and took her first chip.

  “So tonight, we have to finish Iron Man 2. Man, we’re not getting through these very fast.” Marcus scoffed. “Lu, you’re going to have to start waiting up for us while we do our Christmas shopping.”

  Lu snapped out of her reverie. “Oh, the Christmas secret shopping thing.”

  Tricia gave Forest a look. “Maybe Lu could come tonight.”

  His heart raced, and he thought about how he’d wanted to tell her the first night. “Maybe.”

  Lu stared at him.

  He smiled wider, liking that he was teasing her.

  All of them were quiet as the server set their food in front of them. They started to eat, and Forest warmed to the idea of sharing their secret.

  “It’s okay,” Lu said, giving him a nod. “You guys can do your thing. No biggie.”

  Marcus widened his eyes at him. “Dude, just tell her.”

  “Naw,” Forest said, feeling a flash of inspiration. “How about you just come with us tonight, and we’ll show you how we do Christmas shopping—Hightower style?”

  Marcus whooped and high-fived him.

  Lu looked between them. “How come I’m afraid all of a sudden?”

  As they all burst out laughing, Forest searched her face and wanted to know why he liked this woman so much.

  They ate for a few minutes; then Tricia turned back to Lu. “Okay, so last night you never told us about yourself.”

  Lu grimaced. “I’m boring. What can I say?”

  Tricia took this news to heart, and Forest could see her nosiness rearing its ugly head. “What about your past relationships?”

  “Don’t bother her,” Forest said, feeling strangely protective of her.

  Tricia gave him an exasperated look.

  “It’s okay,” Lu said, turning another shade of red. “I … I was engaged. He cheated.” She shrugged. “I caught him at my apartment with my personal trainer. The one who had me eating vegan.”

  “No!” Marcus shook his head. “So that’s why you’ve given up vegan?”

  Lu smiled at Forest. “Jeffrey was a jerk.”

  “Yes, he was,” Tricia agreed.

  It hadn’t occurred to Forest to consider what the doctor was going through. Sure, he’d thought about her dating life, but the fact that she’d never had a mom, her father had passed last year, and now there was a cheating ex … Man, he wanted to know who he should punch. But he wouldn’t tell her that, because she’d just want to talk about triggers. Wait, did he have a lot of triggers? The thought took him by surprise.

  “How long were you together?” Tricia asked.

  “Yeah.” Marcus leaned forward, clearly invested. “What did this dude do? Was he a doctor, too?”

  “Guys!” Forest said, putting his hand out.

  Lu laughed and leaned back into her seat, her eyes meeting his. “What? You told me I’d have to answer questions earlier. Aren’t these questions good enough for you?”

  The look on her face felt like a challenge, and Forest felt attraction sizzle between them. He grunted. “The questions are great. Look, I was trying to block for you, but if you don’t need it, that’s cool.”

  Tricia ignored their little spat and continued. “Was he cute?”

  “What’s his name?” Marcus was pulling up his phone. “Is he on Insta?”

  Lu’s face puckered with exasperation.

  “Told you,” Forest said. As amusing as this was, he wanted to know the answers too.

  “I thought he was cute,” Lu admitted, “but my opinion on that has changed. He’s an attorney, and yes, he’s on Insta. Jeffrey Burg.”

  Marcus’s fingers flew across the buttons.

  “Jeffrey Burg,” Tricia said dramatically, “attorney-at-law.” She frowned. “It sounds like an insurance commercial.”

  Forest agreed, liking making fun of the guy. “Sounds like a bottom-feeder.”

  “Oh man,” Marcus said. “I have a picture here of him with his arm around Cameron Cruz last year.”

  “Why was Cameron with him?” Tricia asked.

  “It doesn’t say. It was just celebrating a Storm win.”

  Forest turned to Lu. When she said nothing, his suspicions rose.

  Tricia snatched the phone out of Marcus’s hand, and her lips turned down. “He’s okay, but … well, he’s not Forest.”

  Forest gave her a silencing look.

  Tricia threw her hands up. “Well, he’s not.”

  Marcus grabbed his phone back. “That’s true.” He nudged his brother. “You’re much better-looking.”

  Forest steamed a bit. Sure, it was nice to have his siblings think highly of him, but why were they comparing him to the attorney? A glance at the stupid picture made him dislike the guy even more. “Jeffrey” had the polished look of a person who mingled at parties and played nice with others.

  Marcus scrolled down and found another picture of the idiot; this photo also included a woman. A blonde. Pretty. Model type. “Hey, bro, that woman looks like she would be best friends with your ex.”

  Forest glared at his brother. “Why can’t you keep your mouth shut? That’s what I want to know.”

  “Chill, Forest.” Tricia glanced at her phone.

&nbs
p; He realized Lu’s eyes were fixed on him. “What?” he asked.

  The side of her lip turned up. “You are cuter than Jeffrey.”

  He didn’t know what to say to that.

  Tricia laughed. “Wow, my brother is speechless. That’s a first.”

  Marcus pointed at Lu. “You ready for Thor? Chris Hemsworth rocks it. Forest said you couldn’t miss that one. And he’s right.” He scrolled on his phone.

  “We didn’t finish Iron Man,” Tricia pointed out.

  “Onward and upward,” Marcus said.

  Tricia diverted the topic to different hairstyles, and she brought one up on her phone to show Lu. “Do you like that braid? I could actually pull in a strand of blue and make it pop.”

  Forest didn’t know what was going on between him and Lu. It had started when he’d first met her, and it had been a slow burn ever since. Now it was heating up.

  She glanced at Tricia’s phone. “I like it.”

  Forest stood. “Let’s get this session done.”

  “Okay,” Lu said, “but I’m going to insist on the full half hour.”

  Chapter 12

  “Giving me a half-hour break on this session? That’s kind of you.” Forest flicked a switch next to the gas fireplace in the office, then went to the couch and lay down.

  Lu sat in the chair, grateful that he was back to the teasing and happier guy. “I do have to sign the court-mandated sheet for the judge, Forest.”

  “I know, but I’m glad you can loosen up a bit.” He shrugged. “This situation isn’t like a regular thing. I mean, you did spend time with me at dinner, too.”

  She pulled off her glasses. “And I did answer questions.”

  He sat up. “True. Thank you.”

  She hadn’t been expecting that. “You’re welcome.”

  “Look at us, being so polite.”

  Lu laughed, and her heart raced. Dang, the man looked handsome right now. He seemed to have an unlimited supply of tight, athletic shirts.