“About what? Or can you say it around my family?” He nipped her earlobe.
“Believe me, your grandma told me way worse things than anything I would say.” She grinned as Bryan winced.
“Please spare me the details.”
“Will do.”
They reached the gate of the little yard where the picnic was set up. Several of the cousins were already planted on the ground, ravaging their fried chicken like they’d just been saved from the brink of starvation. She moved to join the crowd, but Bryan looped his arm around her waist and pulled her back against him.
“I just wanted to tell you.” She stared into his eyes as he paused. “I’m really glad you came.”
She swallowed hard and nodded. “I am, too.”
His lips were inches from hers, and without thinking, she closed the space, kissing him softly. It wasn’t like most of their kisses, passionate or full of promise. It was just…nice. A display of affection because she liked him and liked his company and his family.
And it felt more right than anything she’d done in her entire life.
He returned the kiss, and she sank into him. Deeper. Until she was lost in him. There was nothing but his lips, the minty taste of him…
And then the hooting of his family. They pulled apart and heat rushed to her cheeks.
“Sorry, guys,” she muttered.
“Don’t apologize to them. Apologize to me for stopping.” He slid his hand lower and patted her ass, effectively shredding their tender moment.
Still, as they joined the festivities and piled food onto their plates, she couldn’t erase the slow burn of his lips on hers, the memory of their nights together, the joy she felt when she rolled over in her sleep to find him there, next to her. The happiness that had warmed her all day cooled, sending a chill through her. This wasn’t her game. She’d spent years building and maintaining the wall that kept guys at a safe distance, and here she was, letting him pick it apart with his smiles and his ohmygawd tongue. He’d made it past her defenses.
How was she going to protect what was left of her heart when every cell in him seemed so dead set on stealing it?
Chapter Ten
“Do my eyes deceive me?” Grace called from her office.
Serena closed the glass door of their storefront behind her with one hand, still holding their coffee aloft with the other. “Sorry?”
“It’s”—Grace glanced at the wall clock—”nine a.m.”
“Your point?” Serena stalked in and plopped Grace’s morning fix on her desk before taking the chair opposite her.
“It’s time for our partners’ meeting.”
“Yes, that’s why I’m here.”
“But we’ve never actually had one. Because you’re never here.” Grace reached for her drink, pausing with the cup halfway to her lips. “How do I know you’re not an impostor?”
“Please,” she snorted. “An imposter couldn’t rock these shoes.” She stuck out her foot, which was encased in a fire-engine-red-platform-heel. “Now can we give off with the dramatics? I’m here. We’re supposed to have a meeting. Let’s, I don’t know, meet or something.” Serena sipped her own coffee, hoping it made her look official enough to distract from the topic. So she was on time. Big deal. She was part owner of a company. It was only right that she be on time. Besides, she’d been punctual every day this week, thank you very much. No point in making a big stink about it now.
“What’s on the agenda?” Serena pressed.
Grace glanced down at the notes in front of her. “Well, we’ve got the charity gala next month, but it looks like you’ve got that under way.”
Serena nodded and Grace went over a few other details. Major clients they needed to accommodate, venues and invoices they needed to track down.
“Ah, and a couple of last things.” Grace tapped the paper.
“Shoot.”
“Bryan’s prints came in.” She pulled a yellow envelope from her drawer and slid it across the table. Reluctantly, Serena pulled the photos from the sleeve. She thumbed through them, her concern growing with every image.
“I’m in all of these,” she said.
Grace nodded. “Seems that the photographer couldn’t get a good shot until you stepped in.” Her friend took the pile of photos and flipped through until she pulled out the last photo they’d taken. Serena was dipped in Bryan’s arms, their lips only inches from touching. “This is the one I want to go with.” Grace said. “Any objections?”
Serena stared at the photo for a long moment, taking in every detail of the man holding her. His muscular arms locked protectively around her waist. They looked good together. Like a natural pair.
Had it only been a couple weeks since that photo was taken?
It seemed like a lifetime ago.
Slowly, Serena shook her head. “No objections. It’s a beautiful picture.”
“Yes, it is,” Grace agreed, an unspoken question hanging in the air between them. Her friend leaned on her desk, but said nothing else. She was waiting for Serena to give the details.
And maybe it was time she gave them. She was practically bursting with the need to tell someone.
“What is it that you want to know?” Serena asked. There was no point in pretense, and if she was going to tell the whole sordid tale, she was going to do it directly.
“I want to know what’s going on with you. Coming to work early. Humming in the office. Never answering your phone.” Grace tilted her head to the side, a soft smile on her lips.
“That does sound awful. You’re right.”
“Serena,” Grace prodded.
“I…” She’d thought the words so many times. Every day since when they’d visited his grandmother’s barn. Every time she woke to find herself wrapped in his embrace. But it was the saying it, the acknowledging it, that escaped her. Like maybe if she said it out loud, it would be real. And of all the fears she’d had in her life, nothing shook her to her core quite like the idea of losing this feeling. Losing Bryan.
“I don’t know how to say it,” she confessed.
Grace nodded but didn’t add anything.
“He’s…amazing. Is this what it’s always like? Getting up because you want to spend the morning together? Waking up and smiling because you’re with the other person? That’s just…how it goes?” She didn’t care if the words sounded stupid, she had to know. She’d never been in love before.
Grace nodded again. “Yeah, pretty much.”
Serena sucked in a breath and chewed on her bottom lip. “Weird.”
“Very,” Grace agreed. “And scary.”
“So what do I do now?” she asked.
“You tell him.”
Grace had given her a lot of bizarre suggestions before, but nothing had ever seemed quite as outlandish as this one. Seriously, she could hardly say it out loud to her best friend. How was she supposed to say it to Bryan’s face?
I love you.
And what if he doesn’t say it back? the quiet voice whispered in the back of her head, the same way it had for the past week. Whenever she saw him, the words were always on the tip of her tongue, but that nagging little voice called them back. The last vestige of the wall he had yet to tear away.
“You’re not your mother. Or your father. You’re loving, and you deserve to be loved. You have to tell him,” Grace said.
“I didn’t say this was about them.”
“You didn’t have to. You’ve spent your whole life running from it. Just trust me. This is going to work.” Grace reached across the table and flipped her palm up to take Serena’s hand in hers.
“But he’s leaving soon.”
“And he isn’t the first guy in the world to have a relationship while he’s in the army. Work it out.”
That was true, although he sure didn’t see it that way. “I don’t know if I can just…blurt it out like that.”
Grace laughed. “What, you want to make a video like Trick did?”
Serena wrinkled
her nose. “Maybe something more my speed.”
“Well, you think about it.” Grace squeezed her hand. “But remember, I’m pulling for you.”
For the rest of the day, she racked her brain trying to come up with a way to let Bryan know how she felt. Just saying it felt so raw, so intimate. So vulnerable.
If she could do it in a way that might hurt less if things didn’t go well, that might be better. A way to hide…an out if she needed it.
She popped open her emails for the last time before closing the office for the day. A message from Q sat in her in-box, and she clicked it open without thinking. Mostly there were minor details and staffing plans for the gala next month, but at the end, she’d dropped a personal line.
I’m already planning some funky fresh moves for the wedding on Saturday. You should definitely karaoke with me. I’ve got a killer Steven Tyler impression. Can’t wait to see you there!
She did her best to stifle a guffaw as she pictured Q, braids flying, belting out “Dude (Looks Like a Lady),” but it didn’t work. And that’s when it hit her.
The perfect plan to show Bryan how she felt. The only problem was that she wouldn’t be able to do it on her own. If she was going to do this thing, she was going to need fate, and Q, on her side.
She picked up her phone and dialed the number at the bottom of Q’s email. Her heart thundered in her chest, but she’d never been surer of anything in her life. This was going to work. This was definitely going to work.
After what felt like an eternity, the phone clicked and Q’s voice sounded through the speaker. “Hello?”
“Hey, it’s Serena. I need your help.”
…
The wedding was great. Despite three meltdowns from Marcia beforehand, the whole ceremony had gone off without a hitch.
If only he could say the same thing for his date with Serena.
He’d thought that the biggest issue would be seeing Piper again. To his surprise, though, she was sitting on the far end of the reception area and had barely cast a glance his way all night. Her attention had been totally focused on her date.
Good for her.
Piper caught his eye and smiled brightly, not with the usual maniacal gleam but with a casual notice. Like he was on the periphery rather than the front lines.
“Did you see Piper over there?” He nudged Serena, but she didn’t look up. Instead, her gaze remained fixed on the salt and pepper shakers, and he sighed. Yeah, tonight was definitely off to a rough start with them.
Ever since Serena had come home from work the day before, she’d been…off. Not cranky or tired. He knew how to deal with both of those issues. It was more like she’d been absentminded. Starting the coffee without putting the pot on the burner. Trying to leave for the wedding without shoes on her feet.
She was somewhere else.
He’d hoped it would be different once they were in the full swing of the weekend. Like maybe it was just stress from work that had bubbled over into everyday life.
Or maybe she was thinking the same way he was. That his time was growing short and it wasn’t long before he’d be gone. Maybe it was time to talk about his future plans and whether or not she wanted them to include her. It was a lot to ask of someone, and it was something he swore he’d never do, but he only had four months left for sure. Beyond that, it was up to him.
But until they were alone, he had to bite his tongue and, as the night wore on, it only seemed to be getting worse. By the time dinner was served, she was nearly comatose, and he had to wave his hand in front of her face to get her attention.
“Earth to Serena,” he said.
“Sorry. What?” She started in her seat and stared around.
“I said, did you see Piper? She has a date.”
“Oh, yeah. Awesome.” She speared her dinner salad and chewed, her gaze still glassy and unfocused.
“Are you listening to a single word I’m saying?” he asked.
“Yeah. Uh, the pipes…are dated. Gotcha.” She nodded and took an overlarge gulp of her wine.
“What’s wrong?” He hoped like hell she’d tell him, because this zombie act was beginning to seriously freak him out.
“Lots on my mind,” she said.
“Yeah, I can tell.”
Q smiled at him from across the table and made a motion as if to say “let it go.” And he did, but not without more than a little reluctance. One way or another, he was going to figure out what was going on eventually.
“I think the karaoke is going to start soon,” Q said.
The crowd clapped as the newlyweds exited the dance floor and a DJ bumped the party to life.
“Oh good.” Q threw her hands in the air and swayed, totally against the beat of the music. “I signed up for a song. I hope I get to go first.”
She did. After a short introduction, Q was called to the front of the room and the tunes of ABBA, along with his sister’s own off-key interpretation, began pouring from the speakers.
“Nothing like karaoke to make your ears bleed.” He smiled at Serena, but she didn’t seem to hear him.
Gently, he nudged her with his shoulder and she gave another start. “Sorry?”
“Are you okay? I’m worried about you.”
She shook her head, gaze still focused on Q as she moved around the crowd. “I’m totally fine.”
“Right.” He nodded, willing himself to let the subject drop again.
They passed the rest of his sister’s performance in silence. When it ended, they joined the crowd in applauding and he was about to lean in and try again when the announcer geared up for another performer.
“Next on the list is a sweet little thing with an even sweeter song. Let’s give our warmest welcome to…Serena Elliott!”
Without a word, Serena kissed him on the cheek and made her way toward the plaza, her red dress billowing behind her as she moved. Q was grinning ear to ear as the two ladies passed, and he could have sworn that they gave each other a low high five as they went.
When she returned, Q dropped into Serena’s vacant seat.
“You did great,” he offered, but his sister waved him off and held a single finger to her lips.
“This one’s for you, Bryan,” Serena called, and shaky grin on her face. The strains of the song were beginning, and while they were vaguely familiar, he couldn’t seem to place them.
Until he did.
His stomach sank as she started in a sweet soprano he didn’t know she possessed. It would have been a nice moment, a cute and touching tribute, but he couldn’t work past the icy chill that coated his every vein as the song went on.
The whole time she sang, her eyes were locked on him and although he was desperate to tear his gaze away, she speared him there with every sincere note.
“I only wanna be with you…”
Even while he was looking at Serena, he wasn’t really seeing her. Instead, he saw all the other women who’d pulled stunts like this one, standing there singing to him like he moved the heavens and earth for them. He saw Piper. He saw his mother screaming like banshee at his father one second and begging him to come home the next.
All the desperate shows of affection that made his gut clench.
The song refused to end. It stretched on and on, and he remained frozen in his seat. He couldn’t leave. Couldn’t make an excuse to collect himself because her gaze never left his.
Maybe this was one just one of her weird jokes. She’d come back to the table and say something like “Gotcha sucker,” and it would all be a fever dream. In the past. Behind them.
And if it wasn’t?
What would he say? He tried desperately to come up with something. Would he let it go and pretend that it hadn’t affected him? He’d done that with Piper during her first few rounds of crazy, and look how that turned out.
Couples filled the dance floor, swaying rhythmically to every note she sang. Like nobody at the party could sense the war raging inside him.
No one except his sister,
who was gripping his forearm, trying to get his attention.
“What’s wrong?” she whispered.
“Nothing,” he said. And maybe that was true. It was entirely possible that this was all one massive overreaction. The result of one drink too many.
“You don’t look like nothing’s wrong,” Q pressed. When he didn’t answer, she went on. “You look like you’re trying to decide whether to throw yourself off a cliff.”
“More like a bridge,” he sighed.
“Are all your friends doing it or something?” She nudged him, but he couldn’t find the energy to return her smile. Right now, nothing was funny.
“I don’t know what to do about this,” he said. It couldn’t hurt to get some perspective, and if anyone could help weigh in, it would be Q.
They just had to be careful about it. The big notes were getting bigger, and while Serena wrangled them like a prizefighter, he knew that it also meant things were getting down to the wire.
“About karaoke? I’ve always said you sang a mean ‘Eye of the Tiger.’” Q’s giggle was cut short and she added, “Come on, it’s cute. She’s got a nice set of pipes.”
“Yeah.” He paused, debating what to say next. And since there was a good chance that the world around him was already imploding, he might as well stick with the truth. “It’s more than this, though.”
“What do you mean?” Q’s brows furrowed.
“I don’t know how I feel, but I know this scares the shit out of me,” he admitted. “It’s too much, too fast. I’m still not sure what I’m doing in the fall and it wouldn’t be fair of me to—”
“Oh, fuck you, Bryan. If you’re dead set on screwing this up and losing a great girl in the process, then get it over with, but you need to stop blaming our father for it. If you’re too stupid to see what’s right in front of you, then you don’t deserve her anyway.” She motioned to the stage where Serena was playing to the crowd now, sharing the microphone with an older couple who looked more confused than elated by the inclusion.
“She knew I was leaving from the start. She knew the deal.” She didn’t have to know that he’d been just about to try and renegotiate said deal before her musical declaration of devotion.
Dirty Deal (A Perfectly Matched Novel) (Entangled Brazen) Page 13
