“That’s not fair! If it’s something important you know I’m going to have to tell him!”
“No. No way, Skye. You have to promise or I’m not telling you.”
Skye glared at her and then looked at Leanna. “Please. I bet Lea will tell me without making me pinky swear not to tell Elliott.”
Leanna stood and slowly backed away from them. “I’m…going to go and set up our lunch.” And she bolted from the room.
As soon as she was out of sight, Skye faced her. “You’re starting to freak me out, Jos. What’s going on?”
And then it all came tumbling out–her loneliness, her desire to get married, and ultimately, her arrangement with Tyler.
“You want me to keep that from Elliott?” she cried. “After everything you put us through when we started dating?”
“Okay, you weren’t technically dating; you were being sneaky and sleeping together,” Josie reasoned. “This is different. It’s just…it was supposed to…” Sighing, she leaned her head back. “It’s not going exactly like I thought it would.”
“Of course it’s not! Tyler’s kind of an idiot!”
Straightening, she shook her head. “I wouldn’t exactly say that…”
Twisting in her seat, Skye studied her. “You want me to take Bella?”
“No.” She wasn’t ready to let go of the baby just yet.
“Look, I know that you’ve known Tyler for a long time and in this last year the two of you got closer because of the project you helped him with. But here’s the thing you don’t know…he’s extremely selfish and sort of has a habit of dropping a bombshell and then disappearing.”
Frowning, Josie shook her head with disbelief. “What are you even talking about?”
“I’ve spent a lot of time with Tyler since Elliott and I got married and, of course, Elliott’s shared things with me about him, too.”
“Like…?”
“For starters, he waited until the day Elliott was supposed to marry Tracy to say how he thought it was a mistake.”
She nodded. “But in his defense, no one wanted to say anything because of how stubborn my brother is.”
“Fair enough, but has he ever told you how he got the job with his firm in the first place? How his roommate at the time was the one who got the interview and Tyler gave him the wrong information and the guy missed his chance? And how Tyler was the one to show up in his place and acted like it was a cold call?”
“Um…no.”
“Or how he told Katie he needed to marry her for a promotion and she turned him down?”
“What?!” she cried, and that, in turn, made the baby cry. “Oh, shit! I mean…oh, crap! I mean…”
Skye reached over and took her crying daughter from her and held her close while whispering soothing words to calm the baby down.
“I’m sorry,” Josie whispered. “I wasn’t thinking.”
It took less than a minute for Skye to work her magic and then she returned her attention to Josie. “You weren’t his first choice for this little…scam,” she said with a hint of disgust. “And sadly, I think he’s playing on the fact that you are loyal to a fault. He knows you’re not going to back out because it would mean he’d potentially lose his job.” She sighed. “I really wish you would have talked to me about this.”
“You were in the middle of having a baby. How rude would that have been? Like, ‘Oh, hey, Skye, I know you’re trying to push a tiny human out of your body, but do you have a minute to talk to me about my potential marriage of convenience?’ I mean…come on!”
At first, they both laughed, but Skye sobered first. “Jos, you can’t tell me this all just came about last week. Tyler and Katie broke up months ago and I have no doubt he mentioned it to you not long after.”
Damn. She hated how she didn’t see any of this coming.
“Okay, we joked about it, but I didn’t really think he was serious at first. Then when I sort of went into a funk about my life, it seemed like a decent solution. I thought maybe…you know…after a year together that it could turn into something more.”
“Do you want there to be something more with him?”
“No. I realize that now. Actually, I realized it when he got serious about the whole thing. But there we were in the restaurant and he was proposing and then his family was there and…”
“Wait, what?” she whispered.
“I truly believe it was a coincidence. I think Daniel would have said something already if it had been staged because he doesn’t seem to be buying the whole engagement.”
“O-kay…”
“I panicked!” she admitted. “I completely panicked! His whole family was standing there and he had a ring in my face and…and…I couldn’t humiliate him like that.” Slouching down and covering her face with her hands, she groaned. “What happened to me?”
“Oh, sweetie, you’re just…”
“Pathetic. The word you’re looking for is pathetic,” Josie murmured.
“If I can make a suggestion,” Lea said as she walked back into the room. “You know I was going to back you up last night when Tyler was supposed to pick you up. Then he bailed and sent the sexy SEAL to get you. I mean, does he not realize how hot his brother is? No woman would say no to that.”
You got that right…
“Anyway, I think you need to get Ty on the phone right now and demand that he come over and talk to you face to face like a man,” Lea went on.
“I have to agree,” Skye said. “But will you be able to handle him alone?”
“Honestly? I don’t know.” Before she could say more, Lea was handing her the phone. “Call him and we’ll be right here for moral support.”
As much as she didn’t want to do it, she made the call.
“Hey, Jos! This is a surprise. What’s up?” Tyler said and she just knew he was smiling.
“Hey, I need you to come by after work tonight. I don’t care how late it is; I just need you to come by so we can talk.”
“Um…”
“No excuses, Ty,” she said firmly as the girls gave her thumbs-up. “We need to talk and it has to be tonight. Understand?”
“Josie, I’m in the middle of a big case.”
“It’s not like you’re sleeping at the office! If you don’t show up, believe me I will come to you and I don’t think you want to have this conversation in the office where anyone–like your bosses or the guys you recently beat out of a promotion–will hear. Do you understand what I’m saying?”
He cursed and then said, “Yeah. It’ll probably be after nine.”
“Don’t care. Just make sure you’re there or I’ll be in to visit with St. Clair and all the other partners first thing in the morning.” She paused. “And then I’ll call their wives.”
Skylar and Leanna silently cheered. Skye even lifted Bella’s tiny arm in a show of support. It was adorable and it was the perfect distraction.
“Fine,” he grumbled. “I’ll see you tonight.” And then he hung up.
She sagged back against the sofa and barely took a breath before Lea was pulling her to her feet and hugging her. “I’m so proud of you!! And if you need me, I can totally be there tonight–Brody too. Just say the word!”
“Thanks, but…I’ve got to do this on my own.”
“So you’re going to end the engagement?”
She hesitated just a tad too long and her friends both groaned.
Skye slowly got to her feet. “Okay, now I need the chocolate. Let me go put Bella down and we’ll eat.” She started to walk away. “And this topic is not over.”
Great.
Five minutes later, they were sitting around Skye’s kitchen table enjoying sandwiches and salads Josie and Lea had brought with them. And Skye went right back to the topic at hand.
“I don’t understand what is going on with you, Jos. This isn’t like you. I get being concerned for a friend, but this takes it to a whole different level. Why settle for this crappy situation? You’re a beautiful and successf
ul woman. You don’t need this nonsense!”
“Six months ago, I might have agreed,” she said sadly. “But…for all my talk of independence and not needing anyone, I realized that I was lying to myself. I did want someone–someone to love me the way Elliott loves you and the way Brody loves Lea. And–like a fool–I thought as soon as I admitted it that the men would be there. But they weren’t. I never imagined that when I was ready to date and looking to get serious that no one would want me.”
“Daniel clearly does,” Lea casually mentioned, and all eyes were on her.
“What?!” Josie cried. “No! You’re wrong! He doesn’t! That’s just crazy!”
Skye and Lea exchanged glances before Skye said, “Methinks the lady doth protest too much.”
Well…shit.
“Do you think he’s really into her?” Skye asked.
“Big time,” Lea replied with a big grin. “He couldn’t take his eyes off her. Or her butt.”
Ugh…
“But to be fair, she was showing it off and it was hard to miss it,” Lea went on before laughing.
“Nice! Showing off your butt to your fake fiancé’s brother!” Skye said with her own laugh. “I’m almost sorry I missed it!”
Once again, she wished the floor would just open up and swallow her. “Can we just…not?”
“We will totally stop,” Lea began, “if you admit that you’re attracted to him too.”
“Fine,” she mumbled. “I’m attracted to him too.” Her words were barely a whisper.
“I’m sorry, what was that?” Skye asked, hand to her ear.
Josie sighed loudly and glared at them both. “I said…I’m attracted…to Daniel. There. Now can we move on?”
“If given the chance, would you kiss him?” Lea asked, ignoring the fact that Josie had just made a request.
This was never going to end and maybe if she talked about it, she’d be able to figure out just what the heck she was supposed to do.
Slamming her hand down on the table, she shocked them both into silence. “Would I kiss him? Yes. Have I kissed him? Also, yes. Three times! And you know what? There’s a part of me that wants to do it again because he is an amazing kisser!”
Two pairs of wide eyes stared back at her.
“And as for the cupcakes, I can’t say with any great certainty if he had a favorite, but he certainly seemed to enjoy the wedding cake icing he licked off my lips last night. So yeah…there you have it! I just might steal a bowl of that damn icing and smear it all over my body with the hope that he’ll lick it all off! Are you both satisfied now?”
Then she waited for them to say something.
Anything!
“Well…that was a little TMI,” Skye murmured as she reached out for the bowl of potato salad.
“Right?” Lea asked, a little red in the face. “I don’t mind giving you the icing, but please don’t tell me how you use it.”
“Oh, for the love of it,” she sighed. “You guys…”
They both burst out laughing and Josie knew the topic was far from over, but it felt good to not have to keep it to herself.
It was late and it had been a beast of a day. Daniel turned into his community and glanced at the dashboard clock and saw it was almost eleven. He had been in meetings all day along with Knox and Xander as they finalized the contract on the building and property they were purchasing and then dealt with vendors for furniture and equipment. He’d managed to make it to the gym late in the afternoon before heading to dinner with the guys along with several candidates they were considering hiring. Dinner went long, and he’d been up since six so right now, he was more than ready to crash.
Until he drove past Josie’s and saw his brother’s car in her driveway.
Shit.
He slowed down but it wasn’t like he was going to be able to see anything. It was incredibly creepy for him to linger so he finished driving past the few houses that divided them and pulled into the driveway. With a weary sigh, he simply stayed in the vehicle for a few minutes and called himself every kind of idiot.
The reality was that Tyler was engaged to Josie. There was a very real possibility that he was going to spend the night at her house and it was something Daniel was going to have to come to terms with.
“And you should probably stop kissing her too,” he murmured.
The thought of her kissing him and sleeping with his brother was wrong on so many levels and he couldn’t believe she was the kind of woman to do something like that. Obviously he knew people did that sort of thing all the time but…Josie didn’t seem like that kind of person.
“Or am I just seeing what I want to see?” Muttering a curse, he grabbed his gym bag and climbed out of the car. Unable to help himself, he glanced over his shoulder toward Josie’s and noticed how the porch light was still on and figured it meant they were still awake. Shaking his head, Daniel reminded himself that it was none of his business and walked around to the back of the SUV to grab the box of files he needed to look over.
With his gym bag over his shoulder, he grabbed the box and went to shut the hatch when he heard voices. Refusing to look, he shut the hatch and started walking to his front door and reminded himself to mind his own business.
Inside, he put his stuff down in the entryway and shuffled to the kitchen to grab a bottle of water. He considered sitting down and watching some TV but opted to do that from the comfort of his own bed. The knock on the door made him freeze in his tracks.
Josie?
It was ridiculous how that was his first instinct. He’d wanted to call her today several times just to make sure she was okay. They had kissed–multiple times now–and while it wouldn’t have been a big deal under normal circumstances, there was nothing normal about it. Maybe she was coming over to confront him. Or worse, maybe she was here with Tyler so they both could confront him.
With another weary sigh, he trudged to the door and pulled it open.
“Hey,” Tyler said, looking and sounding more than a little tired. “Sorry to drop by so late, but I saw you were just getting home and…I don’t know…just thought I could stop by and say hello.”
Daniel stepped aside and motioned for him to come in. “Can I get you something to drink?”
Shaking his head, Tyler slowly walked past him and toward the living room. There was only one lamp on, but it was more than enough for them to see by. Daniel stood back and watched as his brother sat down and rubbed a hand over his face.
“So…what’s going on?” he asked casually as he sat himself down on the opposite end of the sofa.
Groaning, Tyler slouched down and closed his eyes. “I’m freaking exhausted. Can I crash here?”
“Of course, but…why?”
Turning his head slightly, Tyler frowned. “What do you mean why?”
“I mean obviously you were just over at Josie’s. Why not crash there?” And was it wrong that he silently prayed it was because she had broken up with him?
“It wasn’t an option,” he murmured, closing his eyes and relaxing again.
“Okay, I know it’s late and I know you’re tired, but…help me out here, Ty. This just all doesn’t add up. You’re engaged but you keep blowing her off, then you’re clearly exhausted and over at her place and yet you don’t stay over. The two of you are the most unlikely couple I’ve ever met in my life!”
“Yeah, well…it is what it is.”
“And what is it?” he pushed because he had to know.
“Dude, lay off, okay? Why is this bothering you so damn much?” Sitting up, he glared at Daniel. “Why are you constantly harping on this?”
“Because you’re my brother and I’m trying to reconnect with you, but it’s hard to do that when you’re constantly MIA! You left me with Josie last week at dinner and then you had me pick her up yesterday for dinner with Mom and Dad and you bailed again!”
“Josie’s fine. It doesn’t bother her.”
“Bullshit,” he countered. “I was there, Ty, and I saw
the look on her face when you didn’t come back into the restaurant, and I was there last night when she was pissed off because you called and canceled at the last minute!” He paused and tried to think of what exactly he wanted to say. “If you don’t pay more attention, you’re going to lose her.”
A low, mirthless laugh was his brother’s first response. “Josie’s not going anywhere.”
“That’s a little arrogant, don’t you think?” And it pissed him off to no end.
Tyler straightened and looked at him. “It’s not arrogance, it’s a fact. Josie and I are tight and she knows the deal. Plus, you have no idea what her schedule is like either. Hell, sometimes we go for weeks without seeing each other and no one’s freaking out about it except you.”
“How the hell do you plan on having a marriage like that?” he demanded, more confused than ever.
“Neither of us are big romantics. We’re practical and we both have very demanding careers so we understand each other perfectly. Besides, this marriage will be beneficial in other ways. My bosses want a family guy, so I’m becoming a family guy.” He chuckled. “Sort of. And Josie will get lots of business contacts to help grow Meet Me at the Altar. It’s a win-win.”
“So…wait. This sounds like…like a career move rather than falling in love and wanting to get married.”
With a shrug, Tyler yawned.
“Do you love her?” And he hated that he was even asking the question, but it was the next logical thing to ask.
Another shrug. “Yeah, sure. She’s amazing.”
And now he truly felt awful. Their relationship might be unconventional, but clearly there were emotions there.
Love.
Dammit.
He wished he had gotten home ten minutes later so he never would have had to have this conversation–wouldn’t know what he knew now.
Raking a hand through his hair, he did his best to keep his tone even, emotionless. “Then if everything’s so good and you love this girl, why are you here with me instead of with her?” Swallowing hard, he added. “If I had a girl who was all the things you just said, you can be damn sure I’d rather be in her bed than the one in my brother’s guest room.”
You May Kiss the Groomsman: A Meet Me at the Altar Novel Page 9
