Seducing the Best Man

She looked at him, her mouth opening then closing. She nodded. “How’s the case going?”

He shook his head. “Long week.” A week of sleepless nights, convoluted files, dead-end tips and thoughts of Cady.

That seemed to irritate her all over again, her posture going rigid.

What had he said? His gaze swept her face, lingering on the tilt of her lips, the shadows under her eyes. “I owe you dinner. Tomorrow? Before the party?”

“Owe me?” she snapped, reaching for the car door handle. “Dammit, you don’t owe me—”

“I want to take you to dinner,” he all but growled.

She froze, staring at him. “Patton, are...are you asking me on a date? Is that what this is about?”

He stepped closer, unable to resist the pull between them. He needed to touch her. “If I am?”

She shook her head, but there was the hint of a smile on her lips. “I’d say it’s a bad idea.”

“That hasn’t stopped us so far,” he murmured, moving another step closer. Her scent hit him. “God, you smell good.”

Her eyes went round and her breath grew unsteady. “You are the most exasperating man I know,” she whispered.

He smiled. “Good to know.” He reached up, tucking her hair behind her ear.

“N-no.” She leaned away from him, but not before he saw the shudder that racked her slight frame.

He frowned. “No?” He was losing sight of the goal here. Being close to Cady did that, fogged things up and knocked him off course.

“The party’s at seven. So there won’t be time for us to get dinner first,” she explained.

He refused to smile or gloat. She may not be aware that she’d just accepted he was her date tomorrow, but he was. And he was...happy. Aching for her, but happy. He cleared his throat. “Do I wear a suit?”

She nodded. “Patton, I don’t know if I can do this.” Her sudden change of topic spoke volumes. She was worrying over this, their plan.

He glanced at his mother’s house. But Bianca and Cady’s conversation replayed through his mind. Maybe he’d figure a way to learn more on their date. “It’s the right thing to do, Cady. You know it. I know it.”

She pulled open the car door. “My place, six thirty. Please don’t be late.”

“I won’t.” He held the door as he added, “You look pretty.”

She tilted her head. “You have a nice ass.”

He laughed. “Thanks.”

She climbed into the car, giving him a heart-stopping view of her legs. He shook his head, closing his eyes and sighing deeply before closing her car door. She rolled down her window, saying, “You know this—we—are about sex, right? I mean it’s great sex, but... It’s still just sex.” She shrugged and pulled away from the curb.

He stood there, frowning after her car. There was no denying that was how they’d started, but things had changed—for him. That was why he’d forced himself from her bed. He’d waited, her admission filling him with an emotion he was hesitant to name. The longer he lay there, the longer she stayed in that bathroom, the more he understood. She was panicking, she needed space. He didn’t want to leave. He’d wanted to hold her close and sleep, to wake up with her, to be with her. If he’d stayed... He hadn’t. And he regretted it.

Now she was leaving, going who knows where. Possibly with someone. Was it the someone she’d been talking to Bianca about? He frowned. No, he didn’t want to know that. He pushed through the back gate, smiling as Mikey ran around him in circles, dropping a ball at his feet and waiting expectantly. Patton picked up the ball.

“What was that?” Zach asked. “Seriously.”

Patton tossed the ball and looked at his little brother. “What?”

Zach glanced over his shoulder at Bianca. “I know you’re my big brother and you value your privacy but—”

“But?” Patton waited, throwing the ball Mikey had returned.

“Cady’s Bianca’s best friend. Guess I feel a sense of responsibility for her now that Bianca’s clued me in on how crappy her childhood was and how terrible her parents are.”