Rush

How can I possibly say no to any of that? Drake knows I live on a budget, so the offer to pay for my flight home is appreciated. “That sounds great.”

“I’m texting you a picture of us.” He blows out a breath. “Promise me you won’t send it to mom, dad, or Whitney.”

“I promise.”

“I have to run and find my bride.” He laughs. “I have a wife, Em. I have the most incredible wife in the world.”

“She has the most incredible husband,” I say softly. “I couldn’t be happier for you.”

“I want this for you too, Em,” he sounds back.

“Someday, I’ll find my love.”

“Maybe you already have.” His voice breaks. “Jane just hung up with her folks. I’ll talk to you soon.”

I stare at the screen of my phone when the call ends. Maybe I have found my love, but it wasn’t in Seattle. It was here in New York, but that’s a love story that will never have a happily-ever-after, so it needs to end after that first kiss.

It’s a first kiss I will never forget. It’s the type of kiss you remember when your hair is gray, and your heart still skips a beat whenever you think of that moment from the past.

I glance down when my phone buzzes in my hand. A text message from Drake pops onto the screen of my phone.

I slide my finger over it, opening the attached picture.

My hand leaps to my mouth as my breath catches in my throat.

With the majestic view of a castle behind them, and lush green grass at their feet, my brother has his hands cupped over the cheeks of a woman with short blonde hair as he leans in to kiss her.

Her dress is long and flowing, crafted from lace and silk.

Drake is suited in a black tux.

Love radiates from them, and even though I can’t see Jane’s face clearly, I can sense that no one on this earth has made my brother feel more joy than she has.

Chapter 34

Case

“The lip gloss you’re wearing has a bit too much sheen in it for your skin tone.” Maya playfully circles a finger in front of my face.

Swiping the back of my hand over my mouth, I shoot her the same look I did when we were kids and she’d tease me about my overbite. “Don’t go there, Maya.”

“Go where?” She asks with a bat of her eyelashes. “From what I see, you went there.”

“Don’t,” I warn with a raised brow.

“You’re wearing Emma’s lip gloss.” She smacks her lips together. “She was flustered when I interrupted. It doesn’t take a genius to realize that I have horrible timing.”

I won’t argue with that.

Emma and I may not have been in the middle of our heated kiss when Maya barged in, but the discussion we were wading through wasn’t over.

She’s Drake’s sister. That’s a fact that will not change.

“Don’t have second thoughts.” Maya swats a hand over my forearm. “You’re having second thoughts already.”

I arch my neck back. “She panicked.”

“Because of her brother?” she questions.

Running the pad of my thumb over my bottom lip, I nod. “I hesitated. She brought up Drake.”

“Was your hesitation because of him?”

I go with honesty because that’s something Maya can always count on from me. “No.”

“No?” she parrots back. “Yesterday, you told me nothing could happen between you two because of Drake. Now you’re saying he’s a non-factor?”

I take a deep breath. Confessing to Maya that I felt something other than a need to fuck when I kissed Emma would set me up for an hours-long conversation about my feelings, so I dance around it. “I met up with Gavin last night. He helped me see that we’re all adults here, and Drake will have to deal with it if something happens between his sister and me.”

Hearing the words pouring out of me makes sense. Whatever reservation I had about Emma is evaporating. I can’t tell if I’m looking to Gavin for justification to act on my intense attraction to Emma or if I’m ready to toss my friendship with her brother out the window to take her to bed.

Either way, what’s happening between Emma and me is ultimately about the two of us.

Maya’s quiet for a moment too long. “You felt something when you kissed her, didn’t you?”

I try to contain the conversation by downplaying. It’s what I do. It’s what I’ve done for years. “It was a good kiss.”

A laugh escapes her. “It was a good kiss? It blew your world apart. I see it on your face. You must feel it.”

I feel it everywhere. I finally feel alive in a way I haven’t in a very long time.

Crossing my arms, I stare her down. “Why are you here?”

“Why are you changing the subject?” She shakes her head. “You can pretend that you’re not falling for her, but we both know that’s a lie.”