Dirty Deal (Perfectly Matched 2)

“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.