Seduce Me (Austin Singles 1)

Lily nodded, pulling out a small compact mirror and groaning when she looked into it.

“Christ, I look like shit.”

Standing, I leaned down and kissed her on the forehead. “You look beautiful.”

My eyes caught the sight of the guy Lily had been with. “Mark is coming.”

Taking in a shaking breath, Lily stood, smoothed out her gown and smiled. “He’s a good guy.”

I grinned. “I’m sure he is, but please think about what I said. Nash deserves the truth.”

Lily nodded and a somber look moved across her face.

“Hey beautiful. Everything okay out here?”

I watched as Mark wrapped Lily up in his arms. He kissed the top of her head and smiled at me. “You must be Charleston Monroe. Lily has talked a lot about you.”

My eyes darted back to Lily. “All good, I hope.”

I winked and he laughed.

“All good. It’s a pleasure meeting you. I knew your father. He was a good man. Did a lot for the community, as well as your mother.

My heart swelled at the mention of my parents. The hurt was still there, but as the days went on, the hurt faded to pride at the mention of their names.

“Thank you for saying that. They were both amazing people.”

We stood there in silence for a few moments before I finally said, “Well, if you’ll both excuse me, I have somewhere urgent I need to be.”

Lily smiled at me and said, “Good luck.”

With a smile, I replied, “I don’t need luck, I’ve got love on my side.”

THE KNOCK HAD me lifting my eyes to the opening door. Nash walked in with a smile on his face. He held a garment bag.

“Where are you going?” I asked, tossing the pen on my desk and arching a brow.

“I’m not going anywhere, but you are.”

I laughed. “No can do. I’m behind at work, and all those days you let me get trashed put me even further behind with shit.”

It was true. I was behind with everything except payroll, and the only reason that was okay was because I had an accountant who handled that shit.

Hanging up the bag, he turned to me.

“Dude, is that a suit in there?” I asked.

“Yep,” he said, sitting in one of the chairs in front of my desk.

“Okay, you want to tell me why you brought me a suit?”

“You’re going to a dinner.”

“I am?” I asked, my brow arched up in amusement.

“Do you remember what you said to me last weekend? When you came to my house upset and wanting a drink?”

“Yeah, I said I was never letting another woman into my life again.” Nash smiled and nodded his head. After seeing Charlie with that Darrell douchebag at the benefit, I left and started heading to a bar. I was ready to get drunk but turned around and went to Nash’s place instead. He gave me a glass of Coke, nothing else, and we talked for a few hours. He talked about Lily. I talked about Charlie. Both of them had broken our hearts and left each of us feeling lost in our way. I still couldn’t figure out what in the hell my sister was thinking. Nash confessed last weekend they had been seeing each other for about a year without anyone in the group knowing. All because my sister thought I’d be pissed. Hell, Nash was a great guy. The kind of guy who would work hard to give her the things she wanted. He didn’t make the type of money Lily made, and even though he thought that was why she ended things, I knew my sister wasn’t that way. It was something else. Something I had hoped to talk to her about tonight when we met Mom for dinner.