“I think I’m drawing all the right conclusions.”
“Lola, no. Garrett’s always been a complicated guy and the abduction has just made him more so. But I swear, I’ve never seen him look at a woman the way he looks at you.”
“This isn’t about how he looks at me.”
“Then what—”
She breaks off when a knock sounds on the bedroom door. “You ladies about ready to go?” Kian asks.
“Five minutes,” I answer, raising my voice so he can hear me through the door.
“Lola—”
“It’s cool, Savvy. I’m not mad at Garrett. I’m really not.”
Her gaze searches mine. “Are you sure?”
I force a smile I’m far from feeling. “Ask Garrett. When I’m mad, everyone knows about it.”
She breathes a little sigh of relief. “Okay, then. We’d better get dressed. No telling what Kian will come up with if we leave him alone too long.”
“But he’s with Garrett.”
“Trust me, that’s worse.” She rolls her eyes as she stands up and reaches for her dress. “He spends entirely too much time trying to figure out how to drive Garrett crazy. Little brother prerogative, I think he calls it.”
Chapter 28
Savvy and I get dressed in a hurry. Such a hurry, in fact, that for a few minutes at least, I’m almost too busy putting on makeup and buckling myself into my heels to think about what I’ve learned.
But that just means I’m still spinning around myself when we head back into the main part of the suite to join Garrett and Kian. Still trying to figure out why everything suddenly feels so off, when I’ve known all along just how badly Garrett wants the throne. I just never thought that determination would reveal a whole different side to him than what I’ve already seen. And I certainly didn’t think that side would be something I’m not sure I can live with.
Part of me wants to cancel—the last thing I feel like doing right now is going on a super-romantic double date with the cutest couple in existence. But canceling would be rude, and it would leave me alone with a questioning Garrett and that’s never a good thing. Especially right now, when I don’t know what I think, let alone what I want to say to him.
Which is why I paste on a smile I’m far from feeling and follow Savvy into the living room. Kian whistles long and low when he sees us, tossing me a lascivious wink even as he wraps his fiancée up in a long, sexy embrace. Garrett pulls me in for the same and I let him, doing my best to ease the stiffness out of my body.
I must not do a very good job of relaxing, though, because suddenly Garrett is brushing my deliberately styled hair out of my eyes and tilting my chin up so that our gazes meet. “You okay?” he asks, stroking his thumb tenderly across my cheek.
“Of course,” I answer. “Just tired. It’s been a long day.”
He looks immediately regretful. “I’m sorry, I didn’t even think. Do you want me to send Kian and Savvy on their way? It’s not too late to stay in.”
There’s a part of me that wants to grab onto the offer with both hands. I am exhausted—completely drained by the roller coaster of the last week and these new, unbidden thoughts that I can’t seem to stop. But staying in won’t help any of that. It’ll just mean that I’m alone with Garrett as these thoughts unspool in my mind, and then what will I do? I’m lousy at hiding my thoughts from anyone, let alone someone I care about—especially when that someone pays as close attention to everything about me as Garrett does.
Something about that thought niggles at me, but Garrett is still holding me, still watching me with a concerned look on his face. The last thing I want to do is make a big fuss in front of Kian and Savvy right now, especially since Savvy already looks like she regrets having told me anything. Or force Garrett into a discussion that I’m nowhere near ready to have.
So instead of grabbing onto the lifeline he’s just thrown me, I shoot him a sassy smile and pat his cheek. “Are you kidding me? How am I supposed to get all the dirt on you if I dodge my first chance to interrogate your family?”
“There’s not much dirt,” he says with a return grin. “Kian will be the first to tell you I’m a pretty boring guy. But feel free to dig for whatever skeletons you can find.”
“That’s right,” Kian tells me as we head toward the door. “I know where all the bodies are buried and I am open for business.”
Garrett shoots him a mild look. “Remember, that works both ways.”
Kian shrugs. “Savvy already knows about my wicked, misspent youth.”
“And loves him in spite of it,” she chimes in.
“Well, to be fair, what’s not to love?” Kian spreads his arms in a yeah, I know I’m hot gesture that should be obnoxious but is somehow just charming.