Money Man (King Maker 1)

I cleared the table of food and wine, unable to leave a mess for someone else to clean up. Lizzy hadn’t returned and it was Matt who walked in. When he caught sight of my face, concern filled his.

“Who do I need to kill?” he asked, with such a deadpan expression I choked out a laugh. Leave it to him to know what to say.

“No one,” I said, somewhere between a laugh and a sob.

And wasn’t that the truth. Kalen hadn’t done anything I hadn’t asked him to. His questions were legitimate, albeit crude. Wouldn’t I have reacted the same way if the situation had been reversed?

Matt’s strong arms wrapped me in a hug anyway.

“I know how to get rid of a body,” he whispered, his lips close to my ear.

I coughed out a half-laugh. “Thanks. I’ll call you if the need arises.”

He didn’t let go and said soberly, “If you want to talk about it…”

Did he think I was crying over Scott?

I pulled back and his hand dropped away. I wiped at the corner of my eyes to remove the stray moisture.

“I’m fine, really. It’s nothing,” I said.

The last thing I was going to do was tell Matt about what happened between Kalen and me.

“Are you sure? I don’t want to leave you like this.”

I mustered up my best smile.

“Really, I’m good. Sad to see you go. But I’m fine, really.”

His grin widened. “Just say the word, darling, and I’m yours.”

It was a tempting offer, but the last thing I needed was another man in my life. Besides, the spark that had fueled my crush on him years ago wasn’t anything like it used to be.

“You’re a good friend,” I said instead.

He put a hand to his heart. “Damn, friendzone. It’s a cold, cold place.”

His amusement freed me from any guilt. Matt may have said he was interested, but he wasn’t in love with me either. Not that I expected him to be. I wasn’t even sure it was me he wanted or if he finally decided to settle down.

I went in for another hug.

“Safe travels,” I murmured.

He squeezed me. “You deserve the best, darling. Don’t settle for less.” And when he pulled back, his grin was filled with straight white teeth. “And we know who the best is.”

I giggled, feeling a lightness in my chest.

“I’m going to be sorry I let you go, aren’t I?” I teased.

He pointed at me. “You said it, not me.”

When he went to get his bag, I went back to putting away the dishes I’d washed and dried. The apartment felt lonely when he finally left.

I had a moment of regret when the door closed behind him. Matt made me laugh and he was sexy as hell. But the truth was, I wasn’t in the right place to take him up on his offer. In too short of time, I’d broken up with my fiancé and slept with a perfect stranger.

A relationship, albeit a long-distance one with my best friend’s brother or anyone for that matter, wasn’t the right move. The question was, what to do now?

Seventeen

When the door opened, I looked up from where I’d curled up on Lizzy’s impossibly white sofa with a mug of coffee in my hand, praying I wouldn’t spill a drop. I hadn’t been able to go to my room with memories of Kalen still so fresh.

“That smells good,” Lizzy said and went for her Nespresso machine.

I could tell she wanted to talk to me as much as I wanted to talk to her.

“So,” she said, exhaling a breath.

“So,” I said back.

She wanted details, but I had no idea where to begin.

“Matty’s gone?” she asked.

I nodded. “Yeah, he left a little while ago.”

But then, she took the conversation in a different direction.

“I guess it didn’t go how he hoped.”

I sucked in a quick intake of breath. “You knew?”

She held my gaze as if to say, You’re kidding me.

“I had a crush on him for like ever,” I said.

“Yeah, I knew that too.”

We were silent another moment before I finally said, “Why didn’t you say anything?”

Waving an absent hand, she said, “Who wants to talk to their best friend about how hot their brother is? I had enough of that in high school. And I figured the two of you would get together eventually.”

“But Scott came along,” I added, continuing her thought.

“And, when I saw Scott, I thought for sure Matt would see how you’d picked a guy that looked almost like him.” She waited a beat before speaking as if to see if I’d deny it. Looking back, it was probably true. It wasn’t that I’d sought a replacement since Matt hadn’t been interested. But when Scott came along, I might have subconsciously ignored all the warning bells about him because he did remind me of Matt, physically at least.