| |
––––––––
Tilly
“You almost had sex with a murderer?” Maya doesn’t even try and keep her voice at an acceptable level. Thankfully, no one seated near us seems to be paying attention to our conversation.
“No,” I correct her. “I said that I was considering having sex with a man who I found out was once a potential witness in an attempted homicide investigation.”
“Now you’re splitting hairs.”
I shrug. “What? How is that splitting hairs? He didn’t kill anyone, Maya. He may have been in the room when someone died, but that... never mind. It doesn’t matter. I saw the light and kicked him out.”
“You didn’t see the light, Tilly.” She takes a sip of her iced water. “Sebastian saved the day. You told me he walked in just in the nick of time.”
I swear my sister has selective hearing when it comes to me.
When I met her at this restaurant thirty minutes ago, the first words out of her mouth were about Sebastian. She wanted to know everything that’s happened between the two of us since I got back from San Francisco.
I skipped right past seeing him naked to the night he walked in to find Donald sitting on the sofa waiting to take me out to dinner.
“The details don’t matter.” I run my hand through my hair. “What matters is that I can cross another man off my list.”
Her gaze drops to her phone yet again. It’s the third time in the past ten minutes. I know as a real estate broker she doesn’t clock out at five o’clock the way that I do. She’s on call twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week for her clients.
“Do you have any fun work stories to share?” I shift the subject from men to her. I love hearing about Maya’s work. It’s one of her true passions.
“Since we’re celebrating your belated birthday tonight, I asked Julian to come for dinner too.” Her lips curve into a smile.
I’m not disappointed. I’ve never been close to Grant, Frannie’s husband, and since I’ve never had a brother of my own, I’ve hoped that Julian and I could build a bond that would fill that void in my life.
“Is he on his way?” I glance at the screen of her phone.
“He’s walking in now.” She gestures to the glass door at the entrance of the restaurant.
I look over expecting to see my future brother-in-law. I do, and as Julian lifts his hand to wave in our direction, I spot the handsome man on his heel.
Dressed as he was this morning, but with a late day shadow covering his jaw, Sebastian Wolf smiles at me and my heart skips a solid beat.
***
“Is business always this brisk?” Sebastian asks after Julian orders a bottle of red wine for the table.
This restaurant just happens to be inside of a Bishop Hotel. That means we’ll get extra special service. The staff straightened up the moment they noticed Julian walking toward our table.
“It’s been a steady increase since we opened.” He reaches for Maya’s hand. “Did you ask Tilly yet?”
Ask me what?
Before I get a chance to blurt that question out, Maya pipes up. “Not yet. I thought we could do it together. You ask Sebastian and I’ll ask Tilly.”
Sebastian clears his throat.
I haven’t glanced in his direction since he sat next to me. He’s been on my mind all day and after my little self-love fest this morning before work, I feel a tinge of guilt. I used my imagination to picture Sebastian naked again. It’s becoming a habit that I doubt I’ll be breaking anytime soon.
“I already asked Sebastian,” Julian says as he runs the pad of his thumb in a circle over my sister’s palm.
Maya’s gaze darts from his face to Sebastian’s. “You said yes, didn’t you? Tell me you said yes.”
“Of course I did.”
I finally look at him, wondering exactly what the question was.
I’m greeted with a sinfully sexy smile and a cock of his left brow. “Matilda will say yes too.”
Yes. Whatever it is, yes.
“Tilly.” Maya taps me on the shoulder and I hesitantly turn to look at her.
My sister’s eyes are welling with tears. She rarely cries so I know that whatever she’s about to say is tugging at her heartstrings.
“What is it, Maya?” I ask softly. “What do you want to ask me?”
“I love you,” she starts with a hiccup. “You’re my best friend. You know that, right?”
I don’t. I always thought Falon Shaw was my sister’s best friend mainly because Maya introduced her that way when I first moved to New York.
I nod. “I love you too.”
“We’re getting married soon.” She looks to Julian with a smile before her gaze settles back on my face. “I want you to be my maid-of-honor. I want you to stand next to me when I marry the love of my life.”
I feel my bottom lip tremble. “Me?”
“You.” She reaches to cup her hand over my cheek. “I talked to Frannie about it this morning. I wanted her to know that I picked you.”
“I thought...” I begin before I glance over at Julian. He’s smiling. His hands are folded together on the table in front of him. When I look back at Maya, her tears have dried. “I thought you’d ask both of us. Frannie asked us both to stand up for her at her wedding.”
“I thought about it, but I want it to be you.” She sighs. “We’ve become so close since you moved here and Frannie totally gets it. Besides, Becca and Jolie are going to be flower girls.”
Frannie’s daughters will make perfect flower girls.
“Tell me you’ll do it.” Maya laughs. “You want to do it, right?”
“Of course I’ll do it.” I throw my arms around her shoulders. “Thank you, Maya. Thank you for picking me.”
