Page 56 of Secret Baby for My Brother's Best Friends

"I followed you."

I blink. “You followed me?”

“I wanted to make sure you got home safe."

Now, why does that sound adorable, rather than creepy, like it's supposed to sound? Is it just because he's hot and has eyes like the sea that makes me feel like I’m floating?

I clear my throat and cross my arms over my chest, trying to stand firm. "You could have just called me after I got home, and then you would know.”

“By then, I would be too late.” His eyes darken for an instant, their depths haunted. "Something could already have happened, and I would have been too late to stop it."

I want to ask him what it is he's scared might happen, but I don't want to trigger painful thoughts.

Clearly, some horrifying incident lurks in his memories, something that happened that torments him to this day.

But then he caps it all off by saying, “This wouldn’t have happened if you’d just let me drive you home.”

“Oh no, you don’t." I wag my finger. "You’re not going to put your crazy behavior on me.”

He gives me a wounded look, and for some reason, I have to press my lips together hard so as not to laugh again.

Instead, I shake my head.

“Okay, listen. I don’t need you to marry me.”

“I know you don’t. I’m not asking because you need it.”

“Then why are you asking?”

“Because I want to."

That has me rearing back. “You want to marry me?”

He thinks about it for a second and nods. Odd. This is the most bizarre conversation I’ve ever had.

A stranger wants to marry me.

“You don’t even know me,” I say.

“That’s not true.”

“Yes, it is. All you know about me is my name and the fact that I work in marketing.”

“That’s not all I know,” he says, and though he doesn’t smile, the roguish twinkle in his eyes lets me know that he's teasing.

I roll my eyes even as a blush fills my face.

I should probably go back inside and end this conversation right here and now, but I linger anyway. Because deep inside, a partof me is enjoying myself, enjoying talking with him, watching the funny expressions he makes, and how he thinks about things deeply before he lets the sentence out of his mouth.

I don’t know why, but I feel so comfortable around him. Typically, I’m not as relaxed around virtual strangers, and around the other two men, they're too aware and practiced that it intimidates me.

Whereas with him, it's clear he's just as awkward as I am when it comes to conversation. Therefore, there's an understanding there, and I'm not as scared to talk to him. It feels like I can’t say the wrong thing, like we’re kindred fumbling souls who don’t have to worry about saying the perfect things to each other.

“We can get to know each other better after we’re married," he says, and that triggers a surprise burst of laughter from my lips that has him smiling.

“What are we in the 1900s?” I ask.

“Arranged marriages are still a thing in many cultures, and some of them are really successful.”