Madi.A cute name said with a familiarity that had every alarm bell going off in my head.
Whowasshe?
Madi flashed me a nervous smile before following Dallas up the steps and to the front door of the hotel. The moment they disappeared inside, my shoulders sank.
I wanted to throw myself into the fountain.
It was an icky feeling. Dark and embarrassing. I had no right to feel jealous that Dallas was with someone. It was completely unreasonable, and yet I felt it ballooning in my chest, ready to pop at any second.
He was my best friend’s older brother. He was someone I’d known my entire life. Dallas was four years older than me and I still remembered the first day I went home with Avery and met him. I’d been seven. He was eleven. Back then, he’d been shy and quiet. The quiet hadn’t changed much, but he certainly wasn’t shy anymore. All of that awkwardness he’d embodied as a teen had rolled into something smooth andnotboyish.
Although his smile hadn’t changed. He just had muscles now and had grown into his handsome jaw.
He’d seen me at my absolute worst and best and everything in between. From pimples to dyeing my hair fifty different colors to holding me as I sobbed on the floor at the Whynot house when my mother got rid of my cat.
Nineteen years, and I’d never blinked twice at him untilthat night.
“I wanted pink roses! Pink! Not this shade of pink!”
Shouts echoed from within the hotel. “Jesus Christ,” I whispered.
What now? What could possibly be happening now?
My attention shot to my left as I heard the click of heels on stone.Oh, fuck me.Brittany barreled straight for me like a bull in a pen.
What cosmic being had I offended? Today was turning out to be a hot pile of garbage.
It didn’t matter. I dropped the bouquet to the ground. She was fast, and I had two seconds to make a decision.
Was I taking my client out and putting her in a headlock, or was I taking a?—
A tall, unyielding wall of muscle was suddenly between me and her. I collided with it, my hands curling into his shirt in surprise. My forehead knocked into his back and I scowled.
Damn, he’d moved fast.
Dallas Whynot, the man I’d definitelynotjust been thinking about, stood in front of me. He smelled like petrichor and something sweet, and his voice had a rich timbre as he spoke.
“If you lay one finger on June, you lose this venue for your wedding.”
My eyes bulged.
Admittedly, that was probably more effective than me whooping her ass.
“You can’t?—”
“I can,” Dallas said firmly. I could feel how tense his back was. I closed my eyes, trying not to think about how good it would feel to run my nails over his skin. “This hotel belongs to the Whynot family. We do not tolerate physical confrontations of any kind. In fact, it’s in the contract that you and your fiancé signed. If you have a problem, you handle it with respect and like a goddamn adult, or you find another place to get married.”
My body was on fire. I forced my fingers to uncurl from Dallas’s shirt, painfully aware thateveryone was staring.
All eyes were on me. On us.
There were a lot of things I was comfortable with, but being the center of attention was not one of them. That’s why I liked being a florist. The arrangements I put together were usually the focus in a room—not me.
Dallas slid his arm around me protectively. Brittany’s eyes were glassy like she was about to—oh, you’ve got to be kidding.I glanced up at Dallas in annoyance as she burst into tears, but he wasn’t folding. Anne immediately kept her from collapsing to the ground.
“I’m sorry, Mr. Whynot. Please forgive me,” Brittany sobbed.
“For fuck’s sake,” I muttered.
