Page 44 of Yours to Keep

“I don’t know if I’ve ever met a woman who reasons the way you do.” He chuckled, his head shaking. “Plenty of guys, sure, but definitely not many girls.”

“I’m a unicorn.” I pumped my eyebrows once. “You’re welcome.”

A silent pause settled between us, but it wasn’t awkward and it didn’t last long before he looked at me again. “I didn’t think you’d come.”

I frowned. “Why not?”

“You could’ve made an excuse.”

“I like Liana and she said she wanted me here, so here I am,” I said simply. “I’m not here on a covert mission to spy on you, Mr. Crowne.”

“I didn’t think you were.” He laughed, something in his expression softening. “She likes you too.”

We shared a look then, and for just a second, it felt like the rest of the world dimmed. Our knees brushed again, my shoulder pressing a little harder into his when I crossed my legs. Every time we accidentally touched each other, we both went still for half a second, like we’d touched a live wire. Then we jointly pretended it hadn’t happened at all.

Honestly, even though we were just waiting for the bride and groom to arrive, this felt like a date. The realization made my pulse jump in a way I wasn’t prepared for, because it also forced me to admit that I didn’t dislike the feeling.

As I forced my eyes away from his, I tried desperately to remember all the many reasons why I hated this man, but right now, I couldn’t even come up with one. Shit. I really am screwed, aren’t I?

18

SULLIVAN

The music kept looping, the same instrumental swells of a string quartet providing a backdrop to the increasing rustles and murmurs of a crowd that was growing restless behind us. This wasn’t the walk-down-the-aisle song—whatever it was called.

It was the other type of music, the we’re-stalling tunes. I checked my phone again, but there was still nothing.

Bree nudged my knee. “You’re going to wear a groove into your screen if you keep doing that.”

“I’m fine.”

“That’s the third time you’ve said that in the last five minutes.”

I slid the phone into my jacket pocket and breathed through the rising panic. “It’s this music. Why does it have to keep repeating? It makes it feel like something is wrong.”

She tilted her head, her gaze soft and understanding on mine. “Stop worrying. I’m sure everything is fine.”

I shot her a look, but she just smiled back. When I turned to glance at the doors over my shoulder again, my stomach tightened. The groom was still nowhere to be seen and he definitely should’ve been here by now, standing up at the altar.

“Neil is probably just tied up,” I said, not really sure why I was voicing it out loud. All I knew was that I had a really fucking bad feeling about it and that maybe verbalizing my thoughts would help me realize I was suffering from a case of brother-of-the-bride jitters. “He’s always so damn busy, and don’t get me wrong, I understand busy, but you’d think that on his wedding day, he’d turn his goddamn work phone off.”

“You would think that.” Her mouth twisted into a grimace. “I won’t lie to you. I’m not this guy’s biggest fan and I’ve never even met him, but he’s probably just running a bit late.”

“Yeah. I’m not his biggest fan either, but Liana chose him.” I said it more to myself than to her, trying to think of something—anything—that would ease the tension in my shoulders and stop me from cracking a few teeth from having my jaw clenched so hard. “She probably knows what’s keeping him. I’m sure she does.”

Bree leaned a little closer. “Exactly. See? Crisis solved.”

Except my jaw wouldn’t unclench no matter what I tried. People shuffled in the pews behind us. There were a few coughs, whispers, and a baby fussing somewhere to the left.

I checked my watch again. “This is really cutting it close.”

“Okay,” Bree said gently. “Maybe he’s just stuck in traffic.”

“He knows the timeline,” I ground out. “What kind of man doesn’t account for traffic on his fucking wedding day?”

“Easy,” she said. “You’re in a church and you’re cussing, and glaring.”

“I’m not glaring.”