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Reed extended the flowers. Esther inhaled the delicious scent of jasmine and whispered, “Oh, sweetie. How did you know?”
His smile made him even more irresistible. “Your mom sent me a text.”
She rolled her eyes. Her mom. The entire family knew about the dating arrangement, but her mom had bypassed dropping hints and was shouting loudly that she prayed it wasn’t fake. Not only were her mom and Reed’s mom close friends, but everybody simply loved Reed. Not that Esther blamed them. There was a long list of things she loved about him. Not that she would share that list with anyone, especially Reed.
“Thank you again. I’ll go … put these in water.” She turned and hurried out of the entryway and into the large gathering area. Thor was watching a lacrosse game. It wasn’t their brother Chandler’s team, the Boston Cannons playing, or she’d make him wait for her to watch.
He jumped up. “I can put those in water. Don’t leave my buddy hanging.”
Esther handed them over. “We’re fake dating, bro. Fake. Please remember that.” She was so good at fake; this would be a cinch.
If she didn’t let herself look into Reed’s beautiful brown eyes or kiss him again.
Thor lifted his eyebrows. “None of those longing looks seemed fake to me.”
“I love you, my sweet baby boy.”
Greer would’ve been quietly bugged by that. Aiden, Hudson, and Chandler would’ve loudly protested. Thor only smiled.
“But you need to stop teasing and meddling, or I’ll killyouin your sleep.”
He laughed. Loud. “Ah, sis. I know you were trained just as intensely as I was, but you’re far too sweet to kill anybody in their sleep. Let alone your favorite brother.” He winked cockily at her.
Esther knew he was right. She tried to think of a better threat. She’d already used the telling Shelly about “sturdy tricks” where her little brothers had done everything from putting salt in her hot cocoa to putting a snake in her bed. Maybe she should put a snake in his bed, return the favor. Except she loathed snakes and refused to touch them for any reason. Even to get back at Thor for a lifetime of teasing.
“And honestly, my beautiful sweetheart of a sister, Reed is the best of the best. Maybe you could take my advice for once, stop dating all those losers, and give my man a chance.”
Esther blinked at him. “It’s not real, Thor,” she said softly.
“Then make it real.” His blue eyes were full of deeper meaning.
Terror raced through her. She couldn’t make it real. Her life had to be in control, and falling in love was completely out of control. Falling for an irresistible man like Reed would be worse than out of control. It could be life-ending. Some would claim she was being dramatic, and that wasn’t her at all. But her one love had died because of her.
Reed laid out in a coffin. In his suit and pale yellow tie. Handsome and cold and gone.
Horror raced through her, and she blinked away that awful image.
“I’d better go,” she said, needing to get away before she shared with Thor her fears and explained why she couldn’t make it real, “not leave your buddy hanging.”
Thor’s smile drooped. “You’re going to give him the three dates, then ditch him, aren’t you?”
Esther’s stomach churned. “How do you know about that?”
“I have eyes, sis, and we all worry about you.” He gave her a significant glance and then the kick in the pants came out. “You can trust Reed. He would never treat you the way Roman did.”
She backed away. None of her family had brought up Roman for a long, long time, and she preferred it that way. She thought they’d all forgotten about him. While they were dating, she’d made the mistake of bringing him to meet her family as she imagined they were destined for marriage. None of her brothers had liked him, throwing around names like “slick-tongued loser,” “arrogant dud,” and “pretty but pathetic.” She’d been annoyed with her brothers not giving the love of her life a chance and thought they were simply being overprotective jerks. Roman hadn’t been very patient with her or humble around her family, assuming because they lived in an out-of-the-way valley and a lot of them were cowboys that they were uneducated hicks. Roman had been a good person and a policeman dedicated to help others. She had loved him in her too-desperate, clinging way, and it was still ultimately her fault he’d been killed.
Only Papa and her parents knew how Roman’s rejection and death had contributed to her depression and OCD and the horrific year she’d had recuperating from it.
She gave Thor a watery smile, turned, and clipped on her heels into the entryway. Reed stood waiting for her. She prayed he hadn’t heard any of that. His gaze didn’t look sympathetic or suspicious. That was good.
“Sabores?” she asked brightly.
He offered his arm. Esther hesitated before sliding her hand through. Warmth and sparks seemed to radiate from where his arm pressed against her side. Her hand and arm wrapped around his nicely formed bicep. Few men were built like Reed Peterson. It was a good thing, or she’d live in a constant state of heart arrhythmia. But maybe it had nothing to do with lovely honed muscles and everything to do with what was inside the man.
She swallowed hard and looked up at him. His deep-brown gaze was focused on her and a sudden rush of desire to never leave this spot was so strong she couldn’t catch a full breath.
No, no, no. She broke away from staring at him and started toward the door. She was a strong, brave, independent woman, and she did not need a man. Any man. No matter how impressive he was. She had to keep her head on straight, get through the next few dates, figure out what Garret was all about, and then ditch Reed.
