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“Can’t imagine why.”
“Okay, I’m here if you ever need to talk. I know all about difficult men.”
I laughed as she gave me a hug. “You should get an award for dealing with my brother.”
“Got one. I get to keep him.” I caught her looking over my shoulder. “I think yours might like to keep you, too, just saying.”
“Em…” I shook my head. “It’s a fling, if that.”
I watched Dean approach from the corner of my eye. He looked…determined. His jacket was gone, likely hung back up in the closet. I tightened my grip on the champagne glass and took a look around the room. Not many exits I could quickly escape through without causing a heck of a scene, and the last thing I wanted was to ruin the afterglow of my brother’s engagement. I loved him and Emma too much to do that.
Dean stopped beside me, his own champagne glass in hand as he surveyed the room, his gaze finally resting on the tree.
“I can’t help but feel you’re avoiding me,” he murmured in a low voice.
“You’re so—”
“Perceptive?”
“Annoying.”
“I deserve that.”
I turned. “When did you mess with my vehicle?”
He scratched the back of his neck, ducking his head down. “Yesterday. I made contact with Noah in the morning, asking about plans. When I realized they were all coming here…I needed to make sure you stayed. If you left, you would have missed all this.”
I stayed silent.
“I’m sorry. I probably should have just told you they were coming, but I wanted to surprise you. I never even realized I still had the spark plug in my pocket. I would have put it back tonight while you were asleep.”
“And I’d leave in the morning.”
“You can leave whenever you like,” he said softly.
I sighed. He’d done it for me. So I wouldn’t have missed this. Which would have broken my heart all over again…
“I cannot be that pathetic chick who fell for a rock star.” The words again came out of my mouth without thinking.
“You’re not pathetic. Far, far from it.” He turned to face me, raised his eyebrows as if he’d just caught on to what I’d just said. “Wait. You fell for me?” His dark eyes widened in surprise, then that slow smile appeared.
I should have had better self-control. Our little Christmas fling or whatever we wanted to call it had an expiry date on it. It had from the moment I realized who he was in that sauna. “Did I say that? I-I just mean my life is going to seem ordinary after this. You’ve ruined me. I hope you’re happy.”
“I’m ecstatic, actually. Oh, and I have a solution.”
“I’m all ears.”
“You should keep me around. I need someone like you in my life.”
“You’re hiring me. Awesome. I need more info on the position of course oh and the benefits package.”
His eyes turned mischievous. “I’m quite sure you’ll enjoy the position of being my girlfriend.”
“You sound awfully sure of yourself…but what about the benefits?”
“Oh, I can give you all the info on the benefits package.” The corner of his mouth lifted back into a sexy smile, and he took a long drink of his champagne, finishing it off. “In fact, I’m more than happy to go over it again and again to make sure you’re truly happy.”
“Dean…”
