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“No,” he replied.
Oh. She’d gotten that wrong.
“I’m his much more handsome and far more intelligent brother. The best looking out of the bunch.”
“Hey,” Flick protested, but she was grinning. “I happen to think West is the best looking.”
“Well, you know the saying . . . love is blind.”
Tanner smiled down at Flick who rolled her eyes before turning to look at Lara. “The Malone brothers aren’t short on ego. In fact, the younger they get the bigger their egos grow.”
“Something else gets bigger too.” Tanner wiggled his eyebrows. “If you know what I mean.”
Hard to miss what he was implying.
She grinned. Flick went bright red and elbowed him in the stomach. “Tanner! Don’t try to embarrass a pregnant woman. And anyway, I very much doubt that is true.”
“Be happy to prove it.”
She gasped. “You did not just offer to show me your . . . your. . . boy parts.”
“Boy parts? I’m no boy. I’m all man.”
“Wait until I tell West what you said,” Flick threatened.
Tanner paled. “No way, you can’t tell West that.”
“I can.”
“He’ll kill me. Flick, you know he has no sense of humor. You can’t tell him. That bastard is scary as hell when he’s riled.”
“I won’t tell him if you take me for an iced coffee and don’t tell him I had caffeine.”
Tanner groaned. “Fine, but if he finds out you had caffeine, I’m going to deny all knowledge.”
“Wimp,” she told him. “It’s not like he’ll spank your ass.”
“No, he’ll just beat on me. I need this face to be free of any bruises this weekend.” He circled a finger in front of his face.
“Why?”
Tanner just grinned. “That’s not for your ears, darlin’.”
Flick groaned.
“Um, well, I have to go . . .”
It was bizarre standing here listening to them squabble. But she didn’t know how to gracefully extract herself from the conversation. Although she was rather interested in knowing whether Tanner’s claims were true and whether Butch was younger or older.
No. Nope. Do not think about the size of his dick.
“Oh my gosh, sorry. We were so rude,” Flick said apologetically. “So, are you coming to family brunch next Sunday?”
“I, um, well I only met him on Saturday night, so no, I’m not.”
“Wow, I’m surprised he’s going to a wedding with you when you just met.” Flick looked shocked.
“Ah, yes, well, I have to go. I’ll see you later. Maybe.”
“Bye,” Tanner said. “And I’m pretty sure we’ll definitely see you later.”
Uh-huh. She didn’t think so. But she gave them a small, awkward smile and wave.
Dork.
Shoot. What had she been doing before that bizarre encounter? Oh, calling her mom.
She found her on her contacts. Luckily, her phone was still working despite smashing into the pavement.
“Hello? Lara? How was the dress fitting?”
“I looked like a giant pumpkin,” she said, walking along the pavement. She was aware of Tanner and Flick walking behind her, but she doubted they could hear her.
“Oh, Lara, I’m sure you didn’t, dear.”
“I’m sure I did.”
“I saw the other girls in their dresses, they looked lovely.”
“Really? Orange must go with their spray tans.”
“Well, it wouldn’t hurt you to get a spray tan, dear.”
She rolled her eyes and stepped off the curb. “Great. I’ll add that to the list. What was it? Hair, nails, spray tan. Oh, and Emily—”
“Look out!” a voice screamed from behind her.
There was the sound of a horn and she froze as she saw the car coming straight at her.
Suddenly, hands wrapped around her arms, pulling her off the road and out of the path of the car, which screeched to a stop.
“Hey, Lara! Are you all right?” Tanner asked, staring down at her. His hands were tight around her upper arms, but she didn’t complain.
Then again, she could barely breathe, let alone speak.
She’d nearly gotten run over. Why hadn’t she been looking where she was going? Who the hell cared about a freaking pumpkin dress when she’d nearly died?
“Lara? Lara?” a voice called from a distance.
But all she could do was struggle for breath.
“Oh my God! Are you okay?” Flick asked.
She blinked, staring from Tanner’s concerned face to Flick’s frightened one.
“W-what. . . w-what . . .” Why couldn’t she think? Why was the world spinning?
“Shit. She’s going to faint.” She was set down on the ground and her head pushed between her knees.
“Fucking hell! She just came out of nowhere! What was she doing just walking out onto the fucking road?”
The angry yelling made her whimper and curl into herself.
“Hey, shut the hell up, man! You’re scaring her!” Tanner snapped.
“She should be scared. I’ve got half a mind to drag her to the police station and have them arrest her for endangering me! If I’d crashed into her, do you know what it would have done to my car? Stupid bitch.”
A hard hand grabbed her upper arm as someone attempted to haul her up.
