“Okay, so now you know something about me.” I licked my lips and tried to distract myself from the dull ache building between my legs, even as I fought to keep the lid on that box of dirty thoughts. “Tell me something about you.”
“What do you want to know?” He spread his arms to his sides, seemingly not at all as affected by just talking about sex as I was. Then again, it probably hasn’t been anywhere near over a year for him.
“Why are you so against weddings?” I asked, giving voice to the first question that popped into my head. It was something I’d been curious about since he’d first let on that he shared April’s view of the institution of marriage.
His entire demeanor changed in the space of a heartbeat. Something shuttered in his eyes and he tensed, stilling almost completely before he blew out a breath and offered me a watered-down version of his smirk from before.
“Wow. I wasn’t expecting you to go right for the balls, but okay.” He paused when the waiter came back to our table to deliver the drinks. Then he reached for the sugar and stirred it in before looking back at me. “I’ve been married before.”
Whatever I’d been expecting him to say, it wasn’t that. My jaw nearly hit the ground, and for the first time in forever, I was just this side of speechless. “What?”
He chuckled at my reaction, but the sound was humorless. “I know, right? But yeah, I was. I met a girl, fell in love, and did what I thought I had to do.”
“And then?” My ears were ringing a little. “I honestly can’t picture this really happening, or you doing anything you didn’t absolutely want to be doing.”
“Firstly, we’re sitting here because we have to plan something I absolutely do not want to be planning, but secondly, I wanted to do it.”
“What happened?”
Cyrus snorted. “We got divorced. It turned out it wasn’t really me she wanted. It was the money she thought I was going to make. Within a week of us separating, she met someone else. Another guy doing stuff in the tech world that she thought might pay off, and that time, it did. The dude was an up-and-coming entrepreneur when she met him, and on the day he reached the top, she married him. Literally the same day he sold his website. Marched him right down to city hall and put a ring on it, so to speak.”
I knew I had to look like an idiot, but I just couldn’t stop gaping at him. “Are you serious?”
He nodded. “As a fucking billion-dollar deal to a broke kid. Which I was at the time, by the way. I had no money, and when it started looking like it was going to stay that way, she ditched me.”
“That sucks.” I whistled under my breath. “No wonder you’re not exactly a supporter of the institution. Your ex-wife is a prime example of someone who did it for the wrong reasons instead of the right ones.”
“Like I said, there are no right reasons. What about you? I’m guessing you’ve never made the walk down the aisle if you’re still so optimistic about it.”
“I never made it that far, no. I was about to get married once, or so I thought. Unfortunately, the guy I was seeing turned out to be married already.”
He arched a brow, lowering his chin closer to his chest. “And yet you still believe in marriage and people doing it for the right reasons?”
“Yeah, I do.” I knew I was going to look insane, but I smiled. “My parents were very much in love right up until the death part of ‘til death do us part. Their example of what a marriage should be like is one I would very much like to follow someday.”
For a long beat, his deep green eyes stayed on mine but he didn’t say anything. When he’d looked at me for long enough that it was becoming awkward, I was about to break the silence when he finally talked.
“Fair enough. I can respect that. How about I stop being so overtly against it and you don’t rub it in my face too often that you want it?”
“Deal,” I said and stuck my hand across the table. He shook it, and the tingles from before instantly reappeared. Instead of dwelling on it, I released him and dropped both hands to my lap. I’d have to remember to keep them firmly off him from now on. “So, do you want to tell me what you learned from the bride?”
He pulled a face, but before I could remind him of the deal we had just made, he held up his hands and turned his palms out. “That wasn’t about the wedding thing. It was about the color scheme. She wants teal. Cream and teal.”
I nodded slowly, trying to hold back laughter when Cyrus grimaced as he said the words. “I can work with that.”
Another hour passed as we sipped our drinks and talked about the bride’s wishes. Before we left the cafe, Cyrus leaned over the table and smiled. “How do you feel about going out to dinner tonight? My treat. I would have gone crazy trying to get all this done myself. The least I can do is buy you a steak.”
“A steak? Well, I can’t say no to that, can I?”
“Great.” He stood up then, paid the bill, and gestured for me to walk ahead of him on our way to the car. He groaned when we got there and scrubbed a hand over his face. “Fuck, I never thought I’d say this again, but let’s go talk to a man about a ceremony.”
Chapter 10
Cyrus
Luna and I spent the day lining up some appointments for wedding shit—at least in my own head, I could still refer to it as that—and scrolling through links and pictures Jenny sent over. After dropping her back off at her shop a couple of hours ago, I’d gone home to shower and get dressed for dinner.
A critical glance at my appearance later, I grabbed my keys, wallet, and phone and stuffed them in my pockets. I’d reserved a table at a nice restaurant on the rooftop of a five-star hotel and had dressed the part.
Black button-down shirt with the sleeves rolled up to my elbows because it was way too fucking hot already to keep them down, charcoal-gray slacks, matte-black Oxfords with a slightly rounded toe.
I knew I looked good.
What I didn’t know was why I’d made the effort. All I knew was that I’d pre-gamed like this was a date, even though it wasn’t.
On the other hand, I supposed people acted the way they did on dates because it was the polite, decent way to act. As for my clothes, well, they weren’t really that much different from what I wore normally anyway.
I shrugged off the weird feeling that I was about to go on a date and headed out to pick up Luna. She’d offered to meet me at the restaurant, but I’d insisted on picking her up, and eventually, she conceded.
Once I was settled in my car, I pulled out my phone and plugged in the address she’d texted me into the navigation app. Picking her up from her house and not the shop still didn’t mean it was a date, though.
Traffic wasn’t as bad as it could have been and I made it to her place with five minutes to spare, but Luna was already waiting for me. A simple emerald-green dress wrapped around her curves, the neckline dipping low enough to cut a V into her cleavage.
The skirt hit just above her knees, but despite the length, it didn’t look too conservative. She looked gorgeous, classic.
A smile lit her eyes as she saw me pulling up. Then just like she had done earlier in the day, she darted toward the street. I was ready for her this time, getting out and rounding the hood to open the door for her.
“Hey,” she said as she came to a standstill next to the open door. “Thanks again for picking me up. If you would have told me where we were going, I really could have met you there.”
“But then it wouldn’t have been a surprise.” Wait a second, am I flirting with her?
“It didn’t have to be one, but I do like surprises,” she said before sliding into the seat.
I shut the door, shaking my head at myself.
Sure, she was attractive, and if she had been anyone else, I might have taken a shot at getting in her pants. Unfortunately for me, she wasn’t anyone else. She was the woman who was helping me with Peter’s wedding and, more importantly, one who believed in marriage and relationships.
Despite my own preference for casual, I would n
ever lead any woman on and I didn’t intend on starting now. I knew where she stood as well as she knew where I did. Which meant my dick had to stay in my pants and the flirting needed to stop.
“How was the rest of your afternoon?” she asked as I started the engine and flicked on the blinker to move back into the traffic.
I glanced at her as I checked the road, shifting the car into gear when I spotted an opening in the traffic and pressing down on the gas. “It’s only been a few hours, so it wasn’t anything special. Yours?”
“Same.” She reached up to adjust the sleek ponytail holding her long locks out of her face. “Are you going to tell me where we’re going yet?”
“Nope. You’ve come this far. I’m sure you can wait a few more minutes.”
With the way she had shifted to be half facing me while I drove us, her thigh was enticingly close to the hand I had on the gear shift. Her pale skin looked soft and smooth, the milky white in stark contrast to the deep green hem of her dress.
For a second, my mind conjured up images of sliding my hands over that soft skin, of hitching up her dress and bundling it around her waist. I wondered what kind of panties she wore and immediately put her in something lacy and French cut.
My dick twitched and I caught my groan in my throat just before I was yanked out of the fantasy by the tinkling, melodic sound of her laugh.
“Yeah, I guess I can wait a few more minutes. Have you spoken to the bride yet about what we managed to get done today? I’m dying to know what she thinks of it all.”
I’m thinking about fucking Luna until she can’t walk while she’s thinking about a wedding. Fuck my life.
“No, she’s probably only getting off shift sometime around now. I’ll speak to her about it in the morning.”
“Will you let me know what she thinks once you’ve spoken to her? We should probably run all the details by her as we go along. She is the bride, after all.”
“Yeah, sure.” I shrugged, but I was still distracted by the lingering images I’d conjured up that were now torturing me. At least talking wedding stuff was keeping those images from running rampant and taking over my brain. “Everything we’ve done has been according to the information I got from her, though. We should be fine.”
Luna nodded and made small talk all the way to the restaurant while I banished the remainder of my dirty thoughts. By the time we pulled into the hotel parking lot, I had them well under control.
As I parked, she craned her neck to catch a glimpse of the name of the hotel displayed above the bank of elevators. Her brows rose. “The Maslow? Really?”
The tone of her voice made me frown. “What? You don’t like it here?”
Humor flashed in her eyes as she grinned. “I wouldn’t know. I’ve never been here. I thought they would perform checks on your bank balance before letting you in the doors.”
I chuckled under my breath. “Nah, but they did warn me that they’ll be keeping an eye on the silverware since they decided to forgo our credit checks.”
Her head tipped back as she laughed and reached for the door handle. Acting fast, I climbed out of the car and strode purposefully around it, offering her my hand once I’d opened the door.
Her brows pulled together in confusion. Then she arched one as she accepted the offer. Her touch was feather light in my hand, her fingers delicate but strong.
The humor still hadn’t left her eyes as she looked up at me. “You know, you claim not to want a relationship yet you’re treating this a heck of a lot like a date.”
“It’s called being a gentleman,” I retorted and released her hand to take a step back from her once both her feet were planted firmly on the concrete.
I couldn’t argue her point too hard though, considering how I’d had the same thought earlier. Surprise crossed her features again when I offered her my elbow. “I thought chivalry was dead.”
“Only to the dude-bros and hipsters who think they’re too cool for it,” I replied, surprised again by how naturally it came to banter with her.
The only other person I ever bantered with was Peter. To the rest of the world, I was a total and utter dick. With all except Luna, it seemed.
I refused to think too much about why it came so easily with her. It didn’t really matter. We each still knew where we stood, and in the meantime, why not enjoy each other’s company?
She used her hand in the crook of my elbow to tug me to a stop as we were walking past the ramp that led to street level. Her eyes darted to the elevators, to the ramp, and then to mine.
“What would you say to bailing on the fancy dinner and hitting up a taco truck instead?” she asked, her head cocked and her lower lip sinking between her teeth. “No offense. I’m sure the food here is good, but this isn’t a date, right?”
“Right.”
One of her shoulders lifted as a mischievous gleam entered her eyes. “In that case, we don’t have to do a fancy dinner where we both try to impress each other with put-on wit or charm. Let’s just go have fun.”
“There’s nothing put-on about my wit or charm, I’ll have you know.” I dragged my gaze from hers to look at the rapidly fading sunlight creating a glow at the top of the ramp. “But you’re right. Let’s go have some fun.”
“Excellent.” Her fingers tightened on the inside of my elbow and she started walking again. “Thanks for not taking offense, by the way. I’m just not a fancy restaurant kind of gal if I’ve got a choice.”
“What if this was a date?” I asked, genuinely curious. It fucking intrigued me that she’d choose a food truck over the Maslow, and I was curious about her reasoning. “Would you still want to go to a street truck?”
She snorted. “I’d always want to go to a street truck instead, but I would have gone to the fancy restaurant and beguiled you with my charms.”
“You’re not planning on beguiling me with your charms, then?” I tilted my head to watch her expression as we made our way up the ramp.
With humor still dancing behind her eyes, she shook her head. “Nope, no charms. Just plain old me.”
“There’s nothing plain about you.” It was unlike me to blurt anything out, and yet the words had come without any active command from my brain to say them out loud.
Luna blinked several times in surprise, lifting her chin and angling her head so she was looking at me now, too. “Thanks, I guess.”
We reached the top of the ramp and hooked a right, merging with throngs of people out on the sidewalk but walking at a much slower pace than most. Luna was still holding on to my arm. I was sure it looked like we were a couple out on an evening stroll.
Unease clenched my gut. My free hand came out of my pocket and went to the back of my neck.
Blowing out a breath while we waited for the red man on the traffic light to turn green, I tightened my grip on my skin. “Here’s a random question for you. What are you looking for out of all this? You agreed to help me with the wedding, we’re going out for dinner, and from the looks of things, we’re going to be spending quite a lot of time together. I—”
A smile tipped the corners of her mouth upward as she bumped her hip into mine. She tutted her tongue. “Why, Cyrus, are you asking me if I’m doing all this with the ulterior motive of luring you into a relationship?”
The teasing lightness of her voice made the grip of tension on my gut release. “Yeah, I was.”
“Don’t you think that’s a bit presumptuous? I offered to help you before I even really started getting to know you. I might believe in relationships, but I don’t believe in love at first sight, and I definitely don’t believe in tricking someone into falling for me.”
“Falling for you? Now who’s being presumptuous?” I joked.
She pursed her lips and shot me an unamused look, but I could see the smile she was trying to hide. “Well, they say it always happens to those who aren’t looking for it, so who knows?”
“Me. I know. Absolutely no offense meant, but I’m not going to fall for you.”
“We should be okay then because I’m not going to fall for you either.” There was so much certainty in her voice that I actually almost ended up taking offense anyway, until I reminded myself of the realities of what we were talking about.
Her mouth moved to the side as she chewed the inside of her cheek, obviously less certain about whatever it was she wanted to say next. I didn’t get to find out what it was, though.
With a sudden sniff of the air, she dispelled whatever thoughts had been brewing in her head and shot me a grin instead. “We’re right around the corner. I can smell the awesomeness that is Ben’s Tacos already.”
Ben’s Tacos turned out to be a food truck that appeared to be reasonably established and well known. It was parked beside a small green space in the center of the upmarket district we were in.
Tall elm trees burst over the park surrounding them, in the process of creating a canopy that would be lush by mid-summer. Benches were placed in their shadows, though I could only just make them out in the fading light as we approached the truck.
Large plastic containers had been placed on the counter, partially obscuring the body of the server inside. “What can I get you?”
Luna stepped up and glanced at the menu before turning to look at me over her shoulder. “Are you okay if I order for us?”
“Go ahead.” I made a sweeping gesture toward the truck but moved so I was standing behind her. I was curious to see what was on offer and what she’d choose.
As it turned out, she ordered one of everything—although they only offered four different kinds of tacos, so it really wasn’t too much. After ordering drinks, she pulled her wallet out of her purse.
Before she could try to pay, I handed some bills to the server over the top of her shoulder and was ready for the narrow-eyed glare she sent me when she spun around. I smirked as I raised a shoulder. “Chivalry isn’t dead, remember? I’m allowed to pay for our dinner without getting any shit about it.”
Say You Do Page 7