The Engagement Embargo

by Samantha Chase

  “Oh, my God! You sound like a damn psychiatrist! Can we please just go?” he asked. “Had I known accepting a ride was going to involve a therapy session…”

  “Who said this was a therapy session?” she asked, feeling a little defensive herself. If anything, she was doing her best to make this not feel like a therapy session! “I’m just trying to help, that’s all.”

  “Well don’t,” he grumbled. “I just…maybe drop me off at the Verizon store or something so I can replace my phone.”

  “You sure you want to do that? While you’re all…you know…in a tux?”

  Looking down at himself, he shook his head and muttered a curse. “Can you just seriously give me a break here, Skye?”

  “Fine. But know this–if we go to the Verizon store, I’m coming in with you and I’ll tell the salespeople that I’m paying for the repair or the replacement or whatever it is that you’re going to do. Are you prepared for that? Huh?”

  He groaned.

  “I have a counteroffer for you,” she said with a smile.

  “Oh good…”

  “Let’s go grab something to eat. My treat.”

  “Skylar…”

  “Well, we do have those doggie bags, compliments of Josie. But I’m not sure you want any of it.”

  “I did help plan the menu,” he said begrudgingly.

  And she felt a small flutter in her tummy at his words. He was opening up a little. “Oh yeah? What were your choices?”

  He shrugged. “The crab cakes.”

  “Got some.”

  He studied her for a moment. “The lamb chops.”

  “Got some of them too.”

  Twisting slightly in his seat, he eyed the bag in the back. “And the mashed potatoes.”

  “Josie assured me they were in there too. Hopefully she put some in my bag…”

  “How much food did she give you?” he asked with a hint of a smile.

  “Let’s just say she made sure you have enough for a few meals.” She shook her head and laughed. “My bag doesn’t look nearly as full, so…”

  He nodded. “What else is in there?”

  “Some shrimp, quiche bites, and the chicken. What do you think?”

  “I think I don’t like mushrooms and the chicken has mushrooms.” His smile grew.

  “Tell you what, you can have my lamb if she gave me any and you can give me the chicken and mushrooms. What do you say? We can go eat at your place or just drive to the nearest park and do this picnic style!”

  “You got any plates or silverware?”

  “Oh. I didn’t think of that.” She paused. “So…shall I drive you home and we can continue this conversation?”

  For a minute, she simply held her breath because she knew she was pushing–even though she had told herself not to. The poor guy probably just wanted to be alone and here she was all up in his business. In her defense, however, she was driving him home and bringing him food, so that had to count for something, right?

  “What do you say, Elliott?” she nudged, hoping she sounded casual.

  He raked a hand through his hair and let out a low, husky laugh. “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but…sure. Why not? It’s not like things could get any worse for me, right?”

  “Um…wow. That was a little hurtful.”

  His eyes went wide. “What? Oh, sorry. I didn’t mean…”

  Laughing, she playfully swatted at him before straightening in her seat. “Stop! I’m just teasing–trying to lighten the mood. For all you know, this could be the exact thing you need today! Someone to just hang out with.” She backed out of the parking spot. “We could talk about what went down today–or not. Maybe play some video games–if that’s what you’re into. Or maybe we can just eat and wish each other a nice life. It’s up to you.”

  He laughed again. “Are you sure? Because you’ve kind of been up in my business since the phone incident.”

  “If you had just let me fix it…”

  “Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know. This is my punishment.”

  “I don’t think anyone’s ever referred to me quite like that, but…whatever.”

  “Skye?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Can you please just drive?” he asked, resting his head back against the seat.

  “Sure.”

  “So where was the mother of the bride?”

  “Well, when we found her, she was…shall we say…in a very compromising position with the best man!”

  “No! At her daughter’s wedding?”

  “At the church!”

  Elliott laughed hard and had to admit, Skye was doing a great job of keeping him entertained. She had been telling him wedding horror stories–which really should have been the last thing he wanted to hear–but listening to her made him realize he wasn’t alone.

  And who knew there was so much drama in the wedding world?

  They had polished off quite a bit of the food and he was feeling pretty good, all things considered. Once they had gotten back to his house, Elliott changed out of his tux and Skye pulled her gym bag from the car and changed into yoga pants and an oversized t-shirt. They were both comfortable and laughing and for a day that was incredibly crappy, right now things didn’t seem quite so bleak.

  Still…he knew this was all a great distraction, and eventually he was going to have to be alone to process everything. So when all their food was eaten or put away and the conversation started to slow down, he looked over at Skye and smiled.

  “Thanks for drawing the short straw today.”

  She looked at him oddly. “Um…what?”

  “You know, Josie sending you here to check on me. I appreciate it. Honestly, I don’t think I could have dealt with my family.”

  “Oh, well…you’re welcome.” The silence was slightly awkward, but they seemed to be on the same page. Standing, she went and got her purse and her gym bag and smiled at him. “I guess I’ll get going then. Is there anything else you need?”

  Sliding his hands into his pockets, Elliott shook his head. “I’m going to be fine.” Then he let out a mirthless laugh. “Eventually.”

  The instant the word was out of his mouth, he knew his mistake. Skylar’s face went from serene to sad–or pity, take your pick–and as much as he hated it, he was smart enough to know he needed to get used to it. Everyone he knew was going to be looking at him like that for the foreseeable future.

  “Skye…”

  The smile was back on her face and he appreciated her restraint from offering him pointless words of encouragement. “If you’d like, I’ll tell your sister that you’re fine and well-fed, and to wait for your call.” Then she leaned in a little closer as if telling him a secret. “You know, otherwise she’ll be calling you every day to check on you.” She walked over to the door and looked over her shoulder at him and he could tell she wanted to say more, but simply went with, “Take care of yourself, Elliott,” before leaving.

  He stared at the closed door for a solid minute before he allowed himself to turn around and walk over to the sofa. Collapsing down on it, he let out a long, weary breath. Now what? Skye coming home with him was definitely a blessing, and for all his carrying on about wanting to be alone, he already hated it. Glancing at his watch, he saw it was just after eight. Right now, they would be cutting the cake at the reception. By nine, he and Tracy were supposed to head out to the hotel near the airport for their wedding night. And at eight tomorrow morning, they’d be leaving on their honeymoon.

  Instead, Tracy was going to be sunning herself with Daniel, and Elliott was stuck eating leftovers and sleeping alone in his own bed.

  It took a few minutes of shifting around for him to get comfortable and his eyes closed as his mind seemed to be in overdrive with thoughts of what his future held. Just thinking about the things his father and the rest of his family said to him and what they expected of him for the next year was enough to overwhelm him.

  An embargo.

  Who does that?

  Who
even thinks like that?

  But the sad reality was that he had been so hyper-focused on pursuing what he wanted for himself with his whole heart, that he didn’t realize how that looked to other people.

  Not that it should matter; it was his life, not theirs. But clearly he had hit a point where everyone thought they knew better and…maybe they did.

  Maybe it was time to throw in the towel and just give up and get used to being single forever. Hell, some guys actually wanted that.

  He just never thought he’d be one of them.

  “Well, this is going to suck,” he murmured.

  There was his job to keep him busy, and he did have a lot of close friends he knew he could turn to and hang out with to keep his mind off of his crappy life, but if any of them felt like Tyler had, it was going to be a long time before he felt comfortable hanging out with them.

  “And I’m back to being alone.”

  Yeah, things weren’t looking particularly good at the moment and he wished he knew when it was going to change. There was no way he could simply stay cocooned in his house indefinitely just to avoid the lectures or I told you so’s. They were going to happen no matter what and the sad part was, even if any of them had spoken up sooner–like before today’s wedding massacre–Elliott knew he wouldn’t have listened. He still would have pushed for this wedding because he thought he knew better.

  How messed up was that?

  “I should seriously get therapy.”

  Then a thought hit him–Skylar. While not a practicing therapist, she did have a psychology degree and talking with her today once they got here to his house, had helped him to feel a little better. Maybe she would be open to meeting with him once a week just to hang out and talk? It would be less intimidating than finding a therapist and having to admit to a stranger how pathetic he was. Considering he and Skye had known each other for years and she knew his family dynamics, he wouldn’t have to go through the whole process of explaining it to someone. She knew just enough that they could simply jump in and start talking.

  The idea definitely had merit.

  The big question was could she keep what was said between them just between them and not go back and tell his sister? That was definitely something to think about. Right now, he’d have to hope that she could and the next few days would really be the first test. If his sister called–or anyone in his family–and repeated anything specific he and Skylar talked about, then he’d know he couldn’t trust her.

  But if everyone behaved?

  Then he was definitely going to reach out.

  Skylar was safe–a friend. No one was going to condemn him for hanging out with her. There was no way she was included in the embargo, so…

  All around, spending some time with her was going to be a good thing.

  Chapter 4

  Sometimes the person you fall for isn’t ready to catch you.

  Unknown

  “Why would you send Skylar to go home with your brother?” Skye heard Mrs. Sullivan yelling at Josie on Monday morning as she walked into the office.

  “Mom, relax. It’s just Skye. She doesn’t count in the whole embargo thing. She’s family.”

  “She is a single woman and you know how your brother is! Why would you throw temptation right there in his path?”

  Skye stopped in her tracks and held her breath. No one had seen or heard her come in, and she desperately wanted to know where this conversation was going.

  “It’s not like that, Mom,” Josie patiently explained. “Seriously, Skye looks at Elliott like a brother and I’m sure he looks at her like a sister. He clearly didn’t want any of us checking on him and I knew I could trust her to make sure he was okay. This isn’t a bad thing.”

  “I don’t know. I’m afraid he’s going to be looking for a rebound no matter what we all said to him.”

  Josie was quiet for a moment. “It’s too soon for that. Even for Elliott. Besides, it was one dinner. They don’t ever see each other except when he stops by here and I have a feeling it’s going to be a while before he wants to come anywhere near this place.”

  It actually took an entire month before Skye saw Elliott again.

  That wasn’t exactly unusual, but she had hoped to see him again after she’d driven him home and had dinner with him after the whole wedding fiasco. Josie had kept her up to date on how he was doing, but only briefly, and there was no way she could push for more information because her friend would have eventually gotten suspicious.

  So here she was on a Wednesday evening still at the Meet Me at the Altar office when Elliott walked in.

  Her heart skipped a beat before it started to race at the mere sight of him.

  I have it so bad…

  She looked up and smiled at him but didn’t attempt to stand. Undoubtedly she’d trip or do something stupid, and it was just safer to have the desk between them. “Hey, Elliott!” she said cheerily. “What brings you here?”

  He was dressed like he’d just left work, in navy trousers and a white button-down shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. His forearms were tanned and had just a light smattering of hair and add that to his large hands and you had…

  Arm porn.

  Seriously, I have it so bad…

  “Is Josie around?” he asked from where he stood in the doorway, and Skye felt mildly disappointed. Of course he’d be here to see his sister…

  “Oh, sorry. She’s gone for the day. I’m sure you can call her. I think she was going straight home. Maybe you can catch her there.”

  Then he took a tentative step into the office. “Actually, I’m here to see you, but I wanted to make sure she wasn’t here first.”

  Skye was pretty sure her lips were moving, but no words were coming out.

  He walked fully into the room and sat down in one of the upholstered chairs directly in front of her desk. “So, how are you?”

  “I…I’m good,” she stammered and cursed the silly tremble in her voice. “Good. And you?”

  He shrugged. “I’m doing okay. Every day gets a little better, so…I can’t really complain.”

  “Good. That’s good,” she said and then groaned. “I swear I know more words than this.”

  His smile was sweet and completely disarming. He’d never directed that smile at her before and her tummy fluttered and she knew she needed to pull herself together because she was looking more and more like an idiot.

  “So what can I do for you?”

  “When we last spoke, you told me about getting your degree in psychology,” he began slowly. “And I was curious if you ever considered using that degree.”

  Okay, that was not at all what she was expecting, and it seemed like a really odd question. “You mean like taking on patients?”

  Nodding, he said, “Yes, exactly like that.”

  “Um…not really. Plus, I never went back for my master’s or anything. I’m not even sure I could take on patients.” Then she let out a low laugh. “Although, I feel like I’m a therapist to my friends and family sometimes. Everyone is always looking for someone to talk to about one problem or another, and I’m always ready to listen.”

  He nodded again and seemed to consider his words. “How would you feel about taking on another friend?”

  Her eyes went wide, her jaw dropped, and for a moment, Skye thought she was having a stroke. He couldn’t be serious, could he? Or maybe he wasn’t talking about himself. Maybe there was someone else he was referring to and she was jumping to conclusions.

  What if it’s Tracy? Did he honestly think she’d want to talk to his mean girl of an ex? What is wrong with him? Why would he ask that of her? It was ridiculous and rude and…

  “Um…Skye?”

  “Hmm?”

  “I think I lost you there for a minute. You sort of zoned out.”

  “Oh, right,” she said, smoothing a hand over her ponytail. It was a nervous move she did and she knew that, but…sometimes it helped her to take a moment. “Sorry. So who would you like
me to talk to?”

  “Me.”

  “What?”

  He nodded yet again. “Me. I’d like to know if you would possibly consider informally talking with me and helping me figure out what is wrong with me since I keep making these terrible decisions with my personal life.” Then he shook his head. “And…I’m kind of in an angry phase and I already know that can’t be good.”

  Swallowing hard, Skye tried to think of all the reasons why this was a bad idea–a terrible idea–the worst idea. But the selfish part of her–the part that genuinely cared about this man–really wanted to help him.

  Even if it meant torturing herself.

  But…

  “Elliott, I’m not sure I’m the right person for this.”

  “The day of my wedding you told me you were the perfect person for this,” he challenged with a small smile.

  Grimacing, she murmured, “Oh, you remembered that, huh?”

  And when he let out a low chuckle, Skye knew she was in trouble.

  “Yeah, I remembered.”

  For a minute, all she could do was stare at him because she had no idea what to say. It was one thing to offer to talk to him the day of the wedding; it was obviously the right thing to do. But a month later, what could she possibly say? And did she really want to know why he found it so easy to fall in love?

  With everyone except me?

  Okay, yeah. She was definitely going to have to get over that one because there was no way she could possibly sit and talk with him–help him–if she only focused on her own feelings of rejection.

  “Listen, Elliott,” she began carefully, “I really wish I could help you, but…I don’t think it’s a good idea.”

  His expression turned somber and it felt like she had kicked a puppy. “May I ask why?”

  Ugh…where do I even begin?

  Fidgeting in her seat, she frantically searched for the right excuse. “For starters, I’m not a therapist. I may have gone to school for psychology, but that doesn’t mean I’m qualified to help you. Plus, you’re my best friend’s brother and that’s definitely a conflict of interest.”

  “You said that didn’t matter.”