He looked up and smiled, his gaze still holding a touch of fury. “Better, now that I’m with you.”
“Um, hello?Baby?” Gabby said, with a squeaky laugh like she’d just been delightfully scandalized. “Are you going to introduce us?”
I finally looked at my family. Mom’s lips were pursed like she couldn’t believe a child of hers would behave in such a way, but her eyes were curious and maybe a touch excited for me. Rowan seemed wholly unaffected. He may as well have been watching a diaper commercial. But Gabby was on the verge of erupting any second, her fists pressed against her mouth as if holding back a thousand squeals.
Holden maneuvered onto the bench behind me, his legsstraddling mine. Then he wrapped his arms around my waist and rested his chin on my shoulder so they could see his face. His underwear model, more-confident-than-any-man-had-the-right-to-be face.
“This is Holden,” I said, my smile trying to burst out of my cheeks. I snuggled back against his rock-hard chest. “My sexy lawyer boyfriend.”
Gabby looked like she’d swallowed an apple whole. Rowan nodded, slightly impressed. But Mom was shaking her head, full-on shocked.
Holden pushed the hair off my neck and pressed a kiss to the hinge of my jaw. Then said straight to the phone. “No need to find her a man. Christy’s already taken.”
seven
HOLDEN
Ishot up off the bench the second she pressed end. My chest was tight and I couldn’t take a full breath. Oh, man. What had I done? Stupid question. I knew exactly what I’d done. I’d just broken the one rule I’d lived by for the last ten years.
Never, ever initiate the kiss.Ever.
No matter what.
I pressed on my temples. Maybe Christy was my kryptonite. For years, Silas had been telling me it could happen. Said she might be out there somewhere. Lemon was his.
Kryptonite or not, I didn’t have the luxury of giving in. The difference between Silas and me was that he could be a soft place for Lemon to land. But I shouldn’t be anyone’s landing place. I was all jagged parts and sharp edges that cut to the bone. Loving me came with too many risks. My past was a constant reminder of that.
Why had I let myself listen to her FaceTiming her family? It was none of my dang business. And from the way she was glaring at me right then, I was fairly sure she hadn’t wanted my help. I paced the floor, my armswrapped around my head.
“Uh. What wasthat?” Christy asked.
I stared at her, chest heaving, not sure what to say. “Sorry…your family…they’re something else.”
“Yeah. I told you that. Did you not believe me?”
I had. But this was even worse than she’d described. What kind of sisters mastermind a humiliating scheme to marry their sibling offwithout her permission?
Her hands flew out. “Why else do you think I took a job across the country in the same town as my ex? Did you think I was trying to get him back? Like some kind of stalker-lunatic person?” Her voice shook. She was going to cry again.
“No. I never thought that.” Without thinking, my hands started to lift, reaching out to pull her to me. I snatched them back to my side. Like I said, kryptonite. Get it together. There’s a reason you’re a one-man band.
Shields back up, starting now. Cocky Holden persona engaged. It was the only way to keep this grenade from detonating.
I ran a hand through my hair. “It got under my skin, is all. Sorry.” I turned to walk to the leg extension machine, hoping she’d let it be.
“Excuse me? Nuh-no. We’re not done here.” She grabbed my arm, stopping me. And that tiny contact sent my stupid heart fluttering like I was back in high school. “My family is going to expect to see you around when they FaceTime. They’ll want pictures and updates.”
I stepped away, shaking her off. “Yeah. That’s why I apologized. My mistake.” I sat down and pulled the pin out of the sixty-pound slot. Had a toddler used this last?
“Yourmistake?” She folded her arms across her chest, jaw right, buzzing with irritation. “No.”
I chuckled and shoved the pin into the heaviest slot—two hundred and fifty pounds. “What do you mean, no?” Then I hooked my feet under the pads of the machine.
“No.You don’t get to kiss me like that in front of my family and then say, “Sorry.” She mimicked my deep voice on the last word, adding an arrogance that was probably deserved. Fine. It was fully deserved. But I couldn’t go soft in front of her. If she knew how weak I really was I would be the doll and she would be the voodoo master.
I shrugged like a heartless tool. “I mean, I just did.”
She called me a name that would’ve made my mom’s toes curl. Then she sat on top of my feet with a glare that said she held me responsible for making her resort to such petulant behavior. “No,” she said again. “Sorry isn’t going to cut it. They think I have a hot lawyer boyfriend named Holden. That’s going to be a problem for me. A big one.”
