My work completed, I head downtown to Manny’s Tacos, arriving exactly at noon. The air inside one of the most popular Mexican restaurants in SoCal sizzles with grilled meat and veggies. Heated spices let off a pungent aroma, and everywhere I look cheese is melting.
The place is hopping with the lunch crowd, but I head straight to the private party room I’ve reserved. I had to bribe Lucie and Aspen with all the margaritas they could drink to get them to see me on such short notice, but this is an emergency.
Although Eugene Hae is an unlikely option, I’ll be damned if I’m going to let Bobbi “manifest” some guy—anyguy—and marry him.
Because when she spoke of marrying another guy and spending the rest of her life with him, my mind spun a montage movie of her life. Bobbi in a stunning wedding gown and veil. Her smile. The music. The vows she takes to accept another man into her life more intimately than before, while he pledges himself to her. And the fucker touching her…
That’s about as far as my imagination went before it crashed and burned. I can’t let her be with somebody else. I know that now. Mom was wrong when she told me to get Bobbi out of my system because she’s bad for me. My mental state has suffered due to the fact that I don’t have the woman I want most in my life. Most of my brothers have gone through the same thing when they had their crises with their ladies. It’s just that they don’t work in the same field I do.
Still, my situation with Bobbi isn’t something I can discuss with my brothers. What do they know about how women’s minds work? If they did, they would’ve never had any issues with their ladies. And they’d just take it as an opportunity to rag on me even more because that’s just how we troll.
And I don’t need that right now. I need a plan of action. And that means getting some female perspective—and not from my mother because there’s some doubt as to whether she’s actually human. But Lucie and Aspen…? They’ll give me the straight scoop. And point out what about Sebastian and Grant’s appeal made them give my brothers another chance after they’d dug themselves giant craters.
I head to the private room and open the door to a much bigger crowd than expected. Amy, Sierra and Molly are at the table along with Aspen and Lucie. I look at them blankly.
“Hey, my favorite brother!” Amy says with a cheery greeting. For a split-second I wonder if she has the day off, but she’s in a business casual outfit—a cream-colored blouse and pale azure slacks. GrantEm never rests. Might be Sunday in SoCal, but a financial market somewhere in another time zone is humming.
“I invited them when you said you needed female help,” Aspen says, pushing her bangs out of her face. Even seated, her amazing dancer’s posture shows through.
“Cause in case you haven’t noticed, we’re all female.” Sierra says, then takes a healthy swallow of her margarita. She’s pretty with bright eyes that never fail to sparkle with good humor. You’d never know she’s the CEO of a highly successful adult toy company from the cute baby-chick-yellow sundress she’s wearing. “Have a seat.”
“Um…thanks.” I sit down and pour myself a margarita. Probably going to be necessary.
“Now what’s this help you need?” Molly asks, all earnest. She’s a gentle person, always eager to help. I should look into running her former boss down with an elephant. That would be hilarious and karmic.
“Okay. First off, it’s a secret. So you can’t tell anybody,” I say.
“Not even Seb?” Lucie asks, blue eyes owlishly wide.
“Most especially not Seb.Or any of my brothers,” I say, looking around the table. “Nobody, really. It’s about my book, and you know how writers get about keeping their plots all secret.” It’s mostly true, so I’m not too upset about lying to my innocent sisters-in-law. The book is about my secret life with Bobbi. It’s just that I keep getting stuck after the first scene. For some bizarre reason, my Muse makes Bobbi run into me while I’m about to snipe a target, and that is the wrong kind of future. She should never be where terrorists are.
“Why?” Amy asks.
“So nobody steals their good ideas.”
“Seb said you still haven’t finished your book.”
“Of course he did.” That asshole. And my brothers laughed at me over the now-deleted scene about riding zebras. It’d be fun to do, though. Bobbi would love to travel to Africa and see the wildlife and…stuff. “I’m getting there.”
Our server interrupts, and I order the special without bothering to look at the menu. My sisters-in-law get platters to share.
Then we’re private again. I munch on a salsa-laden chip for a little time to gather my thoughts. “Okay. So…my story is about a guy and a girl. And he sort of…” I start bringing them up to speed on what happened between me and Bobbi, changing several specific details.
Our server returns with more pitchers of margarita and food. Fast service is one of the reasons Manny’s is so popular, but it’s interfering with my story. Eventually, though, I get through it.
Sierra squints at me. “So… Not only did he forget to pick her up after the hospital stay—andsee her after somebody tried to run her over—but he totally forgot to show up for her company opening, too?”
“He didn’t exactlyforget.” I knew exactly when it was. And where. “But he had something else to do that was more pressing.”
“Did his mother have a heart attack?” Lucie asks with a small frown.
“No.” Mom doesn’t have a heart. “His mother is healthier than most people in their twenties.”
Amy looks up in the middle of dumping more guacamole over her shredded chicken and cheese. “So it wasn’t life or death…?”
“Not for him.” It was for the guy in the scope. But that isn’t a detail they need. “More like a work-related obligation.”
Molly shakes her head. “Please tell me this guy isnotthe main male character.”
