Page 112 of Charming Deception

Cole doesn’t miss it. Maybe because I didn’t exactly express any fond feelings toward the man when we’d all had dinner together that first night, which was the only time Cole has seen us together.

“You don’t even know him,” he challenges.

“So, what are you saying? You’re telling me if I came to you and told you I was interested in him, you’d advise me against it?”

He rubs a hand over his mouth and down his neck, obviously deeply uncomfortable with this whole conversation.

Too bad. He started it. And we’re finishing it.

“Are you asking?”

“No.”

“I wouldn’t do that,” he admits. “Jamie’s a good guy. I told you that already. And I know he’d never hurt my sister on purpose.”

“You’re right about that. Maybe I don’t know him well yet, but I can tell, he has huge respect for you. He’s treated me with respect. He gave me a choice and he won me over.”

“How?” he asks, like he doesn’t want to, but he’s morbidly curious to know.

“Well, let’s see. He asked several times. Nicely. He offered me jobs, a home, money. All of which I turned down. Until he gave me a new suitcase.”

His eyebrow creeps up. “A suitcase?”

“Did you see that broken thing I arrived with?”

“Yeah. I saw.”

“He’s thoughtful. He pays attention. He asks my opinion on things. He’s smart and he’s courteous. And… he’s gorgeous. I find him attractive, okay?”

Cole seems skeptical. “He was ‘gorgeous’ when you quit the gardening job and took off to Nicole’s, too. What changed? Don’t tell me it was just a suitcase and his blue eyes.”

“Maybe it was.”

He gives up a ragged sigh. “Megan. You said he’s not into you. And he explained it to me like this was some business arrangement between you two. What are you telling me now? You like him?”

I swallow the painful reminder that this is a business arrangement with some difficulty.

Fuck, am I in trouble here or what?

“Of course I like him.” Too true. “If I didn’t, I wouldn’t be playing along with this, no matter how badly I need rent money. I am not whoring myself out to your best friend, okay?”

My brother just stares at me, his hands resting on his hips. He shakes his head, apparently at a loss for words.

I’m just growing weary of this argument. “Look, you’ve really made something of yourself, Cole. But it wasn’t always a smooth ride. You’ve had plenty of bumps in the road. How can you sit in judgment now of the path I’m taking?”

“I’m not judging.”

“You are. When have I judged you, challenged you on your decisions like this?”

“Maybe you should’ve,” he admits.

“Yeah. Maybe.”

We stare at each other.

“It’s just so damn fast, Megz. You were with Troy for almost eleven years, you ran out on him in the night, and like two weeks later you’re engaged to my best friend?”

I can see how he’d be concerned. Of course I can.

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