Page 38 of I'd Never Date my Brother's Best Friend

I watch his movements: the way his fingers turn the key in the ignition, the way his slender hands wrap around the steering wheel, his relaxed posture. Sean is an attractive man, and no matter how many attractive men I’ve met tonight, there is just something about how Sean’s presence calms me down. Yes, he annoys me to no end but I feel safe with him. Realizing my train of thought, I call myself to order. The whole point of agreeing to this charade in the first place was to meet someone new and move on.

“Did you have a good time?” Sean asks, as he pulls away from the curb and heads down the street.

I turn to look at him, his face masked in the darkness of the car.

“Surprisingly yes, I did. Did you?”

He shrugs. “The event was for you not me,” he says, flashing a smile. “If you had fun then mission accomplished.”

“You seem to have forgotten that I only agreed to this if you participated too.” I scowl even if he can’t see it. “So this is about you as much as it is about me.”

When he doesn’t respond, I ask again, “So, did you have a good time?”

He lets out a soft laugh before nodding. “I guess I did.” Then he continues. “You, on the other hand, seemed to easily roll with the punches and the guys you had at your table.”

My head snaps toward him, but when I notice his shoulders shaking with laughter, I relax.

“Isn’t that what you wanted?”

“Yeah, I mean, I didn’t know you had it in you.” His honest answer makes me laugh.

“Well, never underestimate me.”

“Lesson learned.” His gaze meets mine, and we both burst into laughter. “So, tell me, Jessica, any prospects? Did you meet anyone you like?”

“Firstly, I want to say you and Jamie did a good job of rounding up men for this event. I didn’t meet one creep, which is quite a feat.”

Sean slightly bows his head in my direction and his voice takes on a more serious tone.

“I’ll be dead before I let a creep come close to you.” His tone leaves me with no doubt that he means exactly what he just said.

I feel my breath hitch in my throat, causing my cheeks to flush.

“So, you liked some of these men, hmm?” he asks.

I nod. “I didn’t think it was possible to meet many people I have things in common with, but I did. About six of them.”

Sean gasps playfully. “That’s a lot. Look who went from having no prospects to having six!”

Laughter bubbles out of me. “Right? If I had known this could happen I would’ve tried speed dating much sooner. However, almost spilling my drink on two of them was not very graceful of me.”

Sean laughs again. “At least they’re meeting you in your element. Clumsiness is your core nature; they better experience it first hand.”

“Stop.” I slap his arm playfully, and he chuckles.

“Ow!”

“But of the six,” I continue. “There’s one that I felt like I connected with. He was the one who just seemed to understand me.”

“Understand you?” Sean glances at me.

“Yes. He loves to read thrillers, and he geeked out to find that I’m a writer of thriller novels. He’s read some of my books and was very excited to meet me.”

“So he’s a fan, then?”

“I can say so.” I giggle, thinking of Rick. After our time, I found myself having to really focus on the person in front of me, as I found myself returning to Rick now and then. He was easy to talk to, not to mention handsome with a to die for smile.

“Is that advisable?” Sean asks me. “Dating a fan?”

---