Page 26 of Love Me Tomorrow

“Did, emphasis on the past tense?” It’s not really a question, and Gage doesn’t even pretend to give me time to answer. Sharp-minded and shrewd-eyed, it’s no shock when my brother switches into cop mode. “Roses . . . There are roseseverywhere, and you—” His nostrils flare with realization. “No.”

“You’re slow on the uptake today.”

“Sue me for skipping a second cup of coffee when my lovely wife decided we should make use of our morning doing other, more exciting things.”

Light on my toes, I move swiftly. “Sounds like you’re makin’ excuses, man.”

“Sounds like you’re—hey!”

With both cards in hand, I don’t waste time in ripping open the second envelope. Same card, same handwriting, different message:

Thoughts on the roses? Too on the nose? Not enough subtlety? I’m up for feedback. Yrs, Sav.

Seven. Months.

For seven months, I’ve done what I can to put aside my misplaced crush on America’s most eligible bachelorette. I’m not one to sleep around with random women. Never have been, never will be, and sure, we can blame it on some romantic, idealistic fantasy of me remembering my parents being truly in love—before it all went to shit—but I’ve always wanted to seesomethingcoming out of a relationship before I drop my briefs.

Doesn’t mean I haven’t kept myself busy in other ways since coming back to the city. I bought another real estate property, one that I’m fixing up in Barataria, a coastal town some twenty-odd miles south of New Orleans. I took on not one new apprentice at the parlor but two, because why stop at making only one kid’s dreams come true? I’ve stepped up with the Entrepreneurs of the Crescent City, an organization I first joined because Savannah belonged to it, even going so far as to sit on the board and help young businessmen and women in the greater-New Orleans metro area reach for what they deem the unattainable.

I worked.

I hustled.

And I’ve done it all to keep from breeching the thin barrier that Savannah erected when she sent me home from the show because what she felt for me was friendly.Brotherly, even.

I honored her wishes, respected her boundaries, ignored countless interview opportunities that have sprouted up to “expose America’s sweetheart” over the last month and some change thatPut A Ring On Ithas started airing.

All of which I gave the proverbial middle finger.

Because you’re still in too deep with her.

I inhale sharply and immediately wish I hadn’t.

The scent of roses has permeated Inked.

I’m entrenched in it.

Fucking drowning in it.

Those boundaries between me and Savannah? They’re about to come crumbling down.

Gripping the cards tightly, I spin on my heel. “I gotta go.”

A heavy palm lands on my shoulder. “Tell me you aren’t taking back up with her again, man.”

I glance over at him. “Trust me, I learned my lesson the first time around.”

His gaze bounces from me to the bouquets. “You sure about that? Because from where I’m standin’, it looks like the two of you have learned absolutely jack squat. This is the same girl you let me assume you’d hooked up with, just once, even though you never did.”

Because I was trying to save face after spending so much time with her once Amelie and I broke up. Because it was easier to let my brotherthink that I was pining after a woman who I’d already slept with instead of desperately wanting someone who I’d never once kissed, never once touched. Maybe that makes me an asshole, and if it does, karma delivered swiftly and efficiently. Gage had a first-row seat to watching my lie unravel before me once I returned to New Orleans, when any chance of me escapingPut A Ring On Itemotionally unscathed went up in a flaming ball of cataclysmic fire.

“Don’t worry about me. I got it.” Shrugging his hand off, I step toward the door. Then, on a whim, I pivot and grab the lone bouquet seated on the front sofa. Another card is stuffed between the two cushions, provoking me with its very existence.

Read it.

Don’t read it.

In the end, I cave—not because I’m willing to give Savannah another chance, the way Gage seems to think I will, but because America’s favorite sweetheart is about to be taught what it feels like when you fall from grace.

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