Page 14 of Finally Moore

“No, I couldn’t. You’re already being so nice and—”

“Really, I don’t mind. You forget I’m one of four children—well, five after Jax joined the brood—and my parents’ favorite family vacation was going to our cabin up in Round Bay. Robbie had the benefit of being the oldest while Tilly was the only girl, which meant it was a good day if I was lucky enough the score a spot on the couch and didn’t have to resort to using a sleeping bag on the floor.”

“Are you sure?” Scarlett gnaws on her glossy bottom lip, and something about the action has me pausing to watch her.

I shake my head of all the improper thoughts of my little sister’s friend, telling myself it’s because I haven’t gotten laid in a while, and smile back at her. “Positive.” I lean against the armrest and kick my legs up on the other side of the sofa to prove my point. Until, out of nowhere, a giant furball emerges and plops his ass down on my stomach. “Hey, big guy.” I let out an audibleoof. Bruce purrs as I pet him.

“Brucey,” Scarlett scolds, like a mother correcting her small child. Then she turns back to me. “Sorry about that. Once I lie down, he should follow me. He’s my foot warmer.”

“It’s fine.” I continue to stroke the cat’s soft fur. “Honestly, it’s kind of cool having him here. We didn’t have many pets growing up, nothing more than the occasional goldfish or something like that. Tilly brought up getting a kitten all the time, but Dad claimed that he was allergic. Honestly, now that I think about it, I don’t even know if that was true. I think it had more to do with no one wanting to get stuck with cat box duty.”

Scarlett glances at her phone. “I know it’s getting late, and I don’t want to inconvenience you more than I already have. But this might be a good time to get our stories straight?”

“Sure, so whatcha thinking?”

“I guess we should try to not stray too far from the truth. You know, we met and have hung out a lot via Tilly and my frequent visits to the coffee shop….”

“That makes sense. But when did we actually start dating?”

“Halloween night.”

“Halloween?” I sit up a little straighter, and Bruce meows his displeasure at the shift in position.

“Yeah, well, technically the next day. But, basically, we were both at Harper’s—dateless—one drink turned into a whole night of talking, drinking, and dancing. I might have hit the candy corn Jello shots a little too hard and you were a total gentleman, of course. Insisted on walking me home. Then, before either of us knew it, we were standing at the front door. I wasn’t sure if it was liquid courage or just everything finally clicking into place, but I leaned up on my tippytoes and I kissed you.”

Fuck. I mean,shit. Or maybefuckwas right the first time…

I know exactly the night she’s talking about. Her story, for the most part, is true. Well, everything but the kissing. Not that I hadn’t thought about it. There were these moments between us when I could’ve sworn something was there. But I dismissed it. Mostly because Scarlett was really, really drunk. Like so much so I’m actually surprised she remembers any of it. Not to mention, the fact that she’s close with my little sister. While I know Tilly would be ecstatic over the idea of me dating her friend—which she made very clear today at the restaurant—it was the thought of everything that could go wrong that gave me pause.

I mean, I’m the first to admit that I have the worst dating luck in history. And given how much Scarlett and I see each other, it didn’t seem worth risking the fallout. Though now I’m left wondering if she wanted me to kiss her that night. She was in this sexy Little Red Riding Hood costume, and when I dropped her off at her door, she had this look in her eyes that hinted at her wanting me to play her Big Bad Wolf and devour her.

Scarlett blushes but quickly shakes it off. “Anyway, you know how it goes. From there, we decided to go on a date. And since we spent so much time together as it was, we already knew each other and the falling in love part happened quickly and naturally.” She claps her hands together as if to put a hold on that thought. “Okay, we should get some sleep,” she announces before trying to escape what just became a very eye-opening conversation.

“Wait.”

“Huh?” Her cheeks are even more flushed than they were a second ago.

I nudge Bruce off my lap and stand. Scarlett looks up at me, her eyes wide. I’m not sure if it’s the lighting or if I just really never noticed it before but her eyes aren’t just blue. One of them has an almost orange ring surrounding the iris. It’s one of the coolest and most beautiful things I’ve ever seen. I clear my throat and she flutters her lashes.

“There’s one problem with your story,” I tell her.

“Oh, yeah? What’s that?” she asks, her voice hardly above a whisper.

“I don’t actually know anything about you.” I brush a loose strand of her honey-colored hair out of her face and tuck it behind her ear.

“Oh, um.” She bites her lip again, and now I’m wondering what she tastes like. “There isn’t much to know really.”

“I beg to differ,Rhea? Let’s see… Ah, for starters, you were dating a major A-list celebrity and let’s not forget the tiny little fact that you’re the daughter of one of the greatest directors of this generation. You’re pretty much Hollywood royalty. I think those are some major details you left out.”

Yeah, I finally went off and Googled her.

“Just to be clear, my dad was famous, not me. And Rhea was an identity I wanted to distance myself from as much as possible. You know how people in this town are, and I didn’t want it to be a big deal.”

Unfortunately for her, I have a feeling that the cat won’t remain in the bag too long with a celebrity like Kasey Dawson roaming around town.

“Don’t get me wrong, I love my dad, but that lifestyle was never for me. And, well, I don’t think talking about your exes is necessary.” She slowly backs away, but I take a step forward.

“I do. If I’m marrying someone, I want to know everything about them. The good, the bad, and theextremely awkward. All of it.”

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