Page 54 of Teasing a King

Luke isn’t deterred. If anything, his grin grows wider. “Of course,” he says, turning to Finn. “I had a lovely stay at your inn last year.”

Finn just nods, clearly not impressed with Luke. It’s clear there’s no love lost between the two men. Before I can step in and separate them, Hannah speaks up.

“Oh, come on,” she says. “That was over a year ago.” She looks at Finn. “And it wasbeforeyou and I were even together.”

Luke scratches his chin in thought. “Are you sure there wasn’t some overlap?”

Finn stiffens beside me, and I swear I can hear him grinding his teeth.

“I’m sure,” Hannah says dryly. “You flirted and I shot you down. Repeatedly.”

Luke sighs and shakes his head. “I still think we could have been great together,” he muses. I wonder if he has a death wish, antagonizing Finn this way. But then his face turns serious.

“Congratulations,” he says. “To both of you. I wish you nothing but happiness.”

Finn’s eyes narrow as if he still doesn’t trust Luke. Luke rolls his eyes. “Look, I might be a shameless flirt, but I’m honorable about it. I don’t go after a woman who’s already taken.” He takes a deep breath. “And since it looks like we’re going to share a nephew, I’d like to put the past behind us, if we could.”

Finn’s face softens and he glances over to me. He nods and holds out his hand to Luke. “Agreed,” he says. “But no more flirting with my wife.”

Luke grins and shakes Finn’s hand. “Deal.”

Ronan brings over an extra chair and Wyatt sets another place for Luke at the already crowded table. I’m surprisingly calm considering the two separate parts of my life have unexpectedly collided tonight. Or maybe I’m in shock. I’m not sure. Either way, I resolve to make the best of the situation. I can show Luke that I’m in good hands here with Van and his family and he can go back to Georgia happy in the knowledge that his duty is done.

I hadn’t lied to Luke when I’d said I want him in my life. That’s all true. I’m just not ready to disclose all the dark details of my life to Van and his family. Luke is the only person besides Hope who knows about my childhood. I know I can trust Hope not to say anything. She knows how I feel about it. But Luke doesn’t. We’ve never discussed it. I’m worried he’ll inadvertently say something and then I won’t be able to close Pandora’s box of secrets. The last thing I need is for Van and his family to look at me as some charity case. I had enough of that as a child.

So, I just need to play nice for a day or two until Luke leaves town. Then, I’ll find some way to talk to him about it. I glance over at Van as we eat. He’s doing his best to be charming and attentive to both me and my brother. I know he’s trying to impress my brother, to earn his approval. It would be cute if the situation weren’t so stressful.

I know I need to talk to Van, tell him everything. He deserves to know more about the woman he’s having a child with. I know I haven’t been fair to him. But knowing what I should do and doing it are two very different things. And the thought of actually saying the words out loud is terrifying. I’ve kept that part of my life locked away for so long that sometimes it seems like it happened to someone else entirely. I’ve worked hard to become a different person than that lost, unwanted little girl and I’m damned proud of the person I’ve become.

I just need a little more time to figure out how to talk to him. Which means, I need to get rid of my brother as soon as possible.

Chapter Twenty-Three

Van

I’m not sure what made me think this would be a good idea. Mya had tried to talk me out of it. She’d told me that Luke wouldn’t fit in with the rest of the guys. Had I listened? Nope. I’d laughed it off and insisted that Luke come along with us to guy’s night.

“It’ll be fun,” I’d insisted. “Plus, it’ll give me a chance to get to know your brother. He’s going to be our baby’s uncle, after all. Which means he’s going to be in my life, right?”

She’d nodded. “I get that,” she’d said. “But what about Finn? I got the feeling he and Luke don’t like one another very much.”

I’d waved off the argument, convinced that Finn would get over whatever weird issue he’d had with Luke now that he’s basically going to be part of the family. Mya had eventually stopped arguing the point, but she’d worn a nervous expression as I’d kissed her goodbye earlier. I can’t imagine she thinks anything bad is actually going to happen tonight. Sure, Finn and Luke got off to a rocky start, but all that’s in the past. I’m sure once the guys get a couple of beers in them, they’ll lighten up. Right?

Wrong.

This night is one of the most awkward I can remember having. In college, I once went on a date with a girl who thought I was Wyatt the entire time. I didn’t realize until we were already at the restaurant, and I was too embarrassed to correct her. I spent the entire evening answering to my brother’s name until I dropped her off at her dorm. She’d clearly expected a kiss, but I have a policy of only kissing girls who know my name. Needless to say, there wasn’t a second date. When I ran into her again on campus, I pretended not to know her. Which was easy, as all I had to do was tell her my name. This night is more awkward than that date.

Finn isn’t exactly ignoring Luke, but he’s clearly not happy to have him here. And he’s blaming me for it, apparently. His good manners don’t seem to extend to siblings, because he seems to be just fine ignoring me. I take a deep drink from my beer and sigh. This is going to be a long night.

Ronan tries to get a conversation going with Luke, asking him what he does for a living.

“I work for my father’s company,” he says. “For now.”

There’s a hint of tension in his voice, but it fades as he goes on.

“We’re an advertising firm,” he says. “We handle PR for several major companies. That helps keep the lights on. But we also work with small businesses when we can. Not as much as I’d like, since it doesn’t pay as well as the big corporations, but it’s far more rewarding.”

Ronan nods. “I imagine there are plenty of small businesses who could benefit from the expertise of a large ad company like yours.”

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