Page 28 of Broken

I shake my head and sit across from him. “Point taken.”

Seemingly appeased by my response, he changes the subject. “Anyway, what’s the news on your upcoming nuptials?”

“I was thinking the third of next month. That gives us a little over two weeks.”

Elijah frowns. “I’ll be out of town on the third.”

“Shit. Can you get out of it?”

He shakes his head. “I’m the keynote speaker at some tech convention. Can you do a different date?”

I frown. “It’s the only day that works with my schedule for the next two months, and I want to get this part over with. It sucks you won’t be there, but it’s not like this is a real wedding. I doubt Maddox will be there either.”

“But who’s going to be your best man?”

I roll my eyes. “I’m not having a best man. This isn’t a real wedding.”

He shakes his head. “You still need a best man.”

“I’ll ask Drake or Mase. Not like you would’ve been my first choice, anyway.” I wink at him.

“You piece of shit.” But he smirks at my blatant lie.

“Seriously, Elijah. This isn’t a big deal to me. If it meant anything, of course I’d change the date and have you there, but it’s a piece of fucking paper.”

“You say that now, Nathan, but marriage means something whether you want it to or not. This is going to change your life. Melanie’s too.”

I suppress a sigh. Not that you’d ever know it by looking at the grumpy bastard, but he’s a hopeless romantic, and in that regard, we are nothing alike. “We’re both aware this is life-changing, Elijah, but the wedding itself is merely a formality.” Our conversation is interrupted by a knock at the door. “That will be my fiancée now.”

I tell her to come in, and Elijah stands, ready to greet his soon-to-be sister-in-law. When she walks into the room a second later, the beaming smile on her face almost takes my breath away. I’ve seen her smile before, but this one makes her beautiful face iridescent.

Jesus. What the fuck is wrong with me?

She laughs and jerks her thumb toward the open doorway. “I just saw the cutest dog in the elevator,” she says, by way of explanation. “He was wearing a tie. Like an actual necktie.”

Elijah side-eyes me, then crosses the room and introduces himself. Still smiling, she shakes his hand and asks him if he likes dogs.

“Of course I do.” He shoots me a bemused look and shakes his head. I can only shrug in response.

“You want coffee?” I ask her.

She slips off her jacket and nods. “Yes, please. And do you have anything to eat? I’m starving. Work was stupid busy today, so I didn’t get a chance to have lunch.”

“I can have someone go get you something. Or there are bound to be some jelly donuts hanging around somewhere. We had a board meeting earlier.”

Her eyes go wide, and she licks her lips. “Jelly donuts would be perfect.”

While I’m asking my secretary to take care of the coffee and donuts, Mel has an animated conversation with Elijah about the tie-wearing dog, and by the time I rejoin them, my older brother is staring at her with an expression of wonderment on his face.

Dammit, he likes her. All my brothers are going to like her, and my father will adore her. And while I should be thrilled with the knowledge that she’ll be a hit with my family, it only reminds me of how much she’s going to encroach on my life, and a part of me already resents her for that. And yeah, I’m aware how much of a giant fucking asshole that makes me.

Annoyed with my brother—and even more annoyed at myself—I snap, “Didn’t you have someplace you needed to be?”

“What?” Elijah blinks at me before realization that I want him to leave dawns on his face. “Oh, yeah.” He turns toward Melanie.

“It was lovely to meet you, Elijah,” she says, flashing him another one of her killer smiles.

“You too, Mel. I look forward to seeing you again soon.”

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