Page 100 of Playing Flirty

The list went on and on.

My mind raced through a handful of cons, but there was only one important, impossible to overcome reason holding me back. One tall, angry, handsome reason, but I was too afraid to type it out. Because typing it out meant facing something I’d been ignoring, which would complicate the already difficult game we were playing.

But eventually I did.

Cons:

He isn’t William

With two clicks, I deleted my pros and cons list and my entire Life Goals spreadsheet.

None of those goals involved William.

If life were truly a game, I finally knew who I wanted to play it with.

Round 33

Come on, come on.” Neema tapped my arm. Then, when it didn’t work, my face. “We have to get a move on. The appointment is at seven a.m., and then we can finally go to the venue, and I’ve made it my mission to take your mind off things.”

“It’s your pre-wedding getaway. It’s not about me.” I groaned as I opened my eyes, which burned from the tears shed overnight.

The venue Neema and Shaun booked for the wedding, Villa Erba, was about an hour’s drive out of town. They offered two nights’ accommodation free as part of the wedding package, but Neema convinced them to give us two rooms for one night, allowing us some pre-wedding relaxation.

For me, it meant the possibility of talking to William and a chance to sort through the inventory of things we needed to discuss, starting with the surprise proposal I’d rather not think about.

But first, we needed to go to Taylor’s Tailor for our final fitting.

The tailor stuck a few pins along the bottom of my dress, mumbling under her breath how she was sure I’d been taller when she’d measured me the first time.

“She’s shrinking,” William said, as he and Shaun walked into the room.

I shook at the sound of his gravelly morning voice. One of the pins poked me, and I yelped.

The woman cackled at my expense and mumbled, “Stop moving.”

William offered me a soft smile that I wasn’t sure what to do with. After the previous night, I’d expected Angry William or Annoyed William—or, at the very least, Vague-I-Have-Something-to-Tell-You William. Instead, I received the strangest version of him yet.

Soft William.

I glanced at Shaun, willing him away so I could have a moment to check in with his half brother, but Shaun stayed put as the old lady held up the jacket of William’s almost finished suit. He slipped into it like it was made for him. Well, I suppose it was, obviously. He flexed, running his hand through his hair, and I worried his arms might burst the seams of his jacket sleeves.

The sleeves survived. I, however, did not.

As if sensing my silly thoughts, he looked at me and chuckled.

My anxiety edged away with each smile or wink he so generously offered me.

Neema emerged from her private fitting, beaming. She wouldn’t let anyone except the dressmaker see her, and I was both a bit hurt and more than a little excited to be part of the big reveal on the day of her wedding. She was going to be the most beautiful bride ever.

“How about some breakfast before we hit the road?” I said, my stomach grumbling.

We walked out to the cars, and Shaun paused. “Wait, Rose. When I texted you earlier, you said you were running late because you were having breakfast. So, this would be your second breakfast then?” Shaun smiled at his brother.

William caught theLord of the Ringsreference, and his dimple made a delicious dip on the side of his handsome face.

“The jokes write themselves,” William said. “I’m not even going to add to that. It’s perfection. It is art.”

I punched him, but he caught my fist and let it go almost immediately. His eyes jumped to Shaun, who glanced over at us.

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