Page 68 of And Then There Was Us
Hugh patted him on the back. “I love her, Mack. The last thing I want to do is hurt her. Or Layla.” He noticed Brianna crossing the floor toward them. “We’re on the same team, Mack, and if she ends up a jilted spouse, then you can come kick my butt.” Hugh asked quietly, “What makes you think I’m going to propose?”
Mack’s cheeks lifted to a smile that immediately reached his eyes. “Guys get a look before they lock down their woman. I’m sure they had it all the way back in the caveman days before they dragged their women off to their cave. You’ve got that look, Hugh.”
Brianna’s hand on his shoulder softened all of the hard edges that remained from the threat that wasn’t a threat. He knew from the wave of pleasure that passed through his body from the simple brush of her hand against his cheek as Brianna came around to his side that Mack was right.
“So, Mr. Secret Keeper. You enlisted all of my friends for this without me even knowing? How did you do it?”
“I’ll leave you two alone,” Mack said before leaving to join Tami and Karen.
“A gentleman never tells his secrets.” Hugh pulled her close and pressed his hips to hers. “Do you think Layla enjoyed her surprise?”
Brianna looked down and her cheeks flushed. “Yes, but I’m ready for mine now.” She rocked her hips against him.
He groaned. “That’s unfair. We won’t be alone tonight.”
She blinked her lashes seductively.
“Excuse me, lovebirds.” Brianna’s mother, Jean, joined them.
Brianna took a step back. Her cheeks flushed red.
“Jean, thank you so much for playing along.”
“Are you kidding me? This is about the most romantic thing I’ve ever heard of. Well, the carousel was pretty romantic, too, but look at Layla.” She nodded toward the girls. “She’ll never forget this night.”
“That was the plan,” Hugh said. He reached for Brianna’s hand. “But I’ll make sure I don’t do too much spoiling. I know it’s important to keep her well grounded.”
“Oh, phooey,” Jean said, waving her hand. “A little spoiling is a good thing.”
“He doesn’t know what the wordlittlemeans, Mom.”
Her comment conjured all sorts of dirty thoughts involvingbigthings. It was like she’d flipped a horny switch in him tonight. What the heck was going on?
He gulped down the rest of his water. “I do know what it means, and I am going to work on it. I didn’t give her the tiara I had backstage.”
Brianna blinked several times. “You bought her a tiara?”
“I say give it to her. What can it hurt?” Jean shrugged. “She’s had a big night. What’s a little more?”
Brianna crossed her arms and cast a harsh glare at her mother. “I have no idea who you are anymore.”
“Bree, I did my best with you with what I had. Layla has a chance to enjoy some of the things I couldn’t have dreamed of giving you. Why not allow her those pleasures?” Jean winked at Hugh.
Brianna rolled her eyes. “Great. The two of you ganging up on me. Just great.”
Hugh reached for her hand. “No one’s ganging up on you. Besides, I’m not giving it to her. She’s had enough.”
Brianna narrowed her eyes. “Really?”
“Yeah. You were right. I do need to be careful. And Jean’s right, too. Layla should be able to enjoy some of the nicer things in life, but not too many. She’ll look beautiful in the tiara on her birthday.”
Brianna’s lips curled up. “Thank you for understanding.”
“I’ll always try,” he said. Hugh turned his attention to Jean. “And I think your mom is right, too. We can find a happy medium that we all agree on. Jean, I can’t tell you how much it means to me that you were able to come and support Layla tonight.”
Jean looked at Brianna and her eyes softened. “I wanted to support all of you.”
“Thanks, Mom.”
