Page 80 of The Charmer's Gambit
“Oh, don’t apologize. I’m loving this. It’s all quite amazing. I leave the country, and my big brothers finally decide to grow the fuck up.”
“Hey,” Evan chastised, stepping into view. “Don’t loop me in with Will. We both know I’m the adult in the room.”
Mia scoffed. “Whatever, Ev.”
“And she calls me a child.” He shook his dark head and went back to Sarah’s side to hug her. The way she looked at him said it all.
“When’s the wedding?” I asked, curious.
“We were just talking to Mia about that,” Sarah replied. “We plan to go public with our engagement in the spring, after she returns. Then we’ll plan a wedding for either next summer or the autumn. Something small.”
Mia’s giggle had us all looking at the phone. “?‘Small’ and ‘the Mershano family’ don’t go together, but sure. Try it. Hey, who is that in the background, sulking by the wall?”
I glanced over my shoulder, expecting to see Garrett, but he was on the opposite side of the room, staring out the window with his hands tucked in his pockets. Tension seemed to roll off him in waves. Interesting.
“That’s Kincaid,” Will said by way of introduction. “Rachel’s friend.”
“He’s cute,” Mia replied.
Garrett turned at the words and arched a haughty brow but said nothing. When his gaze met mine, my breath stalled. Thankfully, he looked away a second later, refocusing on whatever held his attention outside. Because wow. Someone had issues with the woman on the phone. Had no one else noticed that? A glance around said nope, they were all smiling at Mark as he waved to Mia with polite interest.
“He doesn’t smile much, does he?” Mia asked, eyes narrowed in an astute way. Will wasn’t kidding when he called her brilliant. Intelligence radiated from her, even through the phone. “Okay, who else is there?”
“Garrett, but he’s busy sulking by the window,” Evan murmured. “He’s not nearly as thrilled by our engagement as you are, Mia.”
Her expression darkened with disapproval. “Shocking,” she muttered. “I doubt much thrills The Devil outside of his lair.”
Will and Evan exchanged a glance. “Probably not,” they agreed in unison.
The conversation lightened a bit after that comment, but Garrett’s shoulders remained tense. It could have been my imagination, but there seemed to be a history between Mia and her older brother’s best friend. The other two men were happy to hear from her, but the third remained unmoved, his expression impassive. I’d have to ask Will about it later.
When the call ended, Sarah ran over and threw her arms around my neck.
“I’m so sorry I didn’t tell you. I didn’t want to interrupt earlier, and then Evan was insistent on telling Mia. He didn’t want her to hear it from someone else, especially with the show airing right now.” She hugged me tightly, and I returned the embrace.
“It’s okay. I’m happy for you, Sarah,” I whispered. “So happy.”
“I’m happy for you too,” she replied, equally soft. “Are you going to move?” Unlike Will, Sarah had overheard my conversation with Janet earlier about transferring offices.
“I don’t know.” I glanced at the man I really wanted to have this discussion with, but he was busy sharing a drink with Evan and Garrett. The latter still wasn’t smiling, which appeared to be common for him. Mark had taken a position against the wall, his focus on a device in his hand. It looked somewhat like a phone, but not quite.
“You know he wants to be with you, like, for good, right?” Sarah said, drawing my attention back to her. She sounded so confident, and knowing. Like of course Will wanted me to move.
“I do.” Of course I did. I could see it every time he looked at me. It wasn’t necessarily so much possessive as all-encompassing. “But I don’t know if he wants to live together yet.” Especially after his reaction earlier.
“What are you two whispering about?” Evan asked as he entered our bubble with a glass of wine for Sarah. A second appeared over my shoulder as Will stepped up behind me. His lips against my neck caused butterflies to take flight in my stomach.
“Kincaid,” Sarah replied without missing a beat. The woman should have been a lawyer. “And that thing I want him to do.”
“What thing would that be?” Mark asked as he slid the device into his jeans pocket. His foot slid up the wall as he balanced on one leg and folded his arms. An odd position, but seemed about right for him.
“Okay, we all know you’re not FBI, but more of a contractor for hire, right?” Leave it to Sarah to be the blunt one in the room.
“Sure,” he replied in that vague way of his.
“Well, it just so happens I’ve come into a lot of money recently,” she cast a meaningful look at Evan before continuing, “and I want to hire you for a project.”
“And that’s how it starts, gentlemen,” Garrett drawled.
