Page 136 of Ward Willing
“Oh, this is excellent,” Miles mutters, rubbing his hands together. “Come on, old man. Let’s get you home.” He turns to look at Carolina. “I’ll bring Liam back tomorrow to get his car.”
“I’m not a child,” I retort as Miles pulls me up and steadies me.
A second later, Carolina is standing right in front of me holding Elias’ letter. “Thank you. For this. And for taking such good care of my niece.” Wrapping her arms around me, my shock subsides as I hug her back. “If you break her heart, I know exactly what to say to convince a jury it was an accident.”
Miles barks a laugh as I pull away, smirking. “I promise not to hurt her.”
Unless she begs for it.
That thought enters my mind quickly, and it surprises me how much I like the idea of it.
Of Zoe begging.
“Have fun with your friend, Carolina. Lovely to see you, as always.” Miles says, eyebrows arched in a playful manner.
“Oh, he’s just—it’s not like that?—”
I don’t think I’ve ever seen her so flustered, and I can’t help but laugh as I bend down to kiss her on the cheek.
“He would want you to be happy,” I say, almost slurring the words together.
Carolina’s large, brown eyes bore into mine with watery intensity. I never realized until today that Zoe’s eyes are exactly the same shape, and it makes me miss her. Fuck, it makes me miss her a lot.
After Miles leads me to his car—which is a black Escalade with a driver, the pompous asshole—he turns and faces me with a scowl.
“You smell like a refinery.”
“And you smell like spit up,” I offer, eyes tracking down to the stain on his tie.
He laughs and leans back. “So, curious minds want to know…”
“Here we go,” I groan.
“When, exactly, did you and Zoe get together?”
“Catalina for my thirty-ninth birthday. There were edibles, in my defense.”
Miles laughs. “Of course there was. Well, I guess all I can say is you’re welcome, then.”
Realization slams through me. “What? Did you cancel on purpose?”
He chuckles. “No, but now I wish I had.”
“I’m not sure I believe you,” I mutter, suddenly queasy.
“I do love a good, well-thought-out meddle, but unfortunately that was all happenstance. And look… it all worked out in the end, didn’t it?”
“We’ll see. She might hate me forever.”
“You of all people know she might need a little nudge. You remember when Stella lived with you for a week when she wasn’t speaking to me, but I eventually won her back?”
“Yes, with a pair of goat socks,” I blurt.
Miles laughs again. “So, what’syourequivalent of goat socks? Just do that, and tell her you love her?—”
“How do you know I love her?”
Miles tracks his green eyes over my face when I look over at him. “Because it’s obvious. Love wrecks you, in the best way.”
