The Wedding Pact Box Set - Denise Grover Swank Page 0,62

failure was the knowledge that he’d see Megan at the end of the day. Granted, they were supposed to break up tonight, but maybe he could talk her out of it. The fact that she seemed to like him improved his chances. Of course, the wedding was in less than forty-eight hours, so any kind of breakup would have to happen soon, but he’d felt pretty confident he could convince her to wait until tomorrow. But now he was nervous. Any points he’d gained, he’d lost now that his brother had made an uninvited entrance.

Damn it. Why hadn’t he thought this through?

The thought of her kicking him out the door made him more upset than he cared to admit. He was in a very awkward situation, with no discernable plan, but he knew one thing: every time he thought about seeing Megan, he felt happiness blooming in his chest—a sense of peace and fulfillment he hadn’t experienced since his father’s death.

What in the hell was he going to do?

First things first—he had to deal with this crisis. He knocked on the door and called out softly, “Megan?”

The door cracked and Libby’s face filled the opening. She grimaced at the sight of him.

“That bad?” he whispered.

“Worse.” She swung the door open wider and stepped out of the way. “She’s in the bathroom, but she’s decent.”

“Okay.” He started toward it, but Libby grabbed his arm.

“She likes you, Josh. Fight for her.”

Libby’s trust in him added to his guilt, but he needed her as an ally. Which meant pretending his only motive was to make a relationship work with Megan. “Thanks, Libby.”

“I’m going downstairs to talk to your brother.”

“He’s busy flirting with Megan’s grandmother.”

She laughed as she slipped into the hallway. “Then maybe we can share him.”

“Libby.” He followed her into the hall, closing the door behind him. “Regarding my brother . . .” He didn’t want to ring any alarm bells, but he genuinely liked Libby and didn’t want to see her get hurt. Noah always left behind a string of broken hearts; it was his MO. “Let’s just say he’s here for the wedding, and then he’ll be gone.”

She stopped and turned around to face him, her face softening. “You’re something else, Josh, you know that?”

He froze, unsure of what she meant.

Her face lit up with amusement. “You’re really sweet to be worried about me, but I’m a big girl, and I’ve fooled around with my share of guys like your brother. If I decide I’m interested, I know what I’m getting into.” Then her eyes turned serious. “But Megan’s different than Blair and me. She wears her heart on her sleeve, and a lot of people take advantage of it.” She stepped closer, an unfamiliar look filling her eyes. “I’d rather not go there, but let’s just say if Blair’s right and you’re really here to hurt her, you’ll find out that Blair isn’t the only one with claws.”

He resisted the urge to swallow, which he was sure would make him look guilty. Instead, he spread his hands wide and gave her a gentle smile, lifting his eyebrows to assert his sincerity. “Libby, I will do everything in my power to help her.”

Not a lie, but not the complete truth either.

She studied him for a second. Then that strange glint in her eyes disappeared and her soft smile returned. “Yeah, I think you will.”

He reached for the doorknob and let himself back into the bedroom. After closing the door behind him, he studied the bathroom door, struggling with what to say.

The bathroom door opened and Megan stood in the opening, wearing a white sleeveless dress dotted with tiny pink and blue flowers, her dark hair tumbling over her shoulders. Even if he’d had a perfectly planned-out speech, it wouldn’t have helped him. He was struck dumb by the sight of her natural beauty. She wasn’t made up with lots of makeup and fancy clothes, although he had no doubt that she’d be beautiful that way, too. She was the kind of woman who was beautiful no matter what she was wearing. And in that moment, he knew he was struck with a strange certainty: he might actually want to marry this woman someday.

Where the hell had that come from?

But more importantly, what the hell did he do with that, with the knowledge that he had less than forty-eight hours with her? Because fake fiancé aside, once she knew the details of his little business problem, they would be done. And