the point.
I gave Jeremy another sheepish smile and pointed a finger in the air. “Would you excuse me for just one sec?”
“Sure.” There was that knee-weakening smile again.
Tossing my brother a furious, how-could-you-do-this-to-me look, I hurried into the kitchen, set my mug on the counter, pulled my MacBook off the table, and spun it around. I pulled up Instagram and searched for my brother’s account. Finding it, I scrolled down, down, down. Yep, there. There was the hot guy from his Instagram feed. The one I’d been eyeing for months. It was Jeremy. I hadn’t made the connection until just now. Nice.
Luke came hurrying in. “What are you doing? Remington came here to talk to you, not me.”
“This is Jeremy!” I pointed an accusing finger at the screen.
“Yeah.” My brother gave me a “duh” look. “I told you that you must have seen him.”
My eyes widened, all the implications of this scenario falling into place. I hissed at him in a whisper, “The hot guy I’ve been fantasizing about for the last six months on your Instagram feed is poor little Jeremy from high school?”
Luke’s lips puckered and his eyes narrowed like he’d just eaten a raw egg. “Eww. I didn’t need to know that. But yes, that’s him. Always has been. And if you thought he was so hot, why didn’t you ask me about him?”
“I’m in a relationship!”
“With a gay guy!”
“Harrison’s not gay. He’s—”
“Look, are you going to argue with me in this kitchen all morning, or go out there and make a deal to turn Remington into a cravat-wearing English gent?”
My brother had a point. There was just one final thing to say. “If you tell him I said he was hot, I’ll murder you, cut you into small pieces, and dispose of you in such a manner that they’ll never find so much as a fingernail clipping.”
“Don’t worry, you sociopath. It icks me out to think about you finding him hot. Besides, I think he might have a girlfriend.”
“Good.” I popped into the hall bath by way of the kitchen to furiously rake my hands through my hair in front of the mirror. I splashed the morning funk out of my mouth with a handful of water, and ensured I didn’t have crust in my eyes. There was nothing I could do about my hobbit feet. All my socks were upstairs. Looking as presentable as I was going to get under the circumstances, I straightened my shoulders and marched back into the kitchen.
“Jeremy, would you like some coffee?” I called.
“No, thanks. Don’t drink the stuff.”
Well, that was unfortunate. “Okay.” I picked up my Pemberley mug again and made my way back into the living room.
Jeremy was sitting on the couch facing the bay window. Luke was sitting in the dark brown leather armchair to his left. I decided to sit in the gray velvet slipper chair on the right. No telling what was going on with my breath, even after the water splashing. That had merely been a stopgap measure.
“It’s been a long time,” Jeremy said. “Good to see you, Meg.”
“Yes, how long’s it been? Like ten years or something?” I replied.
“Only six. Or so. Remember that time I saw you in the airport in Chicago?”
“The airport? Chicago?” Er, no. I didn’t remember that.
“I was with my brother at O’Hare and we were— It doesn’t matter.” Jeremy shook his head.
“Meg says you look different than she remembers you,” Luke announced, a wide grin spread across his face.
I cleared my throat delicately before addressing my brother. “Hey, Luke, remember how much true crime I like to watch?”
“What?” Luke side-eyed me.
I pushed a strand of dark hair behind my ear. “I have a lot of information on how to get rid of dead bodies.”
Luke merely grinned back at me.
Jeremy cleared his throat. “Luke tells me that you’re looking for someone to help you out in a contest?”
“Yes.” I nodded and took another fortifying sip of coffee.
“What sort of contest?” he added.
My eyes nearly bugged out of my skull like I was a cartoon character. “He didn’t tell you?”
“No. Well, he did say it was in England. I assume it’s something English? A sport or something?”
I glared at Luke. “You really didn’t tell him?”
“What does it matter?” Luke replied with a shrug.
Jeremy shook his head. “To be honest, he mentioned you were willing to pay for a partner, and I could use the money right now. So, unless I’m just completely not cut out for whatever it is that