Of the party. The lie. Everything.
Especially the heightened awareness of everything that being near Brian caused. That had to be from the deception.
She’d had to really try to focus tonight, on everything. Just so they didn’t get caught, of course. It was nothing more.
It certainly wasn’t that being near Brian made her feel . . . confused, for lack of a better word.
Things certainly were confusing. Mostly thanks to him. And speaking of that . . .
“We said no kissing.” She spun to face him the moment they were both in Brian’s Jeep outside Jen and Jason’s house.
“No,” he said, slowly, condescendingly. “I believe we agreed to play it by ear. Which to me means doing whatever is necessary for a successful outcome. And argue all you want, but tonight was a success. By the time we left, your sister was completely convinced we’re a couple. And so were the guys she invited to fix you up with.”
She pressed her lips together. She couldn’t argue with him, even if his being right was annoying to no end. “Still. It seemed unnecessary.”
“Then we’ll have to agree to disagree on that.” Brian slid the key into the ignition but rather than starting the Jeep, he turned in his seat to face her. “So, now that we have your sister covered, I need you to do something for me.”
She drew her brows low, suspicious. “Do what for you?”
Was he expecting some sort of sexual quid pro quo? He came to the party as her pretend boyfriend, so now she had to put out?
The feminist in her was ready to dig in her purse for her pepper spray, even as the long neglected feminine parts of her body woke right up and welcomed the idea.
“Come to McP’s so I can show you off. Even if none of my teammates are there, they’ll still hear I was there with a date. I’ll make sure Ray passes on the information.”
“Who’s Ray?” she asked, not sure she was up for being under the scrutiny of another SEAL. If they were all like Brian, it would be too intense to be with more than one of them at a time.
“Ray’s the bartender.”
“Oh.” She thought about his request. It sounded innocent enough.
“I’m buying,” he added, dangling that tidbit to tempt her. Not that it mattered. She had her own money and couldn’t drink more than a few beers anyway before she’d had enough.
“Okay. I’ll do it.”
His eyes brightened. “Thank you.”
“No problem. I guess I do owe you for tonight.”
“For my exceptional performance?” He grinned.
“Yeah. For that.” She’d attempted sarcasm, but found herself swallowing hard as she imagined what else he might perform exceptionally.
Damn, she hoped the batteries in her bedside pals were still good. She was going to need them fully charged to knock this strange and sudden aching need out of her. After that, she’d be fine.
“Seriously though, I think tonight went well,” he said.
Brian being sincere threw her. She had to regroup and consider this new side of him.
“Your brother-in-law loves me,” he continued.
“Don’t get too excited. Jason loves everybody. Even Andrew.”
Brian clutched his hand to his chest, glancing at her before refocusing his gaze on the road as they drove toward Coronado and McP’s. “You wound me.”
She had to laugh. “Sorry, but it’s true. Jason’s kind of like a puppy that way.”
“Ouch.” He cringed, glancing in her direction.
“What? That’s not an insult. Is it?” she asked, perplexed by his reaction.
He wobbled his head back and forth. “I think it kind of is.”
“So you’d want to be compared to what? A full-grown pit bull then?” she asked.
He wrinkled his nose. “Nah. Probably more like a shepherd.”
“Ah.” She nodded. “A guard dog. That figures.”
“Or a military working dog. They’re smart, loyal, athletic.”
“Aggressive,” she added to his list of traits.
“When necessary,” he corrected.
“All right. I’ll give you that. You can be a shepherd in any scenarios in which I refer to you as a dog.”
“Thanks . . . I think.” He shot her a sideways gaze. “So, did your sister say anything about us while I was talking to Jason and you two were alone right before we left? Anything more about how perfect I am?”
She cocked up her brows. “No. You lost the illusion of perfection when she saw you trying to intimidate Andrew.”
“I did nothing of the sort.”
“Oh, come on. That was a pissing contest if ever I saw one.”
He smiled. “Seen a lot of pissing contests, have you?”
“Since I’m a patron of McP’s, and that’s where