if I can get your sister’s ‘boyfriend’ to blow his load under the table without your sister even blinking an eye.” She gave her breasts a light pat, letting them bounce for him. “Think about it, Mike, these beauts could have been yours tonight.”
He eyed them, part of him wanting to reach out for the goodbye caress he knew she would allow him, while another part felt relieved that Sydney was taking them off the table.
“But you’d rather have a very specific pair of B-cups in your paws, wouldn’t you?” she said with a touch of confusion pursing her lips. “I can see it in your eyes. Hmm. That’s a new one.”
“I don’t pretend to understand it myself,” Mike said honestly.
“Yeah. Well, good luck with that, I guess.”
“Thanks.”
She stuck her hand out for a platonic shake. “Well, Mike. It was fucked up meeting you, but at least one of us is going to get laid out of the deal.”
Mike couldn’t help it. He laughed as he clasped her hand in his. “And Sydney, I’m pretty sure I’ll remember you until the day I die.”
She gave his hand a solid shake to match the authoritative tone in her voice. “I’m going to friend you on Facebook, and you’d better accept me. Because you better bet that I’m going to cyber stalk you to see how this shit storm plays out. You owe me that much.”
“And more,” he said.
“Damn straight,” she said, releasing his hand and heading back to the table without a backwards glance.
Chapter 24
Once they got back to Luke’s place, everyone seemed content to scatter. Rori wasn’t sure about anyone else’s motives but she needed some time to think.
It wasn’t going to work. No matter how she looked at the situation, she came to that same conclusion. The whole thing with Luke and her was doomed for as long as Kris was in the picture.
And Kris would always be in the picture.
How the two of them had stayed away from each other as long as they had was beyond Rori. Apparently they had Mike to thank for that. But if Rori was reading Mike’s signals correctly, he didn’t intend to stand in their way much longer.
Rori had no doubt that Kris knew what she wanted with Luke. Luke was the only one who seemed confused—as if his mind was stuck in a place of considering Kris a sister even though he was completely in love with her.
Someone needed to tell Luke that he wasn’t Kris’s brother. Someone needed to give him permission to do what he’d probably wanted to do for half his life. And if no one else planned on doing it, it might as well be Rori. After the day she’d had, there was no point in pretending that things would get better rather than steadily worse between her and Luke.
Luke belonged with Kris, and Rori belonged in New York. She had put off her arrival there three days so she could come home with Luke and learn if they had a future. Well, she’d gotten her answer. Now she just needed to let Luke know her decision…as soon as she finished up with the airline.
“Okay, Miss Townsend, it looks like we can move your flight up to this evening’s red eye. You will arrive in New York at 7:30 a.m. local time, and we can keep you in business class.”
“Perfect,” Rori said. “I’ll take it.”
“Excellent, and would you like me to check you in for the flight while we are on the phone?”
“Yes. And assign me a bulkhead seat if one is available.”
“Window or aisle?”
Rori thought of Luke and smiled. It would be night, so it didn’t really matter. Still, she said, “Window.”
“Okay. You’re all set then, Miss Townsend. Anything else I can do for you?”
“Nothing at all. Thank you.”
After they hung up, Rori went through the guest room again to make sure she wasn’t leaving anything behind. The place was just as she found it.
“Just one more thing to do,” she muttered to herself and headed down the stairs and left her suitcase just inside the front door.
She wasn’t quite sure what she would say yet. She’d never had a conversation quite like this before, where she would be telling the man she was dating to date someone else. It felt right, and in the end she was sure it was the right move, but that wouldn’t make the conversation any less awkward.
Still, best not to think about it too hard. When it came to things