change her mind, but I know that I need to be careful. Usually the brushing of my lips over any girl’s neck is enough to change their mind, but I can’t do that with her. So, my words will have to do. “You and I both know that Logan doesn’t plan on going anytime soon. None of our friends even know you exist. Of course you can show up as my girlfriend. No one would know any different.”
“Oh wow.” Kayla swipes her finger across the cheesecake and sucks it off. “This is entertaining. I’ll be asking lots of questions once this is over, and FYI, the marriage offer still stands. Please keep going.”
Natalie narrows her eyes at her co-worker and begins walking toward the exit door. “I’ll be back, Kayla. I need some fresh air. I can’t breathe in here.”
Not ready to give up, I follow Natalie outside and grab her waist before she can get too far from me.
She quickly turns around and gets in my face, our bodies so close that her breasts swipe against the front of my hoodie. “Thanks for pointing that out, jerk. I feel like such an idiot now thanks to you.”
“Whoa!” I grab her arm and stop her from trying to walk away again. “What the hell did I do? I’m not the enemy here. Talk to me.”
Her face is red, and when she speaks, she’s so angry that she sounds out of breath. “You just had to go and say it out loud. That’s what you did.” She turns her head away as if ashamed, so I grab her chin and turn it back toward me.
“What? That our friends don’t know about you?”
She doesn’t say anything, which tells me I’m right.
I flex my jaw, feeling like an insensitive jerk. “I didn’t mean to make it sound as bad as it did. I’m sorry, Nat. I just meant that work is Logan’s priority right now.”
“Doesn’t matter how you said it...” She removes my hand from her chin and backs away from me. “It’s the truth. I’ve been with Logan for almost two years and his friends have no clue who I am. The truth is, I’ve been wanting to go on that trip since he first told me you guys all get together every year no matter what your lives are like, just so you can all be together like old times. That seems important. These people seem really important, and I haven’t had the chance to meet any of them yet.”
“You can meet them with me.”
“Then what? What happens if Logan decides to go next year? Do I pretend to go with you again? The rock star’s girlfriend? Or do I end up being that girl that switched teams and started dating the other brother?”
I shake my head and push my hood back. “Next year I’ll have moved on. We tell them that I was on the road too much and Logan was there for you. No hard feelings. It’s an easy fix.”
“And as your girlfriend, what does that entail? I have to kiss you? Have sex with you?” She laughs. “This all sounds ridiculous.”
“Nah. Of course not.” I lift a brow as her eyes meet mine. “Just the kissing part. But just in front of people like any happy couple would do.”
She bursts out into a fit of laughter.
“What’s so funny about that?” I lean against the building and pull out a smoke, waiting for her response. She’s really finding the whole kissing me thing to be funny. That’s a damn good way to destroy a man’s ego.
It takes her a minute or two, but she finally stops laughing. “I can’t imagine ever wanting to kiss you. And I sure as hell can’t imagine your brother wanting that either.”
“He already does.” I take a long drag and slowly blow the smoke out while talking. “He’s already agreed to it.”
She freezes and her face turns from one of hurt to anger, before she rips the cigarette from my hand and flicks it across the parking lot. “The answer is no. Now leave me the hell alone.”
With that, she pushes the revolving door with force, disappearing inside.
Once I’m alone, I rub my hands down my face, feeling like crap for upsetting her over this shit.
I’ve never seen her this upset since I’ve known her, and I have to admit that it has my chest feeling heavy.
I feel like a fucking asshole, and that’s not how I wanted this to go, but apparently the