The WRONG Brother (Love You Forever #1) - Alexis Winter Page 0,47
everyone. You know what everyone is going to think—that I’m just with you because I couldn’t get Preston. Things are still so early and everything’s going great. I don’t want anyone coming between us.”
“So you want to wait?”
She nods her head. “If that’s okay with you.”
I pick up her hand and press a kiss to the back. “I’ll do anything you want, as long as I get to spend time with you like this. Just us. No Preston. No expectations. No strings. Just us.”
“I’ll drink to that,” she says, knocking her glass off mine and taking a drink.
The drive to the restaurant seems to go by in no time now that I have her beside me. We touch and kiss and laugh on our way to dinner. The ride ends far too soon for my liking, but I get the whole night with her.
We go into the restaurant and are seated right away. She looks around the place in amazement. “I’ve never been here before.”
“No?” I ask as I’m pushing in her chair.
She shakes her head. “No, I’m usually found around coffee carts and taco bars.”
I laugh as I take my seat across from her. “Well, this place is amazing. Order anything and everything you want.”
The waiter comes over and I order us a bottle of wine while she reads over the menu. We end up settling on crab cakes to start, then she orders some kind of pasta for dinner. Dessert is the best. We share a triple chocolate brownie topped with chocolate syrup, whipped cream, and nuts. By the time I’m paying the bill and we’re leaving, I couldn’t eat another bite.
As the two of us are walking out, we bump into Preston. He looks me up and down, then does the same to Piper. “What the hell are you two doing here? I thought you said you had a date?” he asks her.
“Uh, I lied,” she says, not sounding very convincing.
He looks at me. “And I thought you said you had a business dinner.”
“I did,” I lie. “My new client is Piper.” I just blurted it out without thinking it through. Fuck.
His face wrinkles. “Piper?” He looks at her. “Why do you need a lawyer?”
Her eyes are wide with fear and panic. “Um, I need a lawyer because . . . I’m suing you!” she announces.
He looks taken aback. “Suing me?” he points at his chest.
She looks like she’s kicking herself.
“Why would you sue me?”
“Because you humiliated me on that show! I’m suing for de . . . what’s it called?” She looks at me.
“Defamation?” I ask, trying to play along with her story.
“Defam . . . what?” he asks, looking between the two of us. “What the hell does that mean?”
“Oh, and emotional distress. That too,” she adds on. I can tell she’s proud of herself for coming up with this plan on the spot—anything to protect our secret.
“You have emotional distress? From me? If you sue, I’m countersuing.”
I hold up my hands. “Okay, now wait a minute. We discussed it over dinner and I’ve managed to talk Piper out of the lawsuit. Right, Piper?”
She looks at me, surprised I’m taking his side, but then she quickly realizes she doesn’t actually want to sue Preston. She nods. “That’s right. You’d better suck up to your brother, cause your ass would’ve been getting handed to you right now.”
I can’t help the smirk that pulls at my lips.
“Piper, you were really going to sue me?” He sounds a little hurt.
She rolls her eyes. “Don’t take it so personally, Preston. I was just trying to teach you a lesson. I doubt it would’ve gone to trial.”
He scoffs, mouth hanging open. “Whatever. So are you two free now? We can grab some drinks and hang out, and you can tell me more about why you wanted to take me to court.”
“I actually have to get back home. I have an early morning.”
I nod. “Yeah, me too. We can catch up in a day or two.”
The two of us walk out, keeping as much distance between us as possible before making our way to the limo once Preston is out of sight.
We drive around the city for a little while, sipping our wine, and watching the lights on the fountain change colors before finally heading to the hotel.
“I didn’t know I needed to pack for an overnight trip.”
I shoot her a grin. “That’s okay. You won’t need clothes for what I have planned.” I step out and offer her my hand.