Page 14 of Sweet Surrender
Dean began pacing up and down, shoving his hand through his blond hair.
“He thinks you haven’t moved on, that there’s still a chance you could get back together because you haven’t been with anyone else.”
“So?” Taylor asked, her brows furrowing.
“So…” Dean stopped pacing and snapped his fingers. “We need to make it look like you’ve moved on.”
“That’s interesting, you might be onto something there,” Blake chimed in. Beau looked back and forth between them.What are they on about?
“Can you stop speaking in code?” Taylor’s waspish tone had Beau smiling: finally it was directed at someone other than him.
“You need a boyfriend,” Dean said.
“Oh great, I’ll just pop to the store and buy one, thanks.” Beau fought another smile at Taylor’s sarcasm and the adorable way she stomped her foot in anger. The urge to smile disappeared as a spark of jealousy flared in his chest at the idea of her with another man.Weird.
“No, really. He needs to think that you’ve moved on and you’re madly in love with someone new and not interested in him,” Dean said.
“That’s not a bad idea,” Justine sniffled, raising her head from Blake’s chest.
“What? Are you both insane? That would takemonths!”
“Not if you had someone pretend.”
“Oh yeah, are you gonna do it?” Taylor scoffed.
Dean blanched. “Gross, obviously not. He knows we’re brother and sister.”
“Stepbrother and sister,” Taylor glared at him. “And lucky if we’re still that by the end of this conversation!”
Beau smothered another smile as he realized just how much he had missed watching them bicker.
“Blake could do it?” Justine volunteered.
“No honey, he’s seen us together already and besides we’re getting married and having a baby,” Blake said gently like he was talking to a small child, probably scared to set off another round of tears.
“No, it needs to be somebody he knows isn’t attached but someone who knows you well enough to sell it,” Dean said. “Like Beau!”
Suddenly, as everyone’s eyes settled on him, Beau wished he’d never come into the bar today.
“Yes! Beau could do it, you’ve known him for years. And he’s single. Dale has seen you with him before. Remember that time that Beau kicked him out of the bar? It’s perfect!” Justine cried. Dean nodded in agreement and Beau felt Taylor’s piercing gaze slide over him. He shoved his hands into his pockets and rocked on his heels, smiling at her sheepishly.
“That is a really great example of a shitty idea,” Taylor deadpanned, shaking her head violently.
Beau’s pride prickled as she began shouting at Dean, the shouting increasing when Blake agreed it was a good idea. Beau tuned out the argument as his thoughts went frantic. Unfortunately, he agreed. Hewasthe perfect candidate. He was staying in the cabin next to her so could keep a close eye on her; he knew her better than anyone, and knew he could sell it, hell it wouldn’t be hard. But it would be painful to tap into all those old memories, remembering how much he had cared for her. But… If it meant keeping her safe, he would do it.
Dean had ducked out of the argument, leaving Blake to fend for himself against the rabid lioness.
“Man, are you sure you’d be okay with this?” Beau asked.
“What? Watching you get all snuggly with little sis?” Dean snorted and Beau went hot all over.Shit.He hadn’t even considered that. Would they have to hold hands and shit? Hug?Kiss?Someone must have sucked all the oxygen out of the room because suddenly Beau couldn’t breathe. The memories of their first kiss tried to overtake him. For a moment he let them, until the memory of her horror appeared, followed by those hateful words, and he had to shove the rest of the scene out of his mind.
If they did this, then he would spend a serious amount of time with her, he would have plenty of time to havethe chatand apologize to her, to set things right and move on. Was this actually a blessing in disguise?
“Besides, you’d only be pretending, right?” Dean interrupted his thoughts.
Images of him and Taylor tangled in his sheets, sweating and moaning filled his mind.Fuck, this was a terrible idea.
“Exactly. Just pretending,” Beau rasped, clearing his throat. Dean clapped him on the back and jumped back into the argument, sensing Blake needed back up.
