Page 8 of Make Me Fool You

I shake my head. “Nope. I’ve seen way worse.”

“Well, she scares the shit out of me,” Bri mutters under her breath sharply.

I chuck her under her chin. “Stick with me, kid. I’ve got you covered.”

For just a minute it feels like she sees me. And she likes me. There’s a warmth and trust in her eyes that lifts my soul.

“Oh shit,” she mutters again. I see another younger woman running up to us, a smile on her lips that doesn’t reach her cool blue eyes.

“There you are, sis. I wasn’t sure you were going to make it. And you could have knocked me over with a feather when Mother said that you actually had a date.” Her cold gaze shifts to me and she eyes me with the same enthusiasm as a snake eyeing a tasty meal. Her thin mouth lifts up and she shifts closer to me, essentially pushing her older sister away from me. “It’s so nice to meet you. How on earth did my dear older sister manage to snag you?”

My brow quirks. “Other than me being an incredibly lucky bastard that talked her into a date? I consider myself to be the one who got lucky.”

She nods her head and her blonde hair shimmers under the lights like an angel. “I don’t know as I believe that but it’s very gentlemanly of you to say.” She taps me on the arm with a long, painted red nail. “Make sure and save me a dance.”

Then without even glancing at her sister, she glides into the crowd, losing herself in the crush in seconds.

I glance over at Bri, not surprised to see the darkness creep up her cheeks.

“Is there anyone in your family that’s not a bitch?” I ask her, laughing when she chokes and then gasps out a belly laugh all the way up her body.

“Let’s go mingle,” I say. “I can’t wait to see who else we run into here.”

She throws back her head and laughs, the lights glinting on the crystals in her dark hair like raindrops.

“Let’s go.”

After half an hour I’m ready to call it quits. I’ve never met such a bunch of pretentious assholes.

After an hour, holding Bri in my arms while I whirl her gently-swaying body around the room, I know I never want to be anywhere else.

“So…how do you feel now? Still worried about your mother?”

Her golden-brown eyes dance. “You mean you’re not?”

“Absolutely not. I’m the happiest damn guy in this place. I’ve got the most beautiful woman here in my arms and she’s smiling and laughing. Why would I give a damn about whatever your mother thinks? Or anybody else here for that matter.”

I see her Mother heading straight for us and she sighs, leaning her head on my shoulder, sinking into me like I can shield her from whatever’s coming.

And fuck do I want to.

Instead Bri lifts her head and her shoulders go back. “I’ll be right back.”

I watch her meet her mother across the room, both women staring at me. Her mother’s is a glare but Bri smiles at me and my heart turns over. That’s what I’ve been wanting. Her attention. A chance to make myself indispensable to this fiery woman.

I stroll around the room when the two women move away, talking.

I find myself in an alcove and just across from me, behind a huge tree decorated with crystal ornaments that look like snowflakes of all shapes and sizes, I see Bri’s sister’s fiancé and he’s not with his Trinity. His lips are fused to a tall blond with a gold dress that looks poured over her slim figure. I shake my head.

“Shit!” I don’t want to have to tell Bri about this. The bearer of bad news is usually the one that gets all the credit for a bad situation and not the person who actually committed the sins.

I rub my hand down my face, suddenly exhausted. Can tonight get any worse?

Bri pops up next to me, tears in her eyes. “Let’s go. I think I’ve had enough for tonight.”

Yep. Obviously it can.

CHAPTER5

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