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“What is it?”
“Oh, nothing. They’re just beautiful is all.”
I join her after Petey’s finished, her eye on an intricately set diamond front and center nestled in velvet. “I thought you didn’t want a ring.”
“What?”
“Gabriel said you just wanted a band.”
She dips her chin down. “Well, if you wanted to get me one, that’d be different.”
She wants a ring from me, but not Gabriel? What does that mean?
I’m silent, almost feeling like I’m walking into a trap. If I tell her I don’t understand, I’ll somehow disappoint her, but if I say I’ll buy her one, I’m reading too much into things.
Petey tugs at the leash, solving my dilemma for me, and noses at her hand.
“Okay, boy.” She bends down, giving his rump a quick pat. “Let’s get you back.”
I slow as we approach the front doors of the shelter, no wish for Wendy to interrogate me again, though I can’t even prove she did that to begin with.
“I’ll see you tonight?”
She takes the leash from me, wrapping it around her hand. “Yeah, I’ll be done here in a few hours.”
Good. That gives me plenty of time for my next stop.
Through the glass doors, Wendy’s gaze meets mine, and I’m suddenly hyper aware of our surroundings. The people pushing by us on the sidewalk, cars driving past on the street, everyone that potentially sees us. The world is our stage and we’re the actors.
I cup Serena’s chin gently, tipping her face up to give her a soft goodbye kiss. And despite needing to do it for appearance’s sake, that doesn’t explain why I linger over the sweetness of her lips. Why the urge to explore her mouth further eats at me. Why I almost wish we were alone, no one to witness this moment that should be private.
I step back, nearly tripping over the damn dog myself, and right myself before she can say anything. “Send me that picture and I’ll forward it to Angelina.”
She nods, my mind already blocking out that kiss and focusing on the next task as I walk the short distance from the shelter to the flower shop Google tells me Mackenzie’s office is located in.
And lo and behold, who should I see through the window but my brother, sitting at a desk doing something on a computer. I enter the shop and bypass the woman at the register, heading straight toward the enclosed office at the other end, rapping briskly on the door.
He glances up, his face slightly paling as he motions for me to come in.
I take a seat in a paisley print club chair in front of him, unsure where to even start.
“Serena told you?” he finally asks.
“Not the whole story. But I’m pretty sure I figured out why Mackenzie offered you a job to begin with. And it’s not because you’ve always dreamed of planning weddings.”
He pales further, standing swiftly, but I hold a hand up to stop him. “I won’t tell anyone. Not Connor. Not Serena. And especially not Dad.”
He returns to his seat, blowing out a long breath. “I’m not confirming anything.”
“I wouldn’t expect you to. You’ve got a lot at stake.”
He nods cautiously.
“But seriously, you don’t think this is going to raise any suspicions?”
“I’m allowed to work here.” He crosses his arms over his chest, the defiant boy I remember. “I have to earn a living somehow.”
“I just don’t want either of you on his radar. Be careful.”