Page 49 of Contingently Yours

I wasn’t about to try denying anything to my sisters, but it would have been pointless with the way I’m smiling like a loon after that parting.

The thing about twins is that no matter how much they try to say they’re different in so many ways, they’re still siblings.

So, I dance my way through two dances, fielding the same questions.

Why were you holding hands?

Are you dating? How long has this been going on?

I thought you hated the guy. What happened?

Is it serious?

Julia was the only one to veer off-course with, “Well, he’s way better looking than Shannon.”

It was surprisingly less uncomfortable than I imagined it would be.

Much less so than the actual dancing. I gave each of them a final twirl, as previously instructed—like they think I have two left feet because, in all fairness, I do—and was left with whispered demands of, “You’d better introduce me. ”

I walked off the dance floor feeling dizzy only to run into my mother for the third round of interrogations. She looked confused about why she hadn’t met him yet if I was ‘ sort of dating him .’

“Well, does he want to come sit and eat cake with us?” was her final take on the entire conversation. That’s it. Not even a question about why I was suddenly with a man. I will never understand the women in my family.

“Mom…I don’t know. Can I just go find him? Why don’t you talk to Aunt Charlotte? I think she was looking for you.”

Making my way through the crowd, I shake hands and offer thanks for congratulations as I search for Andrew. It shouldn’t be so difficult to find the only man wearing a Western cowboy-style shirt at a formal wedding reception.

I finally find him at a table with my great-aunt Katherine and great-uncle Louis. He has a chair pulled up between their two wheelchairs and is listening intently to whatever my aunt is saying. He glances up as though he senses my presence, which sends a rush of shivers over my skin, and smiles.

“Never go to bed angry,” Aunt Katherine stresses to him with her bony hand.

Uncle Louis adds, “And always kiss her goodnight.”

“That sounds like excellent advice,” he agrees, patting them both gently on the shoulders as he gets up.

Quirking my brows at him, I don’t get any sort of explanation other than a smile. Bending down, I place a kiss on my aunt’s cheek and speak loud enough so she’ll hear me. “You look very nice tonight, Aunt Katherine.”

She eyes me up and down for a second. “Thank you.”

I nod and then look at Andrew, hoping he’s up for escaping with me momentarily. Something latches onto my wrist, however.

“Bobby,” Aunt Katherine calls up to me. “Tell your mother that I want to be home by seven o’clock. I have to feed Biscuit.”

Biscuit? What the hell is a Biscuit?

“Her cat,” Andrew supplies.

I’m pretty sure Biscuit had a different name the last time I saw her. Also, I look nothing like my cousin Bobby. He’s bald and has a mustache.

“Um, sure. Okay.” I pat her hand and glance around for my cousin or his mother, except then I feel something tug my other wrist as soon as she lets go.

It’s Andrew, angling his head toward the door. “Her daughter literally just told her she’d get her home in time like five minutes ago,” he confides to me under his breath. “Come on, Bobby . Walk me to my car?”

He smirks at his own joke, but my heart sinks hearing that he’s leaving.

I nod, though, making my way toward the door with him.

He stops and picks up what looks like a keyboard carrying case, slinging it over his shoulder.

There’s an amp too, which he grabs with his other hand and then checks to see if I’m following him as he heads outside.

“What’s with the gear? Is it Renegade stuff?”

He chuckles and kicks a rock across the parking lot, his cheeks turning pink.

“Well, to tell you the truth, I didn’t think Mason was coming.

He said he couldn’t make it when I called him the other day.

” Glancing at me sheepishly, he continues and holds out an arm.

“So, the best I could come up with was a one-man band. I just overestimated what one should wear to a barn.”

My footsteps slow momentarily as I piece together what he’s saying. The fringe makes sense now…sort of. I mean, this is Andrew, after all.

He would have played for my sisters? For me ? I can’t believe he would have done that. I’m kind of sorry everyone won’t get to hear how talented he is.

We walk in silence until I realize we’re at his car, a vehicle I used to despise seeing. I still despise it right now because it has the ability to take him away from me.

The humid air, along with my nerves, has me starting to sweat.

I shrug out of my suit jacket and roll up my sleeves while he stows his gear.

When he closes the trunk, he gives me a once-over and smiles that new sheepish-Andrew smile.

I hope he hasn’t lost all his spark from my tongue-lashing the other day, although it was really sweet seeing him socializing with my older relatives.

“What were you and my aunt and uncle talking about?”

“I asked them what the secret to being happily married for sixty-five years was.”

I know they’ve been together since the beginning of time, but I hadn’t realized it’s been that long. Hearing that he chatted with them long enough to find out makes me want to hug him.

He inches closer. “I don’t want you to go to bed angry with me tonight. Or any night. I’m sorry. I didn’t…” He shakes his head, searching for words. “I didn’t think you’d want more. Frankly, I didn’t know how to give more, but I want to.”

Damn. He’s really breathtaking when he’s not pretending to be an asshole.

Clearing my throat, I close the distance. “Then you’d better kiss me goodnight,” I suggest, taking my Uncle Louis’ advice.

I could melt just from the touch of his hands on my cheek. “I missed you, Tufty,” he whispers at my lips before touching his to mine.

The kiss is soft and thoughtful. It’s our first outside of work, with no doubt about its authenticity. It calms my soul like the piece I’ve been searching for all my life has finally been found. I grip his waist, not wanting to let go. It’s perfect.

“Luuucas!”

I’m thirty-seven years old and can still recognize my mother’s voice from a mile away, even if it wasn’t hollering across the parking lot at full volume. I jump, stumbling backward.

“Jesus,” I pant, clutching my chest.

Locating her standing outside the reception hall’s door, I watch her wave her hand, beckoning for us to return. Right.

“Sorry,” Andrew laughs nervously. “Um, I should probably go, so I’m not distracting you. I can come back later and help clean up if you need it.”

He shifts from one foot to the other. I watch in awe at how his nerves are making him just as clueless as I felt the last few weeks. Smiling, I hold out my hand for him to take. He looks at it, confused.

“My mom wants you to come sit and eat cake with us.”

His jaw goes slack, and his brows rise, glancing toward the door. He lets out a disbelieving puff of air and smiles. “Seriously?”

“Yeah, and then later,” I add, capturing his hand, “you can give me that goodnight kiss.”

His smile grows as he realizes I duped him into more than one kiss. He glances at his feet, shaking his head, and I hear him exhale. Looking back up, he grins and chuckles.

“That sounds like a really good deal.”

Smirking, I start us back toward the hall and nod. “It is. Fifty-fifty split.”

“Guess I should see this thing through to the end. Think we can pull off looking like a couple of happily paired guys?”

The way his grip on my hand tightens belies his humor, telling me how much it means to him for this to happen, so I squeeze back. Except, I owe him a few zingers for the shit he used to say to me.

“Yeah, as long as we can be as disgusting as we can and you act like you give a damn about me.”

“Tufty,” he prefaces, “that won’t be a problem.”