Page 12 of Decidedly Off Limits

Shoot me now. Why the hell did he have to bring that up? From the quirk of Stephen’s eyebrow, it was clear this was the first he’d heard about Liam’s career. Erin wouldn’t have told him. No point scaring him off prematurely.

Oh. God. Did Liam put Trent up to this? That would explain why my brother had been so interested in my dating life. It was like that time when I was sixteen and Liam had a “talk” with my date while I was getting ready. There wasn’t a second date after that. It wasn’t until a few months later that I found out my brother had threatened to break both of the guy’s legs if he hurt me.

Some things never changed.

Before Stephen could object to them joining us, Trent sat next to me. His leg accidentally brushed against mine and it was like a jolt of electricity had hit the spot. A happy buzz hummed through my body.

Whoa, definitely not a good thing.

I jerked my leg away from his—and instantly missed his touch.

Holly looked between the two guys, shrugged, and sat on the chair next to Stephen. At least Stephen was a gentleman and had pulled the chair out for me. Trent’s mom would have berated her son for such poor manners. She had taught him better than that.

“Stephen, this is Trent and Holly. They work together.” And were no doubt here to discuss work, both being the workaholics that they were.

Except that Holly was dressed as if it were a date.

“Nice to meet you,” Stephen said, more to Holly than to Trent.

A few tables over, a waitress carrying two slices of cake, one with a lit sparkler in it, approached an elderly couple. The man, who must’ve been in his eighties, stood and grinned at the woman. He picked up his wine glass and tapped it with a spoon. The deep, crisp sound broke through the noise from the nearby tables.

“I’d like to make an announcement.” His voice was strong and proud and held several dozen photo albums worth of nostalgia. “Sixty years ago today, the most beautiful woman in the world became my wife.” He lifted his glass to her, and every woman in the restaurant melted into sticky goo at his sweet words and the way he worshiped her.

I sighed in that way you do when you watch a sappy love story and wish it were yours.

“So how do you know Kelsey?” Trent asked Stephen, breaking my attention from the happy couple. Something felt off with the question and the way he’d said it. He wasn’t asking out of interest. It was more like an interrogation. God, this didn’t sound like Trent. It sounded more like my brother.

“Erin introduced us,” I said. Technically she hadn’t but close enough. “You remember Erin, right? Your sister?”

Trent ignored my dig, his attention focused solely on my date. “How do you know my sister?”

“My company is a client of her ad agency.”

Trent hummed, his gaze penetrating Stephen’s. I squirmed in my seat. Stephen held his own.

“Isn’t dating a friend of someone who works for the company considered a conflict of interest?” Unlike when I had joked about it, Trent was dead serious. What was his freaking problem?

“I don’t think there’s a law against it, if that’s what you’re asking,” Stephen smoothly replied.

“Holly,” I said, grasping for anything to end Trent’s interrogation. “I love your dress. You look great.” I turned to Trent. “Doesn’t she look great?”

He glanced at her for a brief moment, long enough to smile at her and agree that she looked great, before returning his attention to Stephen. “And what exactly do you do for the company?”

Stephen didn’t have a chance to answer. The waitress arrived to take our drink orders. I ordered a glass of my favorite Chardonnay. Holly did the same. The guys both ordered beer.

“Kelsey,” Holly said before Trent could grill Stephen further. “How’s your car doing?”

“Great, thanks. Turns out you were right about the fan belt.” And then I had an idea. A way to get back at Trent for being such an ass onmydate. “Your brothers wouldloveStephen’s car. It’s gorgeous and hot.”

“What is it?” she asked him.

“A 2015 Ferrari 458 Spider.”

I had no idea what that meant, but apparently Holly did. Her mouth dropped open in awe. She wasn’t the only one. Trent gawked at Stephen and was temporarily rendered speechless.Finally.

Sitting back in my seat, I waited to see who’d recover first. I figured from the way Trent had responded to the news about my date’s car, it meant Stephen had passed whatever test Trent had thrown at him, courtesy of my brother.

And now that Trent was appeased, this date could go on as planned—other than the part where it had become a double date.