Page 66 of Make-Believe Match

I sat next to Lexi with my arm across the back of her chair, and every now and again, I touched her shoulder or rubbed her arm. When her beer was gone, I got her another one. When she got up to use the bathroom, I walked her to the back of the bar. When she came out, we ambled over to a couch to sit alone. I tugged her onto my lap, and she sat with one arm looped around my neck.

“Your brothers are definitely suspicious,” she said in my ear. “They keep staring at us.”

“They’ve just never seen me behave this way with a girl before,” I explained, curling an arm around her hip. “It works in our favor.”

“Hmm.” She played with the collar of my shirt. “So I’m curious about something. What happened with McKenna?”

“I told you. We wanted different things. So we split up.”

“I know what youtoldme. But I have a hunch there’s more to the story.” She paused. “Is there?”

I took a sip of my beer and decided to admit the truth. “We broke up because she slept with someone else at the company Christmas party last year.”

Lexi gasped. “She did not.”

“She did.”

“Why?I mean, you definitely have some faults, but your sexual skills are...” She kissed her fingertips. “Chef’s kiss.”

I couldn’t help smiling. “Thanks. But I don’t think she did it to have better sex. I think she did it to punish me.”

“For what?”

“Not giving her what she wanted.”

“What did she want?”

“Attention, mostly. But she also wanted a ring.”

Lexi nodded in understanding. “Had you ever told her you didn’t want to get married?”

“Many times. I never hid the fact that it wasn’t something I wanted. She heard what she wanted to hear. Everyone does.”

She thought about that for a second. “I guess.”

“Anyway, she and I were never going to be right for each other, even if she hadn’t cheated.” I took another swallow from my beer. “Plus, the guy she fucked was Bob Oliver.”

“Oh, shit.”

“Yeah. And whatreallypissed me off was that I’d been a mentor to him, shown him the ropes, shared my strategies. And he turned around and backstabbed me multiple times over—not just the incident with McKenna, but with clients too.”

“What a dick.”

“They’re engaged now.”

“Wait.” She put it all together, her brow furrowed. “McKenna is the boss’s daughter?”

“Yep.”

“Jeez.” She shook her head. “The thought of that guy getting his hands on Snowberry makes me sick.”

“Me too. It won’t happen.” I finished off my beer. “So tell me about the dickheadyouwere engaged to.”

She laughed. “He wasn’t a dickhead until he decided that he’d rather make more money than be with me.”

“The job he took paid better?”

“Yeah. The resorts out west are huge. The area is ritzy. But we’d talked many, many times about the life we wanted here. He just changed his mind.”