Matched For Love(46)

Or one could look at it as a one-week opportunity to show him that she was the better choice for him. “I’d rather try to make it the best week of our lives if it’s all the same to you. You could look into that magic lasso thing.”

A slow-growing smile lit his face. “I could absolutely do that.”

“Okay. Then it’s settled.” One week wasn’t much time. But it was all she had. She’d make the best of it. And in the end, she’d either get the opportunity to get to know the man of her dreams better or get handed another broken heart.





12

LET THE GAMES BEGIN.

Lori yawned into her coffee cup as she tapped away on her keyboard with her free hand. She’d been at Shelby and Jo’s restaurant for hours and still wasn’t close to where she needed to be work- and school-wise. She needed to catch up on her matchmaking business responsibilities, take a quiz in her economics class, and then she needed to figure out how she and Deek could grab some alone time. The clock was ticking. Annie was due back in six days.

After she’d slept on her deal with Deek, she’d awoken with trepidation in her heart. Was she trying to steal another woman’s man? She’d never do that on purpose. Never do what her former best friend had done by sleeping with Joe.

Annie had told Deek to sleep with other women, so they’d know for sure it was right for them to settle down. So, it was all honest and fair. She hoped.

The door opened, and a cool breeze accompanied Shelby inside. She lifted a hand in greeting and then made a beeline for the brownies Jo had made for them. After stuffing one into her mouth, she made her way to Lori’s table.

“Hey there, stranger.” Shelby shrugged out of her coat. “I guess you’ve recovered from Monday night’s fiasco? I refunded Jason’s money and purged him from the files, by the way.”

“Thanks.” Lori had almost forgotten about Jason. And it was only Wednesday. “Deek and I are working on a way to dig a little deeper into our clients’ backgrounds. I’ll let you know what we come up with.”

Shelby lifted a brow. “Ms. I-do-everything-on-paper when I met you is going to help solve a cyber problem?”

“Deek’s a genius with computers.” And in bed, but she wasn’t going to share that part with Shelby just yet.

“Why are you blushing?” Her sister-in-law leaned closer and whispered, “You slept with him. Didn’t you?”

Of all the attributes to have, why blushing? Rachel didn’t have it. “Maybe.”

Shelby waited for the details like a puppy waiting for a treat. All smiles and wiggles of excitement. “Come on, Lori. Spill. I’m a boring, pregnant, married woman. I need to live vicariously through you.”

“You haven’t even been married for a year yet. I’m sure you have plenty of sex with my brother that I don’t want to hear about.”

“True.” She smiled like a cat who just scored a bowl of cream. “I’m glad Deek stumbled into Rachel’s party last weekend. I like him. A lot. And if Nick knew I told you this, he’d kill me, but he really liked him too. He said it was too soon to be sure Deek wouldn’t break your heart. But if he did, Nick thought he could still take the guy, even though Deek’s built. Nick is so protective of you; it’s cute. I love that about him.”

She loved her brother too, but sometimes his protectiveness could be cloying. “Nick isn’t going to have to beat anyone up. I might be doing that to myself all on my own.”

“What do you mean?” Shelby’s smile instantly disappeared.

After Lori had explained the situation with Deek and Annie, she sat back and waited for Shelby’s take on the matter. It was important what her sister-in-law thought. Rachel’s reaction to the whole situation had been to go for it, and then she went online and bought Lori better lingerie. It was due in by Friday. She’d always been Rachel’s conscience, not the other way around.

Shelby leaned back and blew out a long breath. “First, there’s a kid involved here, so could you see yourself marrying Deek and therefore becoming Asher’s stepmother one day?”

“Yes. I realize Deek and I haven’t known each other well for very long, but it was like this with Joe too. My heart knew right away. Deek and Joe are the only two people that’s ever happened with. And Asher’s a great kid. I’m already fond of him.”

“Yeah. I remember you saying that about Joe.” Shelby’s expression grew pensive. “So Deek told you how he felt about you first, but what did he say when you said he wasn’t free to be with you because he loved Annie?”