Second-Chance Seduction(77)
“Swell, huh?” Connor looked at him sideways. “That’s because I warned you to be nice to her.”
“That’s not why,” Jake insisted. “She was great. Talkative, interesting, fun. She loves the business, so she’s got some smarts. Besides, if you can forgive her, who am I to judge? And Jonas loved her, so that counts for something.”
“Yeah, it does.” Connor refused to mention the twinge of affection he felt at hearing his brother’s kind words. Instead he kept scanning the room for the exasperating woman he wanted to have standing by his side at that moment.
The place was filled with old friends and business acquaintances, wealthy competitors and a few enemies, all decked out in their fanciest attire. The men were in tuxedos or black suits and most of the women wore gowns. And they were all working the crowd. This was business, after all.
There were occasional flashes of light as the local paparazzi caught people on camera out in the wide-open foyer. The photos would eventually appear in the various industry magazines and websites, so everyone took it in good-natured fun.
But still there was no Maggie. Damn it, was she seriously planning to stand him up? But wait, could he blame her? She honestly didn’t want to come tonight and he had done everything to bully her into it. And that was after she’d been so honest with him, telling him about her vicious ex-husband’s behavior.
“You’re a moron,” he muttered miserably.
“Just so you know,” Jake continued blithely, “I’m okay with you and her getting together.”
Connor’s eyebrow quirked. “And what’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means, you know, if you wanted to actually date her, I’d be okay with it.”
Connor placed his hand over his heart. “That means everything to me.”
Jake laughed out loud. “Yeah, right. I know it matters, so I’m just saying, Maggie’s A-okay in my book.”
“You’re wrong,” Connor said, grinning. “It doesn’t matter to me.”
“Of course it matters,” Jake persisted, only half kidding. “I’m the head of the family, so it’s a very special occasion when I bestow my blessing upon you.”
Ian overheard him as he walked up to join them. “Head jackass of the family, maybe.”
Connor chuckled. “Good one.”
“So, what were you two blathering about?” Ian asked as he sipped from a glass of red wine.
Jake pointed to Connor. “I was just telling him I’m okay with him and Maggie hooking up.”
Ian smirked at Connor. “I’m sure you appreciated those heartfelt words.”
“Oh, you bet,” Connor said. “You know how much I look up to Jake and hang on his every word.”
“Go ahead and give me grief,” Jake said loftily. “But I’m not too big a person to admit when I’m wrong. I take back what I said about Maggie. She’s a lovely woman and she’s obviously still in love with you, so I wish you two many years of happiness together.”
“Whoa,” Connor said, carefully swallowing the gulp of beer he’d almost choked on. “Slow down, dude. Who said anything about, you know, whatever the hell you’re talking about?”