Wallbanger(24)

“So what do you think about—” I began.

“Can you believe that they al —” he said.

“Go ahead.” I chuckled.

“No, what were you going to say?”

“I was going to say, so what do you think about our friends tonight?”

“That’s actual y what I was going to say. I couldn’t believe they just up and left us!” He laughed, and I couldn’t help but laugh along with him. He

had a great laugh.

“I know, but my girls know what they want. I couldn’t have painted two better guys for them. They’re exactly what they look for,” I confided,

leaning against the window so I could watch him as we navigated the hil y streets.

“Yeah, Neil has a weakness for Asian girls—and I swear that sounded less pervy in my head. And Ryan loves him some leggy redheads.” He

laughed again, glancing over to see if I was okay with his leggy redhead comment.

I was. She was.

“Wel , I’m sure I’l hear al about it tomorrow—what kind of impression they made on my ladies. I’l get the ful report, don’t you worry.” I sighed.

My phone would be ringing off the hook.

Silence crept back in, and I wondered what to say next.

“So how do you know Benjamin and Jil ian?” he asked, saving me from smal talk fever.

“I work for Jil ian at the firm. I’m an interior designer.”

“Wait. Hold up, you’re that Caroline?” he asked.

“I have no idea what that means,” I answered, wondering why he was now staring at me.

“Damn, it real y is a smal world,” he exclaimed, shaking his head from side to side as though trying to clear it.

He was silent as I sat there in limbo.

“Hey, wanna clear that up a bit? What did you mean, that Caroline?” I final y questioned, slapping his shoulder.

“It’s just that…wel …huh. Jil ian has mentioned you before. Let’s leave it at that,” he said.

“Hel no, we won’t leave it at that! What did she say?” I pushed, slapping again at his shoulder.

“Would you cut that out? You’re real y rough, you know that?” he said.

There were simply too many ways I could go with that comment, so I wisely kept quiet.

“What did she say about me?” I asked quietly, now worried that perhaps she’d said something about my work. My nerves were already shot,

and now they were pinging.

He looked over at me. “No, no, it’s not like that,” he said quickly. “It’s nothing bad. It’s just that, wel , Jil ian adores you. And she adores me—of

course, right?”

I rol ed my eyes, but played along.

“And wel , she might have…mentioned a few times…that she thought I should meet you,” he dragged out, only to wink at me when I met his

eyes.

“Oh. Ohhhh,” I breathed as I realized what he meant. I blushed. Jil ian, that little matchmaking shit. “Does she know about the harem?” I asked.

“Would you quit with that? Don’t cal them the harem. You make it sound so shady. What if I told you those three women were incredibly

important to me? That I care a lot about them. That the relationships I have with them work for us, and no one else needs to understand it—got it?”

he said, pul ing the Rover to an angry stop at the curb outside our building.

I was quiet as I studied my hands and watched him rake his through his already messed-up hair.

“Hey, you know what? You’re right. Who am I to say what’s right or wrong for anyone else. If it works for you, great. Hit it. Mazel tov. I’m just

surprised Jil ian would want to set you up with me. She knows I’m a pretty traditional girl, that’s al ,” I explained.

He grinned and turned the force of his blue eyes on me.

“As it happens, she doesn’t know everything about me. I keep my private life private—with the exception of my neighbor with the thin wal s and

the devastating lingerie,” he said in a low voice that could melt, wel , anything.

My brain was most certainly among those things, seeing as I suddenly felt it oozing out of my ears and on down to my col ar.

“Except for her,” I muttered, thoroughly scrambled.

He let out a dark laugh and opened his door. He kept his eyes on mine as he strode around the car and opened my door.

I climbed down, taking the hand he offered me, and almost not noticing that he traced a tiny circle on the inside of my left hand with his right

thumb. Almost didn’t notice it, my ass. It made my skin pebble and Lower Caroline sit up straight. Nerves? Shooting like fireworks al over the

place.

We walked inside the building, and he once again opened the door for me. He real y was charming, I had to give him that.