Page 60 of The Best Man Problem
It felt special, significant.
“Wow.” He breathed out the word on the last bit of air left in his lungs.
She laughed softly. “You can say that again.”
“Wow,” he repeated with a grin.
She lightly smacked him on the shoulder. “Smart-ass.”
A small ache tugged in his chest, something that suspiciously resembled feelings. He pushed it down. He and Lilly were casual. Fun. He didn’t want anything deeper, so he refused to acknowledge the weird sensation in his gut. But not wanting to get too serious with her didn’t mean he didn’t want to know more about the fascinating woman in his arms.
He pulled her in close to his side, absently playing with the dark, silky strands of her hair as he spoke. “Since I’m no longer part of it, wanna tell me about this mysterious rule you have against relationships with members of your wedding party?”
She stiffened slightly. “How do you know it’s my rule?”
“Lilly.” She was deflecting. He didn’t know why it was so important to him to know the reason. He should be happy with the sex and leave it at that. Why was he so adamant about getting to know her better? He wanted fun, not a serious relationship. Right?
His brain was a jumbled mess at the moment. Eh, maybe he should blame it on all the amazing sex. Or maybe he was using that as a cover for something he didn’t want to admit to.
That maybe Lilly was coming to mean more to him than he ever planned.
“Fine, you annoyingly persistent man. I’ll tell you. But it’s not a happy story.”
He didn’t like the way her voice quieted with that, the soft, almost shame-filled tone taking over. Holding her tight, he kissed the top of her head.
“You can tell me.” He meant that, too. She could tell him anything. Despite all their differences, he felt this weird connection to Lilly. As if they were two odd shapes that fit together perfectly, complementing each other in a way no one else could. He shut that thought down right away. That sounded far too much like deep feelings. Something he promised himself he wouldn’t do again.
“Okay, here goes.” She cleared her throat, voice taking on that confident, in-charge tone he heard her use when solving problems. “About five years ago, when our business was pretty new, we were planning this wedding for a very nice couple. They had a large budget and a lot of requests. I was in constant contact with them and members of their party. Over the first few months, I got to know their best man fairly well.”
A wave of jealousy washed over him. Ridiculous. Lilly was a grown woman. Of course she’d had other relationships before him. Hell, he’d been married before. It would be ludicrous to think the woman hadn’t been involved with another man. Didn’t stop the caveman instinct in his gut from wanting to pound the other guy into oblivion. Or at least hack his computer and fill it with viruses.
“You started seeing each other?”
He felt her soft hair brush against his jaw as she nodded, a few strands getting caught in his beard.
“Yes, he was charming and good-looking, and I guess I got swept up in it all a little. But he wanted to keep the relationship a secret.”
Red flag! Secret relationships were never a good thing. He’d seen enough romantic dramas to know that. And yes, he was a man who loved romantic movies, despite how much his fellow software engineers liked to razz him about it. They could all go screw themselves. A good movie was a good movie.
“Like a dope, I agreed. And then…”
Oh shit. He didn’t like the sound of where this story was going. Did the jackass break her heart?
“Did he hurt you?” he asked, trying to mask the whirling rage of emotions inside.
She shook her head. “Not in any physical sense of the word.”
When she didn’t elaborate, he pressed, “What happened?”
A weary sigh left her. “His wife showed up.”
Lincoln tensed, his entire body freezing at her words. His wife. The guy had been married. A cheater. Lincoln knew firsthand how that could rip a person’s world apart. Tear down your entire belief system with one fell swoop. Change who you thought you were and had been as a person.
All the positive and slightly scary feelings of the past twenty-four hours flew away, his body turning to ice as her confession pounded over and over in his head.
Lilly had slept with a married man.
She probably hadn’t known. The Lilly he knew wouldn’t intentionally hurt someone like that. I thought Jessa wouldn’t hurt me, either. The dark cloud of his past experiences created a haze of anger over any logic. How well did he know Lilly, really? He’d known his ex for years, and she still betrayed him, so why did he think he’d know a woman he’d only talked with for a few weeks and slept with a few times any better?
