Page 37 of Love Expert

“I look like three penguins sharing a single uncomfortable outfit.” I hate the way my tie grinds against my throat each time I swallow. How the cuffs feel too tight around my wrists. How my feet squeeze inside ill-fitting shoes. “I look like an idiot.”

“No. But youdolook uncomfortable.” She pushes off the frame and wanders into my room, the skirts of a full-length maxi-dress floating around her ankles. Spaghetti straps show off shoulders kissed by the warm sun after all her time tending to her grandmother’s garden. She stops in front of me, the delicious scent of her shampoo wafting on the air and filling my lungs, then she reaches up and flips my collar high. “You won’t have a nice evening if you’re uncomfortable the whole time.” She undoes my blue tie, unraveling the knot and carefully pulling the lengths apart. “Also, you did this up wrong. Bet it was pushing on your throat, huh?”

I stare down at the tops of her cheeks. At the way her long lashes brush the swells, then flicker back again. At the sexy point of her nose, and the bow of her lips.

She was always so fucking pretty, even when she was eight and had buck teeth and frizzy hair.

But I don’t get to think those things about her anymore. Life is just too different now. It’s complicated and flowing with guilt and grief, and the kid banging around inside his room makes it the most complicated of all.

“You told me to wear this outfit.” I draw a deep breath now that my tie is gone, and fill my lungs with fresh air. With Magnolia-scented air. “You told me to wear a tie, too.”

“I told you to wear something nice. I thoughtcomfortablewas implied.” She tosses my blue tie aside, then she brings the burgundy up and around my neck with gentle hands. Her bottom lip sits forward, pouty and tempting, and her glittering golden stare flicks between mine. “You read the information pack I sent over, right? About Brienne.”

“Mmhm. Brienne Ashwood. Thirty years old, December birthday. Five-seven, brown and brown. A hundred and forty-five pounds. She owns a diner in Barlespy. No children, never married, likes dogs.”

“Great,” she snickers, folding my tie into a neat knot. “Maybe you could say it again, butwithoutmaking it sound like you’re planning to arrest her.” Her knuckles brush against my throat, sending sparks of electricity to the base of my fucking toes. But then she traps her bottom lip between her teeth, so those same sparks shift elsewhere. “Are you studying a perp, Billy Caster, or a potential love match?”

“Honestly? I’m wondering exactly how many minutes Ihaveto be with her before I can excuse myself and come home again.” I flash an asshole-ish grin and thrill in the way her eyes narrow. “Thirty minutes is probably too few. Sixty minutes edges toward reasonable. However, if there was an emergency with my son, I bet I could cut this shit down to fifteen minutes flat. In fact, if he breaks his leg in the next sixty seconds, I bet I could cancel the whole evening.”

“He won’t break his leg, since he’ll have actual adult supervision for once in his life.” She finishes the knot and smooths the fabric across my chest. “If you’ve paid your son to make a call, or worse, break a bone on command, I will hurt you.”

“But I don’t want to do this.” A long, pained groan rolls from the depths of my throat and out to feather her hair back. “I never wanted to do this, Magnolia.”

“You have to. You won the prize.”

“I don’t care about the damn prize!” I clap my hand over hers, trapping it in place. “I’m not looking for love. I’ve told you a hundred times already. I don’t want a new mom for my son. I have no intention of marrying again, and sex is easy to come by if you know where to look.”

Her kind eyes transform into a fucking glare.

“You think the entire world is searching for love, Magnolia. Like the happily ever after is everyone’s end goal, but it’s not mine. Tried it, bought the t-shirt, now I use the t-shirt as a dust rag when I clean on theweekends. You’re wasting my time, your time, and Brienne’s time, too, because she’s driving an hour out of her way for a date with a man who isn’t actually interested.”

“Just try!” She smacks my arm, the strength behind the solid thump surprising my heart into skipping a beat. “You complaining about my job is like me complaining about yours. Why even arrest them, Billy? They’ll just do the same bad thing again next week.”

“You—”

“Why even stop that person from robbing a bank? Someone else, somewhere else, is robbing a bank right now and getting away with it.”

“Mag—”

“Why stop people from speeding? They’ll speed the second you stop looking.”

I snap my lips closed and wait her out.

“Why even have police, since crime is as old as time? You’ll never eliminate crime completely, so why even bother?”

“You done?”

She fingers the edges of my collar, carefully folding them down until a million goosebumps race along my skin. “You see how annoying all the complaining is? Of course you don’t want to go on this date, you don’t even know Brienne yet. But someday, whether it’s her or someone else,the oneis gonna stroll into your life again, and you’ll be damn glad you had your eyes open when that time comes.”

“But I already met myone,” I growl. “Remember? I’ve done all the things already. Marriage. Babies. Funerals,” I add bitterly. “Just because you ditched town two and a half decades ago doesn’t mean it never happened.”

“Do you—” She lowers her hands and releases a heavy breath. “Does it feel like I’m trying to erase Aria? Because that’s not what I’m trying to do, Billy. I swear it’s not?—”

“No, that’s not what I think. And stop looking at me like I kicked you in the guts.” I lay my thumb over the line between her brows and smooth her frown away. “Aria’s been gone a long time. She wouldn’t begrudge me trying again.”

“Right! So?—”

“But you’re in the business oflove, and I’m not looking for anything except a warm body to spend a little time with. Because…” I set my hand on her shoulder. “Remember that shirt I already bought?”