To Have and to Hold (The Wedding Belles #1)(19)

At first Brooke thought he was irritated by his sister’s public display of affection, but the goose bumps along her spine told her that, nope, Seth’s anger seemed focused on her.

Maya and Neil were still wrapped up in their kiss and hadn’t yet noticed Seth, but Brooke was noticing him.

All week she’d been clinging to the fantasy that the strange and instant awareness between them had been a fluke—that the next time they saw each other, they’d respond to the other like normal human beings.

But from the way her stomach flipped when their eyes met, she knew the hope was a futile one. Whatever this thing was—insta-lust, insta-hate, whatever—it was very much present.

Still, just because it was there didn’t mean she had to acknowledge it.

Brooke tucked her planner under her arm and walked toward him, a polite smile firmly in place. “Mr. Tyler. Glad you could join us.”

“Ms. Baldwin. Nice to see you again.” He said this without a smile, his eyes raking over her. Somehow he managed to look both annoyed and aroused. Which was perfect, since that’s very much how she was feeling at the moment. Maybe they would cancel each other out.

Their forced pleasantries caught the attention of Maya and Neil, and Maya skipped over to give her brother a warm hug. Brooke noticed the way his harsh features softened when he hugged his sister, only to re-harden into their usual scowl when Neil extended a hand.

Seth didn’t snub the other man, but from the slight hesitation before he took his future brother-in-law’s hand, Brooke got the sense that he wanted to.

“Seth, what do you think?” Maya asked, tugging him further into the bright open space.

“About?”

“About this.” Maya spread her arms to the side and spun. “For the wedding.”

Seth’s cool blue eyes flicked over the room, taking only about five seconds to assess before turning his attention back to his sister. “If you want to get married at the top of a skyscraper, we can do it on top of one of the Tyler Hotels for free.”

Maya’s smile vanished completely, and Brooke’s palm itched with the urge to slap him upside the head. Neil didn’t respond at all other than to move closer to Maya and rub a hand soothingly over her back.

Seth seemed to realize his mistake. “It’s not that I don’t want to spend money on your wedding; I just think—”

Maya glanced away, and Seth’s shoulders slumped slightly, clearly at a loss for how to get himself out of the mini-hole he’d dug.

Brooke stepped forward, a soothing smile in place. “Well, I for one think we can do better. This place is fine, it’s lovely, but none of you are over the moon about it, which tells me it’s not exactly right.”

She looked at Maya for confirmation as she said this, knowing that if Maya were to put her foot down and say the venue had to be this one, both men would concede.

But as Brooke expected, Maya’s delicate features flashed in relief at having someone else make the decision for her.

“Agreed.” She nodded her head enthusiastically. “I want some place that I fall in love with the first minute. Not one where I have to squint my eyes and tilt my head to the side in order to see the magic, you know what I mean?”

“Not really,” Seth muttered under his breath.

Maya and Neil clearly missed his sarcasm as they pulled in for another of those dreamy, mildly nauseating kisses, but Brooke leveled Seth with a gaze that, she hoped, could not be clearer: Knock it off. Be nice. Seth quirked an eyebrow and offered up an innocent smile, which made her all the more infuriated. God, this guy was a pain.

“So what’s next?” Maya asked, pulling herself away from Neil.

Brooke opened her notebook. “I’ve got four more options today. If you didn’t love this one, I think I’ll cross one off the list. Another skyscraper on a high floor, but a bit more intimate, and if you thought this one was too small, the next one definitely is not going to work—”

“Who said it was too small?” Seth interrupted.

There was a moment of awkward silence. Maya nervously glanced between her brother and fiancé, and once again, Brooke was the one to speak up. “Neil mentioned that perhaps the guest list might be more than what this venue can handle.”

Brooke was braced for a snide comment, but Seth didn’t say anything at all, and that was somehow much worse. There was no question about it—in order for any of them to enjoy this planning process, she’d have to get rid of the brother. Still, they were stuck with him for today, so maybe if she could just keep Seth and Neil separated as much as possible, nobody would lose an eye or a limb.

“I think we’ll head uptown,” she said. “The Miller Museum can be rented out, and it’s beautiful. It could be just the thing.”

“How do you know? Didn’t you just move here?” Seth asked snidely.

“Seth!” Maya gave her brother an exasperated glance, but Brooke just ignored him altogether and turned to Maya, her wide smile feeling painted on. She would not let this grade-A jerk get to her, no matter what. “What do you think, Maya?” she asked brightly. “Shall we check that one out next?”

“Absolutely,” Maya said. “I’ve never been, but I’ve heard great things.”

“Fine,” Seth said, already moving toward the door. “Maya, you have your car?”