That Secret Crush (Getting Lucky #3)(86)

“Isn’t it obvious?” I wave toward the abundance of food on my table. “Scoping out the competition.” I don’t mention that the competition has nothing to do with the restaurant industry and everything to do with her heart. “And you just spoiled that. Good job, Eve.”

From the suspicious lines at the corners of her mouth, I’m guessing she doesn’t buy it.

“If that’s the case, you could have just come in and eaten food—no need for the pathetic disguise.”

She holds up the mustache that’s stuck to her finger. I quickly tear it off and stick it in my pocket. “It’s not a pathetic disguise. I thought it was creative.”

“You looked like a fool.”

“Well, since we’re no longer together, how I look isn’t your concern.”

Her lips quirk to the side. “We might not be together, but you’re my business partner, and I don’t need you scaring away customers before we even open the doors.”

“Why don’t you worry about the paperwork and the press, and I’ll worry about how I look and what we serve, huh?”

“How you look is part of my job. How you act is part of my job. Everything you do is my concern. So stop dressing up like Tom Selleck’s estranged brother who was lost out at sea for two years, and act like the five-star chef that you are.”

“Ah, you think I’m a five-star chef?”

I don’t think her eyes could roll any harder. “I’m leaving.”

“Hey,” I call out before she can get any farther. When she looks over her shoulder, I casually say, “So . . . are ya dating anyone?”

Chuckling, she shakes her head. “You’re so transparent, Reid.”

“Transparent enough that you’ll come to my place tonight and try some food?”

“No.”

Damn it.



“I can’t take it anymore,” I declare, barging through Brig’s apartment door, scaring the piss right out of the poor guy.

He jumps out of his desk chair and swears under his breath. Shirtless, with an online dating profile open on the computer behind him, he clutches his chest and lets out a long breath.

“Holy. Shit. I think I just had a heart attack.” He glances at me and laughs. “Man, I think you just jump-started my soul—I feel alive.”

“That’s great.” I wave him off and flop down on his couch. “But we need to talk about me.”

“Shocking. When are we not talking about you?” Brig turns off his monitor and joins me, taking a seat on the chair opposite me, his spread legs giving me a front-row view down his shorts.

“Dude.” I hold up my hand. “Why don’t you have underwear on?”

“Because I’m in my apartment and wasn’t expecting my older brother to come crying to me for help . . . again. You should be counting your blessings I wasn’t feeling like a naked night, because I have those. Shut the curtains, turn on some good music, and let the dong fly as I dance my ass off.”

I blink a few times.

“Please don’t tell me you actually do that.”

“I’m not ashamed. You’re not living until you feel your dick slap your legs to a good beat.”

I physically can’t take the fact that Brig is the one I have to rely on when it comes to all this Eve crap. But Griffin, Rogan, and Jen are too close to her, and that leaves me with the helicoptering dancing queen.

“Can we focus, please? I need your advice.”

“Fine. What’s on your mind?”

I’m surprised that he gives in so quickly—I almost expected him to gloat. “Breaking up with Eve was stupid.”

Took me far too long to realize it—endless nights staring at the ceiling of the houseboat, wishing she was lying next to me, wishing I’d been at her side during her graduation party, and yearning for the excitement we could have shared over the restaurant coming together so flawlessly—all things I’ve missed, all things I wanted to share with her.

Watching her in her element, working her ass off, not letting one ball drop, it made me realize how much I doubted her, doubted what we had. I never should have listened to Eric; I never should have given in to his threats, his concerns, because all it did was fuck me in the head and make me lose out on a strong pillar that’s held me up for so long. That’s what she does: Eve lifts me up and helps me be a better man.

“Well, yes, I think the entire town knows that by now.”

“It was stupid, but there’s something you don’t know. Uh, Eric came to my house, knowing all about the relationship, and asked me to end it.”

“What?” Brig sits a little taller. “Why would he—ohhh, because of what happened with him and Janelle, huh?”

I nod. “Exactly. He was terrified of what the relationship could do—not only to a brand-new restaurant but his relationship with me, with Eve. And he didn’t want my insecurities and issues to distract Eve from her goals.”

“I can see where he’s coming from, but he never even saw you two together. You never brought her down—she stood strong, because that’s the kind of woman she is, and helped lift you up, make you better.”

“Yeah, I know.” She was the reason I had the confidence to step back into the kitchen. “I’ve been doing well handling the restaurant since we broke up, but Christ, Brig, I’ve been miserable otherwise—and spending way too much time with Mom and Dad.”