The Three-Week Arrangement (Chase Brothers)

Traffic pushed by just outside the car window but he barely noticed. “I find it interesting that you think I’m model material.”

“I think you could handle it for a day,” she said wryly.

“I think I like being your assistant better.”

“Ah, yes.” She leaned back and closed her eyes. “I’m definitely going to miss that about you.”

“About what happened up there—”

Her eyes snapped open. “Don’t you dare apologize or say it was a mistake. Don’t take that from me. Don’t take it from yourself.”

“Okay.” But it wasn’t, because despite what he knew about the very different directions they were headed, what he really wanted was to do it again.

And he had no idea what the hell he was going to do about that.

…

Other than texting to check on Shaggy, Rue didn’t go out of her way to talk to Ethan over the next couple of days. The planning committee thing was Tuesday, and she wasn’t sure if he’d be there…or if she wanted him there. It was bad enough she’d have to deal with her mother and Boyd. And while not at all unpleasant that she’d probably see Ethan’s mother, she didn’t like the impression she was likely to leave by failing to pretend she could stomach Boyd. She considered not attending at all, but she wanted to talk to Boyd’s grandmother about her calendar idea, and she sure as hell wasn’t going over to the Von Adler residence to do it.

By the time she was ready to walk through the door, she’d almost convinced herself this didn’t have to be a disaster. Then she saw Ethan talking to Boyd, and that theory went straight to hell. Both men looked at her, so she had little choice but to go over to them, where Ethan promptly slid his arm around her.

Boyd scowled. “So it’s true? You two are dating?”

Rue ignored the question. “I have an idea I’d like to talk to your grandmother about. Do you think she’ll have a moment after the meeting?”

“Find out yourself,” Boyd said. He gave her a dirty look, tripled it for Ethan, then turned and stalked off.

“Classy,” Ethan muttered.

“See? Actually, no, you haven’t seen anything.” She took his arm and pulled him aside. The meeting was held in the Trustee’s Room of the central library—while luxurious, an interesting choice for a woman whose fortune reportedly rivaled the greatest in New York City. Supposedly the location brought the charity to the community. Nice theory, but the meeting wasn’t advertised or open to the public, so the PR fell flat. But still, she had to give Mimi Von Adler credit for roughing it among the plebeians.

Once she had Ethan in a corner, she asked, “What are you doing here?” Her heart raced. Not something that was prone to happening when she went to the library, but then again, she hadn’t met him there before. He’d made a single kiss feel like the greatest adventure of her life, and that left her more than a little lost. And not in the good way.

“I had a feeling you’d need backup selling our relationship.” His words were so matter-of-fact, she couldn’t help but wonder if he’d taken an emotional step back. Did he regret kissing her? She hadn’t wanted to know at the time, but she’d since thought of little else.

She glanced around, but no one stood close enough to hear his quiet proclamation. “That’s an interesting way of putting it,” she said.

“I wanted to support you.” Simple words, but meaningful. Words she was pretty sure no one else had ever said to her in her entire life.

She grinned. “That’s more like it. Is your mom here? I’d like to say hello.” As she spoke, she looked and quickly spotted Liam and Crosby off to one side.

“The whole gang is here. Mostly rubbernecking, is my guess.”

“Mostly what?” She inadvertently caught Liam’s eye. He seemed to be the most suspicious of the group, probably because Ethan was the closest to him by birth order. They probably had a tighter bond. Guilt crept in. She really liked Ethan’s family, and while she was sure they wouldn’t miss her when she was gone, she hated that they’d hurt for Ethan.

“Spying on us,” Ethan said.