“Sally went home like she’d been planning. You know Sally’s just my friend, right?”
Paige shrugged. “True, but you guys seem nice together.”
I needed to nip this in the bud. Paige liked matchmaking, though she wasn’t always good at it. “She’s a good person, but she’s not my forever. And she sure as hell doesn’t see me as dating material beyond the night.”
“That’s always something a younger sister wants to hear,” Annabelle said dryly.
I sighed and looked around at my family. We came here once a week and did our best to remain close. The only person we were missing tonight was Archer—Annabelle’s twin and my younger brother. Archer was out with his boyfriend tonight. They had been going strong for over a year now, and Archer spent a lot of time with Marc and his friends. They seemed to mesh, and they were happy, but I was still that overprotective asshole brother. And much like I would glare at Jacob and Colton, I would do the same with Marc when I got the chance. Just for propriety’s sake. After all, I was the eldest brother, even if it was only by a few minutes.
“Are you ready for the meeting tomorrow?” Paige asked.
Jacob sighed, though I saw the humor in his gaze. “No, we are not discussing Montgomery work. You promised me when we came tonight.”
“Sorry.” Annabelle winced.
Paige shook her head. “Oh, no. I like that promise. Forget I even said anything.”
I snorted. “I can do that.” I didn’t want to talk about work, especially since this was a project my dad had gotten on my case about in the past. He might be better now, but I was still jumpy. I tilted my glass towards Jacob in thanks. He winked. I was starting to like my brother-in-law more and more.
“Oh, good, they came,” Annabelle said as she looked over my shoulder. I turned around to see her two best friends walking in. They were my friends, too. Brenna and Eliza walked towards us as they smiled and waved. Well, Brenna waved, though it was a little awkward, the one she did when she felt out of sorts. I had known Brenna longer than even Annabelle had. I was the one who’d introduced them. Lee, Brenna, Benjamin, and I were a unit. We just fit together. I wouldn’t call Brenna one of the guys because she wasn’t, but I liked having her around. She wasn’t my sister, but she was a friend that knew nearly everything about me.
Not everything, I reminded myself.
And then there was Eliza Wilder-Strong. I had no idea how to feel about Eliza—and it had nothing to do with what she’d been through, and everything to do with what I shouldn’t be feeling or wanting.
It had been a year since her husband hadn’t come home from his tour overseas, and I knew the anniversary was coming up. And all of us were doing an excellent job of not talking about it when we were in a big group. I knew she talked with Annabelle and Brenna because she had mentioned it, but that wasn’t something we talked about.
I was friends with Brenna, but not so much Eliza. However, Eliza was always on the periphery. She had been married when I met her, and I hadn’t really known her for long. We were friends, and I did my best not to think of her in any way but as my married friend. Fuck, she was sexy as hell and had the best smile.
Her eyes were still sad but maybe I was just seeing things. She was so damn strong, and I liked her—I just didn’t know what to do around her. And I knew she hated that, so I tried to be my normal, gruff self. Probably not the best way to go about things, but I couldn’t change that without wanting more, and there was no way I would cross that line.
Ever.
“I’m glad you guys made it,” Annabelle said as she tried to scoot off the barstool to hug the girls.
Brenna waved her hand. “No, you stay right there, pregnant lady.”
“Oh my God, it’s going to be all of you, isn’t it?” Annabelle asked. “You’re all going to force me to sit and rest and eat well and take care of myself…and why am I even complaining?” She laughed as Brenna leaned over and kissed her cheek.
Eliza slid between Annabelle and me, and I inhaled her soft scent. That was odd. I’d never noticed the way Eliza smelled before—or at least I tried to hold back so I wouldn’t accidentally want more. What the hell was wrong with me? Maybe it was because I’d been thinking about what I might be doing later with Sally and then that hadn’t panned out. My mind had gone to the only other available woman. Because Brenna was not in that box for me, and I was related to everyone else. Hell, Eliza wasn’t exactly available either. At least, I didn’t think so. Jesus, I needed to stop thinking about her in that way. I was usually better about putting her in the friend box because she needed to be off-limits.
And she was off-limits, damn it.
“We made it,” Eliza said with a small smile, her voice soft. “I always find it weird that you guys come on weeknights instead of weekends.” She’d pulled her long, dark hair back from her face in a messy bun that seemed almost chic. She wore tight jeans, and a flowy top with sparkles that made me glance at her chest. I did my best not to look down, but hell, her breasts were fucking amazing.
And, once again, I was going to hell. Maybe I needed to go home and get some sleep. Not that I liked sleeping these days. The nightmares always came. Once again, I wasn’t going to let my thoughts go down that path.
I cleared my throat, doing my best to not think about Eliza or her curves. “We like to come on weeknights because we plan a late morning on Fridays. That way, we can meet with clients on the weekend that can’t meet with us during the week because of their schedules. And we’re not here when it’s disturbingly packed. We’re not young anymore.”
Eliza grinned. “Thank you for calling me old, Beckett. It makes me feel special.”
I winced. “That’s not what I meant.”
“Ouch, bro,” Lee said as he and Benjamin came over. We were a huge crowd at the end of the bar now, but Riggs kept filling everybody’s drinks, most of us having switched to water or soda at this point.
We laughed and talked about anything but work. Eventually, I went over to the jukebox to see what to play next. I didn’t feel like going home. Didn’t feel like going to sleep. I caught Lee’s gaze and knew he knew why I was still here, but I ignored the look. I ignored him. I did my best to ignore everything.
I keyed up the next song and then noticed Eliza frowning at a man I didn’t recognize out of the corner of my eye. The guy loomed over her, one palm on the wall behind her. And while she didn’t back down, didn’t look scared, she had no way to get out, either.
She met my gaze, and I saw the pleading look there.
Well, hell. I moved over and tilted my head at her, the movement catching the stranger’s attention. “Hey, babe, I thought we were dancing,” I said.
She blushed and rolled her eyes, but I didn’t think the other man noticed.
“Babe?” the guy asked.
“I’m going to take my girl out on the dance floor. You mind getting out of her space?” The guy frowned, and I took Eliza’s hand. “Ready to dance, babe?”
She smiled up at me, and my dick went hard. What the fuck? Jesus, I needed to get laid or get some sleep. I didn’t have those kinds of feelings about Eliza. Ever. Or I didn’t let myself. I was only helping her out of a sticky situation because we were friends. That was it. I wouldn’t think about her pressing against me as I touched her. What it would be like to taste her.