Page 39 of Kiss Me Forever

“Really?”

“What? I can. I’m a big girl. An adult. I don’t need to bring a date to this gala.”

“The same gala that Duke’s family is helping organize?”

I winced, knowing that the reason I had even asked Dash to escort me to begin with was for that very fact. “Possibly going with a date at all would be bad, right? Like a slap in the face to his family.”

“Brooklyn.” Dash let out a breath. “You’re allowed to move on.”

I shook my head. “It’s not like that. Plus, I was going to bring my cousin, that’s not really moving on.” My voice was dry enough that it could start a fire, and Dash merely rolled his eyes.

“It’s been a year since we lost Duke. A year in which his family hasn’t spoken to me. A year in which they’ve purposely pushed me away and I was too dumb and broken to notice until it was too late. I am going to attend this charity gala in order to raise money for the historical society as well as the education programs it provides. I’ve done this since before I even met Duke.” In fact, that was how I’d started seeing him to begin with. He’d asked me to dance, and I hadn’t been able to say no. Only I hadn’t realized our dances would be numbered.

“I know you have, Brooklyn.” Dash pulled me into a hug and because I was weak and a little hurt, I let him. Our family was so damn touchy sometimes that it was almost always overwhelming and yet I knew that I could lean on any one of them in a heartbeat—just like I was doing now. He pulled away and looked down to meet my gaze. “This event is important to you and I’m sorry I’m letting you down. However, we have multiple other cousins that would go with you in case you don’t want to go alone. Or, and I know this is shocking, you could go with someone not related to you. With the way Duke’s sister has already treated you, I don’t think you should care one way or another what that woman thinks about you. She hurt you. And I’ll be damned if she does it again.”

And that right there was why my cousin was so misunderstood when it came to other people. He may joke around, and be the life of a party sometimes, but most of the time, he was the one who would break everything in order to make sure that you were safe. And that was why I loved my cousin.

“I’ll be okay. I can figure something out.”

“Figure what out?”

The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end, and I tried not to turn too quickly. Reece stood in the doorway, head tilted as he studied my face. How could this man know so much about me, and yet almost nothing at all? Or perhaps I was only seeing what I needed to.

I hadn’t even realized he was in the building, but I should have.

We were at the main office, going through paperwork and getting meetings out of the way before we headed to our prospective buildings. Reece would be starting on a huge restoration project that was connected to the gala, and I wouldn’t be there until the end. After all, you didn’t need the landscape architect until there was space for landscape.

“Well well well…” Dash said, the smile on his face so wide that I wanted to slap it right off him.

Because Reece and I still hadn’t talked about that kiss. We hadn’t done a single thing about it. Instead we had ignored it, pushed it to the side, and pretended it didn’t happen.

And if we did mention it, then it would be all too real, and we would have to deal with the ramifications. Instead those simply didn’t exist.

The fact that I’d even been in his home afterwards and we hadn’t said anything spoke volumes. After all, Bella had needed me—Reece had needed me—and that was all that mattered.

Bella was all that mattered.

And yet my stomach tightened when I looked at Reece, and I knew this was a problem.

“What’s up?”

“I can’t go to the gala tonight. You know, that foundation thing for the project you’re working on. I have to head out of town right after our meetings. That means Brooklyn has to go solo. Except Duke’s family will be there.” The bitterness in his tone should worry me, but I only had eyes for Reece. Which was again, a problem.

“It’s fine. I can go alone.”

“You shouldn’t have to,” Dash put in.

Damn that man. It wasn’t like Dash knew what was going on between Reece and I—not that anything was going on at all—but I swore he could scent it out like a shark with a single drop of blood in the water.

“Is it some fancy ass thing where you have to wear a suit and eat shitty food that comes four sizes too small?” Reece asked, his gaze never leaving me.

“Pretty much. But there’s an open bar,” Dash put in.

“I’m going there as a representative of the company, and the fact that I’m on one of the smaller subcommittees.” I rolled my shoulders back and tried to be calm. “I do good work, but you do have to schmooze. That’s why I usually bring Dash. He’s good at that.”

“I feel like I should take that as not such a compliment, but I’m going to ignore you. Anyway, do you think you can save my cousin, Reece?”

I whirled on Dash. “Really? You’re setting up dates for me now? I think I can handle this on my own.”