Page 77 of My Beautiful Sin

“We’re armed and locked in tight with 911 on speed dial. We’re fine,” I say as we settle on the couch. “And I don’t want to think about it anymore, much less talk about it. Tomorrow, I’m doubling down to figure out who this fucker is. Tonight, we chill. Okay?”

“Sure. No problem.” She bites her lower lip.

“What?”

“Is it okay if we talk about Christopher while we’re chilling?”

“Of course! By the way, what does he drive?”

Her eyes go wide “Wait, what? You don’t think—”

“No, no!” I hurry to reassure her. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t think about how that would sound. I just have cars on my mind.”

Her shoulders sag as she visibly relaxes. “An Audi,” she says. “And, he always opens my door for me, which I like. I don’t care if I’m a disappointment to womankind the world over.”

“I like it, too,” I admit. “But only because I also get to be on top.”

She pretends to be offended by my crudeness, but I use it as a natural segue. “Well?”

She reaches over and grabs for her wine, then downs the rest of the liquid. I settle back, realizing this means the conversation is about to get real.

“You guys talked while I was in with Devlin,” I guess.

She nods, then shakes her head. “We chatted, and I wanted to talk. About, well, you know. But it wasn’t exactly ideal surroundings with all his musty boxes of research and his plot bothering him. He was so distracted—I mean totally in his head.”

“Probably good you didn’t bring it up. You need a cheese plate and a bottle of wine for that kind of talk.”

“Exactly. I was going to talk with him tonight, but…” She trails off with a shrug, then meets my eyes. “Actually, this is better. You can help me figure out what to say.”

“That’s what I’m here for.” I shift on the sofa, tucking one leg under me. “So you want to…”

“Yeah,” she says, after releasing a deep breath. “I want to. It’s just…”

She trails off with a shrug, then visibly searches for words. “Okay, it’s like this. He knows I’ve been hesitant, so he’s not going to push. Except now I think maybe I want him to push.” She meets my eyes, hers imploring. “So how do I make him push?”

I try not to let my smile grow too broad “You’re going to have to actually talk to him, I’m afraid.”

She groans. “I’m terrible at that.”

“No,” I assure her. “You’re not.”

She pulls her knees up and hugs her chest, mimicking my earlier position. For a moment she says nothing, then, “I’m nervous.”

I take her empty wine glass from her and put it on the table before taking her hands. “I’m not surprised that you’re nervous, but you’ll know if it’s right.”

“I only—I mean I’m twenty-eight, and I’ve only slept with one guy. Two guys if you count the one I don’t remember, which I don’t. And as for Billy...”

I nod sympathetically as she trails off. The only guy she’d slept with willingly had been a terrible lover with no patience for her fears and issues. He hadn’t hurt her, but it hadn’t been good for her, either. “Come on, Brandy. You just have to find the one who’s right for you. Who’s patient and sweet and isn’t in it only for sex, but because he wants to be with you.” I study her face but see only a mixture of confusion and terror.

“Hey,” I say, squeezing her fingers. “Christopher seems like a great guy, but you don’t have to move fast if you don’t want to.”

“I know. And I do want to. But it’s gotten so much bigger than it really is now that I’ve waited so long.” She offers me a smile. “I would say you got lucky early on,” she tells me. “But even with you and Alex, it hasn’t exactly been easy. You have him back, except it’s not really him. Except it is. And now you’ve got a freaky texter to deal with. It’s like you two are cursed.”

“Thanks,” I say dryly.

“Yeah, I know. It sucks. But don’t worry. In the stories, the girl always wins the prince.”

I force a smile, but keep my thoughts to myself. Because even though it’s nice of Brandy to say, my life has never been anything like a fairy tale.