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BB had an arm raised and braced against the top of the door facing, his hand resting against his forehead. His dark eyes arrested her with the pain radiating from their depths. The tortured gaze broke her heart. Before she could question him, he stepped forward and wrapped her in an embrace so tight, she figured her ribs would be sore tomorrow.
But instead of pushing him away, she encircled his waist and held on. She was tall, but against BB’s six-foot-three-inch frame, her head rested perfectly against his chest. The contact loosened her turban, and the towel fell to the floor. Her damp hair tumbled down her back in what she was sure was a mass of tangly curls.
The unexpected moment should have made her uncomfortable, but Gennessey only felt concern for this man. She was starting to see what all her friends at KSI had told her about him. BB was a good guy, a loyal friend, and someone who came through when his friends needed him. He was no longer someone she could hold at arm’s length.
He finally pulled away, and Gennessey felt a chill from the loss of his body heat. He dropped his arms before stepping back. She thought she saw a tinge of a flush staining his neck.
“I, uh, I couldn’t relax, and I thought of calling somebody. I just can’t, you know, say it out loud, much less talk about it. So, well, I didn’t know what else to do.”
She swept her arm out as she turned to the side. “Come in. Let me change, and I’ll get us a beer.”
BB sat on the end of her couch while she retreated to her bedroom to hastily don underwear, yoga pants, and a comfortable T-shirt before going to the kitchen to retrieve two beers.
Twisting off the caps, she studied the back of his head and thought how he seemed to dwarf any room he was in. Not just with his height or his muscular frame, but with magnetic presence. She had no idea how he did it. Without even trying, he’d wormed his way past her defenses. No matter how great the distance she planted between them, the unthinkable had happened.
She liked him. She felt special that he sought her out during a difficult time when he could have reached out to any number of people. She wanted to help him, but she had no idea how.
After handing him the beer, she sat at the other end of the couch. Her legs folded under her, and she nestled into the corner to face him. He took a long pull from the beer bottle, and she got distracted by the bobbing of his Adam’s apple as he swallowed. She sucked in a breath and then sipped her own beer to bring her thoughts back to the moment.
“Do you want to talk about tonight?”
He rested his nearly empty bottle against his thigh. He turned troubled eyes to face her, and she felt her heart clench.
“Nope. I want to talk about anything else. I don’t want to think about all of it right now. I’m still trying to process what it means, and I’m too tired to do that. I need something to distract me, so I can sleep and figure out things tomorrow.”
“What do you want to talk about? Work?”
He studied her for a moment, and she fought hard not to squirm.
“Tell me about your family.”
Her head tilted to one side as she studied him. “Why?”
“If I’m going to be your date for the wedding, I think I need to know more about them.”
She shook her head. “I already told you, you don’t have to come with me this weekend. You have enough going on, and my family can be a lot to take. If you come, they’re going to grill you about your intentions. They’re going to want to know every little thing about you.”
“Actually, I think it’s exactly what I need. My dad even insisted on it. He told us his doctor is going to run a few more tests before they schedule his surgery, so there’s no reason for me to hang around. Plus, Brent and Brody will watch over my parents and let me know if I’m needed. So, no more excuses. Start talking.”
She exhaled loudly. “You asked for it.” She mumbled the warning and then found herself almost shy at the idea of bombarding him with the crazy intel on her family. With his intense stare on her, she suddenly wished it was anyone but him accompanying her to the wedding.
“Can you not look at me while I talk about them? It makes me nervous for some reason.”
He smirked before draping his arm over the back of the couch. “Come here.”
She blinked. “What?”
BB patted the cushion beside him. “Slide over here. We’re supposed to pretend we’re a couple, so we might as well play the part even when we’re alone. Then you can turn where you don’t have to look at me.”
Gennessey hated that his logic made sense, but after the way her body responded to him all evening, being close to him while they were alone seemed more like a recipe for trouble than a part of their ruse. His brow quirked upward at her hesitation, almost like he knew what was going through her mind and challenged her to admit why she was reluctant to sit next to him.
No way in hell was she going to admit to anything…
She slid across the couch cushions and turned to nestle her back against his side. Extending her long legs across the couch in front of her, she rested her head where his shoulder met the top of his arm. Despite his body’s hard muscles, she was surprisingly comfortable and could feel herself relax.
She could do this. She just needed to start talking, so she didn’t have to focus on the man next to her.
“My family is huge. I mean I know most people have aunts and uncles and grandparents, but most people only see them on special occasions. I grew up with my extended family around me as much as my immediate family, and everyone has their nose in everyone else’s business. They’ll all be at the wedding, and they will all want to meet you. Don’t even try to remember everyone’s names. You won’t be able to after just meeting them once.”
