They glanced at each other and laughed as if they had an inside joke we were not privy to. “We haven’t even looked at the menu yet,” Cole answered.
“We were waiting for you to arrive,” Aurora added, even though it was a blatant lie.
Jules and Cole were so engrossed in each other they had lost track of time and their appetite.
“You did not.” Jules stared at Cole with wide eyes.
He explained how he had run off a high school boy who had a crush on Aurora by dressing up in a ski mask and jumping outof a bush wielding a baseball bat when he walked to the door to ask her out.
“He did! It was so embarrassing. Like I can’t take care of myself and need my crazy brother scaring off poor unsuspecting boys,” Aurora huffed, crossing her arms over her chest.
“I know you can take care of yourself, and I know you don’t need me to scare away boys for you. I raised you too damn well to be anything other than independent, but I’m allowed to have some fun. It’s not like you were going to give him a chance anyway. Hell, my way was probably nicer than what you would have done to him,” Cole said, smiling at his sister like she was the light of his life.
I couldn’t help but let him dig a little into my heart. He adored his sister just as much as she did him. The whole dinner I watched Cole and Jules interact, and I wished Jules would let someone in because if it was ever going to be someone, it should be Cole.
Rage pulsed through me at the thought of Jules’ ex who crushed her, and Jules for allowing herself to let him.
“I cannot wait to start this project with you,” Aurora said, not so subtly changing the subject away from her dating life.
“I am, too,” I told her truthfully. “I love to read and helping indie authors get out there makes me so happy.”
“I’m surprised Rachel hasn’t thought about something like this already. She is always reading,” Jules said, finishing her amaretto sour.
“What do you like to read?” Mr. Easton asked, acknowledging me for the first time since we sat down. The smugness of his tone made it obvious what he thought my answer would be.
“Romance, mostly smut.”
And he would be correct.
I was a sucker for a happily-ever-after and I refused to be ashamed.
His sharp, dark eyebrow winged up in anI thought sogesture that made me want to stab his hand with my knife.
“I love romance, too,” Aurora interjected, breaking the thick silence between dickhead and me.
“It’s my favorite genre.” Aurora leaned against her hand with a dreamy expression. “You know romance is the most read genre in the world, and yet it is the least respected genre in the world. It’s infuriating, and I’m going to help change that perspective.”
Aurora was no longer leaning on her hand. Both palms were on the table as if she was about to push off from it and announce her intentions to the whole restaurant, maybe the whole damn town.
The determination was evident on her face, and I was once again ecstatic that we won the bid for this project. It was going to be epic.
“I think I’m in love,” I stated, blowing a kiss at Aurora from across the table.
“Yes, and he put a ring on it so maybe stop blowing kisses at my niece,” Mr. Easton said in his droll voice.
“Ring?” Aurora cried out, reaching over and snatching my hand, her boob half an inch away from being dipped in butter. “Oh, my god. When did he propose? How did he propose? Where is he?” Aurora spit out these questions in rapid succession.
My gut clenched, and my ears heated from the attention now solely focused on me.
What the hell is wrong with me?
“It happened the other day. He proposed in the kitchen with bacon sizzling on the stove, but he had to leave right after to catch his flight. He’s working on a promotion, and his work keeps sending him to Ohio.”
“He left right after he proposed?” Aurora asked, her eyebrows scrunched together.
“He did,” I answered, somehow feeling Mr. Easton’s gaze on me. His judgment was warm on my face, and I knew this was another thing to prove we weren’t worthy of his company’s hard-earned money.
“I mean, not right after. Right?” Aurora asked, her head cocked to the side.