It's About Time (Blossom Peak #4)(41)

I roll my bottom lip between my teeth as I contemplate my reply. “I told her to stop, but…”

“It’s Dilynne. She doesn’t know how to listen,” Rhonan finishes for me.

I laugh. “Yeah, pretty much.”

“So how serious are these feelings?”

“You mean my hard-ons?” I ask sarcastically.

Rhonan shrugs. “Sure, those too.”

“My feelings are…” Annoying. Complicated. Irrational. “I don’t know what they are, honestly. I just know that she doesn’t annoy me as much as she used to, and she interests me more now that I know her a bit better.”

“Okay. How so?”

“Well, part of the reason she suggested this little ruse is because she has to face her ex, Vinnie, at Motorlux, and wanted a buffer, kind of like what she’s doing for me with Tori.”

Recognition dawns on Rhonan’s face. “Oh, that makes much more sense.”

His words make me perk up in my seat. “Why’s that?”

“Oh, that piece of shit did a number on her,” he continues.

I s cratch the side of my head. “I’m trying to remember him, but…I think I only met him once.”

Rhonan nods. “Yeah, probably. She dated him when you were in your last year of law school and doing that internship in Charlotte. You weren’t around much.”

“Aw, okay. That timing lines up.”

“But she took the breakup pretty hard.”

“I find that hard to believe. That woman doesn’t let anyone tear her down.”

“This guy did, though. It was…bad, Elliot.”

Something about the tone of his voice makes this anger build inside of me on Dilynne’s behalf. “Well, now you know why she’d suggest something like this.”

He nods. “Yes, now I get it. But that doesn’t mean you don’t need to be careful—because until you know just exactly what you’re feeling, you need to keep this strictly platonic.”

“Not sure that’s going to be a problem for her.”

“I’m not talking about her, Elliot. I’m talking about you.”





Chapter 13





Dilynne



Rules & Roles


I’m tightening up the lug nut on a tire when my phone buzzes in my pocket. Setting the impact wrench to the side, I fish it out and see Elliot’s name flashing on the screen.

“Well, hello, my betrothed.”

“Dilynne,” he snaps.

“Aw, are you having a bad day, honey? Do I need to suck your dick later to turn that frown of yours upside down?”

He doesn’t answer me right away, and for a moment, I think I took our ruse too far. “Don’t make promises you can’t keep.”

“What?”

“Nothing,” he grates out. “I don’t have all day. I just wanted to know if you’re busy tonight.”

“Oh, you wanna take me out on a date? Show me off all ov er town?”

“Do you know how to have a serious conversation? Or is this just going to be one big joke to you?”

“Jesus, you really do need someone to suck you off, don’t you? Like a penis exorcism, maybe?”

“You have no idea,” he mutters under his breath, but I caught it. “But to answer your question, there is no date. However, we do need to meet up and go over the rules like we discussed yesterday.”

“Pretty sure you were the one that suggested rules. You know I hate them.”

“Well, I need them. So…are you busy tonight?”

My eyes move to the Porsche in the corner of the shop. I had planned on staying late to start rebuilding the fuel system, but Elliot sounds like he might burst into flames if I don’t let him feel like he has some modicum of control in this situation. “I mean, I was just going to work on the Porsche, but since this can’t wait…”

“It can’t. Meet me at my house at seven.”

“Where are your manners? No, please? No offer to pick me up?”

“Seven sharp. Don’t be late.” And then the call ends.

I take the phone from my ear and stare down at the blank screen. “Jesus, it definitely has been too long for him,” I mutter to myself before I pick up the impact wrench and finish tightening the lug nuts on the tire. “So much for quiet time with Betty tonight…”

“Oh, shit. You’re gonna stand up your girlfriend? For who?” Steven hovers over my shoulder.

I swing the impact wrench toward him, but he dodges it. “My fiancé,” I reply.

Steven covers his mouth as he laughs. “I still can’t believe that you’re pretending to be engaged to Elliot Thorne.”

“Trust me, I never thought I’d utter those words either. But desperate times call for desperate measures.”

“ You and the word ‘desperate’ in the same sentence doesn’t make sense.”

Sighing, I push my rolling chair away from the car I was working on so I can face Steven. “Did the carburetor come in for the Porsche yet?”

“Tracking said it’s supposed to be here tomorrow, and I know you’re just trying to change the subject.”