Only with You (29 page)

“Not boring. Respectable,” Brynn reminded herself under her breath. And she’d learned early on that there were a lot worse things to be called than boring.

“Yeah, yeah,” Sophie said as she dragged Brynn toward the bathroom door. “You’re respectable,
and
you’re beautiful, rich, and successful. Everyone adores you. Blah blah. The only person who RSVPed
no
to your party was Aunt Philly, and that’s just as well because now we don’t have to hear about her hemorrhoids. But—”

“There’s a but?” Brynn interrupted.

Sophie paused at the door and spun back around. “You have to promise me to loosen up. Forget that damn list for once. Drink too much champagne and have drunk sex with James back at his place.”

Brynn carefully kept her face blank. She and James hadn’t been having much of
any
sex lately, but there were some things even one’s sister didn’t need to know.

“Fine,” Brynn said reluctantly, “but if Mom starts on one of her rampages about how I’m not getting any younger…”

“I’ll handle Mom,” Sophie said as she shoved Brynn through the door. “You just get yourself some bubbly booze, and embrace another fabulous year in the life of Seattle’s most gorgeous orthodontist.”

“Yeah, because the competition is pretty stiff in that category,” Brynn said as she plucked a glass of champagne from a passing tray.

“There you are,” said a familiar male voice from behind Sophie and Brynn. “Everyone’s been wondering what happened to you two.”

“Ladies room,” Sophie said, sliding an arm around her new husband’s waist.

Gray Wyatt raised an eyebrow. “The entire time?”

Sophie raised an eyebrow right back. “Do you really want details?”

Gray grunted, and fell silent. Silence was something Grayson Wyatt did a lot of. Brynn should know. She’d dated the man for about five seconds of tepid boredom before he and Sophie had spontaneously combusted. Not that anyone ever remembered Brynn and Gray’s romantic history. Probably because it hadn’t been the least bit romantic.

“Thanks for the party, Gray,” Brynn said. “I know you’re friends with the owner of the restaurant.”

Gray gave a polite nod. “The planning was all Sophie. If it was up to me, I would have planned something more…”

“Dull? Bland? Introverted?” Sophie supplied.

Gray’s amused gray eyes met Brynn’s over Sophie’s head. “I was going to say mellow.”

Sophie sniffed. “Yawn. People like you and Brynn have plenty of mellow in your life.”

“Has anyone seen James?” Brynn asked, scanning the room for her boyfriend. He could hold his own in social situations, but she felt bad leaving him alone this long. Especially since he’d probably helped coordinate this whole disaster with Sophie. She should at least say thank you.

“He was talking with your dad,” Gray volunteered, taking a sip of his whiskey.

“The usual medical mumbo jumbo?”

“Yep. Didn’t understand a word of it,” Gray confirmed.

“Great,” Brynn muttered. She was glad her father and boyfriend got along. She just wished they were able to connect on something other than ER policy and the latest heart-valve technology.

“Seriously, I don’t know what you two talk about,” Sophie said as she eyed a tray of passing spring rolls with a critical eye. “James is nice, but the man’s like a machine. He’s practically been a part of the family for the past year, but I still can’t get more than small talk and lengthy lectures out of him.”

“You thought Gray was a machine when you first met him,” Brynn countered.

Sophie cuddled up to her husband’s side with a coy grin, and Brynn stifled the sting of jealousy at the easy connect between her sister and her husband. “Well I may have made a mistake about that,” Sophie said softly.

“A mistake? You?” Gray said blandly.

“Just the one. Unlike you and Brynn who have so much red tape running every which way that you couldn’t
possibly
make a mistake. You’re both overdue. Mistakes build character…”

But Brynn couldn’t hear her sister over the rushing in her ears.

He. Was. Back.

Look away. Look away now from The Enemy.

But she couldn’t tear her eyes away from the tall blond man currently ogling a redhead in a killer black dress. His dark jeans and white shirt should have been too casual for the occasion. But nobody would notice that he was underdressed. They’d be too busy basking in his wide smiles and hot gazes.

Why
was he back?

“Brynn, are you listening to me?” Sophie asked. “I was just explaining how maybe if you would slip up every now and then you wouldn’t have to hide in the bathroom on your birthday.”

Sophie couldn’t have been more wrong about Brynn not making mistakes.

Because once upon a time, she’d made the most elementary of all mistakes.

And he was staring right at her.