“Jared is not your ex.” He stabbed his fork into the Lo Mein and glanced up at her. “He’s not, Lucy.”
“You know what I thought set him apart? I thought he cared enough to go to crazy lengths—to build a fake profile—to date me.”
“He did—”
“But it was your idea!” She wrapped her hand around the eggroll. She didn’t want to eat it anymore. Her stomach was in a knot of confusion. How could Jared fail to mention that he wrote his online dating profile with her brother?
“Jared is a good man,” Finn said firmly. “He’s not perfect and yeah, he’s earned himself one helluva reputation. But he cares about you. And from what I heard earlier, you like him too.” He stared at her over the edge of his noodles. “Or do all of your second dates sound like that? If they do, I’m going to rethink my plans to lock you away in a freaking tower like what’s-her-name.”
“Rapunzel. And no, all of my dates don’t begin or end like that. I don’t go on second dates because the first ones are usually disasters.” She let out a laugh. “But tonight pretty much tops the list.”
“It’s not that bad.” Finn set the to-go container on the table and leaned back against the loveseat. “Give him another shot.”
She nodded slowly. “A third date can’t get much worse than this.”
“Jared wants this to work.” He lowered his arms and met her gaze. “But, if he gives you a single reason to believe he’s not serious about your relationship? Tell me and I’ll kick his ass.”
“Now you’re going to be the big, bad overprotective brother again?” She picked up an eggroll and tossed it at him. But he caught it easily.
“Just because I wanted you to date a decent man instead of those online losers doesn’t mean I wasn’t looking out for you. I’m always looking out for you.”
She let out a laugh and shook her head. Then she reached for another eggroll. “You have a funny way of showing it.”
The door to his office opened. She looked up from the duck sauce and saw Jared. He didn’t enter the room, instead resting his shoulder against the door jam. “Glad to see you guys are getting along.”
Finn turned, stretching his left arm over the back of the couch. “How did it go with DeVilla?”
Jared shook his head. “The deal is off.”
Her brother lowered his chin to his chest. “Damn.”
“It’s not your fault.” Jared stood up straight and walked into the room. He stopped at the edge of the couch. “Don’t beat yourself up over this. After talking to DeVilla, I wouldn’t be surprised to find out he sent his daughter to meet you.” Jared glanced over at her. “I think he wanted the leverage,” he added.
“I told Lucy,” Finn said. “I thought it would make her feel better.”
Jared turned to look at her again. “Did it?”
“Maybe a little.” She bit into her eggroll and tried to summon her anger. Jared had hid the fact that her brother thrust him into the world of online dating.
But I can live with that, she thought.
She stood up, silently hoping the voice in her head wasn’t pushing her into Jared’s waiting arms out of pure desperation. “Pick out what you want, but take it to go.” She nodded to the spread of take-out containers on the table. “I need a ride home, Mr. Ab Selfie.”
Finn looked up from his pity party on the couch. “Do I want to know how he got that nickname?”
“I’ll send you the picture.” She picked up another eggroll and headed for the door. “Seeing as the prof
ile was your idea, I’m surprised you weren’t consulted on the messages.”
“Lucy,” Jared called after her.
She looked back. He was calmly opening containers, peering inside, and then either setting them aside or placing them in the plastic bag.
“I wrote every message.” He picked up two pairs of chopsticks and added those to the bag. “The pictures aren’t any of Finn’s business. Let’s keep it that way.”
“Okay then.” Her shoulders relaxed.
I hope you meant every word. Because I need to believe you didn’t set out to toy with me.