With This Fling.... Kelly Hunter

all. Do we have an agreement?’

      Charlotte hesitated, a twinge of something that felt a whole lot like wariness riding her hard. An ex-fiancée who wanted Greyson still, maybe even loved him still. A barbecue at which he—they—would dash her hopes as gently as they could. Except that there would be nothing gentle about his ex-fiancée coming face to face with proof positive that Greyson was indeed serious about Sarah needing to move on. ‘Are you sure you wouldn’t rather have another shot at discussing this between yourselves?’ she said. ‘Somewhere nice and private? Bring out the steely resolve. Maybe you could say no louder this time.’

      ‘I have,’ he said darkly. ‘It’s not working. Bringing you along might.’

      And still Charlotte hesitated.

      ‘Never mind.’ His face was closed, his voice clipped. ‘Bad idea.’

      ‘Wait,’ she said tentatively. ‘How long is it since you broke up?’

      ‘Two years.’

      ‘And you really think there’s no other way to dissuade her?’

      ‘Look, I don’t want to hurt Sarah. I don’t want her to feel that she’s no longer welcome at my parents’ place. I just want her to see …’

      See being the operative word.

      ‘Couldn’t you just tell her that you’ve found someone else?’

      Silence from Greyson Tyler. Silence and a bleak black glare. ‘You already have,’ said Charlotte slowly. ‘And now you have to produce her.’

      Bingo.

      ‘You’re as reality challenged as I am,’ she said next.

      ‘Hardly.’

      ‘Oh, give it time.’

      Another glare from the behemoth. The one who was offering to help with her fiancé problem if she would only help him with his. ‘I don’t do animosity,’ she said firmly. ‘If we do this, we do it with as little hurt as possible.’

      ‘Agreed.’

      ‘You arrive at my office tomorrow and things seem a little strained between us,’ she continued. ‘I can take it from there. I attend your family barbecue next weekend, thus providing Sarah with visible evidence that you’ve moved on, and you can take it from there.’

      ‘Agreed,’ he said. ‘So do we have a deal?’

      More lies aside, Greyson Tyler’s suggestion really did seem to solve a multitude of problems. ‘We do.’