Page 104 of Wrong For Me

“My father sent Daniel Gibbs to his apartment in Lake Tahoe about ten minutes after I left,” I snap.

Will goes still. “What?”

“Dad sent Gibbs over to convince Leo to sign an NDA. Told him I knew all about it.” I grimace, bitterness flooding my mouth. “Apparently he offered him money. So, yeah. Leo was pissed. He thought I was a spoiled brat who had my dad’s lawyer running around after me dealing with my messes.”

“Shit.” Will mutters, shaking his head. “How did he even know you were there?”

I glare at him. “I don’t know. Pretty sure you were supposed to cover for me.”

“I did!”

I sigh, running a hand through my hair, tired all of a sudden. I wish we hadn’t come here. I’m sore and dirty from a long day of airports and planes and all I want to do is get some food in me, take a shower, and go to bed.

“It doesn’t matter now,” I say, leaning against the counter. “The point is, it was all a misunderstanding and it wasn’t Leo’s fault.”

He studies my face. “Did you know he was going to be at the conference?”

I shake my head. “It was a last-minute thing. But we spent some time talking.” I decide there’s no point in telling him about the room fiasco. I do not need that getting back to any of the parents. My dad would probably sue the school or the resort if he knew I’d had to share a room with a boy. I focus on my cousin. “I like him, Will. I told you in Lake Tahoe that we had a really strong connection. Now that we’ve been working together, spent time together, it’s even stronger.”

He nods, the aggressiveness finally melting from his face. “Well, I can’t imagine he’s good enough for you. But if you like him, I trust your judgement.”

“Thanks.” I nod towards the living room. “You want to tell all of them that?”

I’m half joking but he straightens, looking serious. “I’ll take care of it.”

My eyebrows go up. “You will?”

“Of course I will. You like this guy—I want you to feel comfortable bringing him around.”

I release a breath, the tension I’ve been carrying since Leo and I walked through the door easing from my shoulders. “Thank you.”

“Give me five minutes. Then get your guy and come join us—River and Fox really will eat all the pizza.”

Leo’s finished with his call when I get back to my room and I find him standing in front of my bookshelf, perusing my books.

“You’re judging me, aren’t you?”

He spins around, grinning, and I realize that I’ve probably seen him smile more in the last twenty-four hours than I have in all the weeks I’ve known him. It’s nice, this softer side of Leo Malone.

“There are a lot of dragons on this bookshelf, Rose. Would it kill you to pick up a classic once in a while?”

“Says the comic book aficionado.” I hold out the beer I grabbed for him. “Here. Will is going to get everyone to calm down. Then we can go eat pizza. If you’re not scared off.”

“Gonna take a lot more than that to scare me off.”

“How was Bodhi?”

He rolls his eyes. “I swear, he cried when I told him where I was.”

My eyebrows fly up. “Really?”

He looks a little sheepish. “He’s heard me whining about you a few times.”

I can’t hide my delight. “You’ve talked about me with your friend? Leo, that’sadorable.”

“Shut up,” he mumbles, hiding his face with his beer bottle, and I snort with laughter.

“What did you tell him?” I demand. “Did you tell him you were heartsick over me? Did you call me the one that got away?”

“I said you were a pain in my ass,” he shoots back, but he’s grinning, too. “Which is still true.”

We stand there for a minute, probably looking like fools as we grin at each other across the room, basking in the sensation of this new thing we’ve created together. A burst of laughter from the living room finally jars me back to the present. I hold out my hand. “You ready to spend an evening with my crazy family?”

He links our fingers together. “Nowhere else I’d rather be.”