Liza Hardin-Deneau: Until you let me set you up with an awesome girl. (winky-face emoji, tongue-sticking-out emoji)
Brennan Riley: (eye-roll emoji)
Liza Hardin-Deneau: (cry-laughing emoji x 3, tongue-sticking-out emoji, heart emoji)
Brennan Riley: NO
Liza Hardin-Deneau: YES
Brennan Riley: Just come over, L. It’s all good.
Brennan pocketed his phone while leaning to press a kiss to Skye’s cheek. “Sorry about that. A couple of my friends from the record label are here, and they apparently really need to talk to me about something.” He draped his arm over her shoulders and held her close to his side as he scanned his gaze around the long, white dining room, passively watching for them. “They’ll probably be descending upon us any moment now.”
“Don’t apologize for that.” Skye slipped her straw between her front teeth, lightly chewing on it. “I really don’t think anyone ever needs to apologize for using theirownphone.”
Her tone caused him to cut his eyes toward her face.
That really sounded like someone had been getting on her ass for using her own phone. And a person getting on their partner’s ass for using their own phone was a neon-red flag for an abusive relationship. And now Brennan was convinced about the cause of all those bruises.
“Well, then consider it an apology in advance for my friend, Connor’s behavior. He can be a bit…” Brennan lifted his hand from where it was resting on her shoulder and elegantly rolled it in a circle. “Boisterous.”
Skye laughed loudly, and it made him smile.
“You have such a great laugh.”
His eyes were holding hers, which were now lidded and a much lighter blue, and a flush of color crept up her fair cheeks. “You have a great laugh, too.”
It seemed like a natural moment to kiss her, but there was a sudden, aching tightness in his chest that stopped him.
“B.?”
Brennan turned his head in the opposite direction, and Liza and Connor were standing next to the table. Something about them looked different. He couldn’t put his finger on it. Liza was wearing a strappy, ankle-length, floral dress, with her long, wavy, coffee-colored hair pulled into a loose ponytail over one shoulder, and Connor had on a simple white dress shirt and jeans. Typical dress for a jazz brunch at the Court of Two Sisters. It wasn’t their clothes. It was something else.
“Hey, y’all.” Brennan gave Skye’s shoulder a quick squeeze before standing up and offering his hand to her while she stood as well. “How’s it going? This is Skye.” He released her hand so she could shake with Connor and Liza. “Skye, this is Connor and Liza Deneau, the husband-and-wife dream team of Frenchmen Street Records. He’s the VP of the label, and she’s the VP of marketing.”
Connor slipped one hand in his pocket and slapped Brennan’s back. “Hey, I like it when you introduce us like that, Riley.”
Brennan crossed his arms over his chest, giving a quick hitch of his shoulders. “Just a purely factual statement.”
“It’s so great to meet you, Skye,” Liza was saying while still slowly shaking Skye’s hand. Her grin was extra wide, and her hazelnut eyes sparkled more than usual, and she was just eating this up. Ever since Brennan had insisted upon playing matchmaker with them last year, Liza had made it her mission to do the same thing for him, but he’d managed to keep her from any progress on that end. Liza probably believed that since Brennan was actually allowing them to meet one of his companions that this was some kind of progress toward changing his ways and getting him to commit to someone. That was not in the cards for a lot of reasons.
One of which was his entire friendship with Liza herself.
Skye smiled warmly, her chin canted toward the floor like she was subconsciously ashamed of the hidden bruises. “It’s nice to meet you, too.” She cut her eyes toward Oscar where he was still on the stage chatting up the dining room between songs. “I’m such a huge fan of his, and it’s so cool to meet people who work for his record label.”
Liza’s brows drew together, and she picked up Skye’s other hand to squeeze both. “He is soamazing. I’ve loved seeing him soar like this.” She paused, still clasping Skye’s hands, and her expression turned mischievous. “You know who else isamazing? Brennan.”
“Okay, L.,” Brennan cut in with a tone of playful warning. “You don’t need to do that.”
Liza released one of Skye’s hands to flit her wrist in his direction. “I’m not doing anything.” She gave Skye another wide grin. “So, do you live in New Orleans or—”
“She doesn’t.” Brennan picked up Skye’s wrist and freed her hand from Liza’s clutches. “She’s from out of town, and we only have a couple of days.” He lifted Skye’s hand to kiss the back of it, and then she clasped her hands together at the level of her hips. “So go ahead and let me know what’s going on so we can get back to it.”
Liza continued to smile, totally undeterred by his brush off. “Okay, okay, okay.” She made a tiny, quiet squeal in the back of her throat while she reached to squeeze his forearm. Releasing him, she cast an enamored glance at Connor and slipped her arm around his. “We just wanted you to know that in August or so, we’re going to be hearing the pitter-patter of little feet.”
Brennan’s head tilted on its own accord, and he wore a blank smile. He’d heard that phrase before, but the meaning was buried in his mind somewhere.
“Oh wow,” Skye spoke up, brows high and blue eyes wide. “Congratulations.” A small, yet joy-filled laugh escaped her lips. “I don’t even know you guys, and I’m super excited to hear that.”
