One Hell of a Guy: The Cambion Trilogy, Book 1 (12 page)

“Maybe nothing,” I said, leaning in closer so the other tables couldn’t hear. “Don’t you start that ‘maybe’ business with me. I’m not going to sit here and rehash the wobbly rise and spectacular fall of our so-called relationship, so that topic is off limits, period.”

“I wasn’t
rehashing
anything,” he said, “though now that you bring it up, I think I’ll have the hash.” He set his menu aside and the waitress appeared as if he’d conjured her. He ordered the hash and eggs, and the waitress looked at me expectantly.

“I’ll just have coffee,” I said.

“Suit yourself,” Jake said, and handed our menus to the waitress, who refilled his coffee and took off for the kitchen again. “You’d better not be planning to steal any of my hash.”

“I already said I’ll eat when I get home.”

“I know,” he said, flashing that cocky grin across the table again as he reached for more sugar, “but you don’t always mean what you say.”

“I meant every word I ever said to you, which is more than you can say for yourself, you —”

“I thought we weren’t going to rehash the, what was it . . .
spectacular fall
—”

“We’re not.”

“Then stop talking about it.” He challenged me with his eyes, and, God help me, I rose to it.

“You started it!”

“What are we, five?” He gestured at the bowl of creamers and I shoved the whole bowl across the table. “The way I see it,” he said, “neither of us expected this, and it’s certainly awkward, but this is about family. Angel’s as much my family as if she’d been born to it, and you and Bryan love each other so much it’s scary, so . . .”

“So?”

“So, saying no isn’t an option.”

“Saying no is always an option.”

“Then fine, call Bryan and tell him you won’t do it.” He stacked the newly empty creamer thimbles into the older ones, pinched them together again, and looked at his coffee instead of me while he stirred.

“I can’t do that.”

“You just said that saying no is always an option.”

“I can’t say no to my brother.”

“And so we’ll have to do this.”

“Actually,” I said, “I was thinking I could just plan it myself.”

“Angel asked me to help.”

“Tell her it’s too awkward,” I said.

“It’s not too awkward, not for me. If you can’t hack it, then by all means step out. Bryan will understand.”

“It’s not that I can’t hack it.”

“Well, what is it then?”

“Maybe I don’t
want
to hack it.”

He was quiet while the waitress put his meal on the table, then picked up his fork and raked it over his hash. “The thing is, Em, as my man Mick says, you can’t always get what you want.”

***

Enjoy the excerpt? To read the rest of
For Better, For Worse
,
click here
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Tammi Labrecque lives in Bangor, Maine with two kids, three cats, and dozens of fictional characters that keep her awake nights.

She writes across several genres, including romance, fantasy, urban fantasy, mystery, and horror. You can find her at
TammiLabrecque.com
.