“No, I knew you weren’t. It was all a ruse. Because you hadn’ttold me about Kennedy yet and I was trying to force your hand. It worked,didn’t it? You told me everything. Before you told Rob by the way. Justsaying.”
Wow. He’d orchestrated this whole thing?
“And Penny thought she was your matchmaker the whole time.” Tannerlaughed. “I win.” He lifted his hand for a high-five.
I literally had nothing to say. Because I was pretty sure he hadin fact won. I just had no idea he’d had anything to do with it. I high-fivedhim. “Wait, you’ve been having me tailed?”
“For your own safety. Don’t look at me like that. It’s likeyou have a penchant for getting into trouble.”
Well that explained why it still felt like someone waswatching me.
“So you can tell Penny that you no longer need her services. AndI’ll send you the bill for mine.”
I couldn’t even imagine how much he was going to charge mefor all that. Was I going to own the real estate company after this? What thehell was I going to do with a real estate company?
He laughed. “Just kidding. I did it gratis for that.”
“For what?”
“Take a look in the mirror, Matt. I haven’t seen you this happyin years.”
He was right about that. “But your plan failed. She justwants to be friends.”
“Give me till the end of the night. I’ll have her in your bedby midnight.” He slapped me on the back and hurried over to where everyone elsewas still talking.
I didn’t doubt him at all. He’d brought Kennedy back to thecity. He’d made the two of us run into each other.
I watched Kennedy laugh at something Tanner said. She smiledover at me again.
Damn, Tanner was a pretty great matchmaker. He was wrongabout one thing though…he hadn’t gotten me to fall in love with her. Kennedyhad done that all on her own. And I wasn’t about to be put back in the friendzone.
Chapter 39
Friday
I couldn’t pull my eyes away from Kennedy’s smiling face.
“So he did it butt naked,” Rob said.
Kennedy started laughing again. “No.” You could barely hearthe word through her laughter. “You didn’t.” She put her hand on my knee.
All night long she’d been doing things like that. Grabbing myarm. Touching my thigh. I wasn’t even sure she realized she was doing it. Itwas like her body just gravitated to mine.
I smiled at her. “They dared me to. Of course I did.”
“You could have gotten arrested,” she said. “Who runs buttnaked into a convenience store for a bottle of water?”
“One lesson you learn in college is that while breaking thelaw you should break said law naked,” Rob said. “It’s a lot easier to slip awayfrom an officer when he’s trying not to touch your junk.”
Kennedy shook her head. “I didn’t learn that lesson incollege.”
“Oh, well it’s different for girls,” I said. “I think policeofficers like when women are naked. They’ll probably grab you even faster.”
“There are girl officers too, you know,” Kennedy said.
“Which I’m sure aren’t all straight,” Rob said.
Kennedy laughed. “Well surely there were some gay officersthat would have loved to grab your junk.”
“Fair point,” Rob said. “I’m sure there are plenty of menthat would like to feel me up. It’s just a general principle that usually works.”
Kennedy shook her head. “You’re all ridiculous.”
“Only Rob is ridiculous,” said Tanner. “And I have a muchless ridiculous topic to discuss with you. Do you believe in true love?”
“Who, me?” Kennedy asked.
“Yes, you.”
She eyed me for a second but then looked back at Tanner. “Itdepends on what your definition of true love is.”
“Soulmates. Two people that are perfect together.” Tannersmiled. “Destined to be together, even if it takes them a while to figure itout.”
Kennedy’s cheeks flushed. “Yeah, maybe.” She locked eyes withme for a second, but quickly looked away. “It’s certainly a nice idea.”
“It’s more than an idea. Let’s take you and Matt for example.You were friends when you were teenagers. Who’s to say you aren’t destined tobe more?”
“We’re still just friends,” Kennedy said with a half-heartedlaugh. “Right, buddy?” She elbowed me in the side.
It took all my restraint not to pull her onto my lap and kissher. “Right.” For now.
All my friends stared at us.
“But time changes people,” Tanner said. “It certainly changescircumstances.”
What was Tanner doing? Trying to scare her away? I wasalready doing that well enough thanks to Poppy. I was about to change thesubject, but Kennedy started talking again.
“Well, what about you, Tanner?” she asked. “Do you believe intrue love?”
“Of course I do.”
“So have you found it?”
Tanner leaned back in his chair. “No. Not yet.”
I knew that wasn’t the whole story. He’d had it and lost itlike me.
“Rumor has it that Penny’s pretty good at matchmaking,”Kennedy said. “Maybe you should ask her for help.”
Tanner lowered his eyebrows. “Maybe someday. But not rightnow.”
“Trust me,” James said. “Penny’s not a very good matchmaker. Herintentions are good, but her setup ideas have been a little out thererecently.”
My dick that was almost set on fire could vouch for that.
Kennedy laughed. “It must be hard though, Tanner. Everyonearound you falling in love while you’re still single.” She cleared her throat. “Imean, you and Matt. The both of you are single.”
Smooth one, Kennedy. At least it seemed like shebelieved we were only friends just as much as I believed it. Which was not atall.
“Yeah,” Tanner said. “Let’s just say I’m a little…cursed inthe love department. At least for now. Besides, I’m focusing on growing myempire.”
I laughed. “Pretty sure you’ve grown that quite enough.”
Tanner shrugged. “If I ever want to retire, I’m going to needa lot more.”
Everyone just stared at him.
He cleared his throat. “I mean, with the average person livingso much longer these days and everything. It’s just wise.”
I was pretty sure Tanner could shut his whole business down tomorrowand still have enough money to send his great, great, great grandchildren to anIvy League school.
“What exactly are you planning on doing during your retirement?”Mason asked. “Randomly buying million-dollar corporations and immediately shuttingthem down so you never see a dollar of a return? Because
