The Best Mistake of Her Life Read Free Page B

private-school classmates would pull,” he muttered.
    “I want you to go with me,” she said.
    He narrowed his eyes at her, growing wary. “How many events?”
    Dropping her gaze to his shoulder, she fingered the belt of her dress, and her uneasy fidgeting didn’t bode well for Memphis. “A dinner party, three cocktail parties …” Kate met his gaze again. “And then there are the two events on the reunion weekend itself.”
    Memphis’s mind balked at the thought. “No wonder you can’t find anyone to help you. I’ll agree to the dinner party and one cocktail party.” He shot her a you’re-crazy look. “But I didn’t attend Biscayne Bay Preparatory Academy. No way am I going to your reunion.”
    “But that’s the main event I don’t want to attend alone.”
    Memphis enunciated each word succinctly. “I am not going to your reunion.” Brian’s old classmates would take one look at Memphis and remember his highly publicized mistake. The one that had almost killed his friend … “That’s beyond the kind of torture I can take. You’ll have to find someone else for that phase of your plan.”
    Kate blew out a breath and eyed him steadily. “One dinner party,
two
cocktail parties, and the reunion weekend,” she said, going on smoothly. “Brian will be there, and he’s looking forward to seeing you.”
    Damn, another low blow. “One reunion event,” he said, hating that he’d caved in the face of her less-than-subtle pressure. “Either Friday or Saturday. Your choice.”
    “Deal,” she said, and then her eyes swept down his well-worn jeans. “And I get to select the clothes you wear.”
    The grin hit him hard, as did her sweeping gaze. “You got a problem with my wardrobe?”
    She lifted a brow. “I remember what you wore after one of my misguided classmates invited you to our prom.”
    “Tiffany Bettingfield didn’t mind my faded kakis and athletic shoes. Because after I watched you get crowned Prom Queen alongside your golden-boy Prom King—” his smile crept higher “—Tiffany suggested we head to my car. I washappy to show her that there are more important things about a man than his clothes.”
    “Hopefully she’s recovered from her lapse in judgment by now,” she said with a sarcasm that was so smooth he almost missed the tone. “Do we have a deal?”
    Despite everything, Memphis was delighted with Kate Anderson’s new spunk wrapped in her usual class. “Deal,” he confirmed. “But just to be clear, I’m doing this for Brian, not you.”
    Her lips twisted. “Don’t worry, Memphis. I’m under no illusions you would ever do a favor for me.”
    A sliver of anger shot through him, momentarily dimming his good humor. There was a time in his teens when he’d have done anything for Kate, if she’d only hinted that she cared. But those days were long gone, killed in a fateful night that had had far-reaching consequences that neither of them could have predicted.
    Her ice-princess behavior and hands-off attitude used to frustrate the hell out of him, but these days things were different. He was certainly done touching Kate, but now he was impressed and intrigued by her cool demeanor and polite facade, especially in the face of their tumultuous past.
    Yet a small part of him longed to see her emotional cool crack, just for a moment. And, after their teen years, provoking her was as ingrained as breathing.
    “I did you a favor once.” He deliberately turned his voice husky. “Do you remember?”
    He took comfort in the slight catch of her breath, a small smile forming on his lips as Kate clearly struggled to remain composed.
    “Memphis,” she finally said, recovering her cool and holding his gaze. “That was a long time ago. And even
you
can’t be so conceited as to think of sex as a favor.”
    He studied her for a moment and then he leaned close, inhaling the haunting scent of lavender he’d come to equate with Kate. “Well, it ranked right up there as one of the best